Barking and Dagenham Greater London hotels:

Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. It is sited in parkland and is partially surrounded by a moat. Home of the Borough's local history museum and art gallery, it houses an impressive collection of artifacts and archives that tell the story of the lives of the people of Barking and Dagenham. Of particular interest in the museum are the Becontree Rooms, a series of Period room reconstructions. The history of the massive Becontree housing estate which covers much of the Borough is charted in these rooms. Also on display are various artefacts illustrating the history of the Borough. These include Stone and Bronze Age tools and Roman pottery. Barking had an important fishing industry from the 14th Century until Victorian times. Major fishing fleets operated out of the mouth of Barking Creek, and many relics from the period are on display. The extensive archives include the internationally important diplomatic papers of Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608-1666) who was Ambassador to Spain and Portugal. The collection of Fanshawe Family Portraits and Archive presented to the Borough of Dagenham in 1963 is the jewel in the crown of the museum's collections. The museum offers visitors tours, school visits, adult education, craft workshops and talks and lectures. Visitors can enjoy a small café and souvenir shop stocking a wide range of local history books and publications, postcards, maps, reproduction prints and drawings.