Rainham - Havering town named 'one of the country's oldest areas'

This week, the Recorder is looking back at the history of Rainham - a town with roots stretching back thousands of years and with plenty of historic buildings to show for it.

According to Havering Museum, Rainham can be traced back to the Saxon period, but there is "strong evidence" of a settlement predating even that after a Neolithic site was discovered west of Launders Lane in the early 1960s.

Neolithic refers to the new Stone Age, dating back to around 4,000 to 2,500 BC, with the remains of a Neolithic forest also found near the Mardyke River in Rainham Marshes.

Church of St Helen and St Giles, Rainham c. 1897 (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

Havering Museum said this makes the town "one of the most historic areas in Havering, if not the whole country".

Rainham was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Raineham', thought to mean 'homestead or village of a man called Regna'.

Around a century after, somewhere between 1160 and 1178, the church of St. Helen and St. Giles was built in what is now Upminster Road South.

A photo of Rainham Village from the station c.1905 (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

It became the focal point of the settlement of Rainham during the Middle Ages and is still standing today, making it the oldest building in Havering.

Despite numerous changes over the years, the church has kept its original dimensions and retains many of its original features, including a rare engraving of a medieval ship at anchor.

The town was almost completely dependent on agriculture until the late 19th century when chemical factories and the railway station arrived.

Rainham station is also one of the oldest in Havering, predating both Hornchurch and Upminster stations.

The sign for the Bell Inn can be seen in the centre right of this photo taken in c. 1890, with the New Angel Inn sitting opposite (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

It was made up of just two wooden platforms and a wooden station building when it first opened in the 1850s, but was largely rebuilt in 1891 after being "seriously damaged" by a fire.

The Bell Inn, later called The Bell Hotel, also dates back to this period, serving as a key stop for travellers in the late 19th and early 20th century.

There were once two other inns in Broadway - the New Angel Inn and the Phoenix Inn - but the latter is the only one still open today at The Phoenix pub.

Upminster Road South, Rainham, in April 1988 (Image: Havering Libraries-Local Studies)

Another historic building in the town centre is Rainham Hall, which is Grade II listed and the borough's only National Trust property.

It was built in 1729 by sea merchant Captain John Harle and reflected the village’s growing prosperity from river trade.