Toponymy Romford is first recorded in 1177 as
Romfort, which is formed from
Old English 'rūm' and '
ford' and means "the wide or spacious ford". The naming of the
River Rom is a local '
back-formation' from the name of the town; and the river is elsewhere known as the Beam. The ford most likely existed on the main London to Colchester road where it crossed that river. The original site of the town was to the south, in an area known as Oldchurch. It was moved northwards to the present site in the later medieval period to avoid the frequent flooding of the River Rom. The first permanent church on the site of the current
Church of St Edward the Confessor was built after permission was granted by
Henry IV in 1406. The early history of Romford and the immediate area is agricultural and it is recorded as being the location of a
number of mills used to grind corn. Several failed attempts were made in the early 19th century to connect the town to the Thames via a Romford Canal. It was initially intended to terminate at a basin near to the
Star Brewery, to transport agricultural products to London and, eventually, to serve growing industrial sites in Romford. A later proposal included an extension to
Collier Row, whereby timber from
Hainault Forest could be transported to the
Thames for use in the
Royal Dockyards. Only two miles of canal were constructed and the canal company were unable to reach the town. The development of the town was accelerated by the opening of the railway station in 1839 which stimulated the local economy and was key to the development of the Star Brewery. Initially
Eastern Counties Railway services operated between
Mile End and Romford, with extensions to Brentwood and to Shoreditch in 1840. A second station was opened on South Street in 1892 by the
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway on the line to Upminster and Grays, giving Romford a rail connection to
Tilbury Docks. The two stations were combined into one in 1934.
Local government (1) absorbed Havering-atte-Bower (2) and Noak Hill (3) in 1934 Romford formed a chapelry in the large ancient parish of
Hornchurch in the
Becontree hundred of
Essex; as well as the town it included the wards of Collier Row,
Harold Wood, and Noak Hill. Through ancient custom the area enjoyed special status and a charter in 1465 removed the parish from the Becontree hundred and the county of Essex and it instead formed the independent
liberty of Havering governed from a court house in the market place. Over time the vestry of Romford chapelry absorbed the local powers that would usually be held by the parish authorities in Hornchurch
Improvement commissioners were set up in 1819 for paving, lighting,
watching, and cleansing of the marketplace and main streets. The suburban expansion of London caused an increase in population during the 1930s For elections to the Greater London Council, Romford was part of the
Havering electoral division until 1973 and then the
Romford electoral division until 1986.
Suburban expansion There was early expansion of 200 cottages in the 1840s in an area known as New Romford that was formerly occupied by an army barracks. Through a gradual process of selling off former manors, houses were built radiating from the town in all directions for about a mile, and further significant growth occurred between 1910 and 1911 with the construction of
Romford Garden Suburb, which included
Raphael Park and
Gidea Park railway station. The right to supply electricity to the town was secured by the
County of London Electricity Supply Company in 1913. Initially power was generated within the Star Brewery site, with the supply switching to
Barking Power Station in 1925. and the Romford exchange was recorded as having 240 subscribers in 1916. The town water supply initially came from the Havering Well, and 1859 a new public well and pump was built at the east end of the market. ==Governance==