Barking
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
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[edit] 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".
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] Notable people associated with Barking
- The Edge, lead guitarist of the Irish rock band U2
- John Terry, currently captain of both Chelsea F.C. and England national football team.
- Bobby Moore, captain of the England world cup-winning team of 1966.
- Billy Bragg, left wing singer/songwriter, commonly nicknamed The Bard of Barking
- McCarthy, 80s indie pop band.
- Geoffrey Kaiser, Captain of the England basketball team
- Trevor Brooking, football player turned manager, pundit and administrator.
- Bobby Zamora, football player West Ham United F.C..
- Paul Konchesky, football player West Ham United F.C..
- Ross Kemp, popular actor notably in the role of Grant Mitchell in Eastenders
- Leanne Dobinson, finalist of BBC1 programme How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria in 2006
[edit] Transport
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.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Nearest stations
[edit] Education
- Local education is listed on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham article
[edit] Gallery
 Barking Town Hall. |
 The Catch, a reference to Barking's fishing heritage. |
 Public art in Barking. |
 The River Roding forms Barking's western boundary. |
 Barking Abbey curfew tower with St Margaret's Church in background |
[edit] References
- ^ Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council - The Mayor
- ^ 'The borough of Barking', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 235-48 Date accessed: 26 January 2007.
- ^ Metropolitan Police official history accessed 26 Jan 2007
[edit] External links
- Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council website
- Ripple Infants School website
- 1911 encyclopedia entry
- St Margaret's Church
- Barking Community Website
