Barking

Barking
OS grid reference	TQ440840
London borough	Barking & Dagenham
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BARKING
Postcode district	IG11
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Barking
London Assembly	City and East
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°′″N 0°′″E / 51.536469, 0.077226

Barking is a suburban town in east London, England and the main district of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is a retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough and 9.1 miles (14.6 km) east of Charing Cross.

History

The manor of Barking was the site of Barking Abbey, a nunnery founded in 666 by Eorcenwald, bishop of London, destroyed by the Danes and reconstructed about a hundred years later in 970 by King Edgar. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, Barking Abbey was demolished: the parish church, St Margaret's stands upon its site, where some walling and foundations are all that otherwise remain. The Norman church of St Margaret was where Captain James Cook married Elizabeth Batts of Shadwell in 1762.

Barking was an urban district from 1894 and became a municipal borough in 1931. The Municipal Borough of Barking was abolished in 1965 along with the Municipal Borough of Dagenham and the area became part of the London Borough of Barking (renamed Barking and Dagenham in 1980.^[1]

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Berecingas, meaning either "the settlement of the followers or descendants of a man called Bereca" or "the settlement by the birch trees".

William the Conqueror

Throughout his life, William's greatest fear was that of rebellion. To counter this threat, when he distributed land to his nobles their estates were always separated by many miles obliging his barons to occupy themselves with their personal administration rather than have time free to group amongst themselves to plot treason. At the same time, although Rouen is the capital of Normandy, William's court was equally always on the move from one city to another. After his coronation in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, he established his very first council as King of England in Barking Abbey before quickly moving on to Epping Forest.

Fishing

Fishing was the most important industry in Barking from the 14th century, until the mid-19th. Salt water fishing from Barking began before 1320, when too fine nets were seized by City authorities, but expanded greatly from the 16th century. Fisher Street was named after the fishing community there. From about 1775 welled and dry smacks were used, mostly as cod boats. Fishermen sailed as far as Iceland in the summer. They served Billingsgate Fish Market in the City of London, and moored up at home in Barking Pool. Samuel Hewett, born on 7 December 1797, founded the Short Blue Fleet (England's biggest fishing fleet) based in Barking, and using smacks out of Barking and east coast ports. This fleet used gaff ketches which stayed out at sea for months, using ice for preservation of fish. This ice was produced by flooding local fields in winter. Fleeting involved fish being ferried from fishing smacks to steamer-carriers by little wooden ferry-boats. The rowers had to stand as the boats were piled high with fish-boxes. Rowers refused to wear their bulky cork lifejackets because it slowed down their rowing. At first the fast fifty-foot gaff cutters with great booms projecting beyond the sterns were employed to race the fish to port to get the best prices.

There was also a trade in live fish, using the welled smacks in which the central section of the hull, between two watertight bulkheads, was pierced to create a 'well' in which seawater could circulate. Cod caught live were lowered into this well, with their swim bladders pierced, and remained alive until the vessel returned to port, when they were transferred to semi-submerged 'chests,' effectively cages, which kept them alive until they were ready for sale. At this point they were pulled out and killed with a blow on the head before being despatched to market, where because of their freshness they commanded a high price. People who practised this method of fishing were known as 'codbangers.'

By 1850, there some 220 smacks, employing some 1,370 men and boys. The Barking boats of this period were typically 75 feet long carrying up to 50 tons. During the wars of the 17th and 18th century they were often used as fleet auxiliaries by the navy, based at nearby Chatham Dockyard. The opening of direct rail links between the North Sea ports and London meant it was quicker to transport fish by train from these ports straight to the capital rather than waiting for ships to take the longer route down the east coast and up the River Thames to Barking. In addition, by the 1850s the Thames was so severely polluted that fish kept in chests quickly died. Consequently, the Barking fishery slipped into decline in the second half of the nineteenth century. The decline was hastened by a storm in December 1863, off the Dutch coast, which caused the deaths of 60 men, and damage estimated at £6-7000. Many of its leading figures, including Hewett & Co, moved to Great Yarmouth and to Grimsby. By 1900, Barking had ceased to exist as a working fishing port, leaving only a few street and pub names as a reminder of its former importance to the town.^[2]

Other industries

Boat building has a long history at Barking, being used for the repair of some royal ships of Henry VIII. In 1848, 5 shipwrights, 4 rope- and line-makers, 6 sail-makers and 4 mast-, pump-, and block-makers are listed in a local trade directory. Hewett & Co continued in boat building and repair until 1899.

Other industries replaced the nautical trades, including jute spinning, paint and chemicals manufacture. By 1878 Daniel de Pass had opened the Barking Guano Works (now de Pass Fertilizers) at Creekmouth. In the 20th century new industrial estates were established, and many local residents came to be employed in the car plant at Dagenham.

