Friday Hill, Chingford

Friday Hill is a housing estate in Chingford (in the London Borough of Waltham Forest; OS Grid Reference gbmappingsmall|TQ391933), named after the hill of the same name, lying north of Chingford Hatch.

It takes its name from a John Friday who held land there in the fifteenth century; prior to this, it was known as Jackatt Hill.

Friday Hill House on the crest of the hill, designed by the architect Lewis Vulliamy (1791-1871), was built in 1839. It served as the manor house of the Heathcote family, replacing an earlier Jacobean house on the site (built in 1608). The manor house had farmland of 160 acres.

Louisa Boothby-Heathcote (1854-1940), who had succeeded as lady of the manor in 1915, was the last resident of the house. After the 1939-45 war, the estate was sold to London County Council who built the large housing estate.

The house remains and is used for Adult and Community Education by the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is a Grade II listed building.

According to legend, King Charles II is said to have knighted a loin of beef ("Sir Loin") at Friday Hill; however, there are other places that also claim this honour, and the story is generally assumed to be apocryphal. The current pub "The Sirloin" on Friday Hill (before the estate was sold) was called Little Friday Hill House.

The pop-rap-indie group Friday Hill took its name from this Friday Hill in Chingford (where the group's members grew up).