Birch trees or Bereca’s descendants? That is where the name Barking came from. We stand in a riverside town steeped in history. This is Barking in East London. It is part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Barking sits 9.3 miles east of Charing Cross.
Barking’s story stretches back to Anglo-Saxon times. Its name comes from “Berecingas”. This means either “the settlement of Bereca’s followers” or “settlement by the birch trees”. By 735 AD, it was Berecingum. This meant “dwellers among the birch trees”. The Domesday Book of 1086 called it Berchingae.
Barking was once a huge manor. A charter in 735 AD first mentioned it. The Abbey is thought to have been founded in 666 AD. The Manor covered Barking, Dagenham and Ilford. The Nunnery of Barking held this Manor.
The Fanshawes were local lords from 1628 to 1857. They owned manor houses including Valence House. They gifted the Leet House to Barking’s residents.
The Parish of Barking was large with 12,307 acres. It was divided into Chadwell, Ilford, Ripple and Town wards. Ilford and Chadwell became Ilford parish in 1888.
Barking became Barking Town Urban District in 1894. It became the Municipal Borough of Barking in 1931. In 1965, it merged with Dagenham to form the London Borough of Barking. The area west of the River Roding became part of Newham. In 1980, the borough was renamed Barking and Dagenham.
Historically, Barking shifted from fishing and farming to industry. The River Thames drove this. Barking railway station opened in 1854. The London Underground arrived in 1908. Suburban growth in the 20th century expanded Barking. The London County Council estate at Becontree spurred growth in the 1920s.
Barking Abbey was founded in 666 by Eorcenwald. He was the Bishop of London. Danes destroyed it. King Edgar reconstructed it in 970. Marie de France may have been abbess in the late 12th century. In 1536, Barking Abbey was demolished. St Margaret’s Church, some walls and foundations are all that remain. Captain James Cook married Elizabeth Batts there in 1762. The Fanshawe family of Parsloes Manor is buried there.
A charter confirmed Barking’s ancient market right between 1175 and 1179. The market declined in the 18th century but has revived.
St Margaret’s Church is a Grade I listed building. It dates back to the 13th century. It stands in the Abbey Green area. The Grade-II* Listed Curfew Tower features on the borough’s coat of arms.
Fishing was a major industry from the 14th to mid-19th centuries. Salt water fishing began before 1320. By 1850, there were 220 smacks. They employed 1,370 men and boys. The boats were 75 feet long. They carried up to 50 tons.
Scymgeour Hewett founded the Short Blue Fleet. It was England’s biggest fishing fleet. The fleet used smacks out of Barking and east coast ports. Around 1870, the fleet changed to gaff ketches. These boats stayed at sea for months. They used ice to preserve the fish. The ice was produced by flooding local fields in winter.
Annie Huggett was a local Suffragette activist. She died aged 104 in 1996. She was the last living Suffragette. The Gospel Oak and Barking Overground line will be renamed the “Suffragette Line” in her honor.
Boat building has a long history in Barking. Some royal ships of Henry VIII were repaired here. Hewett & Co continued boat building until 1899. Daniel de Pass opened the Barking Guano Works at Creekmouth in 1878. Creekmouth was also the site of Barking Power Station from 1925 to the 1970s.
On September 3, 1878, the Bywell Castle ran into the Princess Alice near Barking Creek. Over 600 people died. This was the highest loss of civilian lives in UK waters.
Barking’s rich history is still visible today. From its Anglo-Saxon roots to its maritime past. From its industrial boom to its modern regeneration, Barking has changed dramatically. It remains a vital part of East London.