Thames disaster

On September 3rd, 1878 the iron ship Bywell Castle ran into the pleasure steamer Princess Alice in Galleons Reach, downstream of Barking Creek. The paddle steamer was returning from the coast, via Sheerness and Gravesend with nearly 800 day trippers on board. She broke in two and sank immediately, with the loss of over 600 lives, the highest ever single loss of civilian lives in UK territorial waters.

At this time there was no official body responsible for marine safety in the Thames, the subsequent enquiry resolved that the Marine Police Force, based at Wapping be equipped with steam launches, to replace their rowing boats and be better able to perform rescues.^[3]

London Riverside development

Main article: London Riverside

The London Riverside is a new development area in East London, and part of the larger Thames Gateway redevelopment zone.

Barking Riverside

The Barking Riverside development is part of the larger London Riverside development, which aims to regenerate the riverside area of East London through providing new homes, jobs, and services. Barking Riverside is a 350 acre^[4] brownfield land and therefore needs site clearance and the removal of overhead power lines before it can go ahead. Construction is due to begin in 2008, and the development is due to be completed around 2025. It will construct 10,000 new homes in the area, which will house around 25,000 people. New transport links will also be provided, including as the East London Transit and the extension to the Docklands Light Railway.^[5] The development will also provide new public facilities, creating "a variety of living, working, leisure and cultural amenities". Two new primary schools and one secondary school will also be built.^[6] Residents of Barking and Dagenham will also gain access to use of 2 kilometres Thames river front for the first time.^[4]

Barking Town Centre

Work underway on the Barking Learning Centre. The top three floors contain 166 apartment units^[7]. March 2007.

Barking's Town Centre is also due to be regenerated through a number of schemes. Currently, the Town Centre is one of the most deprived areas of Barking. The Abbey and Gascoigne wards, located in the Town Centre, are ranked 823rd and 554th respectively, which places them within the top 10% most deprived wards in the country.^[8]

The current Barking Town Centre development has an overall strategy and several aims. The regeneration intends to achieve a more sustainable economy for Barking Town Centre by investing in new quality retail outlets and by creating a business centre. The regeneration aims to enable people to widen their employment prospects, mainly through creating new "retail and business accommodation" which will provide employment and increase the income for both existing and new residents.^[9] The regeneration also aims to improve people's skills. This is mainly achieved through the Barking Learning Centre; which aims to improve literacy, numeracy and other basic skills people may be lacking due to a previous lack of educational development. It currently acts as a borough-based learning facility.

The Barking Town Centre development also intends to improve the quality and range of housing within the area. The regeneration will aim to create 4,000 new homes in the Town Centre. 25% of these homes will be classed as intermediate housing, and will therefore be affordable for local residents to buy. The will also be 4,000 socially rented homes, making it easier for first time buyers and people with low incomes to rent a property. To help make the development more sustainable, all private sector homes are to meet the Government’s decency standards by 2010.^[7]

Plans for the new town square were unveiled in September 2007. The development is part of the Mayor of London's 100 Public Spaces and includes an 80-metre long arcade of chequerboard terrazzo, lit by 13 oversize gold coloured "chandeliers" created by Tom Dixon, former Head of Design at Habitat. There is also a fake ancient wall built by bricklaying students from Barking College using old bricks, crumbling white marble columns and battered sculptures, reclaimed from architectural salvage yards. The wall or "folly", known as the "Secret Garden", was unveiled on 11th September 2007.^[10]

Sports

Barking F.C. are a non-league side, and records indicate they were founded as early as 1865. The team merged with East Ham F.C. to form Barking & East Ham United in 2001. Barking has also produced numerous successful football players, including Bobby Moore and John Terry. This club later struggled and went out of business, but Barking F.C. was later reformed once again. Cricket, basketball and hockey are also popular sports in the area.

Notable people associated with Barking

• Gary Baker (musician), musician, McCarthy.

Transport

Public art near the A406

The town is situated north of the A13 road and east of the River Roding near its junction with the River Thames in East London. Barking station is a local transport hub and is served by the London Underground, National Rail operators and many London Bus routes. The east of Barking is served by Upney tube station.

Nearest places

• Dagenham
• East Ham
• Beckton
• Ilford
• Creekmouth

Nearest stations

• Barking station
• Upney tube station

Education

Local education is listed on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham article

Gallery

Barking Town Hall.

The Catch, a reference to Barking's fishing heritage.

The River Roding forms Barking's western boundary.

Barking Abbey curfew tower with St Margaret's Church in background

References

External links

• Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council website
• Barking Riverside development website
• Barking Community Website
• History of Barking through Trade Directories

London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
Districts	Barking · Becontree · Becontree Heath · Chadwell Heath · Creekmouth · Dagenham · Rush Green
Attractions	Barking Abbey · Eastbury Manor House (NT) · Valence House Museum · theBROADWAY
Constituencies	Barking · Dagenham
Parks and open spaces in Barking & Dagenham

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