Other Locations
Names, links and information about the various localities within the study area
St. Mary's Church and Churchyard, Wanstead
St. Mary's, WansteadThe Church
St Mary's Church in Wanstead was designed by Thomas Hardwick and built at a cost of £9000, some of the cost and the site being provided by Sir James Tylney-Long. The first stone was laid on July 13th 1787 by Sir James Tylney Long, and it was completed in 1790. Built in a classical style, with two pairs of Tuscan columns at the porch, it would have complemented the style of Wanstead House itself. It is of brick, faced with Portland stone.
One of the show-pieces of the interior is the monument to Sir Josiah Child, a chairman of the East India Company. As owner of the estate of Wanstead House, it was he who had the grounds of Wanstead House laid out in the form in which we see them today.
The seating is provided in box pews, and there is a gallery around three sides.
Beneath the church there is a crypt consisting of 15 vaults off a passage some 25 metres in length, the entrance to which is via a passage of some 10 metres in length originating outside the church itself.
The Church is a Grade 1 listed building - the only one in Redbridge.
The graveyard - Plant Life
The plant-life of the graveyard was surveyed some 60 years ago by Gulielma Lister, niece of Lord Lister, famous as the pioneer of vaccination. The report was published in the Essex Naturalist (Vol. 27) as "THE FLORA OF WANSTEAD PARK DISTRICT by GULIELMA LISTER, F.L.S." (Read on 29th November, 1941). A copy of the species list is available HERE.
As the graveyard was very much within the Wren Group's study area, situated as it is to the north of Wanstead Park and adjacent to Wanstead Golf Course, I made a cursory survey of the plants to be found there in 1981. 102 species of plants were found. The list also includes those plants noted by Lister, so that comparisons could be made with the past and present flora. It could be seen that many of the more unusual species still persisted, although 28 species were not noted. The list is available HERE.
In early February 2016 another survey was done by members of the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group and results of that are to be added to the listing.
Paul Ferris
The Graveyard of the Society of Friends
This land is surrounded by Bush Wood and has been enclosed for over a hundred years; before 1870 it was the Becontree assembly rooms and the practising ground of an archery club. It was purchased for Quaker meetings mainly at the expense of J. Gurney Barclay. The present meeting-house was built in 1968. (photos). The graveyard, enclosed by a brick wall (except where this has collapsed and has been replaced by a railing fence at the south edge), consists of a grass lawn edged by the simple Quaker memorial headstones with a border of planted shrubs by the wall. Amongst the headstones is one to Elizabeth Fry. This was originally in the grounds of Barking Abbey, but was moved here for safety.
The flora of the graveyard was surveyed some 60 years ago by Gulielma Lister, niece of the famous Lord Lister. The report was published in the Essex Naturalist (Vol. 27) as "THE FLORA OF WANSTEAD PARK DISTRICT by GULIELMA LISTER, F.L.S." .
In the report she lists 30 species found there and mentions how the turf retains some former flora which has gradually disappeared from the adjacent Forest, and that these are disappearing as the graves increase. Plants mentioned include Harebell, Petty-whin, Creeping Willow, Bedstraw, Mat-grass and Wavy Aira.
In visits made in the early 1990's it was seen that these fears were justified: Harebell, Petty-whin, and Creeping Willow were not found, although 72 species were. Devil's-bit scabious Succisa pratensis was noted on a visit made on 20/07/2005, as was Tormentil Potentilla erecta. The list below shows these, with an indication (L.1941) of those that were mentioned by Lister. For her list, comprising all the plants of the area, click here.
Management work carried out over the years by Les Rice, a member of the Wren Conservation Group and the Newham Conservation Volunteers, may have given an opportunity for some of the missing species to re-appear, and indeed many others are doubtless present that have been overlooked.
