Barking & Dagenham

Sixteenth-century witch trials and women factory workers striking for equal pay in the 1960s – both feature in the history of Barking & Dagenham, in the east of London.

People here once made a living by fishing and farming. But industry transformed the area in the 20th century, including Barking Power Station and Ford Dagenham, which produced its first vehicle in 1931.

London’s first social housing tenants moved into homes in Barking & Dagenham in 1901. Twenty years later, the council started building the vast Becontree Estate, completed in 1934. The estate is celebrated in artist Grayson Perry’s sculpture Inspiration Lives Here.

Until the 1960s, Dagenham had its own greyhound racing stadium. For modern wildlife lovers, the borough’s parkland and nature reserves are a place to spot rare plants and insects. Some are even lucky enough to see water voles, an endangered animal.