THE passage of time has seen the demolition of most of the more glamorous houses which at one time graced the Walthamstow scene.

An example which disappeared as late as the 1980s is Higham Lodge which was in Blackhorse Lane.

The house is believed to have been built in the late 17th century the era of the Great Plague and the Fire of London, of Charles II and Samuel Pepys.

It was enlarged about a century later by a Quaker, William Dilwyn, whose grandfather had accompanied William Penn to America in 1699. That's Penn, the founder of the state of Pennsylvania.

In 1777, Dilwyn married the daughter of Lewis Weston, another Quaker, whose home was High Hall, a magnificent old house south of Higham Hill at the junction of the modern Tavistock and Pembar Avenues.

The union led to the merging of the two estates and the eventual demolition of High Hall in 1834.

Higham Lodge continued in use as a family home until 1902 when it was bought by Baird and Tatlock, a Glasgow firm making scientific instruments.

The Baird and Tatlock factory surrounded the handsome old building and, at its peak, employed 600 people.

But Higham Lodge's days were numbered.

Though it had listed building status, it was demolished in the 1980s some time after Baird and Tatlock had closed the site.

This information, and more about the area's grand houses, can be found in Walthamstow Past, by David Mander, Historical Publications (£15.95).