DAGENHAM

'Dagenham' is a suburban town in east London, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, situated 12 miles (19.3 km) east of Charing Cross.

Contents

Etymology

History

Local government and politics

Historic sites

Industry and commerce

Redevelopment

Sport and recreation

Notable people

Transport and locale

Nearest places

Education

Trivia

Gallery

References

Etymology

Dagenham is first recorded c690 as ''Dæccanhaam'' and means ''home of a man called Dæcca''.Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)

History

In 1854, a station was opened on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway in the south of Dagenham, near the Thames, at Dagenham Dock. In 1885 a new direct route from Barking to Pitsea, via Upminster, was built with a new station opened just north of the village.
Dagenham was still an undeveloped village, when building of the vast Becontree estate by the London County Council began in the early 1920s.^[1] The building of the enormous estate, which also spread into the neighbouring parishes of Ilford, Romford and Barking,British History Online - ''The borough of Barking''. Date accessed: 05 May 2007. caused a rapid increase in population.^[2]
In 1932 the electrified District Line of the London Underground was extended to Upminster through Dagenham with stations opened as ''Dagenham'' and ''Heathway'' and today called Dagenham East and Dagenham Heathway.^[3] Dagenham East was the location of the Dagenham East rail crash in 1958.^[4] Services on the London Tilbury & Southend line at Dagenham East were withdrawn in 1962.

Local government and politics

Dagenham was an ancient, and later civil, parish in the Becontree hundred of Essex.^[5] The Metropolitan Police District was extended to include Dagenham in 1840. The parishVision of Britain - Dagenham parish (historic map) formed part of the Romford Rural District from 1894.^[6]
The expansion of the Greater London conurbation into the area caused the review of local government structures and it was suggested in 1920 that the Dagenham parish should be abolished and its area divided between Ilford Urban District and Barking Town Urban District. Separately, the London County Council proposed that its area of responsibility should be expanded beyond the County of London to cover the area.^[7] Instead, in 1926 the Dagenham parish was removed from the Romford Rural District and became an urban district.
In 1938, in further recognition of its development, Dagenham became a municipal borough.^[8] In 1965 the Municipal Borough of Dagenham was abolished and its former area became part of the London Borough of Barking,^[9] which is now known as Barking and Dagenham.^[10] The current MP for the Dagenham constituency is Jon Cruddas.

Historic sites

On the corner of Whalebone Lane and the Eastern Avenue, diagonally opposite the Moby Dick pub, is the site of a Saxon moot hall. The adjoining fields were used during World War II by the Royal Artillery as an anti-aircraft battery before being converted into a Prisoner of War camp for Germans. Further south down Whalebone Lane on the corner of the High Road is the Tollgate pub. This stands on the site of the milestone which marked the ten mile limit from the City of London and the turnpike toll-gate.

Industry and commerce

Dagenham is the home of an assembly plant owned by the Ford Motor Company. Originally an automobile body constructor named "Briggs Bodies" the plant was reorganised in 1931 for the purpose of producing Ford motor cars. On February 20, 2002, full production was discontinued due to the expense of manual labour in the United Kingdom, and the factory was downsized to produce engines and gearboxes. It is the location of the Dagenham wind turbines.Greater London Authority - ''Wind Turbines, Ford Estate, Dagenham planning application''. 4 June 2003.
Other industrial names once known world wide were Ever Ready whose batteries could be found in shops throughout the Commonwealth, Bergers Paint and the chemical firm of May and Baker who in 1935 revolutionised the production of antibiotics with their synthetic sulfa-drug known as M&B693. The May and Baker plant, now owned and run by Sanofi-Aventis, occupies a large site near to Dagenham East station and its sports and social club has large grounds between Eastbrookend Country Park and the railway.

Redevelopment

Dagenham Dock, to the south of Dagenham and adjacent to the River Thames, was once a large coaling port. The Chequers public house (now closed) gained world wide fame due to the many merchant seamen of all nationalities who stopped off there for a last drink before regaining ship. The area now forms part of the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. It is planned that the Docklands Light Railway^[11] and East London Transit^[12] will serve the area.

Sport and recreation

Dagenham & Redbridge FC, based in Dagenham, are currently playing in the Football League Two having been promoted from the Nationwide Conference last season. They play at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium, on Victoria Road.
Dagenham has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. The park, which has been in existence for over a century, was renamed in 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II. Dagenham also has many other parks such as Valence and Parsloes.

Notable people

Famous Dagenham natives include Dr George Carey 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, (he held his last communion before retiring as archbishop in the same parish church of Dagenham where he received his first communion at the age of 17), England's World Cup winning football coach Sir Alf Ramsey, England footballers Jimmy Greaves and Terry Venables, singer Sandie Shaw, Australian pop-star John Farnham, actor/musician/comedian Dudley Moore, 1952 Olympic games marathon hero and martyr Jim Peters, journalist and writer Neil Humphreys and ''Titanic'' survivor Eva Hart (died 14 February 1996). Former England and Arsenal Football Captain Tony Adams lived in Dagenham and attended Eastbrook Comprehensive School, along with West Ham United and England footballer Paul Konchesky. Current England captain John Terry lived on the Thames View Estate in the Barking side of the Borough. Dudley Moore and Captain Cook were also known to have lived in the borough. Former England Rugby Union prop Jason Leonard (who has more international caps than any other player in history) was from Dagenham and attended Warren School.

Transport and locale

There are London Underground services from Becontree, Dagenham East and Dagenham Heathway. c2c currently operate the National Rail service from Dagenham Dock.^[13] National Rail services also operate from nearby Chadwell Heath.
Dagenham Heathway is served by the following Transport for London contracted London Bus routes:

★ Property for sale in Dagenham and Area Guide - Shows Dagenham council tax rates, school performance stats, places of interest and local area information.

★ Property to rent in Dagenham - Flats and houses for rent in Dagenham