Upminster is a suburban town in East London, England, within 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 are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. Th ...

. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the district centres identified for development in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

. Historically a rural village, Upminster grew from the ancient parish of

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

, in the union of

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

; part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

Chafford Chafford was an ancient hundred in the south west of the county of Essex, England.Vision of Britain Chafford hundredhistoric map) Its area has been partly absorbed by the growth of London; with its name reused for the modern housing development of ...

and the historic county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. The economic history of Upminster is characterised by a shift from farming to brick making to garden suburb. It is currently mainly commercial shopping,

small businesses Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

and residential. It was first connected to central London by rail in 1885 and has a

terminal station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing su ...

on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

network. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Upminster significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming part of

Hornchurch Urban District Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cranham, Great Warley, Rainham, Upminster and W ...

in 1934, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.

History

Toponymy

The placename Upminster is first recorded in 1062 as ''Upmynstre'' and is recorded in the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Upmunstra''. It is formed from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''upp'' and ''mynster'', meaning 'the large church on high ground'. The high ground of St Laurence's parish church being in relation to the valley of the

River Ingrebourne The River Ingrebourne is a tributary of the River Thames 27 miles (43.3 km) in length. It is considered a strategic waterway in London, forming part of the Blue Ribbon Network. It flows through the London Borough of Havering roughly from n ...

and the

Upminster Bridge Upminster Bridge is a crossing of the River Ingrebourne carrying the A124 road between the suburbs of Hornchurch and Upminster in northeast London, England. The bridge is known to have existed since at least 1375 and the current brick bridge was ...

over the river shares the name. An alternative explanation suggests the ''upp'' could refer to the geographical relationship to a church at

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 ...

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

in Anglo-Saxon times.

Economic development

There was a Roman farmstead in the Upminster area from the 1st century to the 3rd century, and agriculture was the predominant industry throughout the following centuries. The area was once wooded, but clearances in the 12th century gave more land over to arable farming; and by the 17th century there were a variety of crops and livestock. There was a growth in

market gardening A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to som ...

in the 19th century. There have been a number of windmills in Upminster and one of which, a

smock mill The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This typ ...

built in 1803, remains. Local industry included a tannery, gravel extraction and a brick works that was connected to the railway station by a tramway in 1895. The

London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , Tilbury, Southend and . The company ...

from

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...

was extended from Barking to

Upminster Upminster is a suburban town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the district centres identified for development in the London Plan. Historically a rural vill ...

in 1885. The underground

Whitechapel and Bow Railway The Whitechapel and Bow Railway was an underground railway in east London, United Kingdom, now entirely integrated into the London Underground system.Wolmar, C., ''Subterranean Railway'', (2004) It was a joint venture between the Metropolitan Dis ...

opened in 1902 and allowed through services of the District Railway to operate to Upminster. The District converted to electric trains in 1905 and services were cut back to East Ham. Delayed by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, electrified tracks were extended by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway to Upminster and through services resumed in 1932.

Local government

Upminster formed an ancient parish of in the

hundred of Essex. The parish vestry had meetings in the church until 1798, when they moved to the Bell Inn. The parish was divided into North and South wards by the Hornchurch to Cranham road. In 1836 the vestry lost control of poor relief, with Upminster becoming part of the Romford Poor Law Union and in 1875 the parish became part of Romford

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. Following the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, the sanitary district became

Romford Rural District Romford Rural District was a local government district in southwest Essex, England from 1894 to 1934. It surrounded, but did not include, Romford which formed a separate urban district.Vision of Britain �Romford RD London Traffic Area The London Traffic Area was established by the London Traffic Act 1924 to regulate the increasing amount of motor traffic in the London area. The LTA was abolished in 1965 on the establishment of the Greater London Council. The traffic area ex ...

from 1924 and the

London Passenger Transport Area The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passe ...

from 1933. In 1934 the parish council was abolished and Upminster was combined with other parishes to form part of

. In 1965 the urban district was abolished and its former area was combined with that of

Municipal Borough of Romford Romford was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1851 to 1965.Vision of Britain Romford UD/MB 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 are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. Th ...

in Greater London as set out in the 1963 London Government Act

Urban development

The parish had three early centres of activity; the village around the church and the settlements of

Hacton Hacton is a small dispersed settlement in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Havering and in East London, and beyond London urban sprawl. Surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt, located in the countryside between two ...

