Wennington is a small village in 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 include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

, in

east London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. It is situated 14.8 miles (23.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Wennington was an ancient parish in the county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

that was abolished for civil purposes in 1934. It is peripheral to London, forming a ribbon development extending from the eastern edge of the

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

and surrounded by 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 ...

. Wennington was added to

Hornchurch Urban District Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cran ...

in 1934 and has formed part of

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

since 1965.

History

Wennington is recorded in the

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Wemtuna''. The manor had only three households and was in the possession of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

, St Mary and St Peter's, dates from the 12th century. The parish included the Thameside area of Coldharbour, the Wennington Marshes and the village of Wennington. The Wennington parish became part of the Romford

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

in 1836. It was the smallest parish in the union with a population of 127. In 1875 the parish became part of the 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 ...

. In 1894 the

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 RDparish council. Following a

county review order The Local Government Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 17) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The act abolished the system of poor law unions in England ...

in 1934, and in anticipation of suburban house building, Wennington became part of an expanded

and the parish council was abolished. In 1965, Hornchurch Urban District was abolished, and Wennington became part of the

in Greater London. On 19 July 2022, Wennington was hit by a wildfire during the

2022 United Kingdom heat wave file:UK from ISS on 12 Aug 22.jpg, The UK's largest island, Great Britain, seen from the International Space Station on 12 August 2022 showing clear skies and dry ground The 2022 United Kingdom heatwaves were part of 2022 European heatwaves, sev ...

. At least 18 houses were burnt down and many others damaged, while around 90 families were evacuated from the village with a rescue centre set up in a nearby hotel. Around 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters were sent to the scene by

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

. The fire reportedly started from a compost heap which spontaneously combusted, with flames subsequently spreading along a garden fence.

Government

Wennington is within the Dagenham and Rainham UK Parliament constituency. The current MP is

Jon Cruddas Jonathan Cruddas (born 7 April 1962) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham, formerly Dagenham, between 2001 and 2024. Having been critical of many aspects of the Blair governm ...

of the Labour Party. It forms part of the Rainham and Wennington

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Havering. The ward elects three councillors to

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council, also known as Havering Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London boroughs#London borough councils, London borough council, one of 32 in London. T ...

. All three of the councillors elected in the

2022 London local elections The 2022 London local elections took place on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All London borough councillor seats were up for election. Mayoral elections took place in London Borough of Hackney, Hackney, London ...

were the Conservative Party candidates.

Geography

The village of Wennington is a ribbon development extending southeast of Rainham, along Wennington Road (B1335) near the junction of the

A13 road This is a list of roads designated A13. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * ''A13 highway (Australia)'' may refer to: ** South Australian route A13, including Main South Road and Victor Harbor Road * A13 motorway (Aus ...

and New Road (A1306). It is about 2 km (over 1 mile) north of 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, s ...

. It consists of mostly scattered houses and the Wennington Hall farmhouse. The village population is around 300. In the south lie the barren Wennington Marshes, which now form part of the RSPB's Rainham Marshes nature reserve.https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/wennington/ Hidden London: Wennington To the west and north Wennington has a boundary with Rainham, also in Havering, formed by the Common Watercourse. To the south there is a boundary in the middle of the Thames with

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

in the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, London, Belvedere, Crayford ...

. To the east are

Aveley Aveley is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United King ...

and

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

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 s ...

route 372 serves the village.

Nearest stations

* Rainham railway station * Purfleet railway station

References

External links

The villageWennington Rovers FC
{{LB Havering Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Havering Villages in London