Everything about Dagenham totally explained
Dagenham is a suburban town in East
London, in the
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, situated east of
Charing Cross.
Etymology
Dagenham as
Dæccanhaam is first recorded in a charter of
Barking Abbey dating from 687 AD. The first Dagenham was almost certainly just a small farmstead, the ham or farm of a man called Daecca, as
Dæccan means
home of a man called Dæcca.
Demographics
The area has a strong white working class tradition and up to a couple of years ago it was a mainly White area. But, recent immigration has radically transformed it. It now has a large and growing black population, who have moved out from Hackney and Stratford. There is also a growing south asian population, who have moved out from Ilford and Goodmayes.
History
Historic sites
On the corner of Whalebone Lane and the Eastern Avenue, diagonally opposite the
Moby-Dick public house, 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 (16 km) limit from the
City of London and the
turnpike toll-gate.
Valence House is in Becontree Avenue and it's the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. Dating back to the 13th century it's sited in parkland and is partially surrounded by a moat. Valenc House is the borough's local history museum and art gallery, displaying an impressive collection of artifacts and archives that tell the story of the lives of the people of Barking and Dagenham.
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.
In
1205 Dagenham was large enough to have a
chaplain and the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul was probably built at around that time.
Dagenham was still an undeveloped village, when building of the vast
Becontree estate by the
London County Council began in the early 1920s. The building of the enormous estate, which also spread into the neighbouring parishes of
Ilford and
Barking, caused a rapid increase in population.
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. Dagenham East was the location of the
Dagenham East rail crash in 1958. 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. The
Metropolitan Police District was extended to include Dagenham in 1840. The parish formed part of the
Romford Rural District from 1894.
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. Instead, in 1926 the Dagenham parish was removed from the Romford Rural District and became an
urban district. In 1965 the
Municipal Borough of Dagenham was abolished and its former area became part of the
London Borough of Barking, which is now known as Barking and Dagenham. The current MP for the
Dagenham constituency is
Jon Cruddas.
Industry and commerce
In 1931 the
Ford Motor Company relocated from
Trafford Park,
Manchester, to Dagenham, which was already the location of supplier Briggs Motor Bodies. A 500 acre (2 km²) riverside site was developed to become Europe's largest car plant, a vast
vertically integrated site with its own
blast furnaces and power station, importing iron ore and exporting finished vehicles. By the 1950s Ford had taken over Briggs at Dagenham and its other sites at
Doncaster,
Southampton,
Croydon and
Romford. At its peak the Dagenham plant had 4 million square feet (371600 m²) of floor space and employed 40,000. On
February 20,
2002, full production was discontinued due to overcapacity in Europe and the relative difficulty of upgrading the 60 year old site compared with other European sites such as Velencia and Cologne. Other factors leading to the closure of the Auto-assembly line were the need of the site for the new Diesel Centre of Excellence, which produces half Ford's Diesel Engines worldwide and the UK employment laws when compared to Spanish, German and Belgian laws. Ford offered a good redundancy package, billed as one of the best in UK manufacturing. It is the location of the
Dagenham wind turbines.
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. Mayor brownfield housing developments are forcast to increase the population by tens of thousands of people. It is planned that the
Docklands Light Railway and
East London Transit will serve the area.
Sport and recreation
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C., 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.
Motorcycle speedway was staged at the greyhound stadium in Ripple Road in the mid to late 1930s. The club run events focussed on training but a team called the Dagenham Daggers did take part in local competitions.
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 residents
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 and player Martin Peters scorer of the second goal who was a Fanshaw schoolboy. Other famous names include England footballers Ken Brown,
Jimmy Greaves and
Terry Venables, singer
Sandie Shaw who was in the Girls Life Brigade at Oxlow Lane Baptist Church, 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 who's father Alex captained local team Stedfast, for eight years, that played in the
Romford and District League lived in Foxlands Road, Dagenham and attended Hunters Hall Primary School and 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. Dagenham is also headquarters to the
Dagenham Girl Pipers.
Some Bizzare Records boss
Stevo Pearce.
Martin Gore of
Depeche Mode was born and lived his early years there.
Stevie Shears worked and apparently lived there before form
Ultravox.
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. National Rail services also operate from nearby
Chadwell Heath.
Dagenham Heathway is served by the following
Transport for London contracted routes:
London Buses route 145(from Hedgemans Road),173,174,175 and 364(from Reede Road).
Nearest places
Popular culture
In 1995,
Morrissey released a song called "
Dagenham Dave" and British
Oi! band
Cock Sparrer have a song called "Last Train to Dagenham".
Gallery of images
Image:Dagenham village.jpg|Dagenham village gives some clue to the once-rural history of the area.
Image:Beam valley park and turbine 1.jpg|The southern Dagenham skyline includes structures of the Ford plant and wind turbines.
Image:Dagenham church.jpg|Dagenham parish church.
Image:Beam valley park.jpg|Beam valley.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dagenham'.
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