Castle Green

The area was rural into the 18th century but was dominated by manorial estates dating from the mediaeval period. Some of these were demolished for market gardening with the expansion of the city. In the 1920s, the manors of Parsloes and Valence were acquired for the Becontree housing estate; remnants of the manors still exist as parks. Valence House now houses the Valence House Museum. Over the 19th century, industrialisation moved into the area; the borough remains the most industrialised in London. The growth in population necessitated urban expansion. The area became important as a place for social reform. With the expansion came a need for public parks as amenities. In the 1890s Barking…