The Chase is a nature reserve in

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 Forest ...

in London. Most of it is in the

London Borough 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 G ...

, with a small part in

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 are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, London ...

. It is owned by the boroughs, and managed by London Borough of Barking & Dagenham - Parks & Countryside Ranger Service. The boroughs have designated the sections in their respective boroughs as Local Nature Reserves. The Chase, together with the neighbouring

Eastbrookend Country Park Eastbrookend Country Park is an 84-hectare park and Local Nature Reserve in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in England. Together with the neighbouring Chase Nature Reserve it is also designated a Site of Metropolitan Impor ...

, is also designated a

Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

. The

River Rom 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 east London suburbs surrounding the metropolitan centre of Romford, part of it forming a sec ...

, which is the boundary between the boroughs, runs through the site, with Barking and Dagenham on the west side and Havering on the east. It was formerly a site of gravel extraction, and now has a diverse range of habitats. The River Rom has birds such as kingfishers, and the 190 species of birds recorded include skylarks, little ringed plovers and lapwings. It is also home to around 300 Green Parakeets who make their presence known with much noise, especially at sunset. Other animals include water voles, great crested newts, slow worms and badgers. The

Black Poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

is Britain's rarest native tree, and the site has six of only six hundred female trees. Dry acid grasslands have some unusual species. Some areas are gazed by horses.

Access

The reserve is divided into a wooded narrow strip along the River Rom north of the road called The Chase, and a large more open area with lakes to the south. The wooded strip east of the River Rom, which is in Havering, is crossed by a footpath between Roneo Corner, opposite Rom Valley Way, to The Chase (road). A footpath from Dagenham Road to The Chase (road) goes through the area on the west bank. The southern area is bordered on the west by Eastbrookend Country Park, and is linked by a footbridge over a railway line to

Beam Valley Country Park Beam Valley Country Park is a 74-hectare park in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Most of it is designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) called Beam Valley, but a narrow strip next to the River Beam south from Western Aven ...

to the south.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase Nature Reserve, The Nature reserves in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Havering