Dagenham: Ford, Becontree, and the Reinvention of East London
The Ford Motor Company opened its Dagenham plant in 1931 on marshland along the Thames. At its peak, it employed over 40,000 workers and was the largest car factory in Europe. The 1968 strike by women machinists at Dagenham, demanding equal pay, led directly to the Equal Pay Act 1970 and was later dramatised in the film Made in Dagenham. Car assembly ended in 2002; diesel engine production continued until 2020. The factory site is now partially repurposed, but the economic and cultural hole it left defines Dagenham's recent history.
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The Ford Motor Company opened its Dagenham plant in 1931 on marshland along the Thames. At its peak, it employed over 40,000 workers and was the largest car factory in Europe. The 1968 strike by women machinists at Dagenham, demanding equal pay, led directly to the Equal Pay Act 1970 and was later dramatised in the film Made in Dagenham. Car assembly ended in 2002; diesel engine production continued until 2020. The factory site is now partially repurposed, but the economic and cultural hole it left defines Dagenham's recent history.
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