Chadwell Heath was founded as a quiet rural hamlet, with a complex background right from the start.
The area straddles both the boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Redbridge.
From Whalebone Lane North and London Road, road signs welcome you into Barking & Dagenham
To complicate matters further, it has a Romford designated postcode under RM6.
Romford lies just two miles outside of Chadwell Heath.
Its railway station forms part of the Elizabeth line and is sandwiched between Goodmayes and Romford.
TikTok user Memphis_atm is one of those to have raised the debate about locating Chadwell Heath online, prompting response from other users feeling the same confusion.
He said: “Chadwell Heath is such an odd place.
“You have three choices – it’s either you say you are from Dagenham which makes the most sense because you’re literally close to Becontree Heath.
“Number two, you have to say Romford but then again, Romford to me is like Essex and I don’t think we’re Essex.
“Number three, Ilford. You walk two, three minutes you’re in Ilford, you’re basically in Redbridge side.
“Genuinely where is Chadwell Heath?”
User Tahani commented: “You’ve just summarised by whole life’s problems.”
Another commenter said: “Defo weird, has an RM postcode but isn’t fully Romford. It’s so baffling.”
Chadwell Heath was created from the merging of two settlements in Barking and Dagenham.
Chadwell, then known as Chaudewell, was first used in Barking in the mid-thirteenth century, under the name Chadwell Street.
Chadwell Street was lost when Chadwell Heath, formerly known as Blackheath Common in Dagenham, expanded in the 17th century.
The area of Chadwell Heath that was located in Barking became part of the parish of Ilford in 1888.
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Dagenham’s section of Chadwell Heath was made part of the Romford Rural District in 1894, before becoming part of the Dagenham Urban District in 1926.
Under the London Government Act 1963, the municipal boroughs of Dagenham and Ilford were transferred to Greater London from Essex.
This resulted in the formation of the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and of Redbridge, hence why Chadwell Heath is said to be split across both.
