Dagenham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
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[edit] History
Dagenham was still a village and part of the Romford Rural District in the early-1920s, when building of the vast Becontree Estate began. The Becontree estate was the largest social housing development in the world. It was to house the people from the slums of the east-end of London. On the corner of Whalebone Lane and the Eastern Avenue, diagonally opposite the Moby Dick pub, is the site of a Saxon moot hall (see OS map). 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.
[edit] 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 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.
Dagenham Dock was once a large coaling port and the Chequers pub (now closed, but Chequers Lane still exists) gained world wide fame due to the many merchant seamen of all nationalities who stopped off there for a last drink before regaining ship.
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.
[edit] Local government and politics
In 1926 the Dagenham parish was removed from the rural district and became an urban district. In 1938, in further recognition of its development, it became a municipal borough. In 1965 the Municipal Borough of Dagenham was abolished and its former area became part of the present-day London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Current MP for Dagenham constituency is Jon Cruddas.
[edit] Education
There are at 10 secondary schools in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, these are: Eastbrook, Dagenham Park (formerly Dagenham Priory), All Saints, Robert Clack, Warren, Trinity, Sydney Russell, Barking Abbey, Eastbury and the Jo Richardson.
[edit] Sport and recreation
Dagenham & Redbridge FC, based in Dagenham, are currently top of the Nationwide Conference, and have been promoted to the football league this season. They play at 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 The Queen. Dagenham also has many other parks such as Valence and Parsloes.
[edit] Transport
In 1885 a station was opened at Dagenham on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. 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 was the location of the Dagenham East rail crash in 1858. Services on the London Tilbury & Southend line were withdrawn in 1962. Dagenham is served by the following Transport for London contracted London Bus routes: 5, 62, 103, 128, 150, 145, 173, 174,175, 364 and 368.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Nearest stations
- Becontree tube station, west
- Dagenham East tube station, east
- Dagenham Heathway tube station
- Dagenham Dock railway station, south
- Chadwell Heath railway station, north
[edit] Natives
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).
