South Hornchurch is a locality to the south of Hornchurch in

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. ...

, east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. It is a suburban development situated 13.6 miles (21.8 km) east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

. The area is a relatively recent addition, compared with the more mature suburbs in Havering. It was built on open farmland and the former site of

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The a ...

History

Toponymy

According to Mills (2001) the name ''South Hornchurch'' is not an old one, it was devised at the time of the local housing development.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) However the ancient parish of Hornchurch was divided into wards, one of which was called South End and covered the area between the town and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

.'Hornchurch: Economic history and local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 7 (1978), pp. 39-45. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42811 Date accessed: 28 August 2012

Local government

The ancient parish of Hornchurch formed the royal manor and liberty of Havering. It was divided into the three chapelries of Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch and Romford. The South End, North End and Town wards were part of the Hornchurch chapelry under the control of the Hornchurch vestry. Town ward was absorbed into North End and South End wards around 1722. The boundaries of the South End ward were 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 ...

in the east, the

to the south and the

River Beam 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 ...

to the west. In the north the boundary was formed by (in modern terms) by Hornchurch Road, High Street and Upminster Road. In 1894 the Hornchurch vestry was replaced by a parish council. From 1926 to 1965 the area was part of Hornchurch Urban District, under the control of Hornchurch Urban District Council. In 1965 Hornchurch Urban District was abolished and the area became part of the

in Greater London.

Urban development

Much of lower South Hornchurch, near Thames was occupied by Mardyke Farm. A large, high density housing estate was built on this land by

Hornchurch Urban District Council 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 We ...

in 1964. Some residential streets in South Hornchurch were named after places in New Zealand by Hornchurch Urban District Council in 1947 in reference to the use of the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital located in Hornchurch during the First World War.

Geography

The

forms the western boundary with

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 Fore ...

, the

the eastern boundary with Rainham, to the northwest is Elm Park, and to the north is

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 Impo ...

. To the south are the industrialised Hornchurch Marshes and the

. South Hornchurch is contiguous with Rainham to the east and the two settlements are connected by the Rainham Bridge over the Ingrebourne. They share the postcode district RM13 and are within the Rainham

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 ...

References

Districts of the London Borough of Havering Areas of London {{london-geo-stub