Chingford

Coordinates: 51°37′52″N 0°00′58″E / 51.631°N 0.016°E / 51.631; 0.016

Chingford is a suburban east London district, situated 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Charing Cross. Historically a rural Essex parish, it gained Urban district status in 1894, and between 1938 and 1965 formed the core of the Municipal Borough of Chingford. Chingford is now part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Essex to the north, Enfield to the north-west, Woodford Green to the east, Walthamstow to the south and Edmonton to the west. To the west are the William Girling and King George V reservoirs, known together as the Chingford reservoirs, and the River Lea. To the north lies Epping Forest, which is in Essex but is maintained by the City of London Corporation.

Toponymy

The River Ching runs through the area, and the town of Chingford is close to a number of crossings 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. It is also thought that, similarly to how Kingston upon Thames appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Chingestone and Chingetun(e), with ching being old English for 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. However, the most generally accepted explanation by place name genealogists is that the settlement's name has its origin as "Shingly Ford"—that is, a ford over a waterway containing shingles.

Chingford (UK Parliament constituency)

Chingford was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Chingford in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency existed from February 1974 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election. It was held by the Conservative Party throughout this period. Both of its former Members of Parliament are well known, being Norman Tebbit and Iain Duncan Smith.

Boundaries

1974-1983: The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chapel End, Chingford Central, Chingford North West, Chingford South, and Hale End.

1983-1997: The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chapel End, Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, and Valley.

The seat was created out of the old Epping and Walthamstow East constituencies, and no part of it was ever in the post-1974 administrative county of Essex. It was replaced in 1997 by the new Chingford and Woodford Green constituency.