The history of Havering dates back at least to Saxon times, with the format of the name indicative of an early Saxon settlement^[3] while archaeological finds in and around Havering Country Park suggest a Roman villa or similar structure in the area.

The name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Haueringas. It is an ancient folk name meaning settlement of the followers of a man called Hæfer. The name is recorded as Hauering atte Bower in 1272. The atte Bower suffix means at the royal residence and refers to Havering Palace, which was situated here. The West London equivalent to Havering-atte-Bower is Old Windsor in Berkshire, which had a Saxon Palace that predated Windsor Castle. Edward the Confessor would have travelled to and from his palaces at both Havering-atte-Bower and Old Windsor. Both villages are situated on high ground and have great views into London.

A small Palladian mansion built in 1729 by John Baynes from plans by Henry Flitcroft.  Reputedly built with some of the bricks from the demolished HAVERING ROYAL PALACE. The rooms were not overly large, but elegant, and the house had extensive grounds. The staircase was once decorated with paintings by Sir James Thornhill. An inscription in the entrance hall states that remains of the royal house were used in the building, and a stone corbel with the arms of Edward III is preserved in the hall. It is believed that Charles Bridgeman, the designer, laid out the grounds. Around 1800, the east and west wings were added and in the mid 19th century the main room in the east wing was fitted with paneling in 17th-century style, with an original fireplace, dated 1659.

The Bower House was originally built for Mr Serjeant Baynes who was a distinguished lawyer. Bower House remained a private home until 1976 when it was taken over by the Ford Motor Company as a training centre. It is now a residential training centre operated by the Amana Trust a Christian charity.

An early Victorian building which was the home of Harold Smith who published 'A History of the Parish of Havering-atte-Bower' in 1925 (descendant of Eric Smith). This publication is now sadly out of print, but it is recognised as one of the best authorities on the area.

The Round House, Broxhill Road, was erected by William Sheldon and purchased in 1807 by William Jacobs who died in 1815 and left the house to his wife's niece, Mary, who was married to William Whitehurst. There is a story that the house was built by a retired tea-merchant who had the house designed in the shape of a tea-caddy to commemorate how he had made his money. It is an elegant and unusual three-storey house which stands on the crest of the ridge, with views north and south. It is visible from the road only when the trees are bare of leaves. It is described in Pevsner's 'Essex' as an oval building, three stories, plastered with eight windows on each storey, having four pairs of giant Tuscan pilasters, a porch of two pillars and two Ionic columns. It was occupied at the beginning of the 20th century by Rev Joseph Pemberton, the famous rose-grower and President of the National Rose Society who grew and hybridised roses there, including the Alexandra Rose as well as various Musk and Shrub roses. He was related to the Pemberton Barnes, who owned the Bower House and Havering Hall.
Now in private ownership.
Recording studio

The Cricket Ground and Club House was donated by Mrs Pemberton-Barnes for villagers to use and some very successful cricketers have been members of the cricket club.

The Hall, Broxhill Road, was owned by Richard Chauncy around 1730.This L shaped building faced the village green, and the old cellar still remains. The cork tree in the grounds is estimated to be around 400 years old, and dates back to a time when there was a great deal of trade with Spain and Portugal.

After several successive  owners, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the  property came into the hands of Rev Thomas Leigh and was lastly occupied in 1821 by J P Luscombe after which it fell into decay. When the School was rebuilt in 1837 one of the rooms was used as a school room. It was left full of furniture and villagers were told they could help themselves provided they return any item if ask for. The old Hall was then purchased by Mr Field of Pyrgo who sold it to William Pemberton-Barnes, who had the new Hall built around 1858. Saint Francis Hospice purchased the Hall in 1978.

The medieval Vicarage was rebuilt by John Heaton (owner of Bedfords from 1771-1818) in 1786, although it is now in private ownership and no longer used as a vicarage. The pump on the front of the house originally came from the church hall.

The Royal Oak, recorded from 1744, gave up its licence in 1792. A later house of that name, in North Road, has been trading since around 1920.

Tiverton Cottage down the hill from the village school is one of the oldest houses in the district and was once a 'poor house'.

Dating back centuries, grass tennis courts were the original surface to be played on by nobility before the sport became a common and popular past time. Rightfully dubbed “lawn tennis”, the game was played on a quarter inch of grass that was properly maintained for peek efficiency. Now a days, the experts have got it down to a science. Some of the most famous courts in the world, such as the ones in Wimbledon, are made of a mixture of 70% perennial ryegrass and 30% creeping red fescue.

From the Green to… alongside the LONDON LOOP

The village is steeped in royal history and Edward the Confessor was the first monarch known to take interest in the area when he established a timber framed hunting lodge which, over the years would become a substantial retreat for many members of the royal family, a palace or 'bower'.  Henry VIII  reportedly spent 8 days hunting and banqueting in 1531. 
The last monarch to stay here was Charles I in 1631. By then buildings gradually had fallen  into disrepair and decay. By 1816 no walls were visible above the ground and a great royal house has lost earth… It appears that Havering had retained this royal connection for almost 8 centuries, as the Domesday Book lists it has been in the possession of King Harold in 1066 and King William in 1086. At that time there were 45 households and the land consisted of 100 acres of meadow with additional woodland and a mill.

It is believed, though disputed, that THE CONFESSOR may have died in the house that he had loved so much before being buried at Westminster Abbey.

The other  palace purchased by Henry VIII, east of the village, to relieve the now ageing Havering Palace, was PYRGO.  Into the 17th century the Royal Palace of Havering was in decline and was eventually pulled down. PYRGO was also demolished later, in the 18th century. Only one set of plans exists from the original Havering Palace, courtesy of a survey by Lord Burghley in 1578.

James I was a frequent visitor to Havering Park between 1605 and 1624, but after the death of Charles I the land was divided and sold in 1650.

A liberty was an English unit originating in the Middle Ages, traditionally defined as an area in which regalian right was revoked and where the land was held by a mesne lord (i.e., an area in which rights reserved to the king had been devolvedinto private hands). It later became a unit of local government administration.^[1]

Liberties were areas of widely variable extent which were independent of the usual system of hundreds and boroughs for a number of different reasons, usually to do with peculiarities of tenure. Because of their tenurial rather than geographical origin, the areas covered by liberties could either be widely scattered across a county or limited to an area smaller than a single parish: an example of the former is Fordington Liberty, and of the latter, the Liberty of Waybayouse, both in Dorset.

WELLINGTONIA AVENUE

After the death of Mrs McIntosh, the estate was carved up piecemeal, part of it being sold off in one-acre plots at around £30 each that became known as the Plotlands. These plots were along Wellingtonia Avenue and Pinewood Road and were extremely popular from the 1920s to 1940s.

Many of them were initially bought by East Enders as a welcome retreat from the inner city who ‘visited their plots at weekends, staying in tents and slowly building their own bungalows. Some moved in permanently.’ Two of the old bungalows still exist, one of which serves as the Park Office.

In 1970, the Greater London Council, much to the displeasure and outrage of local people, was behind a Compulsory Purchase Order to clear out the Plotlands in order to create a regional public park following recommendations in the Abercrombie Report to restore Havering Ridge to its former beauty.