Havering-atte-Bower royal history and Wonder Swimming Pool

This week the Recorder is looking back at stories from Havering-atte-Bower's past - from its royal links to its long-lost lido.

Archaeological finds in the vicinity of Havering Country Park suggest a Roman villa or similar structure once stood in the area, but the village dates back to the Saxon times.

Edward the Confessor was the first royal recorded as visiting Havering-atte-Bower during his short reign in the 11th century, establishing a hunting lodge in the area which was the predecessor to the Royal Palace of Havering.

Postcard view of Havering Park from c. 1905 showing the mansion built after the palace (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

William the Conqueror decided to keep the manor of Havering for himself after 1066, and in the centuries that followed the palace received many royal visits.

This included Henry II - who visited at least 20 times between 1222 and 1272 - Edward III and Richard II.

The palace also gave the village its name - first recorded as 'Hauering atte Bower' in 1272 - with the 'atte Bower' suffix meaning 'at the royal residence'.

One of the drawing rooms at the mansion which replaced Havering Palace (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

A village grew around the royal buildings by around the 13th century, forming the heart of the historic Royal Liberty of Havering from 1465 to 1892.

Henry VIII, who is reported to have hunted and entertained French hostages in Havering, also bestowed the palace to his first three wives while they were queens: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.

The last monarch to rest at Havering was Charles I in 1638; the palace was abandoned during the Civil War and fell into ruin.

Havering-atte-Bower's green and vicarage (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

By 1816, there was no trace of where it had stood at all.

A second palace, called Pyrgo, was also bought by Henry VIII and later pulled down in the 18th century.

Just more than a decade after Havering Palace was bulldozed, the McIntosh family bought the estate from the Crown and built a mansion on the site of the old palace, laying out a park of around 250 acres - which would later become Havering Country Park.

The pool seen from the side, tagged with its nickname (Image: Havering Libraries - Local Studies)

Another mansion built in the village in the 19th century, Havering Court, would later become home to an outdoor swimming pool.

Three years after a "serious fire" broke out at the site in 1933, Havering Court Wonder Swimming Pool opened, advertised as "the most beautiful swimming pool around London".

In September 1939, the pool was announced as closed and it never reopened, later becoming a care home.