London Borough of Barking and Dagenham: History
The London Borough of Barking (as it was originally called) was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, covering the combined area of the former Municipal Borough of Barking and the Municipal Borough of Dagenham, with the exceptions of a small area at Hog Hill from Dagenham which went to Redbridge, and the Gallions Reach area, being the part of Barking west of Barking Creek, which went to Newham. The area was transferred from Essex to Greater London to become one of the 32 London Boroughs. At the time of its creation the combined population of Barking and Dagenham was around 180,000.
The pre-1965 borough of Barking had evolved from the Barking Town local government district, which had been created in 1882 covering the central part of the parish of Barking. Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894. The Barking Town Urban District was incorporated to become a municipal borough in 1931, at which point the name was changed from Barking Town to Barking.
Dagenham was a rural parish with a parish council from 1894, subordinate to the Romford Rural District Council. In 1926 the parish council was replaced when Dagenham was made an urban district; it was made a municipal borough in 1938.
The council changed the London borough's name from 'Barking' to 'Barking and Dagenham' with effect from 1 January 1980. In 1994, the borough was expanded to cover the part of the Becontree estate that until then had been within the Borough of Redbridge and other areas. The area covered by Mayesbrook Park in the Borough was once part of the historic Manor of Jenkins, seat of the Fanshawe family.
Until the mid-2000s, alongside neighbouring Havering due to its geographical location (being one of the most eastern boroughs of London) and regional postcodes, its predominant White British character as well as its working class cultural similarities to South Essex, Barking and Dagenham was widely perceived as being culturally part of neighbouring Essex as opposed to London. However, this sentiment faded out sometime after 2006 with the demographic changes as well as gentrification in the borough. In Dagenham in particular, the architecture is very similar to many other South Essex towns, etc. Basildon, Chelmsford, Brentwood.
Historic records of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and predecessor bodies, the Borough of Barking and the Borough of Dagenham, are held at the Barking and Dagenham Archive Service, Valence House Museum.
There are a total of 52 listed buildings located within the borough's boundaries. The Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings in the borough include Eastbury Manor House, the Church of Peter and Paul, Dagenham and Valence House.