Dagenham was a local government district in south west

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England from 1926 to 1965 covering the parish of

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 ...

. Initially created as an urban district, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1938. It was established to deal with the increase in population and the change from rural to urban area caused by the building of 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 ...

estate by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

and the subsequent movement of people from

Inner London Inner London is the group of London boroughs that form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area ...

. Peripheral to London, the district formed part of the

Metropolitan Police District The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, which excludes the City of ...

and

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 e ...

. It now forms the eastern sections of the

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London boroughs, London borough in East London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is wi ...

and the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London boroughs, London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest t ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

Formation

Dagenham parish formed part of

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 RD Ilford Urban District Ilford is a large town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a population of 168,168 in 2011, compared to 303,858 for the ...

and Barking Town Urban District, because of the dramatic rise in population caused by the change in use of land from mostly farming to the large scale suburban housing development of the

estate. Instead the

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

was created in 1926 from the parish of Dagenham.

District and borough

A move was mooted in 1929 to either combine Dagenham with Barking and Ilford (the three districts to contain parts of the Becontree estate), or for Dagenham to gain part of Barking; but it was not acted upon. The district became part of the

London Passenger Transport Area The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

from 1933. Dagenham was incorporated as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1938.

Initially the urban district council was based in

Valence House Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. The timber-framed museum building, partially surrounded by a moat, is situated in Valence Park off Becontree Avenue, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, L ...

, which it purchased from the

in 1928. To replace this temporary accommodation, the council built a

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

which was designed in art deco style. The building officially opened in 1937 and is now used as by the Barking and Dagenham local authority. It is located at

Becontree Heath Becontree Heath (also spelt Beacontree Heath) is an open space in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The name has also been applied to the local area, in particular to the RM postcode area, RM8 postal district. History Becontree Heath f ...

, the ancient meeting place of the

hundred. The first stone was ceremonially put in place in 1936 by Lord Snell, Chairman of the London County Council. The parish and district included a long protrusion northwards to include

Chadwell Heath Chadwell Heath is an area in East London, England. It is split between the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge, around west of Romford and east of Ilford, and north-east of Charing Cross. History Topon ...

Marks Gate Marks Gate is an area of London, England in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Part of East London, it is immediately north of Chadwell Heath and to the west of Romford. The name originally referred to an entrance or gate into Hainault ...

, Hog Hill and part of

Hainault Forest Hainault Forest was a large wooded area in the English counties of Essex and Greater London which was mostly destroyed after 1851. Popular outrage at the destruction of most of the forest was an important catalyst for the creation of the modern ...

, and formed a boundary with

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

. The council exercised its right to be an excepted district, locally responsible for education, under the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the Butler Act after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Histori ...

Abolition

The borough was considered to form part of the ''Greater London Conurbation'', as defined by the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital record ...

. The

Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was established in 1957 and published its report in 1960. The report made recommendations for the overhaul of the administration of the capital. They ...

considered the district for inclusion in Greater London and in 1965 it was abolished by the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, with its former area transferred to

from Essex, to be combined with parts of other districts, including

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, to form the London Borough of Barking (now known as the

). The northern tip of the protrusion northwards towards Chigwell became part of the

along with the south eastern part of

Chigwell Urban District Chigwell was a local government district in south west Essex, England.Vision of Britain Chigwell UDhistoric map ) It contained the settlements of Chigwell, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill; and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District. Formatio ...

Population

The population of the parish grew considerably after the building of the Becontree estate from 1921; it peaked in 1951. The introduction of industrial use such as the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

factory led to further increases in population.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dagenham Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 History of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham History of local government in London (1889–1965) Municipal boroughs of England Dagenham