Home

It covers 120 acres of shallow wetlands, reed beds, horse grazed pasture, scrub and woodland, including the rare black poplar tree. This site is a haven for birds with around 170 species. The Country Park adjoins Central Park in Dagenham which is home to the hugely popular annual Dagenham Town Show. Barking Park, with its beautiful boating lake and formal gardens has been improved even further with a £3.5 million heritage lottery grant. Parsloes Park, in the centre of the borough, offers a wide range of recreational and sporting facilities for visitors of all ages. Mayesbrook Park is home to a number of local sports groups as well as offering an attractive natural environment with lakes and woodland. Mayesbrook Park forms a major focus in the borough’s Olympic activities and a popular Adizone outdoor gym has recently been installed.

Plenty of events are organized round the year to be enjoyed with friends and family. Shopping for daily needs couldn’t have been easier as there are several shops and supermarkets nearby including Vicarage Field shopping centre which has ambitious plans for redevelopment. For your retail needs there are Gallions Reach Shopping Park, Stratford Westfield Shopping Centre, Romford Brewery, reachable within 15 minutes by drive. Multiscreen cinemas like Showcase Cinemas, Vue Cinemas, or Cineworld are also within close proximity. The Essex countryside is conveniently located to enjoy all it has to offer ranging from day trips to spa and wellness. The nearest Beach is Southend-on-Sea which is just an hour’s drive.

Sporthouse covering 125,000 sq ft, has the largest wooden sports floor in the UK and the second largest in Europe.

The Mayesbrook Athletics arena was revamped to create an Olympic standard athletics track for Games time training, regional and national events. 

Investment in the new £23 million Becontree Heath Leisure Centre provides a truly flagship centre with a 25 metre, 10 lane pool with seating for 250 spectators. The centre also contains a 95 station gym, sports courts, community space and a soft play area.

Becontree Leisure Centre being named the busiest swimming pool in the country

Barking and Dagenham holds the UK’s longest indoor go-kart track and the largest adventure golf course. 

Over 100 local sports clubs, including Barking Rugby Club, Dagenham Rugby Club and Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club, are very actively involved in the local community and provide a range of activities, particularly for young people.

Post-16 performance also continues to improve, closing gaps with the national and increasing numbers of young people are continuing their studies in higher and further education. 

Barking & Dagenham College (BDC) - A national award-winning Further Education College, offering a wide range of courses from beginner level to a post-graduate MBA including construction, digital creative, health and social care and the Siemens Mechatronics Academy. 

The Broadway Theatre – Technical Theatre and Performance skills training centre

Barking Learning Centre a college for all ages, offering employability courses for adults as one of the largest providers of apprenticeship training in London

The Technical Skills Academy – a specialist training centre for 16-18s, offers construction management, ICT, digital creative and media make-up training

The Barking factory was reputed to be the largest in the United Kingdom. It closed in 1891.

Barking and Dagenham has a rich heritage: a little over 150 years ago, it was the fishing capital of the world, and it grew to be an industrial powerhouse, as well as the home to the likes of William the Conqueror, who stayed in Barking Abbey.

Other notable people from the area include Mary Wollstonecraft, an early feminist, as well as Bobby Moore, the former professional footballer and captain of England's 1966 Word Cup winning team.

It is also said that Guy Fawkes planned his attempt on Parliament here, while Captain Cook chose St Margaret’s Church for his wedding to local woman Elizabeth Batts.