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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
1642 - 1688, Civil War to Glorious Revolution
On the Royalist side Charles Goring married Alice Baker who had inherited Forest House on the death of her husband Thomas. The Bakers had lived in Suffolk but Goring, whose family were loyal to the Stuarts, made his home at Forest House. He was visited by the diarist John Evelyn in 1669.
In 1658 Ruckholt House was searched for weapons. The following May, William Hicks gave a dinner to guests who impressed the diarist John Evelyn. Support was being quietly gathered at this time for the restoration of Charles II as King. Unfortunately we do not know what was discussed that day at Ruckholt.
Landowners in the Civil War and the Commonwealth continued
Substantial rebuilding of the parish church of St Mary’s took place in 1658 to 1659. The tower (at the north-west of the nave) and the north aisle are the oldest parts of the church surviving 1.
1 Bridget Cherry, Charles O’Brien & Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England, London East