'Barking' in Barking
Not everyone knows that ‘Barking’ was most probably named after a Saxon called Berica. Berecingum has had numerous spellings, but as the esteemed local curator and librarian, James Howson, suggested, this Saxon settlement probably referred to ‘Berica’s people’. Others suggest the old name might refer to the Birch people, however a person’s name - like Dacca - whose home named Dagenham – was a more common Saxon tradition for place names, but perhaps Berica was named after the Birch trees... This would make a nice link to the modern-day spelling of ‘Bark-ing’. Our heritage volunteer, Eric Feasey, has written about another aspect of local history which ties in neatly with the ‘bark’ in Barking – this being the link between the eighteenth-century windmill, which was mapped beside the River Roding on Chapman and Andre’s map of Essex, from 1777, and Barking’s tanning heritage.
Both the old windmill and the tanning industry owe their origins to Barking Abbey, whose establishment by Erkenwald in 666CE, would have led to the development of fishing, farming and various cottage industries in Barking, during the Saxon period. The growth and significance of these trades probably escalated, after the interruption of Viking raids and Dane Law, with the rebuilding of the abbey, by King Edgar in the tenth century. The Benedictine nunnery, overseen by an abbess, was no doubt elevated in status during the medieval era when King William I (the Conqueror) stayed there, whilst building his Tower in London, in 1066/7, and the abbey’s importance would have impacted on its surrounding area – its manor/estate…
Seventeenth Century Map of Barking Manor after the dissolution of the abbey.Eric discovered that Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, still has its old ‘bark house’ and no doubt Barking’s Abbey or surrounding manor once had one too… What was the bark used for? It was used in the manufacture of leather from animal skins – the ground bark (tannin) was used in the ‘tanning’ process which protected and coloured the leather hides before they were used. Leather had so many practical uses, not just for clothing and footwear in our damp climate but also saddles and other practical uses, even drinking cups/tankards were once made of leather…
Barking Heritage Mural featuring Wellington Windmill
The Barking windmill of 1777, pre-dated Wellington Mill (1815-1926 - which was named after the Duke of Wellington’s whose victory against Napoleon took place in the year it was established). The earlier windmill is marked to today by the riverside development on the east bank of the Roding known as ‘Mill Point’!
Recent map showing 'Mill Point' close to the site of the 1777 Windmill This windmill was not used for milling grain into flour (as Barking’s ancient watermill and later Wellington Mill were) but, perhaps not surprisingly and very interestingly, was used for stripping and/or grinding bark!
Building sign - marking the site of the old windmill today...Eric’s quest to find out more about the waterways and windmills of Barking, close to where he grew up and worked, as a carpenter for Austin’s Timber works – making the windows for the Becontree Estate among other things – led him to the local archives. They have a wonderful book on windmills: Essex Windmills, Millers & Millwrights by Kenneth Farries, 1984 – Barking was part of Essex for several centuries before it became a London Borough. This book revealed that, windmills appeared in Barking as early as the thirteenth century! More intriguingly a ‘mill off Abbey Road’, was offered for sale in 1738 as ‘lately erected’, by Joseph Joyner the elder - a maltser – possibly expecting to use it for barley in the beer-making process.
Interestingly a ‘Malt House’ building is still present in the nearby riverside Conservation Area! This reference, from 1738 may be for the windmill on the 1777 map, which was the subject of an insurance policy in 1793. The policy, for Thomas Overton, covered it as ‘timber-built’ mill costing £150 to replace. It was represented on the map as a smock type windmill and presumed to be a logwood mill based on the engineering notes of John Smeaton, held in The Royal Society, (no drawings are included). Its situation beside the river is described as, ‘favourable for the receipt of waterborne supplies of timber and dyewoods…’ The latter were an important source of colour, presumably for leather/tanning. The rasping and chipping engines included in the spec – required, ‘an immense power to actuate them…’ Wind was not usually used to power such machinery, for stripping timber, and would have operated at a s/low speed in most winds… This may explain why this windmill did not last into the nineteenth century and is not marked on the first OS Map of 1805…The role of the tanning industry in Barking however, was significant particularly from the sixteenth century until the eighteenth century – a golden era for The English Bark Trade – when 90% of tanning bark was oak, according to an article by L A Clarkson. There are historic records that show the bark used by Barking tanners came from Hainault and the river was used for transporting the timber and bark… After stripping and grinding the bark it was stored in bark houses – like the one Eric discovered at Fountains Abbey. It is no coincidence that Tanner Strete – as it was known - is close to the Loxford Stream – one of the tributaries of the Roding. Eric has also been following the historic flow and uses of the waterways in the Barking area, around the Roding and Back River!
Eric Feasey’s article on Barking Windmills:
I first become interested in the history of Barking when I found out about the Wellington Mill, and joined my local Barking History Society. To my surprise Barking was looking for volunteers to help with a National Lottery project. So, I met a small group of heritage volunteers, and one of them turned out to be the young daughter of my best mate from childhood. She too was interested in the Wellington Mill because it is very near where we once lived in East Ham. Through our research we have found out about the first windmills in Barking in the days of the Abbey, for instance, the 1777 map of Essex shows one of them which generated a lot more discussion amongst the team, as we discovered certain windmills were used for grinding bark into powder which is used in the tanning industry, which was originally situated near Uphall Camp - a Roman encampment by the side of the river Roding. The Romans understood the process of leather tanning, and it doesn’t surprise me that the opposite side of the river was Tanner Street, in medieval Barking. Also nearby was a windmill. Could this have been one for grinding bark? I looked forward to seeing Barking archives and researching more about the tanning industry and its importance to Barking Abbey…
A challenge to all your young people out there compile a list of all the things that had been made from leather before this marvellous stuff called plastic was invented - which is polluting the oceans… So to begin your research on leather - think of this surnames Barker and Smith, there is a connection with leather to these surnames…
I’m not barking up the wrong tree - the origin of the surname Barker is English and has been found in records as early as 1200. Barker is an occupational surname that refers to those who stripped and prepared bark for use in the tanning process... Bark mills, also known as Catskill's mills, are water, steam, horse, or wind-powered edge mills, used to process the bark, roots, and branches of various tree species into a fine powder known as tanbark, used for tanning leather. The powdering allowed the tannin to be removed more efficiently. A barker would strip the bark from trees before grinding in such mills and the dried bark was often stored in bark houses...
Meanwhile the Wellington mill, thus named because it was built in 1815... Our team have carried out research on the windmills and the article from British History Online is missing some details. Should we amend the information when it is just about the Wellington mill?
There are occasional references to mills elsewhere in Barking, on the site: ‘In 1243 William and Geoffrey Dun, who had erected a windmill, gave an undertaking to Barking Abbey not to erect any windmill or watermill in future within the manor of Barking. (fn. 63) There was a mill on the manor of Wyfields in 1567–74 and one on the manor of Uphall in 1634.’ (fn. 65) Both were no doubt on the Roding. A windmill is shown at the south end of Fisher Street (later Abbey Road) in 1777 – which is the one we now believe to be the bark mill. A steam mill at Ilford is listed in 1848–86.
