Our Lady and the Rock

As part of our research on Barking Abbey the project volunteers visited the Tudor home of Sir William Petre, last weekend. Sir Petre (pronounced Peter) was employed as Proctor by Thomas Cromwell (he of Wolf Hall) to visit the monasteries, when King Henry VIII ordered their dissolution, including Barking's Abbey.

The first new fact discovered on the visit was that our abbey, named after St Mary (and St Ethelburga after she was canonised) was known more poetically as the Abbey of Our Lady and St Ethelburga and also, Gynge Abbes - possibly referring to the abbey being a significant place - Gynge being similar to the Saxon Ingas as with Berecingas. Twenty-first century historians, such as Gavin Smith, are finding greater status in the suffix -ingas or -ing, believing it to refer not merely to people or a settlement but to places more closely associated with a royal, monastic or other significance, as at Barking, and many ancient administrative meeting places... There is of course a similarity with 'King' which gives it a ring of royalty. Barking had royal backing from East Saxon kings when a religious site was established there, by St Erkenwald and St Ethelburga, and that link was strengthened when King Edgar re-established the abbey after the Viking invasions. He granted the abbey at Barking lands at Ingatestone.

Yenge-atte-stone as it was known at that time, refers to several large Saracen stones or glacial erratic boulders. It was also known as Ginge ad Petram - Place at the Stone - in Latin - a name which caught the eye of William Petre, when surveying Barking Abbey's estates - as his family were also named after a rock/stone, like St Peter...

William Petre was also said to have been associated with Barking's last abbess Dorothy Barley and to have named his daughter after her, who was born, as her abbey ended in 1535. Barking's abbey was one of the last religious establishments to close, perhaps due to its royal connections - Henry's grandfather was educated or maybe Petre's friendship with the abbess. He did benefit from that relationship when in 1539 he purchased the abbey land, surrendered to the Crown, at Yenge-atte-stone, for its market value of £849 12s 6d, as noted in the guidebook for the Hall. This also reminded us of Petre's gift for serving and surviving various monarchs (which Cromwell and many other people of influence could not) - he was a rock! One of his concessions under Queen Mary was to request a Papal Bull from Pope Paul IV, exonerating him from what could have been seen as 'plundering Church property' and absolving him from excommunication. He built alms houses for the poor, as penitence. Most surprisingly the Petre family continued to practice Catholicism after Mary's reign and we saw their Priest Holes - their priests were undercover as servants, an ironic twist considering Petre's role in the Dissolution of the Catholic monasteries.

Petre replaced the existing farmhouse at Ingatestone, with a new home, completed in 1555. It continues to look elegant and Petre's descendants incredibly still live there, 470 years later! The grounds are gorgeous and were brought to life last weekend by The Merrie Folk who transported us back to 1555!

They variously represented Tudor folk and activities from herbalists to teachers.

They demonstrated weaving with a shuttle and loom, cooking Tudor recipes and forms of entertainment, all in Tudor attire and period dialect - aye!

We had really insightful conversations and participated in their demonstrations, before we ventured into the house where the last abbess of Barking retired to. Petre organised for her and her sisters a large pension, but we do not know if this healed a heavy heart - perhaps her namesake (Petre's daughter) brought her some cheer or maybe she inspired her god-daughter....

This entrance probably pre-dates the 1555 Hall and a one-handed clock was added in the eighteenth century

The highlight of the day was not the gorgeous homemade cakes in the cafe, but being shown three large wooden tables which were said to have come from Barking Abbey!

They were ancient looking with Tudor legs and medieval tops - we dared to touch the ones which were used in the shop and imagined the nuns having their final meal on them before their abbey closed and they were transported to Ingatestone Hall. They could have been made use of in their great hall - a dining area which graced Queen Elizabeth I when she stayed there. This wing was removed in the eighteenth century by the ninth Lord Petre. Following the Georgian renovations, Lady Rasch, the 16th Lord Petre's widow is credited with restoring Ingatestone Hall to its Tudor layout and appearance after a fire destroyed the main family home at Thorndon Hall, in 1919. Part of the hall served Essex County Council as a Record Office for many years but after the 18th Lord Petre's death, the current Lord John Petre decided to open the house to the public. It can now be hired for weddings and visited during the summer months! For dates of upcoming self-guided tours see here.

While Ingatestone Hall blossomed Barking Abbey's buildings were dismantled inside and out and the wonderful library of manuscripts scattered, but for a moment, whether it was true or not, discovering the abbey's tables we felt like we were literarily in touch with our local history and transported back to Barking Abbey!

The amazing archaeological finds from the abbey's ruins and surroundings have the power to do that too and have inspired the upcoming Ancient Abbey Festival - with events at Barking Abbey's ruins/Abbey Green (26th July) and Valence House Museum and grounds (27th July) - where we will be launching the related exhibition and some of the most telling artefacts will be on display, also an academic symposium on Friday 5th September - which will provide greater insight into our ancient Abbey, from a panel of experts in their fields. We look forward to welcoming you to the archaeological finds and exciting interpretation of them!