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Havering
The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main settlements are Hornchurch and Upminster.
There are over 7,000 businesses based in Havering. Romford is the main commercial hub of the borough with a small district of mainly office development close to the railway station. There is also some industry to the south between Rainham and the River Thames. Light industry elsewhere in the borough has been in decline, with major employers such as the former Star Brewery now closed down.
The main retail district is also located in Romford with several interconnected or nearby shopping arcades to the main Liberty Shopping Centre. Romford Market is located to the north of Romford and is the largest market within the borough and in the surrounding area. Hornchurch and Upminster are the other main retail centres with extensive high street shopping areas.
Romford has a developed night-time economy with one of the highest concentrations of bars and nightclubs anywhere in Greater London outside the West End. Because of this concentration of entertainment facilities in one place and transport options radiating from that district, there are no other significant entertainment zones in the borough.
Havering London Borough Council applied to the Government to allow a 'super-casino' to be built in the south of the borough,[4] however the application was rejected in May 2006.
History
Modern settlement originated in Anglo-Saxon times when it consisted of Havering Palace and the surrounding lands that belonged to the king. The palace itself is known to have existed since at least the reign of Edward the Confessor when it was one of his primary residences. The area formed a liberty from 1465 which included the parishes of Havering atte Bower, Hornchurch and Romford.
The name Havering appears in documents from around the 12th century. The origins of this name have been debated by historians since the Middle Ages when it was linked to the legend of Edward the Confessor and a mystical ring returned to him by Saint John the Apostle. The event being commemorated in stained glass (from about 1407) in a chapel at Romford, that was dedicated to the king.
The London Borough of Havering was created in 1965 by the combined former area of the Municipal Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District which had been transferred to Greater London from Essex by the London Government Act 1963. The name originates from the Royal Liberty of Havering which covered broadly, but not exactly, the same area and had been abolished in 1892.[6]
In 2004 a wind turbine was constructed on the Ford Motors plant grounds, which encroach on the south west of the borough, with another turbine in adjacent Barking and Dagenham.
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Districts
This pattern of 'garden suburb' with inter- and post-war housing development still exists in the borough. Plans to extend existing developments in much of the borough are blocked by the strict Green Belt laws. In contrast, the southern part of Havering adjacent to the Thames is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area. New open spaces and large scale house building to provide an entirely new residential community is planned.
The most built-up areas are the traditional garden suburb districts of Hornchurch, Emerson Park, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Romford and Upminster. These places have developed over the last hundred years to form a large area of continuous urban sprawl with indistinct boundaries.
Part of the sprawling residential area are the later developments of Ardleigh Green, Chase Cross, Collier Row, Elm Park, Harold Hill, Rainham. In contrast, Havering-atte-Bower, North Ockendon, Noak Hill, and Wennington are less intensively developed outlying districts surrounded by large areas of open land.
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