Havering

Havering is the last borough in London’s east before you reach Essex. It covers areas such as Romford, Hornchurch, Collier Row and the wildlife haven Rainham Marshes.

The electrified District line arrived in Upminster in the 1930s, with many of the area’s older buildings cleared as suburbia took over. There’s a reminder of its rural past in the historic Upminster Windmill, a smock mill built in 1803.

The palace at Havering-atta-Bower, where English monarchs from Edward the Confessor to Charles I lived, had disappeared well before the Tube arrived. But Romford’s high-street market, given a royal charter in 1247, thrives to this day.

The borough’s history goes back even further though. In 2018, the Havering Hoard was unearthed near Rainham – the largest Bronze Age hoard ever found in London.