Romford is a large town in east London, England, located in the historic county of Essex. Situated north of Dagenham and Hornchurch, east of Chadwell Heath, south of Havering-atte-Bower, and south-west of Brentwood, it is 14.1 miles (22.7 km) north-east of Charing Cross in central London. A market town chartered in 1247, Romford formed the administrative centre of the medieval liberty of Havering, until it was dissolved in 1892. Good road links to London and the opening of the railway station in 1839 were key to the development of the town and the economic history of Romford is underpinned by a shift from agriculture to light industry and then to retail and commerce. As part of the suburban expansion of the area in the 19th century, Romford significantly expanded and increased in population to form part of the metropolitan conurbation of London, similar to much of south-west Essex.It now forms one of the largest commercial, retail, entertainment and leisure districts in London and has a developed night-time economy. The entire town had a population of 122,854 as of 2011. For administrative purposes, the Romford Urban District gained municipal borough status in 1937, before being replaced by the London Borough of Havering in the newly-formed ceremonial county of Greater London in 1965. Romford is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan.

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