Walthamstow in 1837
Walthamstow, is in Becontree hundred, a little to the left of the Newmarket road, about 6 miles from London, between the marshes of the Lea and Epping Forest. It contains a number of good houses usually occupied by persons engaged in business in London ; but Walthamstow is not so much resorted to by these as formerly : its population has therefore diminished. The population in 1831 was 4,258 ; above a third were employed in agriculture. The church possesses no architectural beauty. There are copper and oil mills in the parish. Wanstead, in the same neighbourhood, is a village occupied, like Walthamstow, by persons doing business in London : it is much smaller however, containing in 1831 only 1,403 inhabitants. Wanstead House, formerly the seat of Earl Tylney, was one of the finest residences in the county of Essex. It was pulled down a few years since, and the materials sold. The park is let out in portions for grazing of cattle. A tesselated pavement of considerable dimensions, and several other Roman antiquities, were dug up in the year 1735.
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