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Abbey Wood Open Space is an area of grassland and woods, so called for being in the ownership of Barking Abbey in medieval times. There was once a path from the Parsonage continuing by the Ingrebourne River to Abbey Wood, across Berwick Ponds, ending at Abbey Cottages. Reputedly in one of the plague years bodies were brought upriver by barge from Barking Abbey along the Thames to the Abbey lands and dumped in the marshes.

All Saints' Church, the small parish church of Cranham, was built between 1873 -1875 largely paid for by the then owner of Cranham Hall, Richard Benyon. However, a C13th church previously occupied the site, relics of which remain including a number of monuments, a C17th brass inscription on the chancel floor to Nathaniel Wright and his daughter Susannah, and an C18th railed tomb in the churchyard commemorating Thomas Woodroffe. A marble tablet on the south chancel wall commemorates General James Oglethorpe (1696-1785), philanthropist and founder of Georgia, who had married Elizabeth Wright, the heiress of Cranham Hall in 1743. The churchyard is semi-wild with long grass in some areas and has 5 ancient pollarded horse chestnuts along the churchyard wall in the south-west corner.

Bedfords Park comprises land formerly belonging to the manors of Bedfords and Earls (or Nerles); the name may derive from a C14th landowner. In 1452 one-time Lord Mayor of London Sir Thomas Cooke bought and amalgamated both manors for farming, the land remaining in his family for c200 years. Subsequent owners expanded the estate and in 1865-7 the C18th manor house was enlarged and surrounding hilltop planted as gardens with exotic trees, some of which remain, as does a horse chestnut avenue and part of the walled garden. The last owner sold part of the estate in 1920 and in 1933 his widow sold Bedfords to Romford UDC, who initially opened the house as a museum and café. Used during WWII by the National Fire Service and as a base for home defence, the 1950s saw rapid decay and vandalism and it was demolished in 1959, now the site of the visitors centre. Remnants of the original steps from the house can still be seen. To the south the deer park remains; a red deer herd was first established here in 1934.

Bower House and its parkland were conceived as one, with architect Henry Flitcroft working closely with Charles Bridgeman who laid out the grounds. Situated on the hillside with commanding views, the red-brick house, then called Monthavering, was built in 1729 for Sergeant-at-Law John Baynes. The layout is little changed today, with a large walled garden, serpentine walk beyond its eastern perimeter wall, belts of trees flanking the house to east and west, and an additional approach road from the south-east terminating in a small plantation to the north. Bower House and grounds were the site of memorable occasions over the years, including royal visits. In 1959 it was purchased by the Ford Motor Company as a training school and conference centre. In 2005 it was sold to Amana Trust, a Christian educational charity, which is also working to restore the house and preserve the gardens and landscaping.

The first house on the site was inherited in 1160, since when the land around was cultivated and Bretons was a working farm within living memory. Probably named from the Le Breton family who owned land in Hornchurch from C12th-C14th, the manor had a number of illustrious owners, including William Ayloffe, JP for Essex and Suffolk, who built the 4th house in 1501 and the estate was held by his family for 150 years, from which time date the brick barns and walled garden. Remnants of the latter have bee-boles in the walls and an orchard existed until the early 1980s. By 1742 Bretons was owned by John Hopkins (1683-1772) who built the present house using brick and other materials from the earlier houses. It remained in private hands until 1869 when it was sold to Romford Local Health Board and used a sewage farm until 1968. In 1976 the farmland was developed as a Youth Centre and sports ground. Renovation of the house began and in December 1978 Bretons Sports and Social Club was opened.

Nelmes Manor, one of 12 manors in Hornchurch in medieval times, took its name from Richard Elms who owned the estate in the C13th and C14th; it later became known as Great Nelmes. The estate remained largely intact until 1895 when the southern part was sold and developed as Emerson Park Estate. The northern section around the C16th manor house was developed from 1901 when the remainder of the 241-acre estate was put up for sale, apart from Great Nelmes (later demolished in 1967), Capel Nelmes and 10 acres. Capel Nelmes was formerly the stable block to Great Nelmes, used as a residence from c.1870. The manor grounds had contained a walled garden, lake, orchard and fine trees; a number of Cedars still stand. To the east is the remains of a moat, now incorporated into a modern development, and a C17th Well Tower, a former conduit house to Great Nelmes, stands in a private garden.

The area was largely farmland until the 1950s when Central Park was created in order to provide facilities for the families who were moving to the LCC's newly developed Harold Hill Estate; provision of the public park was designated in the LCC's estate layout of 1947. Central Park was provided with a cricket pitch and paddling pool, and a swimming pool was later opened in 1966 in the north west. The park is overlooked by two areas of ancient woodland, Long Wood and Sage Wood, and Paines Brook, a tributary of the Ingrebourne River, runs through the park.

Clockhouse Gardens occupy the site of the former gardens of New Place, a property which for much of its early history was an appendage of the Gaynes Estate. In 1775 it was inherited by Sir James Esdaile, Lord Mayor of London in 1777-78, who renovated the house and laid out gardens. After the death of the last private resident in 1924, the house was demolished but its C18th stable block, The Clockhouse, remained, initially used by the local Council. Vegetables were grown in the grounds during WWII, after which they were opened as Clockhouse Gardens, with part of the moat remaining from the earlier landscape. A bowling green was constructed in 1952/3. A recent addition is a sculptural feature of wooden figures, animals and seats providing a setting for children's play.

Collier Row was in agricultural use until the 1930s and the name refers to the charcoal burners who lived here when the hills beyond Romford were wooded. Soon after the area began to be developed for housing the local Council acquired land for a public recreation ground and Collier Row Recreation Ground opened in 1935. New facilities were opened in 2006 providing play areas for young children and teenagers. The River Rom runs through the park.

Coronation Gardens were laid out on land originally purchased as the site for the new Romford parish church in 1844. In 1849 the church was rebuilt on an alternative site in Market Place and only the parish burial ground with a chapel were built here. The cemetery was full by 1871. In 1953 the Council and Church authorities re-landscaped the area as public gardens commemorating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The base of the demolished chapel was initially planted as a raised rose bed but in 1970 the Romford War Memorial was re-erected here when the new Ring Road necessitated its relocation. To the rear of the garden are C19th gravestones that were cleared when the garden was laid out.

Cottons Park, originally called Cottons Recreational Ground, takes its name from the estate of the C16th landowner, Nicholas Cotton. The land for the park was acquired by Romford UDC from the Cottons family in 1920 and the park was laid out with planting, paths and a bandstand, beyond which to the north and west were playing fields for rugby, soccer and cricket as well as tennis courts. A children's playground and sand pit were located near the main entrance to the east. During WWII the land was given over for war-time allotments, public air-raid shelters and a decontamination centre was constructed, which was later converted into a pavilion and café. Six wooden sculptures were installed in 2009 to commemorate six civilians who lost their lives in the park during bombing in October 1940.

There was a house on this site in c.1600 but the manor of Cranham dates back at least to the C11th when it was held by the Bishop of London; an earlier manor house may have been located in the north of the parish. From 1765 until his death the estate was the home and farm of General James Oglethorpe (1696-1785), famous as the colonist of Georgia, USA. Cranham Hall today is an early C19th house built on the site of the C16th house, demolished in 1789. The estate remained intact until 1867 when 812 acres of farmland were sold to Richard Benyon, and it was largely built over. C16th garden walls survive almost intact, on the south side of which is a gateway, and many mature trees remain although the private gardens are now much reduced in size. The main entrance was formerly by the church, overlooking the fields and not The Chase, which was the back entrance.