The River Rom, also known as the River Beam below its confluence with the Ravensbourne, is a tributary of 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 ...

in England that flows through the 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 ...

suburbs around

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

before joining the Thames at Dagenham. Part of the river forms a section of the boundary between the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and

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 ...

. The Rom is

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

ed as it passes through the centre of Romford.

Course

Starting in

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 ...

, the Rom is the continuation of the Bourne Brook after Bournebridge,

Stapleford Abbotts Stapleford Abbotts is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, approximately SW of Ongar, N of Romford and SSE of Epping. The whole parish is within the M25 motorway. The village covers and had a population of 959 ...

in the

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 Lond ...

district of Essex which rises northeast at Spring Farm by Stapleford Abbotts Golf Course in the Essex

Borough of Brentwood The Borough of Brentwood is a local government district with borough status in Essex, England. The borough is named after its main town of Brentwood, where the council is based; it includes several villages and the surrounding rural area. T ...

. Taking an almost straight south-flowing course, the Rom passes under the

London Loop The London Outer Orbital Path—more usually the "London LOOP"—is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walke ...

and experiences a drop of in elevation before it enters the ringroad enclosed town centre of Romford where it becomes underground in a

, a man-made tunnel, at 16m AOD. To the south of the town centre it regains green banks and adjoins the retail park on Rom Valley Way, passes under Roneo Corner, divides two residential estates at 8m AOD and enters Eastbrookend Country Park where it is joined by a tributary, The Ravensbourne that has flowed through Emerson Park (a residential area) and then a park, Harrow Lodge Park, from its source in

Ardleigh Green Ardleigh Green is an area in east London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. It is east-northeast of Charing Cross. This part of London is predominantly residential. History Toponymy The place is an enlargement of a hamlet of ...

The Rom then continues under the name of the Beam and forms the boundary between the

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 ...

and 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 ...

before reaching the

in the Dagenham industrial estate which included 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 ...

works. The Beam Valley comprises of land running the entire stretch of the river. The valley also includes various historical features including tank traps, pillboxes and a section of the old Romford Canal.

Etymology

Rom is a

back-formation Back-formation is the process or result of creating a neologism, new word via Morphology (linguistics), morphology, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes ...

from the name of the town of

, which is located on a crossing of the river.Mills, D., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names,'' (2000) The name 'Romford' is first recorded in 1177 as ''Romfort'', which is formed from 'rūm' and 'ford' and means "the wide or spacious ford". The name of the river is first recorded in the 13th century as ''le Markediche'', meaning 'boundary ditch' and referring to the ancient boundary between the parishes of Dagenham and

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 ...

which later gained

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, si ...

. A more recent name for part of the river of ''the Beam'' originated from an early bridge over the river, consisting of a beam of wood.

Wildlife and environment

Throughout the northern section, where the Rom starts, in the north western part of the London Borough of Havering its valley has been designated as a ''Site of Importance for Nature Conservation'' The river contains unbranched bur-reeds ('' Sparganium erectum'' and '' Sparganium emersum'') and fool's watercress ('' Apium nodiflorum''), and supports water voles, kingfishers and reed buntings. Surrounding farmland has

lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (Family (biology), family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, ...

and

Eurasian golden plover The European golden plover (''Pluvialis apricaria''), also known as the Eurasian golden plover, or just the golden plover within Europe, is a relatively large species of plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers, the American g ...

in winter. Apart from the river environs, the ''Site of Importance for Nature Conservation'' also includes Foreberry Wood through which the river runs. This contains both

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soi ...

and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

s. Also in the upper parts of the river is another ''Site of Importance for Nature Conservation'' where the river flows through King George Playing Fields in

Beam Valley

Further downstream, the Beam Valley is a mixture of woodlands, acid grassland, ponds and marsh areas, a habitat for many types of wildlife. The London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and of

plan to develop the area to improve the conservation interest and to create new opportunities for recreation and education. The River Beam is home to the rare water vole, while the grassland in the valley includes certain rare and endangered plants.

Tributaries

The Ravensbourne

The Ravensbourne is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

which rises to the NNE in

(part of the

post town) and flows through two green suburbs of

and

viz. Emerson Park and Harrow Lodge Park, before joining the Beam at Eastbrookend Country Park.

Ordnance survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

website

Crossings

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{DEFAULTSORT:Rom Rivers of London Geography of the London Borough of Havering Geography of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Subterranean rivers of London 1Rom