Romford is to the north and east of London (see East London), in the Borough of Havering, London's third largest borough. It is a suburban development, located 14 miles (22.5 km) north east of Charing Cross.

Romford is a large suburban town in East London and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Havering. It is located 14.1 miles (22.7 km) north east of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Romford was in the county of Essex before the creation of Greater London in 1965, and was one of the three parishes which formed the ancient Liberty of Havering.

Havering is is just half an hour away from central London by underground or rail while the rest of the UK is easily accessible by the M25, which provides easy links to all major road networks. For air travellers, Stansted, Gatwick, City and Heathrow airports are all within an hour's drive. The channel tunnel and Europe are also easily accessible.The north and east boundaries of Havering border the rolling Essex countryside while the southern border runs for three miles along the River Thames. To the west, Havering is bordered by the boroughs of Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham.


Havering is London's third largest borough, covering 11,227 hectares, of which almost 6000 is dedicated green belt. The population (mid 2004) of Havering is 225,000 (Crown Copyright. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Source: Office for National Statistics).


Romford has been a market town since 1247, and it holds the exclusive right to hold markets over an area of radius "six and two thirds miles" centred on Romford, a right granted in mediæval times but successfully used to prevent nearby Ilford from opening a market as recently as the 1990s. Romford shopping centre grew up around the original marketplace, on the line of the old Roman road from London to Colchester.


The town has been associated with a ford over a small stream which flows through it, now known as the River Rom, a 'back-formation' from the name of the town. Romford is first recorded in 1177 as Romfort, which is formed from 'rūm' and 'ford' and means "the wide or spacious ford".

The principal industry in the area for much of its history has been the Star Brewery, established in 1708 and much expanded after the coming of the railways in 1839. The former site has been redeveloped as the The Brewery Shopping Centre.


Local government

Romford was one of three former parishes whose area comprised the historic Royal Liberty of Havering.The liberty was abolished in 1892. In 1894, the Local Government Act 1894 created the Romford Urban District of Essex, which covered what is today the core of the town. From 1894 to 1934 Romford Rural District covered a vast area surrounding, but not including, Romford itself. In 1934, after increasing urbanisation of the area, the rural district was abolished and the urban district expanded. In 1937 the expanded district gained further status as the Municipal Borough of Romford.In 1965, the municipal borough was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and its former area was transferred to Greater London to form part of the present-day London Borough of Havering.

Romford is part of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency. The present MP for the Romford constituency is Andrew Rosindell, a native of the town.


Sport and leisure
Romford is home to the Romford Raiders ice hockey team, who play at the Romford Ice Arena. Local sports club included Romford Hockey Club and there is greyhound racing at Romford Greyhound Stadium. Originally formed in 1876, Romford F.C. was re-formed in 1992. From 1969 to 1971, Romford's Brooklands Stadium was the home of the Romford Bombers speedway team.[9] Romford Hockey Club is located nearby in Gidea Park. Romford is home to the current UK champion marching band, the Royal British Legion Band & Corps Of Drums Romford. Romford is also the location of Romford Skatepark, known internationally by the name 'Rom skatepark'.

Romford and Gidea Park Rugby Club http://romfordrugby.com are situated in Crow Lane. Founded in 1929 they moved to Crow Lane in 1983. The clubhouse is currently having a major rebuild and should be reopening towards the end of August 2008.


Transport
Romford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line and is served by regular stopping, and occasionally fast, services to Liverpool Street in the City. Romford is a hub on the London Bus network with services to Canning Town, Stratford, Leytonstone and Dagenham as well as feeder services from the large housing developments which surround it such as Collier Row and Harold Hill and is the terminus of London Buses route 370 from Lakeside. The trunk A12 passes to the north of Romford while the A118 from Stratford connects with it at Gallows Corner and the start of the A127. Romford station is the alighting point for Havering College of Further and Higher Education in Ardleigh Green.

Future
Romford station is planned to be served by the Crossrail scheme. A depot planned to be located in the area received local opposition. The Crossrail Action Group successfully petitioned to get the Crossrail Depot sited elsewhere. It has been proposed that the Depot will be relocated to Ilford or Old Oak Common. It is also planned that Romford will be served by a future extension of the East London Transit.


