Dagenham, Essex

Description
Dagenham, a village and a parish in Essex, on an affluent of the Thames, and on the London, Tilbury, and Southend railway, on which there is a station, and 3 1/2 miles S by W of Romford. The parish includes the hamlets of Chadwell Heath and Beacontree Heath, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Romford. Acreage, 6556 of land and 241 of water; population, 4324. The area includes 1359 acres of Hainault Forest, and extends to the Thames. An irruption of the Thames occurred here in 1703, inundating upwards of 500 acres of rich land. The reclamation of the land, and the reconstruction of an embankment for preventing any similar occurrence, were done by Captain Perry at a cost of £40,000; a stratum of bogwood about 10 feet thick, with very little mixture of earth, was found at the making of the embankment about 4 feet below the surface of the soil. A portion of the unreclaimed land now forms a lake of over 40 acres in extent, which is much frequented by anglers. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Albans ; value of commuted tithes, £852 with residence. The church, wliich is an ancient building of brick and stone in the Early English and Perpendicular styles, contains some interesting tombs and monuments, one being to Sir Richard; Alibon, Lord Chief-Justice under James II.. and another tn Sir Thomas Urscoick, recorder of London, knighted by Kin^ Edward on the field of battle, May 5, 1471. There is a Congregational chapel at Chadwell Heath, a Wesleyan Reform chapel at Beacontree Heath, and a Wesleyan chapel in the village of Dagenham. There is an endowed school with £300 a year, and there are some valuable charities.