Highams Park Lake, Waltham Forest, London

Highams Park Lake was formed in the early 19th century by the famous landscape gardener Humphry Repton, he diverted the Ching which flooded the site to create the lake. The lake was part of the grounds of the Large Manor Of Highams, built in 1768 and converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers during the Crimean war of 1853-1856, and today the Woodford County High School for Girls. The lake was given to the public in the late 19th century.

There has been a boating history for over 100 years on this lake with an "old boat house" but it is not in use today. Canoes are now more commonly used on the lake in the 21st century and stored elsewhere. The lake was featured on the BBC "Blue Peter" children's programme in the late 1970s, when the whole boat house roof had to be lifted off to get the large yacht that had been built inside it by volunteers onto a large craned lorry to take the vessel to the sea. The boat was built by the help of the youngsters collecting old news papers from the Chingford and Highams Park community once a week and then selling them by weight and as a reward the yacht club owners gave them a great yacht (mostly Flies) and only charged about 45p a week club fees. Other yachts used at the time in the 1960s throughout until the 1980s on the lake was the Gipsy Moth (Larger boats than the Flies) these boats was thought to be built by a local school and looked professionally made.

Highams Park is a large area of parkland adjacent to the lake. In the 1940s "Prefab" houses were built and stood above the lake, they were demolished in 1969. The park borders Woodford Green and reaches close to Chingford Hatch.

Highams Park Lake Reference from the Highams Park Forum:Following the panel engineer's report major works are planned for the Highams Park Lake area over the next 3 years. Highams Park has been upgraded to a Category A Reservoir, which means that flooding at the site has the potential to cause deaths. We would like to ensure that any work undertaken is sensitive to the Repton landscape, which is one of his Red Book designs. The existing dam will need to be raised and it will no doubt prove to be a challenge to do this sympathetically to the Repton landscape.

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