Improvements to the public realm in front of the Curfew Tower
Improving the view - from the Curfew Tower Landscapers T Loughman have been cleaning and re-laying the York-stone slabs with granite cobble insets to represent the traditional Church Path which led from the Broadway/East Street junction through the tower into Barking Abbey - now the abbey ruins and St Margaret's Church.
Church Path is back - granite cobbles denote the ancient pathway
Frogley's water-colour of Church Path, in the early twentieth century An avenue of trees will be planted to reframe the medieval tower without obstructing the charming view as visitors approach it from East Street.
Improving the approach to the Curfew Tower Several of the Silver Birch trees will remain in situ, and additional Prunus avium ‘Plena’ will be added to the landscaping. Pupils from St Joseph's Primary School and St Margaret's Primary School have produced future artefacts about Barking - past, present and future to buried in a time capsule beneath one of the new trees.
Prunus avium ‘Plena’ - Cherry Blossom Trees - to be planted around the Curfew Tower.The landscaping will also include yew hedging around the trees and low maintenance evergreens, ensuring pleasant green surroundings for those using the new benches which will also be installed here. Finally we will also be adding to the heritage information available at the site by installing a new bronze model of Barking Abbey on a stone plinth - a tactile representation of the former abbey - which we have produced to scale to help reveal the awesome height of the abbey in relation to the Curfew Tower, which it will be positioned in front of.
Pupils from Gascoigne School with the machette used to create the bronze model of Barking AbbeyThank you to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for financing these improvements as part of the Barking Heritage Project. You can find out more about the project here: https://yourcall.befirst.london/barking-heritage
