Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the five

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

s 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 Forest ...

. The timber-framed museum building, partially surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, is situated in Valence Park off Becontree Avenue, 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The building has been used as a manor house, a family home, a town hall, the headquarters of the library service and now houses a museum.

Valence House Museum

The museum contains permanent exhibitions on history and life in Barking and Dagenham, including displays from the 1945

Becontree Estate 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 ...

. It hosts regular special events for the public and school parties. Valence House Museum, archives and local studies library closed on 22 December 2007 for a period of extensive refurbishment, partly funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. It reopened in June 2010 and a few days later a plaque was unveiled to mark the funding. The refurbishment included a new purpose built archive and local studies centre. An exhibition opened showing restored items from the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation collection at Valence House Museum on 14 March 2018. The exhibition was inspired by local man Alan Friswell who worked with Ray Harryhausen on the creature's restorations. It was funded

Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It provides a b ...

. In an interview Foundation Trustee John Walsh said: "The exhibition brings Hollywood to Dagenham. Alan Friswell went to see films of Harryhausen and now he is bringing his skillsets to the borough. We have over 50,000 individual items which is the largest outside of Walt Disney and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We are ready to come back with more models in the future." In the

Barking & Dagenham Yellow Advertiser Reach plc publishes many newspapers, magazines and news websites. This list of Reach plc titles is a non-exhuastive list of these. Before 2018, Reach plc was known as Trinity Mirror plc. The list includes titles owned by the Mirror Group Newspape ...

Walsh said "The models look fantastic in the intimate setting of Valence House and they are the original creatures that have been used in some of the biggest Hollywood films. This is a great opportunity for people to see them."

Valence Park

The surrounding park of , has been created from the former Valence House estate, and was purchased by Dagenham Urban District Council from the

London County Council 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 kno ...

in 1926. The park hosts one of the

Great Trees of London Great Trees of London is a list created by Trees for Cities after the Great Storm of 1987, when the general public were asked to suggest suitable trees. Forty-one were chosen, with a further 20 added in 2008. In 2010, Time Out Guides Limited p ...

, a Holm oak.

History

Sir Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins (1628–1705) and His Wife, Margaret (1635–1674)

A house was first established on this site in the 13th century, owned by Robert Dynes in 1280. Later tenants of the estate are commemorated in the road names surrounding the park. The name of the house derives from 14th-century tenants, Agnes de Valence and her brother Aylmer, Earl of Pembroke, who came from a wealthy family in the French province of Valence, the family moving here when their uncle became

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. The estate passed into the ownership of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor in 1475, and remained in their ownership until 1867, when it passed to the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

. In the latter part of the 16th century the owner and tenant of Valence House was Timothy Lucye, who married in 1584 Susanna, daughter of Henry Fanshawe, of Jenkyns, an adjoining manor. He was the brother of Sir Thomas Lucy of

Charlecote Charlecote is a village and civil parish south of Warwick, on the River Avon, in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. In 2011 the parish had a population of 194. The parish touches Wasperton, Newbold Pacey, ...

, Warwickshire.

Local government

In 1921, the

(LCC) purchased the building and land to develop 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. The house was used as the LCC headquarters during construction. The Dagenham Urban District Council acquired the premises. During 1928 and 1929 they extended to building for use as offices and the council chamber. Valence House served as the town hall until 1937, when the

Dagenham Civic Centre The Civic Centre in Dagenham is a former municipal building in Becontree Heath, an area within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The building was designed in the modern style by the British architect Ernest Berry Webber in 1936 and w ...

was completed. The house became the library headquarters of the borough. The house is now a museum, and houses the Borough Archives and Local Studies Library in a new building. The building was

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1954.

References

External links

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham: Valence House Museum
{{Authority control Houses completed in the 15th century Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Grade II* listed museum buildings Grade II* listed houses Libraries in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Houses in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local museums in London Museums in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham History of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Art museums and galleries in London Country houses in London

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...