Visit Becontree Places

Welcome to Visit Becontree Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Becontree

  

Becontree Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Becontree

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Becontree history

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Toponymy

The estate is named after the ancient Becontree Hundred, which historically covered the area. The name is Old English and means ‘tree of a man named Beohha’ The majority of the estate was in the parish of Dagenham and the whole estate is in the post town, and the two names are used interchangeably.

Building of the estate

Becontree was developed between 1921 and 1935 as a large cottage estate of around 26,000 homes. It was intended to be “homes fit for heroes” for World War I veterans. The construction was an enormous civil engineering project. With a population of 115,652, it was the largest public housing development in the world.

First tenants

The LCC built the estate to rehouse people from London’s East End, who were displaced by slum clearance. The first residents were relatively prosperous working-class families, such as factory workers and busmen. Privet hedges were planted along the pavements at the end of every front garden.

Services

All houses were supplied with gas by the Gas Light and Coke Company; most had gas lighting and some fitted with electric lighting. Electricity was supplied by the County of London Electric Supply Company in Dagenham and the electricity services of Barking and Ilford municipal corporations in those sections. All gas lighting was converted to electricity in 1955.

Economic development

Initially the estate had no industrial and very little commercial development planned to support the population. Residents commuted to Inner London for work, until the May & Baker and Ford Dagenham sites opened nearby.

Becontree culture & places

Becontree Brass Band was founded in 1981 as an amalgamation of several local bands. Dagenham Girl Pipers were formed in 1930 as the first female pipe band in the world.

Becontree geography / climate

Nearest places are Barking, Chadwell Heath, Dagenham, Goodmayes, Ilford and Castle Green. Nearest place is Barking.

You can visit Becontree places with Walkfo Becontree to hear history at Becontree’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Becontree has 78 places to visit in our interactive Becontree map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Becontree, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Becontree places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Becontree & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 78 audio facts unique to Becontree places in an interactive Becontree map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Becontree Places Map
78 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Becontree historic spots	Becontree tourist destinations	Becontree plaques	Becontree geographic features
Walkfo Becontree tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Becontree

  

Best Becontree places to visit

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Becontree has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Becontree’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Becontree’s information audio spots:

East London East London is a popularly and informally defined part of London. It is east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames. It comprises the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Rush Green, London Rush Green is a suburban area in Romford in East London. It straddles the boundary of Barking and Dagenham and Havering. It is located 13.5 miles (22 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross.

Visit Becontree plaques