Historically part of the ancient parish of Woodford St Mary, in the Becontree hundred of Essex, the area was largely rural before developing rapidly in the 19th century. It became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1840 and has been part of the London postal district since its inception in 1856, the same year that South Woodford station, now on the Central line of the London Underground, opened. South Woodford formed part of Woodford Urban District from 1894 to 1934, then part of the Wanstead and Woodford until 1965, when Greater London was created.
It is situated next to the historic Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, which the royal family used while hunting deer in the forest during the 1600s.
South Woodford is an area of East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is 8.9 miles (14.3 km) north-east of Charing Cross. Epping Forest runs adjacent to South Woodford in the west of the area.
