The Bloodier Battle of Valence

By Carole Barclay

 The 17^th century came to life in the middle of a council estate in Dagenham last weekend courtesy of the Valence House Museum and the English Civil War Society. The two-day free event in Valence Park included displays of musketry and horsemanship, and a living history camp showing what life was like during the English Civil War. But the highlight was an hour long portrayal of a skirmish between Royalist and Parliamentary troops, which involved over 500 re-enactors on both sides of the civil war.

During the struggle between Parliament and the King, which finally ended with the trial and execution of Charles Stuart in 1649, Valence House was held by the Royalist Fanshawe family. But most of the people in this part of south Essex were staunchly for Parliament throughout the civil war. It’s a pity that this was not reflected in this imaginary battle in which the Royalists were depicted as the victors. But this was entertainment – not an open-air lecture on the nuances of 17^th century politics. The grown-ups filmed the costumed drama and kept the beer tent going. The kids were predictably more attracted to the burger and ice-cream stalls outside the historic moated manor house that goes back to the 13^th century!

Witchery in Dagenham

by Carole Barclay

Valence House in Dagenham may seem to some an unlikely venue for an exhibition about the occult arts – but the Bruja exhibition, the word is simply the Spanish for witch, has considerable interest in the London borough that was once part of south Essex.

This modest display of sketches, paintings and ‘magic’ paraphernalia by Alisha Ward is tucked away in one of the rooms of this historic moated manor house, which goes back to the 13^th century. It now contains permanent exhibitions on history and life in Barking and Dagenham, including displays from the old London County Council’s massive Becontree Estate.

Alisha Ward is an artist, illustrator and art student from London. She says that her work traditionally “takes the basis of the female form, using this as a catalyst for ideas which revolve around mental illness and the human condition, and takes a narrative form incorporating mythology, folklore, gothic, literature and pop culture references.”

In this exhibition in the Whalebone Gallery, Alisha combines the iconography of magic with her interest in folklore, film and the spooky side of life to create a narrative of the landscape of human experience.

It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area and the rest of the museum is packed with interesting displays that reflect life in the borough from the Stone Age onwards, as well as a gallery dedicated to the social impact that the building of a massive council estate in the 1920s and the subsequent arrival of the Ford Motor Company had on what had been a rural village on the outskirts of London. There’s a ‘cinema’ that shows newsreels about Dagenham on a continuous reel and a very good café at the nearby visitors centre.

Valence House is not the easiest to find if you don’t know your way around the estate, so take a map with you. The nearest stations are Chadwell Heath and Dagenham Heathway, but they are both a 20 minute walk away from the park. Admission is free and the museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00; and the exhibition runs until 6^th May. Admission is free at:

Valence House Museum

Becontree Avenue

Dagenham RM8 3HT

Phone: 020 8227 5293 or 2034

A manor in a housing estate

By Carole Barclay

FOR SOMEONE who grew up in Dagenham, Valence House has always had a special place in my heart and is a reminder of a rural Dagenham long since forgotten. It is the only manor house left in the borough and within its walls are relics and mementoes from Roman days right up to the 21^st century.

Some parts of the house date back around 700 years and it was most recently a working farm run by the May family until it was compulsorily purchased in 1921 to make way for the building of what was to become the largest council estate in Europe.

The museum opened its doors to the public in 1937 and was initially just a small collection of finds run by the local library and open only a few afternoons a month, while the rest of the house was used for public meetings and local exhibitions. Two major renovations, including a major revamp in 2007 financed partly by a Heritage Lottery grant have transformed it into one of finest local museums in Greater London.

People settled the area during the Stone Age and the display of their tools and other flint implements is the path through which visitors wend their way through the building. Finds include the “Dagenham Idol” – a Neolithic wooden totem unearthed during sewage works in 1922. A scattering of  finds testifies to the impact of four centuries of Roman rule, while Saxon and medieval Dagenham is well represented in the history of nearby Barking Abbey and the local manor houses which were all swept away when the great Becontree council estate was built to provide “homes fit for heroes” after the First World War.

            In the 20^th century Dagenham was virtually synonymous with the Ford motor company, which until recently provided employment for a large number of workers. It was also known for the Dagenham Girl Pipers, a bagpipe marching band set up by an eccentric Congregational church minister in the 1930s that continues to entertain people to this day. You can see them in the small museum cinema that screens a rotating series of films created by the Dagenham Cooperative Film Society, which highlight life on the Becontree Estate.

            The nearby Valence Park, a fragment of the original estate, contains a children’s playground while the museum grounds boast a beautiful herb garden that also includes a restored Anderson air-raid shelter from the Second World War as well as a bookshop, café and archive collection for students and scholars of all ages.  Valence House, like many estates in Essex, was moated and the building is still surrounded by most of the ancient water course, a haven for ducks and the local Becmain Angling Club!

            Valence House is not the easiest to find if you don’t know your way around the estate so take a map with you. The nearest stations are Chadwell Heath and Dagenham Heathway but they are both a 20 minutes walk away from the park. Admission is free and the museum is open daily from 10am to 4pm, apart from Sundays at: 

Valence House Museum

Becontree Avenue

Dagenham RM8 3HT

Phone: 020 8227 5293 or 2034.

• The Dagenham Idol