By the middle of the next century, the rural scene had begun to change as the railways started to spread outwards from London, followed by the development of estates of suburban houses.

The beginnings of development along the south of Romford Road took place in 1867, especially close to the junction of High Street North and the site of the future Earl of Essex public house.

Behind terraces of workers' houses was an animal charcoal works, an unpleasant and noxious manufacturing process involving the carcasses of dead horses.

As the area became more built up such trades disappeared and the charcoal works had gone by the 1890s, replaced by a Board School (Salisbury junior mixed and infants) which opened in 1893.

Apart from four pairs of small semi-detached agricultural workers' houses, known as Ebor Cottages, the area to the north of Romford Road was ripe for development; the owners, the Gurney family, sold 110 acres of market garden land to Thomas Corbett in 1877.

The Forest Gate Weekly recorded the attractiveness of the estate, it having "the three great essentials to the average city man of easy access, reasonable rentals and a first class local market."

By the 1890s, Forest Gate was an upmarket suburb for the aspiring middle class commuter, who could use the Eastern Counties Railway from Manor Park to travel to the city.

[3] Nearby Woodgrange Park station is on the Barking to Gospel Oak line, popularly referred to as the Goblin, which is part of the London Overground network.