The lake was part of the grounds of the Large Manor Of Highams, built in 1768 and converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, and today the Woodford County High School for Girls.

The lake was featured on the BBC "Blue Peter" children's programme in the late 1970s, when the whole boat house roof had to be lifted off to extract a large yacht, which had been restored inside it by the club members, on to a large craned lorry to take the vessel to the sea.

Money was raised by the youngsters collecting old newspapers from the Chingford and Highams Park community once a week and then selling them by weight.

Highams Park had been upgraded to a Category A Reservoir, meaning that flooding at the site has the potential to cause deaths.

The existing dam would need to be raised and it was expected to be a challenge to do this work sympathetically to the Repton landscape.