Romford Town is a central area of Havering, due to its commercial and administrative qualities. Romford is home to Havering’s administrative headquarters. Romford is a large town with lots of local amenities such as shops, a cinema, a leisure centre and local parks. Compared to other areas of Essex, transport in Romford is good. The area has 3 rail stations and is immediately South of the A12 which makes it well connected.

Havering has long been a suburban area, by the 18th century coach services filled routes from London to Romford. Romford was once an ancient parish of Hornchurch and contained five wards. Although politically independent of Hornchurch by the 16th century, it only became religiously independent in the 1800s.

In 1671, Colonel Blood, then Romford resident, stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. When caught and the jewels returned, the then monarch Charles II, surprisingly gave Blood a pardon, a pension and an estate in Ireland!

Local resident, Billy Ford, left £10,000 (around £1 million in today’s value) in his will to found the Ford’s Endowed School that made use of the “pupil teaching” method in which older school children would discipline younger ones.

Romford has high rates of anti-social behaviour and violent crime. The Elizabeth Line, formerly known as Crossrail, stops in the area through Romford Rail Station.

The River Rom, like many of Greater London’s water bodies, has suffered from neglect and pollution. The boroughs of Havering and Barking and Dagenham, as well as local environmentally-driven non-profit organisations, have been working together to restore the river. Just south of Romford, works to restore the floodplains and wetlands of the River Rom in Grenfell Park, which the river borders, were completed in 2018. Other wetland sites along the river have also received support. In September 2019, the Coral Romford Greyhound stadium reopened their standafter undergoing a £10 million refurbishment. The stand has three bars, a resturant and is equipped with comfortable spectator facilities, large screen TVs and air conditioning.

Development interest in Romford has increased dramatically in recent years, especially as a result of the Elizabeth Line. In 2022, a former ice rink site in Romford received approval to be turned into almost 1,000 new homes. The scheme will cost £350 million and will deliver 972 flats, with 21% affordable provision (below the Mayor of London’s 35%) and 232 “later living” homes set aside for older residents. The Rom Valley Gardens development, as it is called, will comprise of seven blocks of between two and 12 storeys, a new clinical diagnostic hub for the NHS, around 14,000 ft of shops and a cafe, and a gym for residents and NHS staff. In 2021, plans to build 1,380 homes on Romford’s Waterloo Estate were also given the green light. The development will consist of 40 per cent affordable housing, alongside 212 social rented units, 197 affordable rent units and 147 intermediate units.