Oliver Close

Oliver Close Estate is a housing estate in Leyton, London, England. From 1967 to 1996 the estate contained 500 flats in five high-rise buildings. It is currently owned and administered by the Community-based Housing Association.

History

Archaeological investigations beginning in 1996 showed that a palisaded Late Bronze Age settlement had stood on the Oliver Close site in the 9th and 10th centuries. Afterward, however, the site was only in marginal use until the expansion of London reached the Lower Lea Valley in the late 1800s. During World War II, prefabricated Anderson shelters were set up on the Oliver Close site for protection against air raids. After the war, the first public housing development on the site also used prefabricated buildings.

High-rise development

The history of the modern housing estate began in 1963 with approval of construction of a high-rise estate in the Municipal Borough of Leyton. With the reorganization of London government, the estate came under the jurisdiction of the London Borough of Waltham Forest in 1965.