Abbey Green Steering Group
Abbey Green is more than a place of leisure and recreation for residents and visitors, it is a historic site, with several nationally listed buildings and the remains of Barking Abbey (c666-c1541).
As part of the legacy of the Barking Heritage Project we have established a Steering Group with LBBD staff to better manage, maintain. protect, and improve Abbey Green! We aim to facilitate cross-department/organisation collaboration with other stakeholders, including the schools, Parish Church, and partners Historic England, on whose behalf we manage Barking Abbey Scheduled Monument. The abbey remains are regarded as a national treasure and are the jewel of Abbey and Barking Town Centre Conservation Area - which is also an area of Archaeological interest!
We have commissioned more mosaic heritage signage by Tamara Froud. 
The Tudor Leet House sign - there will be three more mosaic and tile signs in this design on Abbey Green - site of historic interest!
Three further signs on Abbey Green will also represent further 'lost heritage' - in the form of the 1614 cobbled mosaic from the Blue Anchor Inn on the Town Quay/Heath Street, a Barking Abbess, and the Work House on North Street (1788-1934) which housed Barking's poor, in lieu of their labour, until 1841, when it was converted to shops. It was built on the site of Sir James Cambell's Free School, established after his death in the 1640s, the school rooms remained within the work house/grounds until being rebuilt on Back Lane as a National School in 1872 and later as became a Church of England School - now St Margaret's CofE Primary's twentieth century building.
These signs will include a map of Conservation Area/Scheduled monument 9see above) and related regulations as well as general expectations for users of Abbey Green. They are funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and LBBD.
We also plan to move the heritage stone seating from the quay side (site of Blue Anchor and new residential developments) to the play area on Abbey Green, funded by Weston Homes and requiring permission from Historic England and Central Government consent.
We will provide regular updates from the Abbey Green Steering Group - attached to this page and the Barking Abbey page on Be First's Heritage Hub!
