Church Hill, leading from Hoe Street to Prospect was once known as Parsonage Hill, and was where the Rectory Manor house once stood in Walthamstow. In 1784-5 a large three storey house was built on the opposite side of the road, later known as Church Hill House. It was a typical gentleman’s red brick house, and was set in large gardens with an orchard, and meadlowland bounded by Hoe Street to the west and to where St Mary’s Road is today to the south. In the early 19th century the house was one of the residences of the Sims family who also owned a house in London Street. The Sims were actively involved with slavery in Jamaica; merchant John Sims had owned the Holland Estate in Trelawney, and his daughter Frances married James William Freshfield, founder of legal firm Freshfields who had plantation owners amongst their clients, and were involved in later compensation claims. John’s lawyer son Charles James Sims was a resident slave owner and Member of the Assembly for St