Whalebone Lane was named after the whalebones that were supposedly retrieved from the carcass of a Common Greenland Whale stranded on river Thames in the 1600s. The bones were set over a toll gate and its toll house built around 1721 at the crossroads of Chadwell Heath High Road and what is now Whalebone Lane. After World War II the bones were taken to the Valence House Museum where they stood at the entrance to the museum. However the bones deteriorated and were put into storage. When the museum opens again it is hoped the bones will be on display.
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