There are many areas around Romford which form the London Borough of Havering, many now towns in their own right.

The area to the north-east of the present Borough has had many names, all of which have shown a royal connection: Harold's Wood, Harrold's Wood, Herrold's Wood, and Kingges Wood. Until 1947 the large part of the area was open farmland, with many of the old farmhouses in existence. The Abercrombie Report, however, showed the need for large urban developments to house the overflow of London's population. The whole concept for the area known as Harold Hill was to develop it in three stages and the last of these was completed only a few years ago.

The manor of Dagnams, which Pepys visited, and the farmhouse where William Meads entertained his father-in-law, George Fox, have gone, and the fields around them only remain in parks and other opens spaces.

Collier Row was formerly part of the county of Essex until the formation of Greater London in 1965.Collier Row is an area is based on a large housing estate built during the 1930s as part of the inter-war London housing expansion, with shopping facilities around a central crossroads. Its name originates from charcoal burners who used to occupy the area.

Havering Atte Bower - This old seat of kings is still a pleasant village although just minutes from the M25 motorway. The village green was protected in the sale of royal estates for the enjoyment of the people of the village forever. The 19th century church of St John the Evangelist stands on the site of the old chapel of the Royal Manor, dedicated to St Mary and St John. Many kings stayed in this house up to the time of Charles I. His only visit was when he tried to convince his mother-in-law, the Queen of France, not to come to London because of the violent anti-French feeling at the time. Other faces from history also lived in the village. Joseph Pemberton who first grew the hybrid musk rose and introduced the Alexandra rose came from Havering atte Bower. He lived in the Round House, a rare oval shaped 18th century building.

Another local celebrity at the time was Elizabeth Balls, a well educated woman from a wealthy family. She lived with her chickens, sheep and goats which were of such high quality that people came from miles around to buy them when she died.

The ancient village is perched on one of the highest points in London, in the far north of the borough and near to the M25 motorway. It is situated 344 feet (105 metres) above sea level with striking views of East London, Essex and Kent. To the north of Havering-atte-Bower is open countryside and to the south are the large suburban developments of Harold Hill and Collier Row.

The village is surrounded by three large parks, the dense woodlands of Havering (site of one of only two redwood plantations in England, imported from California), Bedfords Park, and Pygro. The most notable residence in the village now is Bower House, built in 1729 by John Baynes, using some of the materials of the former Havering Palace. The area is on the route of the London Outer Orbital Path.


History
The village is steeped in royal history. Edward the Confessor was the first royal to take interest in the area as he established a hunting lodge here which over the years would become a palace or 'bower' and it is believed, though disputed that he may have died in the house that he had loved so much before being buried at Westminster Abbey.
The surrounding areas, including the parishes of Hornchurch and Romford,[2] formed the Royal Liberty of Havering from 1465 to 1892.

For the next 600 years royalty would use the house of Havering Palace for various reasons adding the architectural style of the day to the expanding palace. Another palace was purchased by Henry VIII to the east of the village called Pyrgo to relieve the now aging Havering Palace. Into the 17th century the Royal Palace of Havering was in decline and was pulled down. Pyrgo later followed in the 18th century. Only one set of plans exist from the original Havering Palace, courtesy of a survey by Lord Burghley in 1578.


Noak Hill is a small hamlet to the north of post-war estate of Harold Hill and east of Havering-atte-Bower and here the church is full of medieval stained glass collected by Sir Thomas Neave whose family were the last to own Dagnams. It is in the far north east of the borough close to the Greater London boundary which is locally the M25 motorway, situated on hilly terrain. The village consists of various period homes, many of which are listed, a 19th century church and scattered farms. It forms part of the Romford post town.


Harold Hill is a large-scale post war development and part of the New Towns movement at the end of the World War II, an attempt to move large sections of the population from poor conditions in central districts to the more pleasant surroundings of the suburbs.