and Corbets Tey. The estates of Gaynes, New Place and Upminster Hall were purchased during the 17th century by merchants in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. This caused a significant number of buildings in the town to be constructed or improved. Upkeep of the three bridges crossing the Ingrebourne were the responsibility of Upminster, as the adjacent Hornchurch parish was in the Havering liberty and was exempt from responsibility because of its charter. Although the opening of the station was key to the development of the suburb, land was not purchased for development until were secured in 1901. Electricity was introduced in Upminster in 1926. Gas main supply came from

in 1872 and from 1905 there was gas street lighting. The area was served by good spring water, with mains supply provided by the South Essex Waterworks Company from 1836. Works on the sewerage system began in 1899 in Upminster village and Corbets Tey. In 1922 sewage works for Upminster and Cranham were opened in

Great Warley Great Warley is a village in the Warley ward of Brentwood borough in Essex, England. It is situated to the far south west of the county and near to the Greater London boundary and the M25 motorway. Consecrated in 1904, the Grade I listed parish ...

. Land for Upminster Park was purchased by the parish council in 1929.

Governance

The town forms part of the Hornchurch and Upminster UK Parliament constituency, and is covered by the Havering wards of Upminster and Cranham. The current MP is Julia Lopez. Each ward elects three councillors to

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Havering is divided into 18 wards, each elec ...

. All six councillors elected in 2010 for the two wards were the

Upminster and Cranham 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 the ...

candidates and the area is unusual in that the residents' association is strongly active. From 1945 to 1974 Upminster formed part of the Hornchurch constituency and from 1974 to 2010 it formed part of the Upminster constituency. Upminster is within the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency.

Geography

Upminster rises to about above sea level to the north and is about above sea level to the south. It rests on a layer of loam, above sand and gravel in the south and

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...

to the north. It is bounded in the west by the

and there is a stream running east–west, just north of Corbets Tey that has been dammed to form a lake. It has formed part of the continuously built-up area of London since the 1930s and is contiguous with

Cranham Cranham is a residential area of east London, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and comprises an extensive built-up area to the north and a low density conservation area to the south sur ...

to the east and

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of 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 l ...

to the west. To the north and south there is open land that forms part of the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

and there are open spaces formed by Upminster Golf Club and Upminster Hall Playing Field to the north, Upminster Park and Clock House Gardens to the south, and the Ingrebourne Valley linear park to the south west. The town is effectively divided into north and south parts by the railway line. The north is predominantly residential, with the southern part containing the main shopping area. Further south it becomes predominantly residential again. Upminster is a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

in the

RM postcode area The RM postcode area, also known as the Romford postcode area,Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) is a group of twenty postcode districts in south-east England, within nine post towns. These cover parts of eastern Greater London and ...

; it forms a long protrusion over the M25 motorway and additionally includes

North Ockendon North Ockendon is the easternmost and most outlying settlement of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is east-northeast of Central London and consists of a dispersed settlement within the Metropolitan Green B ...

, also in Havering, and

Bulphan Bulphan (pronounced ) is a village and former civil parish in the borough of Thurrock in the East of England and one of the traditional (Church of England) parishes in Thurrock. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1028. In 1931 the parish ...

in Thurrock.

Demography

The Havering committee area for Upminster is defined as the wards of Upminster and Cranham. Demographic data is produced by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

for these wards. All of Upminster is contained within these wards, however they also cover the connected settlement of

and the rural outlier of

. In 2001 the population of Upminster ward was 12,674 and Cranham ward was 12,242, giving a total population of 25,098. 80.95% in Upminster and 81.73% in Cranham report their religion as Christian, compared to 76.13% for Havering, 58.23% in London and 71.74% in England. 10.08% in Upminster and 10.46% in Cranham report having no religion, compared to 13.18% in Havering, 15.76% in London and 14.59% in England. With a

black and minority ethnic A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

population of 3% in 2001, Cranham and Upminster wards have the lowest Simpson index for ethnic diversity in London. The level of

home ownership Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure in which a person, called the owner-occupier, owner-occupant, or home owner, owns the home in which they live. The home can be a house, such as a single-family house, an apartment, c ...

is atypically high compared to the rest of London and England, with over 90% of housing tenure under owner-occupation in both wards. The Upminster ward has one of the lowest levels of deprivation in London. The 2011 census showed that the population was 96% white (92% British, 2% Other, 2% Irish). Indian, Chinese and Black African were 1% each. 75% of the population is Christian, the highest in London.

