South Hornchurch is a locality to the south of

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

, east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is a suburban development situated 13.6 miles (21.8 km) east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. The area is a relatively recent addition, compared with the more mature suburbs in Havering. It was built on open farmland and the former site of

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch, or more simply RAF Hornchurch, is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to ...

History

Toponymy

According to Mills (2001) the name ''South Hornchurch'' is not an old one, it was devised at the time of the local housing development.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) However the ancient parish of Hornchurch was divided into wards, one of which was called South End and covered the area between the town and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

.'Hornchurch: Economic history and local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 7 (1978), pp. 39-45. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42811 Date accessed: 28 August 2012

Local government

The ancient parish of

formed the royal manor and liberty of Havering. It was divided into the three chapelries of Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch and Romford. The South End, North End and Town wards were part of the Hornchurch chapelry under the control of the Hornchurch vestry. Town ward was absorbed into North End and South End wards around 1722. The boundaries of the South End ward were the

River Ingrebourne The River Ingrebourne is a tributary of the River Thames 27 miles (43.3 km) in length. It is considered a strategic waterway in London, forming part of the Blue Ribbon Network. It flows through the London Borough of Havering roughly from ...

in the east, the

to the south and the

River Beam The River Rom, also known as the River Beam below its confluence with the Ravensbourne, is a tributary of the River Thames in England that flows through the east London suburbs around Romford before joining the Thames at Dagenham. Part of the r ...

to the west. In the north the boundary was formed by (in modern terms) by Hornchurch Road, High Street and Upminster Road. In 1894 the Hornchurch vestry was replaced by a parish council. From 1926 to 1965 the area was part of

Hornchurch Urban District Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cran ...

, under the control of Hornchurch Urban District Council. In 1965 Hornchurch Urban District was abolished and the area became part of the

in Greater London.

Urban development

Much of lower South Hornchurch, near Thames was occupied by Mardyke Farm. A large, high density housing estate was built on this land by Hornchurch Urban District Council in 1964. Some residential streets in South Hornchurch were named after places in New Zealand by Hornchurch Urban District Council in 1947 in reference to the use of the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital located in Hornchurch during the First World War.

Geography

The

forms the western boundary with

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

, the

the eastern boundary with Rainham, to the northwest is Elm Park, and to the north is Eastbrookend Country Park. To the south are the industrialised

Hornchurch Marshes Hornchurch Marshes is an area of the London Borough of Havering, adjacent to the north bank of the River Thames in London, England. Susceptible to flooding from three adjacent rivers, it was the southernmost marshland section of the ancient paris ...

and the

. South Hornchurch is contiguous with Rainham to the east and the two settlements are connected by the Rainham Bridge over the Ingrebourne. They share the postcode district RM13 and are within the Rainham

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

References

Districts of the London Borough of Havering Areas of London {{london-geo-stub