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Park Lane existed as a route before the surrounding farmland was developed as housing. The area remained rural into the 1920s, and by 1938/9 the houses of Clydesdale Road had been built, although open land remained to the south. Park Lane Playground was laid out in the early 1950s for the use of local residents and schools. The facilities included a football pitch, children's playground and toilets and the layout included planting of shrubs. When Park Lane Housing Estate was built, a new entrance was made to the recreation ground.

Parklands Open Space was formerly part of Gaynes or Engaynes manor, whose name derives from Vitalis Engayne who owned the estate from 1218. It had numerous owners until 1780 when Sir James Esdaile purchased what was then little more than a farmhouse. He built a new manor house, since demolished, and laid out the 100-acre park. A stream was dammed to create a lake, with a bridge built at its east end, clumps of trees were planted and shrubbery walks laid out. From 1817 on parts of the estate, by then c.750 acres, were sold off to various private owners and eventually in 1929 the estate was sold for building development. Some old trees survive amongst new housing. The lake and Parklands Bridge remain, together with a grass walk along the northern bank, which were acquired by Hornchurch UDC for public open space. The silted-up lake was cleaned in 1956/7 to enable fishing, a public amenity until then not provided by the Council.

'Pyrgo', derived from Portegone, is found in records from the C14th, a manor on the northern edge of Havering. In 1518 it was occupied by the king's steward, passing to Henry VIII in 1541, and in 1558/9 Elizabeth I presented it to Lord Grey, uncle of Lady Jane. It had a number of private owners and by 1828 comprised 460 acres. The C16th house was demolished by 1814 and in 1851/52 a new house was built on the site of a farmhouse but demolished in 1940, although the stable block remains. In 1863 the grounds were landscaped; parts of the terraces and steps survived into the 1950s. By 1919 the estate was 824 acres, but soon after was sold off piecemeal. Pyrgo Park House was bought with 158 acres in 1925 by Herbert Mitchell who sold it to developers in 1935. Pyrgo Park is now split between three farms. Two lodges at the north and south ends of the estate remain, together with the drive from the South Lodge.

This area of Rainham was still largely fields in the 1930s when the Federation of Synagogues established its Jewish Cemetery here in 1938, although the routes of both Upminster Road and Launders Lane were marked on earlier maps. The Federation had been set up in 1887, largely at the instigation of Samuel Montagu, wealthy banker, Liberal MP and philanthropist. By 1939 the cemetery was laid out with colonnaded prayer building and hall, approached by a drive from the main entrance on Upminster Road with a further drive from an entrance to the west. The area to the east was the first to be used for burial, laid out in a grid pattern of paths. Even into the C21st part of the land has remained rural in aspect.

Rainham Cemetery was opened in 1902, the first burial taking place in that year. There is a small cemetery chapel with a glass screen, railings. Even in the 1920s the surrounding area was entirely undeveloped and the cemetery was surrounded by fields. Upminster Road North, however, is marked as a route on earlier maps.

Rainham Hall is an early C18th house built for Captain John Harle, set in a pleasant garden, although it once had larger grounds. It retains fine wrought-iron railings and gates, the latter having the intertwined initials of John Harle and his wife Mary. The house remained in his family until 1895 but then fell into decay, although remnants of the Harles' formal garden layout remained. The house was purchased by Colonel Mulliner in 1920 who found it an excellent example of its period, and it was later given to the National Trust.

Rainham existed from ancient times as a small hamlet with a medieval church, river crossing and a wharf on the creek formed by the Ingrebourne River, which was navigable until the C20th. The railway arrived here in 1854 but Rainham remained a relatively remote rural village into the 1930s. The land was acquired for public open space by Hornchurch UDC in 1934 and was initially used for allotments during WWII. Rainham Recreation Ground was laid out in 1950/1, facilities including a paddling pool and playground equipment, but although it was considered a suitable site for a future bowling green, this did not eventually get created. It was re-landscaped in 1990 and a new playsite was laid out in 2004.

Raphael Park is the western section of former landscaped grounds of Gidea Park Estate, now surrounded by suburban development. The Elizabethan Gidea Hall, which stood to the east of today's park, was rebuilt in 1720 by Sir John Eyles, who incorporated the moat into a formal layout of canals with the house at the centre of radiating avenues. A long canal called the Spoon Pond or Canal survives, now dry and laid out with tennis courts. In the late C18th, the park was enlarged and re-landscaped less formally and the lake or serpentine canal and a new bridge were built, now called Black's Canal and Black's Bridge after the C19th owner. In 1897 the estate was purchased by Herbert Raphael; in 1902 he gave the Canal and 15 acres of gardens to Romford UDC for a public park. Spoon Pond and further land was added, and Raphael Park opened to the public in 1904, its Lodge at the main entrance of that date. Other remnants of the earlier landscape include the sites of the former Vineyards and Pleasure Ground and there are a number of mature trees.

Rise Park was created through the benefaction of Cllr Thomas England, who was instrumental in various public improvement schemes in the borough between the two world wars. He had the notion of creating a green corridor from Romford to Havering Atte Bower and in 1937 donated land for the creation of Rise Park to connect Raphael Park and Bedfords. Various recreational facilities included a pool and playground, a toilet pavilion and tennis courts, and sports pitches were laid out. The park opened to the public in 1937.

Crow Lane or Romford Cemetery was established by the Romford Burial Board in 1871 when space ran out in the parochial cemetery. The cemetery was taken over by Romford UDC in 1900 and is now run by South Essex Crematorium. It remains partially enclosed by its C19th railings, with ragstone gate-piers and two ragstone chapels joined by a gothic porte-cochère. The cemetery contains utilitarian monuments, with older graves near the chapels, and trees include holly, cedar and flowering cherry, rows of common lime and horse chestnut.

Romford Garden Suburb contains features from the C18th landscape of Gidea Park Estate, which were preserved and integrated into the C20th garden suburb. Sold for development in 1893, the estate was then resold in 1897 to Herbert Raphael. In 1910 Raphael, Charles McCurdy and John Tudor Walters, all 3 Liberal MPS, and shareholders in Hampstead Garden Suburb Co., formed Gidea Park Ltd for the purpose of building a new Garden Suburb on part of the east portion, purchasing additional land and arranging with Great Eastern Railway for a new station to be opened. The foundation stone was laid on 28 July 1910 and in June 1911 Gidea Park Exhibition of Houses and Cottages opened. By 1912 159 dwellings had been built, designed by over 100 architects, among them Clough Williams-Ellis, Raymond Unwin and Charles Ashbee. In 1934 a further competition and Modern Homes exhibition was held. The stated intention had been to retain Gidea Hall and its outbuildings, and up to 100 acres were covenanted as open spaces, including Reed Pond Walk Copse and Gidea Park Fishponds.

Romford Golf Club was founded in 1894 by Sir Herbert Raphael. The golf course was designed by Open Champion James Braid and laid out on c.90 acres leased from the eastern portion of the C18th Gidea Park Estate, the Club's first secretary then the tenant of Gidea Hall. Raphael acquired the Gidea Park Estate in 1897 and was instrumental in the development of Romford Garden Suburb, as well as the creation of Raphael Park. A map of 1777 shows two parallel tree-lined avenues running north-east across the site, which on the 1807 estate map is marked The Park with clumps of trees and an avenue along its southern side. The roadway could be the Georgian track to Gidea Hall. There are two gun emplacements on the site, one complete.