Plants found in The Graveyard of the Society of Friends, Bush Wood
("L.1941") indicates that the species was mentioned by Gulielma Lister in her work dated 1941)
"Stace" relates to the page number in The New Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace, 2nd edition
|
Stace
|
Scientific Name
|
Common Name
|
Date Recorded |
Lister's Record
|
| 21 | Pteridium aquilinum | Bracken | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 49 | Chamaecyparis lawsoniana | Lawson's Cypress | 1990; 25/07/2016 | (L.1941) |
| 51 | Araucaria araucana | Monkey-puzzle | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 51 | Taxus baccata | Yew | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 120 | Fagus sylvatica | Ash | 1990 | |
| 121 | Quercus robur | Pedunculate Oak | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 124 | Betula pendula | Silver Birch | 1990; 20/07/2005 (var. laciniata) | |
| 127 | Carpinus betulus | Hornbeam | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 162 | Stellaria media | Common Chickweed | 1990 | |
| 163 | Stellaria graminea | Lesser Stitchwort | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 167 | Sagina procumbens | Procumbent Pearlwort | 1990 | |
| 210 | Tilia x europaea | Common Lime | 1990 | |
| 299 | Lysimachia nemorum | Yellow Pimpernel | 1990 | |
| 300 | Lysimachia nummularia | Creeping Jenny | 1990 | |
| 300 | Anagallis arvensis | Scarlet Pimpernel | 1990 | |
| 313 | Sedum album | White Stonecrop | 1990 | |
| 334 | Rubus idaeus | Raspberry | 1990 | |
| 335 | Rubus sect. Glandulosus | Bramble | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 335 | Rubus laciniatus | Cut-leaved Bramble | 1990 | |
| 344 | Potentilla erecta | Tormentil | 1990; 25/07/2016 | (L.1941) |
| 344 | Potentilla reptans | Creeping Cinquefoil | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 370 | Sorbus aucuparia | Rowan | 1990 | |
| 374 | Sorbus aria | Whitebeam | 1990 | |
| 397 | Crataegus monogyna | Hawthorn | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 401 | Robinia pseudoacacia | Locust Tree | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 406 | Lotus corniculatus | Birdsfoot-trefoil | 1990; 25/07/2016 | (L.1941) |
| 414 | Lathyrus pratensis | Meadow Vetchling | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 420 | Medicago lupulina | Black Medick | 1990 | |
| 425 | Trifolium repens | White Clover | 1990 | |
| 427 | Trifolium dubium | Lesser Yellow Trefoil | 1990 | |
| 433 | Cytisus scoparius | Broom | 1990 | |
| 448 | Chamerion angustifolium | Rosebay Willow-herb | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 452 | Circaea lutetiana | Enchanter's Nightshade | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 454 | Aucuba japonica | Spotted Laurel | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 456 | Ilex aquifolium | Holly | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 461 | Euphorbia helioscopia | Sun Spurge | 1990 | |
| 470 | Acer pseudoplatanus | Sycamore | 1990 | |
| 490 | Hedera helix | Ivy | 1990; 25/07/2016 | (L.1941) |
| 501 | Anthriscus sylvestris | Cow Parsley | 1990 | |
| 525 | Vinca minor | Lesser Periwinkle | 1990 | |
| 531 | Solanum dulcamara | Bittersweet | 1990 | |
| 562 | Lamium maculatum | Spotted Dead-nettle | 1990 | |
| 560 | Lamium album | White Dead-nettle | 1990 | |
| 567 | Prunella vulgaris | Self-Heal | 1990 | |
| 583 | Plantago major | Great Plantain | 1990 | |
| 584 | Plantago lanceolata | Ribwort Plantain | 1990 | |
| 587 | Syringa vulgaris | Lilac | 1990 | |
| 600 | Digitalis purpurea | Foxglove | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 647 | Galium mollugo | Hedge Bedstraw | 1990 | |
| 651 | Sambucus nigra | Elder | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 652 | Viburnum tinus | Lauristinus | 1990 | |
| 652 | Symphoricarpos albus | Snowberry | 1990 | |
| 662 | Succisa pratensis | Devil's-bit Scabious | 1990; 20/07/2005 | (L.1941) |
| 678 | Cirsium arvense | Creeping Thistle | 1990 | |
| 683 | Centaurea nigra | Black Knapweed | 1990; 25/07/2016 | |
| 684 | Lapsana communis | Nipplewort | 1990 | |
| 686 | Hypochaeris radicata | Common Cat's-ear | 1990 | |
| 688 | Tragopogon pratensis | Goat's-beard | 1990 | |
| 698 | Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia | Dandelion | 1990 | |
| 702 | Pilosella officinarum | Mouse-ear Hawkweed | 1990 | |
| 705 | Hieracium umbellatum | Leafy Hawkweed | 1990 | |
| 725 | Conyza canadensis | Canadian Fleabane | 1990 | |
| 728 | Bellis perennis | Daisy | 1990 | |
| 732 | Achillea millefolium | Yarrow | 1990; 20/07/2016 | |
| 740 | Senecio jacobaea | Common Ragwort | 1990; 20/07/2016 | |
| 740 | Senecio squalidus | Oxford Ragwort | 1990 | |
| 740 | Senecio vulgaris | Groundsel | 1990 | |
| 791 | Luzula campestris | Field wood-rush | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 858 | Poa annua | Annual Meadow Grass | 1990 | |
| 868 | Deschampsia flexuosa | Wavy Hair-grass | 1990 | (L.1941) |
| 871 | Anthoxanthum odoratum | Sweet Vernal Grass | 1990 | |
| 929 | Convallaria majalis | Lily-of-the-valley | 1990 | |
| 934 | Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Bluebell | 1990 |