The London Borough of Havering () in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, 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. The borough is mainly suburban, with large areas of

protected open space An open space reserve (also called open space preserve, open space reservation, and green space) is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside. The purpose of an open space reserve may include ...

. Romford is a major retail and night time entertainment centre, and to the south the borough extends into the London Riverside redevelopment area of the Thames Gateway. The name Havering is a reference to the Royal Liberty of Havering which occupied the area for several centuries. The local authority is Havering London Borough Council. It is the easternmost London borough.

Population

In 2011, the borough had a population of 237,232 over . Havering has a lower population density than other London Boroughs as large areas are parkland and (more than half the borough) is Metropolitan Green Belt protected land. Those areas of development are extensive but rarely intensive. It has, at 4.5%, a below average unemployment rate for Greater London, and one of the lowest crime rates. Havering has a significantly higher proportion of residents in white ethnic groups than other outer London boroughs (87.7% – 2011 census). The Black African population is the most significant minority ethnic group in Havering (3.2%). The Upminster ward of the borough is the third least ethnically diverse in Greater London, with a Simpson's diversity index of 1.10.

Ethnicity

Religion

The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Havering.

Neighbours

Havering is bordered to the south by the London Borough of Bexley by the River Thames, to the west by the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a 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 to the west, the ...

and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and to the north and east by Essex.

Industry and commerce

There are over 7,000 businesses based in Havering. Romford is the main commercial hub of the borough with a small district of mainly office development close to the railway station. There is also some industry to the south between Rainham and the River Thames such as Rainham Steel headquarters on the boundary of Elm Park. Light industry elsewhere in the borough has been in decline, with major employers such as the former

Star Brewery The Star Brewery was a brewery in Romford, England. For much of its history, it was a main industryLondon Development Agency (now GLA Land and Property), with the opening of the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence. The main retail district is also located in Romford with several interconnected or neighbouring shopping arcades including the

Liberty Shopping Centre The Liberty Shopping Centre is a covered shopping centre in Romford, the largest such centre in the town. It was originally built in 1968 and underwent a four-year redevelopment completed in 2003. The centre takes its name from the former Libert ...

, the Mercury Mall, and the Brewery. Romford Market is located to the north of Romford and is the largest market within the borough and in the surrounding area. Hornchurch and Upminster are the other main retail centres with extensive high street shopping areas. Romford has a developed night-time economy with one of the highest concentrations of bars and nightclubs anywhere in Greater London outside the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

with public transport radiating into all parts of the borough. Havering London Borough Council applied to the Government to allow a 'super-casino' to be built in the south of the borough, however the application was rejected in May 2006.

History

The London Borough of Havering was created in 1965 by the combined former area of the Municipal Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District which had been transferred to

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

from Essex by the London Government Act 1963. The name originates from the Royal Liberty of Havering which covered broadly, but not exactly the same area, and had been abolished in 1892.

Early history

Modern settlement originated in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

times when it consisted of Havering Palace and the surrounding lands that belonged to the king. The palace itself is known to have existed since at least the reign of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

when it was one of his primary residences. The area formed a liberty from 1465 which included the parishes of Havering atte Bower, Hornchurch and Romford. The name Havering appears in documents from around the 12th century. The origins of this name have been debated by historians since the Middle Ages when it was linked to the legend of

and a mystical ring returned to him by Saint John the Apostle. The event being commemorated in stained glass (from about 1407) in a chapel at Romford, that was dedicated to the king.

Settlement

London Underground and fast

rail services Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

resulted in considerable residential land use mixed with designated parklands and farmland under the planning policy of the predecessor local authorities and current authority during the 20th century and into the early 21st century. The development of the borough came in two distinct phases. The first middle class suburban developments were built in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. The garden suburbs of Upminster, Emerson Park and Gidea Park (also known as Romford Garden Suburb) were spurred on by the building of the railway lines through Havering from Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street in the late 19th century. In the 1930s the District Line was electrified and extended to Upminster with new stations at Elm Park and Upminster Bridge. Also at this time new industries near the area such as the Ford Motor Company plant at

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 ...

caused a new wave of mostly working class developments along the route of the new Underground line. In addition to this, to the north of the borough, the large housing estates of Harold Hill and Collier Row were constructed to deal with the chronic housing shortages and early slum clearance programmes in central London.

