This south Havering neighbourhood sits right on the eastern edge of Greater London, neighbouring the towns of Rainham, Hornchurch and Wennington. The area is located between the rural countryside of Essex and the urban inner city, and much of it is taken up by the sprawling green space of Brittons Playing Field. It is predominantly suburban, with a combination of quintessential interwar semis and a number of more modern homes built following the Second World War. This neighbourhood benefits from its close proximity to the River Thames, as well as from the convenient District line stations of Dagenham East and Elm Park, which take commuters into central London in less than 40 minutes. The locality is also well connected to the A13, meaning that those commuters who drive can easily access the city’s main roads.

The name Hornchurch derives from the Anglicised version of Monasterium Cornutum, meaning ‘church with horn-like gables’, and its earliest recorded use dates back to 1222. Hornchurch Priory was established after Henry II gave 1,500 acres to the hospice of St Nicholas and St Bernard of Savoy as a gift. The land was later endowed to New College, Oxford, who still own the area’s church lands and buildings. The neighbourhood developed slowly until the arrival of the District line in the 1930s, which spurred its suburbanisation. During the Second World War the nearby Hornchurch Airfield was an important RAF station, and was home to a number of Spitfire squadrons.

Hornchurch is surprisingly known for its marching band, called the Hornchurch Drum & Trumpet Corps Boys, which formed in 1959. They perform all over the country and were the first winners of the National British Marching Band Championships in 1976. They even performed at the Edinburgh Tattoo in 1977.

Like many parts of London, the area is fast losing much of its prized architecture. The Towers Cinema was just the most recent example of an iconic building making way for redevelopment. Built in 1935, the beautiful Art Deco building was closed in 2015, and demolished in 2017.

In 2018, it was agreed that Havering Council would take over Hornchurch Police Station from the Met Police and lease it back to them, which would help maintain a police presence in the area. That said, by 2022 the future ownership of Hornchurch Police Station remained unclear, despite the agreements, with some even writing to the Met to preserve their ownership of the station.

Havering Council and Wates Residential entered a £1 billion public-private partnership to regenerate 12 council estates. The scheme will see around 5,200 homes delivered in the borough over the next 12 to 15 years. Works have already begun, with a focus on Napier and New Plymouth House, in Rainham. All residents who have been moved off the site to enable the regeneration are guaranteed the right to return, with 126 affordable homes being ready to move in by winter 2022. So far the partnership has benefited 164 local people through employment and skills initiatives, while over 1,500 students have been supported via educational activities and programmes.