Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

. Historically, Romford was a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, and formed the administrative centre of the liberty of Havering before that liberty was dissolved in 1892. Good road links to London and the opening of the railway station in 1839 were key to the development of the town. The economic history of Romford is characterised by a shift from agriculture to light industry and then to retail and commerce. As part of the suburban growth of London throughout the 20th century, Romford significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1937 and was incorporated into Greater London in 1965. Today, it is one of the largest commercial, retail, entertainment and leisure districts in London and has a well-developed night-time economy as well. Its population, as of 2011, was 122,854.

History

Toponymy

Romford is first recorded in 1177 as ''Romfort'', which is formed from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

'rūm' and '

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

' and means "the wide or spacious ford". The naming of the River Rom is a local ' back-formation' from the name of the town; and the river is elsewhere known as the Beam. The ford most likely existed on the main London to Colchester road where it crossed that river.

Economic development

The town developed in the Middle Ages on the main road to London and the regionally significant

Romford Market Romford Market is a large open market with 270 stalls,Havering London Borough Council< ...

was established in 1247. The original site of the town was to the south, in an area still known as Oldchurch. It was moved northwards to the present site in the later medieval period to avoid the frequent flooding of the River Rom. The first building on the new site was the 1410 Chapel of St Edward (since replaced by the 1850 Parish Church of St Edward the Confessor. The early history of Romford and the immediate area is agricultural and it is recorded as being the location of a number of mills used to grind corn. The area was a focus of the leather industry from the 15th to the early 19th centuries and there is record of a wide range of industries such as cloth making, weaving, charcoal burning, metal working and brewing. Communications played an important part in its development; the main road to London was maintained by the Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust from 1721 and Romford became a coaching town in the 18th century. Several failed attempts were made in the early 19th century to connect the town to the Thames via a Romford Canal. It was initially intended to terminate at a basin near to the Star Brewery, to transport agricultural products to London and, eventually, to serve growing industrial sites in Romford. A later proposal included an extension to Collier Row, whereby timber from Hainault Forest could be transported to the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

for use in the Royal Dockyards. Only two miles of canal were constructed and the canal company were unable to reach the town. The development of the town was accelerated by the opening of the railway station in 1839 which stimulated the local economy and was key to the development of the Star Brewery. Initially Eastern Counties Railway services operated between

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

and Romford, with extensions to Brentwood and to Shoreditch in 1840. A second station was opened on South Street in 1892 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway on the line to Upminster and Grays, giving Romford a rail connection to Tilbury Docks. The two stations were combined into one in 1934. Light industry slowly developed, reaching a peak in the 1970s with a number of factories on the edge of town, such as the Roneo Vickers office machinery company, Colvern manufacturers of wireless components, May's Sheet Metal Works and brush manufacturers Betterware. Suburban expansion increased the population and reinforced Romford's position as a significant regional town centre. The Liberty Shopping Centre was constructed in the 1960s, and has been modernised and supplemented with further shopping centres throughout the town, including The Mall, opened in 1990 (as 'Liberty 2'); and The Brewery, opened in 2000 on the site of the old Star Brewery.

Local government

Romford formed a chapelry in the large ancient parish of Hornchurch in the

Becontree Becontree or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

hundred of

; as well as the town it included the wards of Collier Row,

Harold Wood Harold Wood is a suburban neighbourhood of Romford in the London Borough of Havering. It is situated east-northeast of Charing Cross and near to the Greater London boundary with Essex. History Toponymy The name Harold Wood was recorded in ab ...

, and Noak Hill. Through ancient custom the area enjoyed special status and a charter in 1465 removed the parish from the Becontree hundred and the county of Essex and it instead formed the independent liberty of Havering governed from a court house in the market place. Over time the vestry of Romford chapelry absorbed the local powers that would usually be held by the parish authorities in Hornchurch and in 1849 Romford became a separate parish within the liberty. Improvement commissioners were set up in 1819 for paving, lighting, watching, and cleansing of the marketplace and main streets. As the town grew this arrangement became ineffective at controlling sanitation and in 1851 a

local board of health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

was set up for the parish; although its area was reduced in 1855 to cover only the town ward. The remainder of the parish became part of the Romford

