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Barking

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{{otheruses}} {{infobox London place| |Place= Barking |Borough= London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Barking & Dagenham |Traditional= Essex |Constituency= Barking (UK Parliament constituency) Barking |PostTown= BARKING |PostCode= IG11 |DiallingCode= 020 |GridReference= TQ440840 |GLA= City and East London City & East London }} '''Barking''' is the principal town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is a suburban development with a large retail and commercial centre situated to the west of the borough and 9.1 miles (14.6 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.

History
The manor of Barking was the site of "Barking Abbey", a nunnery founded in 666 by Erkenwald Eorcenwald, bishop of London, destroyed by the Danes and reconstructed about a hundred years later in 970 by Edgar of England 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 architecture 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 that of Dagenham and the area became part of the London Borough of Barking (renamed Barking and Dagenham in 1980, although this expression circulated unofficially from the beginning of the fusion to console Dagenham residents). [http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/9-democracy/mayor/mayor-past.html] Its name came from Anglo-Saxon ''Berecingas'', meaning "[the settlement of] the followers or descendants of a man called Bereca".

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
Barking was a fishing village attached to the abbey but independent at least from the Tudor period. 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 London, and moored up at home in Barking Pool. Samuel Hewett, born on 7th December 1797, ran 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 Essex fields in winter. 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. In the 1870s steamers replaced the cutters. However the early steam boilers were unreliable, and a bad explosion in 1900 ended the history of this fleet. 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. However they wore heavy seaboots, and many rowboats overturned and rowers were drowned. The Short Blue Fleet supported other industries in Barking, such as victuallers and block and spar makers. However many such small companies collapsed or moved out around 1854 when the Thames became so polluted that many smack-owners moved to the east coast.

Natives
*Bobby Moore, captain of the England world cup-winning team in 1966. *Billy Bragg, left wing singer / songwriter. *John Terry, captain of Chelsea football club and England international defender. *The Edge, lead guitarist of the Irish rock band U2 *Geoffrey Kaiser, Captain of the England basketball team

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, England East London. Barking station is a local transport hub and is served by the London Underground, National Rail operators and many London Buses London Bus routes. The east of Barking is served by Upney tube station.

Nearest places
*Dagenham *East Ham *Beckton *Ilford

Nearest stations
*Barking station *Upney tube station

Schools

Primary Schools
{| |- |valign="top"| *Beam Primary School *Becontree Primary School *Five Elms Primary School *Gascoigne Primary School *Godwin Primary School *Henry Green Primary School *Hunters Hall Primary School *John Perry Primary School |valign="top"| *Leys Primary School *Marsh Green Primary School *Monteagle Primary School *Parsloes Primary School *Richard Alibon Primary School *Roding Primary School *Southwood Primary School |valign="top"| *St. Joseph's Primary School *St. Margaret's Primary School *St. Peter's Primary School *St. Teresa Primary School *St. Vincent's Primary School *Thomas Arnold Primary School *Trinity School |}

Secondary Schools
{| |- |valign="top"| * All Saints RC Secondary School * Barking Abbey Secondary School * Dagenham Park Secondary School * Eastbrook Secondary School |valign="top"| * Eastbury Secondary School * Jo Richardson Secondary School * Robert Clack Secondary School |valign="top"| * Sydney Russell Secondary School * Trinity School * Warren Secondary School |}

See also
*Barking Abbey Secondary School *Entry on List of schools in the United Kingdom#Barking and Dagenham List of schools in the United Kingdom

External links

- Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council website
- 1911 encyclopedia entry
- St Margaret's Church {{London Districts}} Category:Districts of London Category:Barking & Dagenham no:Barking, England

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