This area, to the north east of the present borough has had many names, all of which have somehow shown a royal connection. Heril's Hill, Harold's Wood, Harrold's Wood, Herrold's Wood, Kingges Wood. Until 1947 a large part of the area was open farmland with many of the old farmhouses still in existance. The Abercrombie Report, however, showed the need for large urban developments to house the overflow of Londons population.
The whole concept for the area known as Harold Hill was to develop it in three stages and the last of these was completed only a few years ago. The manor of Dagnams and the fields around now only remain in parks and other open spaces. Dagnam Park, behind the Central Park, is within the locals today still mainly known as just "The Manor".
Noak Hill is a small hamlet to the north of the main estate and here the church is full of medieval stained glass collected by Sir Thomas Neave whose family were the last to own Dagnams. The old village school is now a well known restaurant.
Harold Wood is a good example of an area which developed solely because of the railway. A small halt was opened there in the last quarter century and the Great Eastern Railway, in conjunction with the developers, offered cut-rate season tickets to families who bought houses in the area.