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Fuller information:

Hainault Forest was once part of Waltham Forest and its name may be a corruption of Hyneholt (community wood) referring to the practice in winter when poor widows were allowed to gather a free load of wood here. What remains of Hainault Forest today is a fine example of old wood pasture: pasture-woodland, or wood-pasture, is an ancient shared use of the land by a local community, combining the grazing of domestic animals with the cutting of wood. It is comparable with Epping Forest (q.v.), with ancient woodland of pollarded hornbeam and peripheral secondary woodland.

Hainault Forest Country Park was formed from former Hainault Forest land cleared from c.1853. Once part of Barking Abbey lands, after the Dissolution the Crown acquired 2800 acres of woodland, which were cleared following an Act of Parliament in 1851 and the timber sold for £48,000; the land was then mostly used for farming, with only small areas of woodland left. In 1902/3 an area of 800 acres of woodland and farmland of Foxburrows Farm were preserved as a result of the perseverance of Edward North Buxton, Verderer of Epping Forest who persuaded the London County Council to purchase it, replant trees and areas of grass and heathland and open it to the public, which duly happened in 1906. Foxburrows Farm buildings had been rebuilt by the Crown in 1856 and were later converted for use as park offices and refreshment facilities. In 1939 further land was purchased to extend the public open space. Part of the Country Park is Hainault Forest Golf Course (q.v.) in the adjacent borough of Havering. Hainault Forest Country Park won a Green Flag Award 2006/7, and in subsequent years up to 2010.

Nearby and across Romford Road to the country park is a small area comprising 14 acres of the ancient woodland that opened in 1995 as Hainault Lodge Local Nature Reserve, largely through the efforts of Redbridge and Havering Wildlife and Countryside Group. An area of woodland within Hainault Forest, known as Lambourne Common, is registered common land but is outside Greater London, within Epping Forest Council.

Sources consulted:

See www.hainaultforest.co.uk for extensive historical information. Bridget Cherry, Charles O'Brien, Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England, London 5: East', Yale University Press, 2005 p322/3; Edward Walford, 'Village London, the Story of Greater London, Part 2 - North and East', first published 1883/4 (1985 ed., The Alderman Press); Georgina Green, 'The Story of Hainault Forest' Redbridge Libraries Service, 2010?

Grid ref:	TQ486929 TQ4792/4793/4893/4893
Size in hectares:	121.5
On EH National Register :	No
EH grade :
Site on EH Heritage at Risk list:
Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:	Yes: Common (Lambourne Common CL41)
Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:	No
The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
On Local List:
In Conservation Area:	No
Conservation Area name:
Tree Preservation Order:	Not known
Nature Conservation Area:	Yes - Borough Importance I
Green Belt:	Yes
Metropolitan Open Land:	No
Special Policy Area:	No
Other LA designation:	Heritage Land. Small area : SSSI