This east London borough is getting a multi-million-pound cultural glow-up

Did you know that Barking and Dagenham (B&D) is home to some seriously cool historic attractions? And we’re not just talking about the former Ford factory. 

The borough in London’s far east has got the ancient Barking Abbey, a monastery dating back to the seventh century that’s now a scheduled ancient monument. Then there’s Eastbury Manor House, a gorgeous Grade I–listed Elizabethan gentry house that’s now owned by the National Trust. And Dagenham is also home to Valence House Museum, a Grade II*–listed manor house with a medieval moat. 

This is why the east London borough has been chosen to receive a £200 million investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which hopes to unlock the potential of B&D’s heritage, history and attractions. It is the only London borough to be selected as a ‘Heritage Place’ by the charity. 

As well as the historical buildings, B&D has connections to pioneering women’s rights advocates including Mary Wollstonecraft, suffragette Annie Huggett, and the Ford Women’s Strikers of 1968, whose campaign ultimately led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970. Plus, the area is known for the post-WWI Becontree Estate, which was once the world’s largest council estate. 

The London neighbourhood is one of six new locations in the UK to become part of the Heritage Places initiative. Also receiving National Lottery funding will be Belfast Historic Waterfront, Dudley, Orkney Islands, Tameside and Ynys Môn on the Isle of Anglesey. 

Stuart McLeod, director of England – London and 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.’

Dominic Twomey, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council said: ‘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.’

East London is getting a brand new riverside ‘town’ with 20,000 homes – and it’s backed by Sadiq Khan

The Serpentine Galleries have announced their exhibition programme for 2026 – featuring a huge David Hockney show.