Rainham
Rainham is a suburb of East London, England, in the London Borough of Havering.
Rainham is a suburb of East London, England, in the London Borough of Havering. Historically an ancient parish in the county of Essex, Rainham is 13.6 miles (21.9 km) east of Charing Cross and is surrounded by a residential area, which has grown from the historic village, to the north and a commercial area, fronting the River Thames, to the south. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Rainham significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming part of Hornchurch Urban District in 1934, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. The economic history of Rainham is underpinned by a shift from agriculture to industry and manufacture and is now in a period of regeneration, coming within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Rainham
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Church of St Helen and St Giles
St Helen and St Giles is a church and landmark of Rainham and is the oldest building in the London Borough of Havering. The church retains many of its original features, for example the round-headed arches.
300 m · church in Rainham, London · Wikipedia - 02Rainham War Memorial
The Rainham War Memorial commemorates soldiers killed in both World Wars as well as civilian casualties of World War II.
300 m · war memorial in London · Wikipedia - 03Beam Valley Country Park
Beam Valley Country Park is a 74-hectare park in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Most of it is designated as a Local Nature Reserve called Beam Valley, but a narrow strip next to the River Beam south from Western Avenue is a separate LNR called Beam Valley.
3.1 km · park in London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 04Dagenham Village Churchyard
Dagenham Village Churchyard or St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard is a 0.88 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is owned by the borough council.
3.3 km · church in London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, UK · Wikipedia - 05St John's Parish Church, South Hornchurch
St John & St Matthew's Church, South Hornchurch, is an Anglican parish church in South Hornchurch, London Borough of Havering, England.
1.9 km · church of england church · Wikipedia - 06Wildspace Conservation Park
The Wildspace Conservation Park, also known as London Riverside Conservation Park or Wildspace, is a major new conservation park under development. The conservation park is predominantly in London, within the London Borough of Havering, but also extends across the capital's administrative boundary and into Thurrock in Essex.
1.6 km · park in Rainham, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 07Bretons House
Bretons is a Grade II* listed building and grounds in Hornchurch, in the London Borough of Havering. There has been a house on the site since the 12th century and it has been in local authority ownership since 1869.
2.8 km · building in London Borough of Havering, London, England, UK · Wikipedia - 08Purfleet Road, Aveley
Purfleet Road, Aveley is a 4 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Aveley in Essex. The site was exposed as a result of excavations for building the A13 road in 1997.
3.8 km · Site of Special Scientific Interest in Essex, England, UK · Wikipedia - 09St Mary and St Peter's Church, Wennington
St Mary and St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church in Wennington, in the London Borough of Havering. It is a Grade II* listed building.
2 km · church in the London Borough of Havering, England,UK · Wikipedia - 10Hornchurch Country Park
Hornchurch Country Park is a 104.5-hectare park on the former site of Hornchurch Airfield, south of Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London.
2.6 km · park in the United Kingdom · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting to Rainham
- Airports
- London Stansted (STN), 41 km · London Heathrow (LHR), 46 km · London Gatwick (LGW), 49 km
- Stations
- Elm Park tube station, 3.6 km · Dagenham East tube station, 3.6 km · Damyns Hall Aerodrome, 3.7 km · Dagenham Dock railway station, 3.5 km · Rainham railway station, 300 m
- London → Rainham22 km · quickest by road, 57 min · £2.5–3
- London, Essex → Rainham22 km · quickest by road, 57 min · £2.5–3
- Luton, Luton → Rainham58 km · quickest by road, 1h 40m · £8–11
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Rainham
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Rainham. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inUse Woolwich Ferry then for destinations in south London.
From Wikivoyage: London/East, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
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If you know how people move in Rainham – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Rainham
Rainham is 21 km from Islington, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- London Borough of Haveringborough in the London Region in England3.9 km
- Wenningtonvillage in London Borough of Havering, UK2.8 km
- Elm Parkarea in the London Borough of Havering3.4 km
- Dagenham Docksub-area of Dagenham, England, UK3.7 km
- South Hornchurcharea in the London Borough of Havering1.5 km
- Barking Power Stationspower stations in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, England, UK3.3 km