This week, the Recorder is looking back at the history of Romford’s biggest shopping centre, The Liberty, as a new era for the site waits in the wings.
When it opened in 1968, the shopping centre was just one sign of a huge transformation underway in Romford, with the ring road and the original Gallows Corner flyover both completed a couple of years later.
Many pubs and shops in the town centre faced demolition during this period, according to Havering Libraries, but new names were popping up as a result of The Liberty including the new Littlewoods store.
READ MORE: The history of Romford shopping centres in nostalgic photos
Romford’s shopping facilities were expanded even further when The Liberty 2 Shopping Centre – now known as The Mercury – opened in June 1990.
Building work started on Liberty 2 in the late 1980s and was Havering’s response to the new Lakeside Shopping Centre, says Havering Libraries.
Its upper floor once featured Pulse nightclub, which closed in 1999, and Lumiere Cinema was once an Odeon.
The main part of the original Liberty was open-air for much of its early life, becoming fully covered in 2003 as part of an extensive redevelopment.
As well as covering the central part of The Liberty with a glazed roof, this £52 million revamp also saw the development of a new car park, the remodelling and relocation of stores and new large units for brands like H&M and Next.
READ MORE: The Liberty redevelopment plans: What Romford people think
In September 2006, Irish property developers Cosgrave Property Group bought the centre from property company Hammerson for £281 million – which was reported by the Financial Times and the Independent.
Redical Ltd later acquired the centre in 2022 and have since refurbished several entrances as part of a £7 million improvement fund.
The owner has now put forward proposals for a further redevelopment of the site, featuring up to 800 homes alongside new retail and food space.
