Place Name
Named after Monkhams House, a palatial 19thCentury property, which in 1814 formed the southern part of the medieval Monkhams estate. In 1286 the area known as Monekenebukhurst, from which Monkham derives, was a small estate in Woodford owned by the monks of Stratford Abbey. It largely comprised of a medieval manor, however by the mid-17thCentury the name also applied to an area of woodland between Sakes (now Snakes Lane) and the parish boundary, which later formally became part of the estate. By 1892 it covered all of the land on which The Broadway, Monkham’s Avenue, Monkham’s Drive, Park Avenue, King’s Avenue and Queen’s Avenue now occupy. That year it passed to Arnold F Hills, Chairman of the Thames Ironworks in Canning Town, who also supported the founding of West Ham United Football Club in 1895 for his employees. However, things did not go well for Hills’ company and by 1904 he was forced to sell off land. Approval for the first streets was given in the December. Numbers 2-24 Monkham’s Drive were the first houses to be laid out as part of the Monkhams Estate, a development by T J and R A Reader of Finchley. Monkhams House survived until 1930 when it was demolished to make way for Park Avenue. This street had been laid out before 1920.
