CHINGFORD'S forgotten past is brought back to life in a new book by a retired librarian. Joe Curtis discovers a rich history with a dark twist.

MURDER, secret rooms and an army gathered to fight Napoleon all form part of Chingford’s colourful past.

Chingford Hatch: The story of a village, the book by retired British Library curator Morna Daniels, sheds light on the parts of south Chingford’s history many are unaware of.

The author decided to write the book after joining the Chingford Historical Society in 2010.

She busied herself with numerous books, notes and old newspaper reports tucked away in Vestry House Museum.

One such story sent the national press into a frenzy when the body of a 72-year-old woman was found by her niece on a quiet, sunny Sunday afternoon in 1857.

Mary White was found lying in a pool of blood after her throat was slashed in her home at Old Farm in Friday Hill.

Cash, watches and jewellery were stolen from the house by her Gaydon, but it took 22 years to bring him to justice after he escaped to Australia.

Gaydon gave himself up when he became destitute and desperate but avoided the death penalty.

Mrs Daniels, 64, of Keynsham Avenue, Woodford Green, said: "It was quite a shock to discover the murder. For the time it was amazing because the most serious crime before that was the stealing of a donkey."

Earlier that century a local magistrate, concerned about Napoleon’s plans to invade Britain, assembled a precursor to Dad’s Army, or Home Guard.

Captain Commandant John Silvester gathered 70 volunteers to form the company, which trained in a local farmer’s field next to the old high street.

It seems the entire community got behind them, with rich farmers paying for plush uniforms which included feathered caps.

The book tells of a rumour that King Henry VIII was at Pimp Hall Barn in Kings Road when in May, 1536, when he heard the gunfire from the Tower of London to announce the execution of his wife Anne Boleyn.

Pimp Hall was also the likely hiding place for Catholics in the 1580s during their persecution by Queen Elizabeth I.

A secret passageway was found by builders during a recent renovation behind a sliding panel in a bedroom.

It lead to a small room behind the chimney stack in which a lady’s black stocking was found.

The author said: "It was surprising to find out about the secret room, these kind of facts really just build and add to the legacy of Chingford.

"It’s so interesting to find out these great facts about a place you live – you look at it quite differently." Mrs Daniels’s book is available to buy from The Bookshop, in Station Road, for £4.

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