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

in 1875. These changes and the introduction of the Romford Poor Law Union in 1836 eroded the powers of the liberty and it was finally abolished in 1892 and reincorporated into Essex. The

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

reformed local government and created the Romford Urban District and

Romford Rural District Romford Rural District was a local government district in southwest Essex, England from 1894 to 1934. It surrounded, but did not include, Romford which formed a separate urban district.Vision of Britain �Romford RDNoak Hill which remained in the rural district and had become a parish in its own right in 1895. The enlarged urban district formed part of the

London Traffic Area The London Traffic Area was established by the London Traffic Act 1924 to regulate the increasing amount of motor traffic in the London area. The LTA was abolished in 1965 on the establishment of the Greater London Council. The traffic area ex ...

from 1924 and the London Passenger Transport Area from 1933. The suburban expansion of London caused an increase in population during the 1930s and the urban district was expanded further in 1934, taking in the parishes of Havering-atte-Bower and Noak Hill. It was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Romford in 1937. In 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its former area was combined with that of

Hornchurch Urban District Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cranham, Great Warley, Rainham, Upminster and W ...

; it was again removed from Essex and since then has formed the northern part of the London Borough of Havering in Greater London.

Suburban expansion

There was early expansion in the 1840s when 200 cottages were built in the area formerly occupied by an army barracks; it was known as ''New Romford''. To acknowledge the military connection, when in 1961 these were in turn replaced with new housing the name ''Waterloo Road Estate'' was applied. To the east of the market place from 1850 middle class suburban housing was constructed with a much larger area of built-over to the south of the railway from 1851. Through a gradual process of selling off former manors, houses were built radiating from the town in all directions for about a mile. More significant growth occurred between 1910 and 1911 with the construction of Romford Garden Suburb, which included

Raphael Park Raphael Park (pronounced "Ray-fell”) is a public park in Gidea Park, Romford, in the London Borough of Havering, United Kingdom. It is one of a series of parks stretching northwards from the railway line between Romford and Gidea Park. The park ...

and

Gidea Park railway station Gidea Park railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line, serving the neighbourhood of Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering, east London. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Romford and Harold Wo ...

. Large sections of land to the north of the town at Collier Row were developed in the interwar period and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the London County Council built the

Harold Hill Harold Hill is a suburban area in the London Borough of Havering, East London. northeast of Charing Cross. It is a district centre in the London Plan. The name refers to King Harold II, who held the manor of Havering-atte-Bower, and who was k ...

estate to the north east from 1948 to 1958. The right to supply electricity to the town was secured by the

County of London Electricity Supply Company The County of London Electric Supply Company Limited (C.L.E.S.Co) was a British electricity undertaking. It was incorporated as a public company in 1891 to generate and supply electricity to parts of south west London and two parishes adjacent t ...

in 1913. Initially power was generated within the Star Brewery site, with the supply switching to

Barking Power Station Barking Power Station refers to a series of power stations at various sites within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London. The original power station site, of the coal-fired A, B and C stations, was at River Road, Creekmouth, o ...

in 1925. Gas supply began in 1825 with gas works of constructed by 1938. Following the Telegraph Act 1899 Romford became part of the Post Office London telephone area and the Romford exchange was recorded as having 240 subscribers in 1916. The town water supply initially came from the Havering Well, and 1859 a new public well and pump was built at the east end of the market. The South Essex Waterworks Company started installing mains water supply in 1863 and had offices in South Street. By 1905 its supply was serving Ilford, Collier Row, Ardleigh Green, Brentwood, and Hornchurch. Sewage works were installed by the local board at Oldchurch in 1862, with further works built in Hornchurch in 1869.

Governance

The Romford UK Parliament constituency consists of the Havering wards of Brooklands, Havering Park, Hylands, Mawneys, Pettits, Romford Town, and Squirrel's Heath. The current MP is

Andrew Rosindell Andrew Richard Rosindell MP (; born 17 March 1966) is a British Conservative politician. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Romford constituency in Greater London in 2001. He has been the international director of the European ...

