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INCIDENCE of SCARLET FEVER
and DIPHTHERIA on the
BECONTREE ESTATE
Development of the Becontree Estate.
In 1920 the London County Council obtained compulsory
powers for the acquisition of some 2,770 acres of land lying in southeast
Essex for the crection of a Housing Estate. Of this 270 acres
were in Ilford, 1,040 in Barking, and 1,460 in the Romford Rural
District.
Dagenham Urban District, the area being that of the Dagenham
Parish, was separated from the Romford Rural District by an Order
which came into operation on April 1st, 1926. The entire portion
of the land for the Becontree Estate which previously lay in the
Romford District was included in this area.
Dagenham Urban District is an irregularly shaped area running
from the north at Chigwell, south to the River Thames, a distance
of some 7½ miles. The northern part, in the shape of an inverted
triangle, is about 3 miles north to south, the apex of the triangle
being about 1/3 mile long and is represented by the arterial road
crossing the district. This northerly portion consists largely of
Crown lands and is essentially rural in character, containing a very
small population.
The southern portion is roughly the shape of an inverted
truncated cone. The southermost part, separated from the
remainder hy an arterial road which runs roughly parallel to the
river at a distance of 6nc mile from it, is scheduled as an industrial
area.
In the remaining area were two small villages, Chadwcll Heath,
in the north, and Dagenham lying towards the south-east. Lying
between these is the smaller aggregation of houses at Bcacontree
with. Until the development of the Estate, the rest of the area
was agricultural. It is in the western half of this area that the
Becontree Estate is erected, and, now that it is fully developed, is
just fringed by these small villages. As in the early development
no new schools were provided at the pace of the new houses, overcrowding
occurred at the schools which previously met the needs
only of the small villages.
Chadwell Heath village is separated from the Estate by a
railway line, and for years there was little association between the
district cxcept that occurring through the Estate children going