This week, the Recorder is looking back at the history of Cottons Park – the closest green space to Romford town centre on the edge of the ring road.
It was originally known as Cottons Recreational Ground and was once part of the Cottons Estate, which was visited by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century.
The Cottons family who owned the estate eventually fell on hard times, according to Havering Libraries, and left their “once fine” grounds to go to ruin and wilderness.
The Three Towns Show at Cottons Park in 1950 (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)
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Romford Borough Council then purchased 15 acres of the land in 1920 for £4,500.
Havering Libraries believes the council must have bought it using a compulsory purchase order, as the Cottons family refused to sell the land despite years of “heavy negotiations” with family solicitors.
Soon after it was purchased by the council, the grounds were cleared and six tennis courts and a putting green were built.
Later, Cottons Recreational Ground was redesignated as a park in 1927.
During the Second World War, the park was used as space for public air raid shelters, while the ground from Recreation Avenue to the old tennis courts was turned over and used as allotments – so residents could ‘Dig for Victory’.
On October 17, 1940, a bomb fell close to one of the park’s underground shelters.
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As there were no blast walls in front of the shelter entrance, six out of the nine people inside were killed – four of them were children under 10.
A wooden sculpture memorial installed in the park in 2009 is dedicated to these six people.
The Three Town Show was also held at Cottons Park from 1947 – organised by Romford, Dagenham and Hornchurch Councils – featuring honey exhibits, handicrafts and a model railway.
According to Havering Libraries, the park proved to be “popular” with its flower beds, bandstand and park benches in the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century.
The Friends of Cottons Park were formed in 2002, and secured funding to improve the park including new fencing, play equipment and a multi-use games area.