Economy

Upminster is identified in the

as a local district centre with of commercial floorspace. It is not considered a significant commercial office location. Within Havering, it is identified as one of seven town centres in the borough, with a retail area extending along Station Road, St Mary's Lane and Corbets Tey Road. The unit sizes are mostly small with the largest outlets the

Roomes Fashion and Home Roomes Stores is a group of two furniture and interior retail businesses in Upminster, England, under a shared brand, with separate ownership. Roomes Furniture and Interiors is an independent family-run furniture store which has occupied several s ...

department store, the

Roomes Furniture and Interiors Roomes Stores is a group of two furniture and interior retail businesses in Upminster, England, under a shared brand, with separate ownership. Roomes Furniture and Interiors is an independent family-run furniture store which has occupied several s ...

furniture store, and the

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

, M&S Simply Food and

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

supermarkets.

Transport

The town is served by

Upminster station Upminster is an interchange station serving the town of Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, Greater London. It is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line (LTSR), down the line from London Fenchurch Street; it is the eastern terminus ...

on the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , ...

and the

, in

London fare zone 6 Fare zone 6 is an outer zone of Transport for London's London fare zones, zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, National Rail services (since ...

. The western part of the town is also served by Upminster Bridge tube station. Upminster and Upminster Bridge are on the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

of the London Underground, with services to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Ealing Broadway and Wimbledon via central London. The station at Upminster is served by

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

operator

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

who provide services to

via West Ham; Shoeburyness via Basildon; and Southend via Chafford Hundred.

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

operate services to Romford via Emerson Park. There are Transport for London bus services to Hornchurch, Romford,

Lakeside Shopping Centre Lakeside Shopping Centre, is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the compl ...

and Cranham. To the south of Upminster is

Damyns Hall Aerodrome Damyns Hall Aerodrome is an operational general aviation training and experience aerodrome south of Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England and slightly closer to Aveley to its south. It has around 100 acres of grassland and is o ...

. The

A127 road The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in Essex, England. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking Romford with Southend-on-Sea, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a tr ...

to the north is the main radial artery to central London, with the A124 road terminating in the town. The M25 motorway is located about to the east of the town centre.

Culture

Havering Council's urban strategy recognises that nearby Hornchurch is the main cultural hub of the borough with a large theatre and arts spaces, and Romford offers the largest regional concentration of entertainment facilities. Within Upminster is New Windmill Hall, a flexible entertainment space, built in 1968, which holds up to 300 people. Upminster forms part of the tourism strategy for the borough. It is the location of

Upminster Windmill Upminster Windmill is a Grade II* listed smock mill located in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England. It was formerly known as Abraham's Mill and was in Essex when built. It has been restored and is a museum open to the public at ...

, one of the few remaining mills in Greater London and is Grade II* listed. There is also the Tithe Barn Museum, containing artifacts of domestic and agricultural use. In the west of Upminster is

Hornchurch Stadium The Hornchurch Stadium is an athletics and football stadium located on Bridge Avenue in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, East London, England. It is home to the Hornchurch F.C. and Havering Mayesbrook Athletics Club. History The ...

, which is the home ground of A.F.C. Hornchurch. Upminster is often associated with

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

and his 1981 album ''

Lord Upminster ''Lord Upminster'' is the second solo studio album by the English rock and roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury. It was released by Polydor Records in September 1981. It was recorded over a period of one month at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, B ...

'' is named after the town.

Speed of sound

The speed of sound was first accurately calculated by the Reverend

William Derham William Derham FRS (26 November 16575 April 1735)Smolenaars, Marja.Derham, William (1657–1735), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 26 May 2007. was an English clergyman, natural theologian, n ...

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Upminster, thus improving on

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the g ...

's estimates. Derham used a telescope from the tower of the

church of St Laurence, Upminster The church of St Laurence, Upminster, is the Church of England parish church in Upminster, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It is the historic minster or church from which Upminster derives its name, meaning 'upper church', probably sig ...

to observe the flash of a distant shotgun being fired, and then measured the time until he heard the gunshot with a half-second pendulum. Measurements were made of gunshots from a number of local landmarks, including the

Church of St Mary Magdalene, North Ockendon The church of St Mary Magdalene is a Church of England religious building in North Ockendon, Greater London, England (and within the Upminster post town). It is a Grade I listed building and is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. Hist ...

. The distance was known by triangulation, and thus the speed that the sound had travelled could be calculated.

References

External links

Havering London Borough Council: A history of Upminster

Essex walks - Upminster
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Havering District centres of London