, a native of the town. Romford forms part of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency. Each ward elects three councillors to Havering London Borough Council. As of the 2018 council elections, all the elected councillors for the wards in Romford constituency were Conservative.

Sport

Romford F.C., who currently play in the Essex Senior League, is the local football team. The

London Raiders The Raiders are an ice hockey team based in Romford, participating in the National Division of the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL), the second tier of British ice hockey. They were known as the Romford Raiders when they were based at the Ro ...

ice hockey team is based in Romford. Romford is home to the Romford and Gidea Park Rugby Football Club, which was established in 1927. In 2003, the club became one of the first in the country to have a ladies Rugby team.

Geography

The town centre is about above sea level on a gravel terrace rising from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The north of the town has developed on London Clay and is situated as much as above sea level. A continuous gentle rise in the eastern suburbs towards Gidea Park and Harold Wood peaks around around the Harold Court. On the northern side, Harold Hill peaks at . The semi-rural area north of Collier Row and Harold Hill consists of many rolls of hills, with elevation peaking at the village of Havering-atte-Bower, . The town centre is for the most part contained within a ring road formed of St Edwards Way, Mercury Gardens, Thurloe Gardens, Oldchurch Road and Waterloo Road. The market place and much of South Street and the High Street are pedestrianised. The railway cuts through the town from east to west on a viaduct, with the bulk of the central Romford area to its north. The River Rom flows through the town in underground channels and joins the Thames after flowing through Hornchurch; elsewhere along its course it is known as the River Beam and forms part of the strategic waterways Blue Ribbon Network. Romford has formed part of the continuously built-up area of London since the 1930s and is contiguous with Rush Green to the west, Collier Row to the north,

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly affluent and residential, it was historically within the county of Essex and saw significant expansion in the early 20t ...

to the east and Hornchurch to the south east. The Romford post town covers all of the former municipal borough and extends over a much wider area, including parts of

Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Ga ...

and

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

. Neighbourhoods of Romford include: Collier Row,

Harold Park Harold Park is a place in the London Borough of Havering. History Harold Park is north-eastern part of Harold Wood, occupying an isthmus of land between the A12 and the Ingrebourne River (The River Ingrebourne at Harold Park and Hornchurch). ...

, Havering-atte-Bower, Rise Park and Rush Green. Romford is located northeast of Charing Cross in central London; northeast of Ilford; north of Dagenham; northwest of Grays; south-west of Brentwood; west of

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

; and southeast of Epping.

Climate

Climate data for Romford is taken from the nearest weather station at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, around southwest of the marketplace.

Demography

The Havering committee area for Romford is defined as the wards of Romford Town and Brooklands. Demographic data is produced by the Office for National Statistics for these wards. In 2001 the population of Romford Town was 13,200 and Brooklands was 13,024, giving a total population of 26,224. In contrast, the approximate population of the area within the 2005 Romford Urban Strategy was estimated to be 36,500. 71.52% in Romford Town and 70.48% in Brooklands report their religion as Christian, compared to 76.13% for Havering, 58.23% in London and 71.74% in England. 15.71% in Romford Town and 16.62% in Brooklands report having no religion, compared to 13.18% in Havering, 15.76% in London and 14.59% in England. In 2011, the Romford Parliament constituency was 82% White British, 5.8% Asian, 5% Other White and 4.7% Black out of a total population of 95,894. The constituency is predominantly Christian with 64% of the residents reporting that religion. Out of the wards that make up Romford overall, the highest male life expectancy was in Squirrel's Heath (80.7 years) while the highest female expectancy was in Romford Town (85.7 years). The lowest were Heaton (76.2 years) and Heaton and Gooshays (both 81.3 years) respectively. The average house price as of 2014 was £225,000 in Romford Town ward. In the Pettits ward, 87.5% of houses were owned by households; the lowest figure, and the only minority one, was Gooshays ward with 48.6%.

