• Barking and Dagenham has been chosen by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as one of six new places to benefit from a multi-million-pound UK-wide investment aimed at unlocking the potential of the heritage on their doorstep
• Barking and Dagenham is the only London borough to have so far been granted ‘Heritage Place’ status
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s ‘Heritage Places’ initiative will connect people to heritage in the places they live, work and visit
• Barking and Dagenham will join nine others announced in 2023, as part of the Heritage Fund’s plan to invest £200m in up to 20 areas across the UK

The National Lottery Heritage Fund, today announces Barking and Dagenham will be one of six new areas joining its ambitious Heritage Places initiative, designed to enable communities to transform heritage in towns, cities and green spaces across the UK.

Barking & Dagenham is home to some of London’s hidden treasures as well as being richly diverse. Nationally significant heritage sites in the borough include Barking Abbey founded in 666AD, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Eastbury Manor House, a Grade I Listed Elizabethan Gentry House and Valence House Museum, a Grade II* Listed Manor House with an area of Medieval Moat. It boasts proud industrial roots, once being home to London’s fishing fleet and was synonymous with Ford car manufacturing. It also has connections to pioneering women's rights advocates Mary Wollstonecraft, suffragette Annie Huggett, and the Ford Women’s Strikers of 1968, whose campaign ultimately led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

The borough is known for the Becontree Estate, which was the world’s largest council estate at the time it was built between 1921 and 1935 and part of Lloyd-George’s government “Homes fit for Heroes” push for housing following the First World War. 

The borough’s Archive, part of Valence House Museum’s Collections, holds many key documents relating to the borough’s historic past. These include the original plans for the Becontree Estate, property deeds dating back to the 15th century and the largest National Collection of papers relating to the Fanshawe Collection. The Collections and Archives hold an extensive Photographic and Film Collection, with important items documenting the civic life of the borough over the decades.

Within the Becontree estate, Kingsley Hall is a much-loved church and community centre which opened in 1929 and is famous for its visit from Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 as a guest of the Lester sisters, Muriel and Doris who established the first nursery in London. Today, it continues to be at the centre of the community and helps to share the stories of people’s lived experience of the Becontree Estate.

Barking and Dagenham joins five other new Heritage Places; Belfast Historic Waterfront, Dudley, Orkney Islands, Tameside and Ynys Môn – Isle of Anglesey. Nine other Heritage Places were announced in 2023, as part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s plan to invest £200m in up to 20 areas across the UK. The aim is to unlock the potential of local heritage to connect communities, revitalise local economies and enable places to thrive.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder of heritage in the UK and since 1994 has awarded over £9.2 billion to more than 52,000 projects, all made possible thanks to National Lottery players. 

Heritage Places aims to play a vital role in supporting communities in the long term to revitalise the heritage they care about and to explore untapped possibilities, contributing to local identity, increasing heritage skills and boosting pride in places.

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Barking and Dagenham stood out to us as a place with extraordinary heritage potential. While the borough already boasts amazing stories and heritage, our long-term support through the Heritage Places initiative will help unlock even more.

“We are proud to champion and invest in Barking and Dagenham, helping its community and partners to shape bold new visions for the heritage on their doorstep. Thanks to National Lottery players, we can make sure heritage is valued, cared for, and sustained for everyone - now and for generations to come.

“For over 30 years, we’ve invested in heritage to create better places to live, work and visit, increasing the positive contribution heritage makes to life in the UK. Heritage Places builds on that legacy, offering long-term support and driving even greater impact.”

Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council said: “We’re incredibly proud that Barking and Dagenham has been recognised as one of the UK’s six Heritage Places – the only one in London!

“Our borough has a rich and diverse history of natural and built heritage – from Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Roman settlements to an Iron Age Hill Fort, and home to the Dagenham Idol, an extraordinary artefact dating from the Stone Age and the earliest representation of a human being found in the British Isles.

“We’re proud of our borough’s strong industrial history, from the former Short Blue Fishing Fleet of Barking in the 18th Century, to the Ford Motor Company Factory of Dagenham. We built the largest housing estate in Europe, the Becontree Estate in 1921, and we are now a major focus of regeneration with schemes such as Barking Riverside, the Thames Freeport and Eastbrook Film Studios at Dagenham East.

“This support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund is a huge boost and will help us celebrate and protect that heritage, while inspiring local people to connect with and take pride in where they live.”

Fiona Taylor, Chief Executive of Barking and Dagenham Council added: "Our past is vital and often informs the present. The support from the Heritage Lottery Fund will help us unlock more of our past, spotlight treasured landmarks, and ensure our heritage is celebrated and shared for generations to come. This is an exciting moment for Barking & Dagenham, and we are incredibly proud to be part of it."

Chris Kapnisis, Director and Church Leader at Kingsley Hall, said:
"It’s inspiring to see such a meaningful, long-term investment in celebrating the heritage of our borough. Kingsley Hall has been around for nearly a century, offering people of all faiths a place to connect and belong. These shared lived experiences are part of what makes Barking and Dagenham special, and finding ways we can celebrate our stories and the people that make it, is important.”

This initiative is part of #Heritage 2033, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s 10-year strategy, which includes other initiatives helping places to thrive including Landscapes Connected and Nature Towns and Cities. Together, these programmes aim to tackle the challenges facing heritage and maximise its contribution to people and places across the UK.

For more information, visit www.lbbd.gov.uk/Heritage-Place