Districts

This pattern of the 'garden suburb' with inter- and post-war private housing developments occurred widely across the borough, with small estates of social housing representing a low percentage of housing in any single council ward; six of the 30 electoral wards with fewer than 2% social housing are in the borough: Hylands, Mawneys, Pettits, Hacton and the two wards forming Upminster, Cranham and Upminster Ward.Key Statistics: Population; Quick Statistics: Economic indicators
( 2011 census and 2001 census) Retrieved 2015-02-27. Plans to extend existing developments in much of the borough are blocked as open land is protected as part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. In contrast, the southern part of Havering adjacent to the Thames is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area. New open spaces and large scale house building to provide an entirely new residential community is planned. The most built-up areas are the traditional garden suburb districts of Hornchurch,

Emerson Park Emerson Park is a suburban neighbourhood near Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London. Predominantly affluent and residential, it is located approximately north-east of Charing Cross. It is part of the Hornchurch post town ...

, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Romford and Upminster. These places have developed over the last hundred years to form a large area of continuous urban sprawl with indistinct boundaries. A 2017 study found that, when comparing low-end rent to low-end earnings, private rented housing in Havering is the most affordable of any London borough. Named neighbourhoods are the developments of Ardleigh Green, Chase Cross, Collier Row, Elm Park, Harold Hill, Rainham. The borough's exurbs with green buffers of farmland or parkland are: * Havering-atte-Bower * North Ockendon * Noak Hill * Wennington

Transport

Roads

The

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

forms part of the borough boundary to the east with North Ockendon the only settlement to fall outside. The A12 (near Romford) and the A13 (near Rainham) are the main trunk radial routes from central London and are located to the north and south of the borough respectively. The A127 trunk route to Southend begins at Gallows Corner; which also forms the eastern end of the A118 local artery from Stratford. The A124 local artery from Canning Town terminates at Upminster. HaveringLU

Public transport

The District line of the London Underground runs roughly east–west through the middle of the borough and there is an extensive network of London Bus routes, linking all districts to Romford and other places beyond the borough. The London, Tilbury and Southend line (operated by c2c) passes through the borough in two places and the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

(operated by TfL Rail and Abellio Greater Anglia) passes through the north of the borough serving Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Wood. There is also a branch line from Romford to Upminster which is currently operated by London Overground. There are proposals for transport improvements in the south of the borough where the population is expected to rise. With the introduction of Crossrail there will be an increased service from Harold Wood, Gidea Park, and Romford to both Central London and Reading.

Travel to work

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 31.8% of all residents aged 16–74; train, 11.9%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 6.3%; bus, minibus or coach, 5.1%; on foot, 4.1%; work mainly at or from home, 2.4%; passenger in a car or van, 2.1%.

Media

The local newspaper is the Romford Recorder. Bedrock Radio is a charity run community health & Hospital radio station located within the Queen's Hospital in Romford. The first Hospital Radio Service In Havering began broadcasting in 1964 as Harold Wood Radio. Today, Bedrock Radio serves the community by broadcasting online and to Queen's,

King George King George may refer to: People Monarchs ;Bohemia *George of Bohemia (1420-1471, r. 1458-1471), king of Bohemia ;Duala people of Cameroon *George (Duala king) (late 18th century), king of the Duala people ;Georgia * George I of Georgia (998 or ...

& Goodmayes Hospitals and features information about the Hospitals and NHS services, promotes charitable and community organisations and has an extensive local events guide featuring community non-profit events. Time 107.5 FM is the commercial radio station broadcasting to Havering and surrounding areas and features local news.

Places of interest

*'' The Diver'' * Brookside Theatre * Langtons *

* Queen's Theatre
RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre
* Rainham Hall – National Trust house in Rainham * Romford Market * Romford Garden Suburb * Upminster Windmill * Upminster Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia

Politics

Havering London Borough Council

Havering_London_UK_labelled_ward_map_2002

Havering elects 54 councillors from 18 wards: After the 2006 local elections the Conservative Party had a majority on the council with 34 councillors and the second largest party represented was the

Havering Residents Association Havering Residents Association (HRA) is a group of residents' associations and registered political party in London, England. It is active in the London Borough of Havering and forms a 17-councillor group on Havering London Borough Council. At th ...