Harold Wood is so named because King Harold (also known as Harold Harefoot) hunted deer in the forest that covered this area in the 9th Century. Some of the original roads are named after the earliest recorded kings of England such as Aelthelstan and King Alfred.
Under the Local Government Act 1894, Harold Wood formed part of Romford Rural District. With suburban house building, the area became increasingly urbanised and from 1926 Harold Wood formed part of the Hornchurch Urban District, which in 1965 was abolished to form the present-day London Borough of Havering. Harold Wood is a good example of an area which developed solely because of the railway. A small halt was opened there in the last quarter century and the Great Eastern Railway, in conjunction with the developer, offered cut-rate season tickets to families who bought houses


Harold Wood Hospital, on Gubbins Lane, closed on 13th December 2006 [1] with all patients moved to Queen's Hospital in nearby Romford. The site vacated by the hospital has been earmarked for a 470-home housing development [2].


Gidea Park is a part of Romford post town. Gidea Park is the location of the "Romford Garden Suburb" constructed in 1910 to 1911 on the Gidea Hall and Balgores Estates as an exhibition of town planning. Small cottages and houses were designed by more than 100 architects, many of them of considerable reputation. A competition was held to select the best town planning scheme for the suburb and the best designs for houses costing £500 and cottages costing £375. The project, including a new railway station, was promoted by a company founded by three Liberal MP's who had links with the Hampstead Garden Suburb development, Herbert Raphael, John Tudor Walters (later both knighted) and Charles McCurdy.
Known as the "exhibition houses" and set in their garden suburb are fine examples of their time. Six of them are now Grade II listed buildings and all are now very sought after.

Further houses mostly of contemporary flat-roofed designs were built in 1934/35 for a "Modern Homes" Exhibition in Heath Drive, Brook Road, Eastern Avenue, one by Lubetkin is now Grade II listed.
The Royal Liberty School in Upper Brentwood Road was the first school in Britain (and possibly in Europe) to install an electronic computer (an Elliot 903, in 1965).

Romford Hockey Club is located in Gidea Park. Essex County Cricket Club played first-class cricket at the Gidea Park Sports Ground between 1950 and 1968.

Rush Green is a place divided between the London Borough of Havering and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in East London, England. It is included in the Romford post town. The central part of the district is at the crossroads of Rush Green Road and Dagenham Road (in Havering), approximately half a mile south of Romford town centre. Several shops and businesses are located around this junction. Other parts extend further south along Dagenham Road into Barking and Dagenham; this neighbouhood is the location of Barking College and Rush Green Library, and was the site of Rush Green Hospital (once the main maternity unit for this part of London), now replaced by a housing estate.


Rainham (pronounced /ˈreɪnəm/) is a place in the London Borough of Havering in East London, England. It is a suburban development located 13.6 miles (21.9 km) east of Charing Cross with a population of 12,114 (including the nearby small village of Wennington).[1] The village has grown steadily over the last few hundreds of years to the town that it is today. Rainham has maintained most of its historical features, such as the Norman church and Victorian buildings in the centre of the village. Rainham forms part of the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway regeneration area, in addition to having a large quantity of undeveloped land owned by the London Development Agency. As such, it is the target of several proposals for redevelopment. Rainham gives its name to the Rainham Marshes which border the town to the south and extend to Purfleet in the west


The small parish of Wennington stands in the southeastern corner of the London Borough of Havering. It is still separated from it’s neighbours Rainham and Aveley by belts of farmland and marsh pasture; because of this and the Green Belt restrictions, the parish retains it’s ancient rural character. The village itself is spread out along the Wennington Road, which before 1930 was the main road between Dagenham, Aveley, the Thurrocks, Purfleet and Grays. There was a garrison at Purfleet and two forts, at Tilbury and East Tilbury, built during the Napoleonic wars.Sailors from Purfleet brought their washing to the laundry that existed opposite Laundry Cottages.

• Map of area: Romford
• Postcode: RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM6, RM7
• Population:
• Average age: 39.76 (Havering)
• Average house price: £215,468
• Local authority: Havering
• Within the congestion zone: No
• Train/tube: Romford (NR), Hainult, Newbury Park
• Bus routes: 175, 247, 252, 294, 365, 500
• Banks: 3
• Cinemas: 0
• Doctors: 4
• Dentists: 2
• Leisure facilities: 0
• Libraries: 1
• Supermarkets: 2
• Theatres: 0
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• View schools