hingford

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he Ridgeway, Chingford - geograph.org.uk - 390486.jpg

Bull & Crown Chingford (1).jpg Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge - geograph.org.uk - 1524048.jpg

Station Road, Chingford - geograph.org.uk - 1523789.jpgChingford Mount (Old Church Road) Chingford -
geograph.org.uk - 2638823.jpg

Clockwise from top: Kings Head Hill and War Memorial, Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, Old Church
Road in Chingford Mount, Station Road, and the former Bull & Crown public house

Chingford is located in Greater LondonChingfordChingford

Location within Greater London

Population 70,583 (2021 Census)[1]

OS grid reference TQ379935

• Charing Cross 9.2 mi (14.8 km) SW

London borough

Waltham Forest

Ceremonial county Greater London

Region

London

CountryEngland

Sovereign state United Kingdom

Post town LONDON

Postcode district E4

Dialling code 020

Police Metropolitan

Fire London

Ambulance London

UK Parliament
Chingford and Woodford Green

London Assembly

North East

List of placesUKEnglandLondon

51.623°N 0.009°ECoordinates: 51.623°N 0.009°E

Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre
of Chingford is 9.2 miles (14.8 km) north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north,
Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the south, and Edmonton and Enfield
to the west. The town contains the areas of Chingford Green, Chingford Hatch, Chingford Mount, Friday
Hill, Hale End, Highams Park, and South Chingford, and had a population of 70,583 at the 2021 census.

Prior to becoming part of the ceremonial county of Greater London in 1965, Chingford was in the
historic county of Essex, where it was a civil parish, urban district and municipal borough, and
historically formed an ancient parish in the Waltham hundred. Similar to much of south-west Essex, the
town expanded significantly in the late 19th century, forming part of the conurbation of London. It was
included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840 and became part of London's postal district upon its
inception in 1856, with the NE postcode area replaced with E in 1866. The parish was granted urban
district status in 1894, and municipal borough status in 1938. Its council was based at Chingford Town
Hall until 1965, when the borough of Waltham Forest was created, following reform of local government
in London.

Toponymy

The River Ching runs through the area, and the town of Chingford is close to a number of fords of that
river. However, old maps and descriptions give a name for the settlement long before the river has a
name and it is likely that the name of the river as "Ching" arose long after the settlement was named.
The alternative view is that the ford crossed the Lea, and a location near Cook's Ferry has been
suggested.[2]

The area of Chingford is referenced in the Doomsday book as "Cingefort" from 1066AD.[3] It is thought
that, similarly to how Kingston upon Thames appears in Domesday Book of 1086AD as Chingestone and
Chingetun(e), with ching being old English for the king, that Chingford could refer to the King's river, and
Kings Ford. This idea is compounded by links to royalty using the area for hunting in centuries gone by,
with Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge[4] still standing in North Chingford.[5] Furthermore, there is
evidence of King Harold Harefoot having lived in Chingford and the environs in the 11th century, a date
which ties in with the Old English use of "Ching" for King.
Another suggested asdsaadsdas is that the settlement's name has its origin as "Shingly Ford"—that is, a
ford over a waterway containing shingles.[6] However, the genealogists' assertion is likely to be
incorrect, as the usage of the placename name "Cingefort" in the Doomsday book predates the coining
of the word "Shingle." The earliest known usage of the Middle English word shingle is 1200AD and the
word was not used to describe loose stones on a waterway until three centuries later in the 1500s.[7]

A further possibility derives from the form Chagingeford re