Place Name
A ripple is an Old English word for a strip of land, in this case referring to the narrow stretch of higher ground north of Barking marshes. In the 13thCentury the immediate area was known as Ripple, it was one of four divisions within the ancient parish of Barking. In 1536 the name was more specific Ryppylmershe before assuming an early version of its modern name, Rypleside in 1609. On a 1777 map the name Riple Side also appears to have been applied to an early forerunner of the present day Ripple Road (formerly Ripple Street). The Commissioners of Sewers Survey map 1740 also clearly illustrates a number of lanes running south of Ripple Road through the marshes. In 1810 the New Road as it was called was constructed between Tilbury and London by the Tilbury Fort Turnpike Trust. Since then, Ripple Road has formed part of its route. Between 1950 and 1964, a 1½ mile section of Ripple Road from Lodge Avenue, Barking to Chequers Lane, Dagenham was widened into a dual carriageway and two cycle tracks, which along with the construction of the nearby Thames View Estate was no doubt the most major development in the area at that time.
