It is peripheral to London, forming a ribbon development extending from the eastern edge of the urban sprawl and surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt.

Following a county review order in 1934, and in anticipation of suburban house building, Wennington became part of an expanded Hornchurch Urban District and the parish council was abolished.

At least 18 houses were burnt down and many others damaged, while around 90 families were evacuated from the village with a rescue centre set up in a nearby hotel.

The fire reportedly started from a compost heap which spontaneously combusted, with flames subsequently spreading along a garden fence.

[12] To the west and north Wennington has a boundary with Rainham, also in Havering, formed by the Common Watercourse.

[citation needed] To the south there is a boundary in the middle of the Thames with Erith in the London Borough of Bexley.