Upminster is a suburban town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. Located 16.5 miles east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. Historically a rural village, it formed an ancient parish in the Chafford hundred of the county of Essex. The economic history of Upminster is characterised by a shift from farming to brick making to garden suburb.