History corner - Millfields
The land now known as Millfields became known as the “Mill Field” after a famous corn mill on the River Lea. The Mill was built in 1381, grinding corn and flour until the end of the 18th Century. A second mill was built in 1443 when the names North Mill Field and South Mill Field came into use.
Millfields was opened to the public as a park in 1884, the London County Council (LCC) having acquired 23.25 acres of Mill Field North and 34.25 acres of Mill Field South.
The Park has housed many interesting things through the decades, including a stadium on the eastern side of South Millfields in the 1890s. It was originally named Whittles Athletic Ground, but was mostly used for whippet racing.
In 1896, Clapton Orient Football Club moved to the site, after which it became known as Millfields Road Stadium. The football club began redeveloping the stadium, with large embankments built around the pitch using slag from the adjacent power station.
The football club got into financial trouble at the end of the 1920s and were forced to leave the ground, moving to the Lea Bridge Stadium. The stadium eventually closed for the final time on 1 January 1974 and the Millfields Park Estate built in its place.
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