Upminster and Hornchurch

This selection of over 200 archive photographs of Upminster and Hornchurch brings to life the early decades of the twentieth century. This unique sequence of images captures the rural past, and also shows buildings from a former era, swept away by the work of estate developers, as fields and hedgerows gave way to houses. The pictures range from shopping parades to children in their classrooms, Upminster's well-remembered May Festival and reflections on the 1914-18 war period in Hornchurch when Grey Towers Mansion became a military camp and convalescent hospital. Each picture is described with a wealth of detail that will bring back memories to all those who lived or worked here.