Beam Parklands

Community orchard, areas for natural play, and a great flood prevention area.

Educational Offer

We have an educational programme which we offer throughout the school year and during the Summer we also run family-friendly, nature-related events as well. (note on Covid19)

The school sessions are provided at Eastbrookend Country Park and Barking Park, plus the ‘Rivers’ topic takes place at The Chase Nature Reserve. Full details are available on our website: www.lbbd.gov.uk/the-outdoor-classroom where the pdf leaflet is also available to download (Download here). The leaflet outlines the session topics that we are currently offering.

Useful email addresses: Suzanne.King@lbbd.gov.uk, Gareth.Winn@lbbd.gov.uk or rangers@lbbd.gov.uk.

Links to Topic Activities

Site Contact Details

Please contact: Site Contact: Suzanne King / Site Manager: Gareth Winn
Email: Suzanne.King@lbbd.gov.uk
Tel: 020 8227 2332 (out of hours: 0208 215 3000)
Website

Location

Oval Road North, Dagenham RM10 9EU, UK

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Site Summary

53-hectare (131 acres)
Functional flood prevention area – a wetland park.
The land is a mixture of woodlands, grassland, ponds and marsh areas and is a site of particular importance for its acid grassland.
Its primary function is as a flood defence and as such the land protects 570 residential properties, two primary schools, three social clubs and 63 industrial and commercial properties on its doorstep and downstream. However when it’s not flooded, which is the vast majority of the year, it is now a multifunctional open space that the community can use and where nature can thrive.
A primary role of Beam Parklands is flood protection. The park provides safe storage of 450,000m3 of water – equivalent of around 180 Olympic swimming pools – that in turn protects neighbouring homes, businesses and areas identified for current and future employment. There will be times, a couple of days each year, when parts of the site are underwater. However, the paths and bridges have been designed to withstand flooding and the habitats that have been created are representative of environments that experience regular flooding.
Community orchard, areas for natural play.
Variety of natural habitats where nature can thrive.

Site History

The site is located amidst the industrial and residential legacy of the Ford motorcar works.
The area has remained largely untouched and unmanaged throughout the 20th century in order to avoid a smallpox isolation hospital that had been on the land.
In recent years, the site has also functioned as a flood storage reservoir, protecting homes, schools and businesses, including Barking power station.
The site had been badly neglected for many years and became a magnet for anti-social behaviour before the Land Trust took it on and opened it up to the public in 2011.
The site also includes a variety of historical features, including tank traps, pillboxes and a section of the Old Romford Canal.
There is archaeological evidence that the area has been used since the stone age. Features such as a farmstead were discovered, as well as evidence that cremation burials of some of the farmers and their families took place. An unexpected discovery was a Roman pottery kiln; this has helped to understand how craft manufacturing was managed at the time.

Land of the Fanns Teacher Briefing

Some sites have a Teacher Briefing available at the top of the page, but the following download is a general Teacher Briefing for The Land of the Fanns. We recommend you download this briefing before visiting any of the sites listed on this resource.

Download Teacher Briefing