Economy

The Lamb Public House market Place Romford - geograph

Romford is recognised in the

as one of 13 regionally significant metropolitan centres in Greater London, with a considerable catchment area. The total commercial floorspace in the town was in 2002, of which was retail space and was offices. The retail space is growing and in 2005 consisted of . The retail economy is complemented by a central business district close to the railway station, where the offices of employers such as Aon are located. Employment in the town centre was categorised in 2002 as approximately 40% commercial office, 40% comparison retail, 10% hospitality, 5% public sector, 2.5% service retail and 2.5% arts and entertainment. Compared to the similar east London areas of Ilford, Stratford and Barking, there is more comparison retail and commercial office employment in Romford and less public sector work. The total turnover of £413,395,000 in 2002 for Romford was larger than any other comparable town centre in east London and approximately 70% came from the commercial office businesses. There is a developed night time economy, greater than in any other metropolitan centre in Greater London, with of cinemas, theatres and concert hall space; of bars and pubs; of cafés and restaurants; and of fast food and take away venues. The night time economy is almost as significant as the day economy with around 12,000 visits to Romford during the day and 11,000 visits to pubs, clubs and bars at night. As of 2012, Romford has of total town centre floorspace (retail, leisure and vacant), placing it fifth in Greater London only behind the West End, Croydon,

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

and Stratford for "town centre vitality and viability".

Transport

Railway

The town is served by Romford railway station; it is situated on the Great Eastern Main Line and the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel ...

, in London fare zone 6. Elizabeth line trains call at the station, formed of high-frequency services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield.Romford Rail Station
Transport for London Services will extend through central London to Reading when the line is opened fully. Some Greater Anglia services to/from and also call at the station. A branch line shuttle on the Romford to Upminster Line is operated by

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

Buses

Romford is a hub of the London Buses network, with services to Canning Town, Stratford,

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

and Dagenham; there are also feeder services from the large housing developments at Collier Row and

. There are night bus services to Stratford, Harold Hill and Paddington. Romford town centre has a very high Public Transport Accessibility Level score of 6. There is a proposal that Romford will be served by a future extension of the East London Transit.

Roads

The A12 trunk road passes to the north of Romford, while the A118 road from Stratford connects with it at Gallows Corner at the start of the

A127 road The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in Essex, England. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking Romford with Southend-on-Sea, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a tr ...

to Southend.

Culture

Havering Council's urban strategy aims to make Romford a cultural destination, whilst recognising that Hornchurch forms the main cultural hub of the borough with a large theatre and arts spaces. As a former market and coaching town, Romford is well served by public houses and two that are located in the market place are listed buildings. The market and adjacent streets also form a conservation area. Mass entertainment facilities in the town include the Brookside Theatre, Romford Greyhound Stadium, one of the few remaining dog racing tracks in London; 2 multi-screen cinemas; and until April 2013 Romford Ice Arena, which was home to the local Romford Raiders ice hockey team. The Dolphin Centre was a popular swimming and leisure facility located in the town from 1982 to 1995, but the site was redeveloped into the current Axis residential tower block and

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

superstore in the mid-2000s. There is also a Romford F.C. associated with the town. Romford Bowls Club is based in Lodge Farm Park. 1980s Post Punk bands Department S and Purple Hearts both have origins in Romford. The town is strongly associated with the electronic music group Underworld, who cite Romford in their hit " Born Slippy", affiliated to the movie '' Trainspotting''. Romford's position as a focus for electronic music production was reinforced by the presence of the Strictly Underground and Suburban Base record labels, with Suburban Base developing from the Boogie Times record store. According to a Billboard article in 1992, Romford-produced dance music formed part of a trend favouring suburban and provincial "bedroom" record labels over those in central London. In 2013, the film '' Death Walks'' was filmed in Romford over a four-month period. The cult TV series '' Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' was set in the fictional Darkplace Hospital, in Romford. The local newspapers for the town and the borough of Havering are the ''

Romford Recorder The ''Romford Recorder'' is a local newspaper for the town of Romford, the principal town of the East London Borough of Havering. The ''Romford Recorder'' serves all of Havering. References External links * * London newspapers Media an ...

'', '' Romford and Havering Post'' and '' Romford Yellow Advertiser''. Two radio stations are located in the area: Time 107.5 an
Bedrock Radio
(a community health and hospital radio station).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Havering Metropolitan centres of London Market towns in London District centres of London