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Concept
Becontree
Summary
Becontree ˈbɛkəntriː or ˈbiːkəntriː is an area of approximately in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and was constructed in the interwar period as the largest public housing estate in the world. The Housing Act 1919 permitted the London County Council to build housing outside the County of London and Becontree was constructed between 1921 and 1935 to cottage estate principles in the parishes of Barking, Dagenham and Ilford, then in the administrative and ceremonial county of Essex. The official completion of the estate was celebrated in 1935, by which time the estate had a population of around 100,000 people in 26,000 homes.
The building of the estate caused a huge increase in population density, which led to demands on services and reforms of local government. An additional 1,000 houses were added in later phases. The estate had no industrial and very little commercial development until the May & Baker and Ford Dagenham sites opened nearby, and a shopping area was built at Heathway. The estate has formed part of Greater London since 1965, when the Barking section was combined with Dagenham, and has been within a single London borough since boundary changes caused the Ilford section to be transferred from Redbridge to Barking and Dagenham in 1994.
The estate is named after the ancient Becontree Hundred, which historically covered the area. It is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is Old English and means 'tree of a man named Beohha'. The tree would have stood on Becontree Heath, just outside the eastern boundary of the estate. The majority of the estate was in the parish of Dagenham and the whole estate is in the Dagenham post town, and the two names are used interchangeably.
Because of the lack of available land in the County of London, the Housing Act 1919 permitted the London County Council (LCC) to build housing and act as landlord outside of its territory.
Official source
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