with 13 councillors. The Rainham Independent Residents Association had three councillors, the Labour Party had two councillors and the Liberal Democrats and the BNP had one councillor each. Between May 2006 and October 2008 were three by-elections. The Residents' Association in St Andrews Ward and the Conservatives in Squirrels Health Ward each retained one seat, the Residents' Association lost South Hornchurch to an independent candidate. One councillor elected as a Conservative has resigned the whip and now sits as an independent. Following his election, the independent in South Hornchurch joined the leader of the Rainham Independent Residents' Association in forming the Independent Local Residents' Group. The other two Rainham Independent Residents' Association members formed the Rainham Residents' Association as a separate entity. In May 2004 Councillor Michael White was elected Leader of the council. In June 2014 Councillor Roger Ramsey was re-elected Leader of the council. The 2010 local elections took place on 6 May 2010. The outcome was little change: Conservatives having 33 councillors, Havering Residents Group 12, Labour 5 and Independent Residents 4. The BNP lost its incumbent before the election having turned to an Independent Resident who was later elected as such. Labour increased its membership by three. The Independent Residents, who had split in 2008, regained the seats lost through the split. The Lib Dem Member also lost, to a Residents (ex-Labour) candidate. In March 2013, UKIP gained its first seat on the authority. UKIP's Lawrence Webb gained his seat from the Conservatives following the death of veteran Conservative, Cllr. Dennis Bull. In July 2013, thirteen Conservative councillors were reported by the local press, the ''Romford Recorder'', as being deselected by the Romford Conservative Association including council cabinet members, formal complaints were made to Conservative Party Headquarters, and later three Conservative councillors defected to UKIP. Councillors Sandra Binion, Ted Eden and Fred Osborne joined UKIP citing local and national disillusionment.

London Assembly

Havering forms part of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency.

UK Parliament

Until 2010 the borough was split between the parliamentary constituencies of Hornchurch, Romford and Upminster with the three constituencies entirely within the borough. At the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

, the boundaries of these constituencies changed to a new Hornchurch and Upminster constituency and Rainham became part of the new cross-borough Dagenham and Rainham constituency.

Sport and leisure

The London Borough of Havering has several sporting clubs: * Football ** Romford F.C., a

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club who play at Ship Lane, Aveley. **

A.F.C. Hornchurch Hornchurch Football Club is a football club based in Upminster, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hornchurch Stadium. History 1881 club The first Hornchurch Football Club was founded in October 1881. Based at Grey To ...

, a

club who play at Hornchurch Stadium * Ice hockey ** Romford Raiders, an ice hockey team who play at

Romford Ice Arena Romford Ice Arena was an ice rink located in Romford in the London Borough of Havering, England. The venue was built in the 1980s and at the time of opening in 1987 was equipped with a full range of facilities, including a cafe and arcade games. ...

. * Field hockey **

Havering Hockey Club Havering Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Hornchurch which is in the London Borough of Havering, east London, England. The club consists of 4 Men's teams and 4 Ladies teams playing at varying levels. The club currently plays its home f ...

, who play at Campion school

Twinning

Havering is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

, Germany * Hesdin, France

Education

The Borough is the education authority for the district providing education in a mix of foundation, community and voluntary aided schools. There are also a number of academies. Havering Adult College provides part-time day, evening and weekend adult education (19+) from sites throughout the borough.

Havering Sixth Form College Havering Sixth Form College (alternatively styled Havering VI Form College), abbreviated as HSFC, is a sixth form college in Wingletye Lane, Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, East London, England. Built on the site of Dury Falls Seco ...

provides sixth form education for pupils of borough schools as well as those who are resident in the borough. Havering College of Further and Higher Education provides part-time and full-time education to students aged 14+. A 2017 study b
Trust for London
and th
New Policy Institute
found that 52% of adults in Havering lack Level 3 Qualifications (A Level equivalent) – the worst level of any London borough. 44% of 19 year olds in Havering also lacked these qualifications – the second worst level in the capital.

Health Care

The Borough of Havering is serviced by The Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. Provisions of Accident and Emergency from Queens Hospital, Romford. During the 2019/2020 financial year Queens hospital received 309,551 patients into the A&E department. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/barking-havering-and-redbridge-university-hospitals-nhs-trust-ara-2019-20.pdf

References

External links

Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Havering, London Borough Of London boroughs 1965 establishments in the United Kingdom Local authorities adjoining the River Thames