During the 2012 Summer Olympics, Eton Manor housed temporary training pools for participants in aquatics events, including three 50m pools for swimmers, and smaller pools for synchronised swimmers and water polo competitors.

For the 2012 Summer Paralympics it hosted the wheelchair tennis, with nine competition courts and four courts for warm-up. There were a total of 10,500 seats for spectators, with a 5000-capacity Centre Court. The site covers 11 hectares within Lee Valley Regional Park and is owned and run by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Eton Manor takes its name from Eton College, which from the 1880s had run a ’mission’ to raise living standards in the East End of London.

In 1909 four Old Etonian philanthropists founded Eton Manor Boys’ Club to provide sporting facilities in the Hackney area, purchasing the former Manor Farm in 1913. In 1920 an old rubbish tip site was converted into the Club’s new sports ground, known as The Wilderness. Facilities included nine football pitches, two rugby pitches, cricket pitches, six tennis courts, a bowling green, a squash court and a running track. Eton Manor Boys’ Club closed in 1967 and the Club ground fell into disuse in 2001 before being selected for use during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The charitable trust set up in 1924 to run and support Eton Manor Boys’ Club still continues with different aims and a new name, Villiers Park Educational Trust.

Three sports clubs originating from the Eton ’mission’ are still in existence: Eton Manor R.F.C., now playing at The New Wilderness ground in Wanstead, Eton Manor F.C., now playing at the Mayesbrook Park ground in Dagenham, and Eton Manor A.C., meeting at Waltham Forest Track and Pool in Walthamstow (young athletes) and The Cottage, Marsh Lane, in Leyton (senior athletes).


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