Castle Green is a park and suburb in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The locality is close to Creekmouth and is part of the Becontree estate. Castle Green contains a secondary school,

Jo Richardson Community School The Jo Richardson Community School, often referred to as Jo Richardson or simply JRCS, is a secondary school in Dagenham, East London. The headteacher is Lisa Keane. The school is named in honour of MP Jo Richardson. Notable former pupils * Har ...

, a library, theatre, arts and conference spaces, sports facilities which house

Barking RFC Barking RFC is an English rugby union team based in Barking, east London and currently play in the ninth tier of the English rugby union league system, Essex 1. History Park Modern Old Boys The club was founded in 1930, under the name of Park M ...

and a community centre.

History

The area was rural into the 18th century but was dominated by manorial estates dating from the mediaeval period. Some of these were demolished for market gardening with the expansion of the city. In the 1920s, the manors of Parsloes and Valence were acquired for the Becontree housing estate; remnants of the manors still exist as parks. Valence House now houses the

Valence House Museum 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 ...

. Over the 19th century, industrialisation moved into the area; the borough remains the most industrialised in London. The growth in population necessitated urban expansion. The area became important as a place for social reform. With the expansion came a need for public parks as amenities. In the 1890s Barking town centre became planned out with Barking Park being established in 1898. The Becontree estate was created between 1919 and 1935 as a public housing for returning soldiers and to relieve overcrowding in the centre of

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 ...

, covering the last of the borough's rural area. The estate accommodated a population over 167,000 and also included Valence and Parsloes parks, Mayesbrook Park, Castle Green and

Goresbrook 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 Fore ...

Sports Ground. Tha name dates back over 200 years to a time when the area was rural. The "castle" that gave its name to the place was a castellated house which was built around 1800 and survived until 1938.

Transport

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes

173 Year 173 ( CLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Pompeianus (or, less frequently, year 926 ''Ab urbe ...

and

287 Year 287 (Roman numerals, CCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequ ...

serve the area. The nearest station is Becontree. Barking & Dagenham Borough Council have proposed a new London Overground railway station.

References

{{LB Barking and Dagenham Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham