Barking Town Heritage Project

Stories behind the stores

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• Share Crime and Punishment in Barking Part 1: House of Correction and the Tudor Leet House by Sue Hamilton on Facebook Share Crime and Punishment in Barking Part 1: House of Correction and the Tudor Leet House by Sue Hamilton on Twitter Share Crime and Punishment in Barking Part 1: House of Correction and the Tudor Leet House by Sue Hamilton on Linkedin Email Crime and Punishment in Barking Part 1: House of Correction and the Tudor Leet House by Sue Hamilton link

  Crime and Punishment in Barking Part 1: House of Correction and the Tudor Leet House by Sue Hamilton

  about 6 years ago
  

  House of Correction

  There was a House of Correction established in East Street, Barking under control of the Justices of the Peace to serve Becontree Hundred between 1609 and 1791 for criminals and lunatics. It was repaired and extended in that period but abandoned when new premises were designed by John Johnson, Surveyor to the County of Essex.

  The new building was on half an acre in nearby North Street, according to James Howson, the borough archivist in the 1970s, it was, 'about 400 yards north of St. Margaret’s Church, Barking and on the west side of the street.' It... Continue reading

  House of Correction

  There was a House of Correction established in East Street, Barking under control of the Justices of the Peace to serve Becontree Hundred between 1609 and 1791 for criminals and lunatics. It was repaired and extended in that period but abandoned when new premises were designed by John Johnson, Surveyor to the County of Essex.

  The new building was on half an acre in nearby North Street, according to James Howson, the borough archivist in the 1970s, it was, 'about 400 yards north of St. Margaret’s Church, Barking and on the west side of the street.' It stood between the “Good Intent” public house and the old Police Station and opened as Barking House of Correction, Bridewell, in 1792. It had a garden, a keeper’s house, separate yards and workrooms for men and women also an infirmary and a pump with “excellent” water. Unfortunately there are no pictures of it.

  The men picked oakum which was a punishment in many prisons and workhouses. It involved using fingers to pick all the fibres from sections of rope into fine strands which were then used with tar in shipbuilding for caulking or packing joints of timber. It was a painful task causing very sore finger tips. The prison governor, Luke Miller, reported “the inmates engage in picking four pounds of oakum per day which occupies eight hours; the rest of the day for exercise”.

  Cases were heard at Essex Quarter Sessions, typical recorded crimes were:

  “..wandering abroad in the night time and begging”

  “..leaving family”

  “..wandering abroad and not giving a good account of herself”

  “..lodging in the open air”

  “..having possession of implements of housebreaking”

  The building became outdated needing alterations and repairs. It closed in 1831 and was sold then demolished. A new house was built at Little Ilford.

  The Old Leet House (also called The Market House and The Old Town Hall)

  The Elizabethan two storey weather-boarded courthouse was built to the east of St. Margaret’s Church in 1567/68 and was demolished between 1923/26. The old timber frame was in good condition and was stored for future use (some of that timber was used in the entrance to the new Town Hall which was opened in 1958). It was bought and paid for by Elizabeth I as Lord of the Manor of Barking and cost £324. It included 22 shops and sheds for the market use. The rent from the shops went to the church.

  A hall, where the manor court was held and its records stored, was on the first floor, together with a “Justice Chamber” for Petty Sessions with a chimney to warm the justices and a room for the town armour, reached by a well staircase. Behind the staircase out of the sunlight, the “cage” (used as a jail) contained the stocks and the caretaker lived at the south end. The remainder of the ground floor was occupied by the corn market with its open wooden arcades; the town’s standard bushel was kept there. A bushel was an old unit of measurement equivalent in volume to approximately eight gallons and each town had their own standard vessel. The market bell hung in a bell-cote on the northern end of the roof whilst the schoolroom was up in the garret with its own fireplace.

  The pillory stood at the front of the building, this was similar to the stocks inside but on a wooden platform so the crowds could see easily. The offender had to stand locked into the frame with holes for head and hands and be humiliated by the public including pelting with eggs or rotten fruit and vegetables. On the north, south and east sides were rows of shops and sheds including the butter market and a shed for weights and measures. You can see the pillory in the following sketch, which used to hang in Barking Magistrate's Court. This framed print was recently presented to the LBBD Archives as a gift, after being removed from the Court, when it closed in 2011...

  Punishment for petty offenders was to be put in the stocks or receive fines. More serious offenders were sent to Chelmsford Jail to await the Quarter Sessions. By the mid 18^th century cases were heard “out of sessions”. There was not to be another magistrates court in Barking until 1960.

  A version of this article was printed in the Barking & Dagenham Post, we thank LBBD Archives for their kind permission to share these images. Click here for the link to the Post article.

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• Share The impact of World War Two on Barking Town Centre by Simone Panayi on Facebook Share The impact of World War Two on Barking Town Centre by Simone Panayi on Twitter Share The impact of World War Two on Barking Town Centre by Simone Panayi on Linkedin Email The impact of World War Two on Barking Town Centre by Simone Panayi link

  The impact of World War Two on Barking Town Centre by Simone Panayi

  about 6 years ago
  

  Volunteers for the NLHF Barking Town Heritage Project have been sharing their findings about key buildings on East Street: the art deco Burton building, engraved with elephants, Marks & Spencer’s cream coloured corner store, of 1935, and Woolworth’s pilasters... These stores disappeared due to changes in fashion and commerce, but the buildings remain – other buildings have vanished…

  At this inauspicious time, when only a few shops and services remain open, we are reminded of previous crises, such as World War Two, when there were over 1700 bombing incidents across the borough and thousands of casualties, including, sadly, 426 lives... Continue reading

  Volunteers for the NLHF Barking Town Heritage Project have been sharing their findings about key buildings on East Street: the art deco Burton building, engraved with elephants, Marks & Spencer’s cream coloured corner store, of 1935, and Woolworth’s pilasters... These stores disappeared due to changes in fashion and commerce, but the buildings remain – other buildings have vanished…

  At this inauspicious time, when only a few shops and services remain open, we are reminded of previous crises, such as World War Two, when there were over 1700 bombing incidents across the borough and thousands of casualties, including, sadly, 426 lives lost. The air raids in Barking resulted in the loss of some of its most prominent buildings - devastated during raids or demolished in the aftermath…

  ‘Blake’s Corner’ - a location still referenced by the older generation - was a striking building with a prominent clock tower, on the intersection of East Street and Ripple Road. This was previously the site of an imposing 18^th century house, called The Paddock. Built by a brandy merchant it was later home to the Whitbourn family, Barking millers, and finally Barking brewer Thomas Glenny, (founder of Brewery Tap). See Frogley's illustration below:

  Around 1911 councillor Arthur Blake built his distinctive Ironmongery here, but unfortunately it suffered bomb damage, during the blitz.

  The late Sid Westbrook, recalled the bombing. The explosion occurred as he was walking down Ripple Road, during the air raid - a constable, from the police station nearby, jumped on top of the teenager to shelter him from the falling debris… Remarkably Sid remembers seeing the clock tower sitting intact, on top of the rubble, after the raid.

  Subsequently the grand corner store was replaced by the current rounded building, in the 1950s. This initially housed Timothy White’s Chemist – then Boots, which must be one of the longest serving stores on the high street and is currently providing an essential service during the Corona Virus outbreak.

  One of the most tragic days of the war for Barking was Sunday 14^th January 1945. A V2 Rocket hit St Paul’s church, Ripple Road, just after the service. [This propulsion unit from another V2 Rocket, found at Barking Town Quay, donated by the Hewitt family, will be on permanent display at Valence House if funding can be found...]

  Eight people were killed and 52 seriously injured, including the disrobing choir boys.

  Despite the falling masonry, the priest, still praying, was unharmed, however, that evening fourteen more local people were killed in another V2 incident in London Road, which destroyed most of Central Hall.

  Central Hall had been the epicentre of Methodism in the local area, as one of 99 spiritual and entertainment centres, funded by Joseph Rank, in the 1920s. It provided films, concerts, and variety acts, designed to attract people away from public houses and alcohol…

  The Methodists’ origins in Barking, date back to 18^th century preachers. By 1869 a wooden chapel and school in East Street were replaced, first by a stone Wesleyan chapel, and eventually by the grander Central Hall, opposite. The Capitol Cinema, was later built on the site of the chapel, providing a new form of worship for movie-goers, including films by Rank’s son, movie mogul, J Arthur Rank.

  The Methodist Recorder of 1957, describes an, ‘Historic Day on Barking Bomb Site’: the building of the new Methodist Church… Demonstrating that life continued - damaged buildings were repaired and replaced… Nevertheless, VE Day must have brought huge relief to the people of Barking and Britain. The end of air raids, separation from loved ones, and other deprivations of the war period made a great cause for celebration!

  It may have been difficult to mark the 75^th anniversary of VE Day, in 2020, but as we too look forward to a time when families and friends can be reunited, aware that celebrations may be some months off yet, we can look back to the fortitude and positive attitude of previous residents and that well known ‘blitz spirit’ - illustrated recently by Captain Moore’s fundraising achievements for the NHS at the grand age of 100.

  See the VE Day article in the Barking and Dagenham Post, with more photographs from the LBBD Archives.https://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/news/heritage/barking-town-centre-war-damage-1-6641371

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• Share Marks & Spencer's - the original penny bazaar by Simone Panayi with Lesley Gould on Facebook Share Marks & Spencer's - the original penny bazaar by Simone Panayi with Lesley Gould on Twitter Share Marks & Spencer's - the original penny bazaar by Simone Panayi with Lesley Gould on Linkedin Email Marks & Spencer's - the original penny bazaar by Simone Panayi with Lesley Gould link

  Marks & Spencer's - the original penny bazaar by Simone Panayi with Lesley Gould

  about 6 years ago
  

  The Barking Heritage Project has been celebrating the stories behind the stores and old buildings of East Street and the surrounding area. Barking town centre has changed a great deal since commerce first developed around its Saxon Abbey. Various shops have come and gone, and we want to share the tales they left behind.

  Continuing the theme of penny stores, the first one in Barking was probably, ‘The London Penny Bazaar’ on The Broadway. It can be seen in an old post card from the borough’s archives - this sepia photograph was taken before World War I, as it was... Continue reading

  The Barking Heritage Project has been celebrating the stories behind the stores and old buildings of East Street and the surrounding area. Barking town centre has changed a great deal since commerce first developed around its Saxon Abbey. Various shops have come and gone, and we want to share the tales they left behind.

  Continuing the theme of penny stores, the first one in Barking was probably, ‘The London Penny Bazaar’ on The Broadway. It can be seen in an old post card from the borough’s archives - this sepia photograph was taken before World War I, as it was purchased by Marks & Spencer Ltd in 1914. The M&S company archive has photographic evidence of their first store in Barking, and you can see from the shop’s design that it is the same store, next to the old Congregational Church opposite the original Tudor Market Hall and Leet House (demolished in 1931).

  Marks & Spencer originated in northern England thirty years earlier, when Michael Marks established his stall in Kirkgate Market, Leeds, in 1884. The most popular items included household essentials such as, ‘nails, screws, pins, soap, wooden spoons, wool, thread and small toys, anything of good quality which could be bought cheaply and sold quickly’… , all sold under the banner, ‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’.

  Like Meshe Osinsky, aka Montague Burton ('tailor of taste'), Marks was a Jewish refugee, fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire (now Belarus). He also started out as ‘door to door salesman’, peddling his wares, like, 'Moses the Tally Man', as recalled in Joan Luxford’s memories of her Barking childhood, in the twenties and thirties.

  We could take a moment to imagine a time when Barking was resonant with hawkers, calling out, to advertise their goods… In London these wandering sellers were known as ‘costers’, from the old word, ‘costermonger’ – sellers of apples (or other fruits and vegetables) – the ‘costard’ being a large variety of apple, popular from the fourteenth century. It strikes me that the children’s game, ‘Oranges and Lemons’ mimics the costers’ calls, maybe ‘apples and pears’ was another… The only cries I heard growing up locally were, ‘rag and bone’, from collectors of unwanted items, as opposed to sellers, but this was probably the last, of a very long tradition, to be heard on our streets…

  Local hawkers, according to local commentator Frogley, lived in Back Lane - designated a slum area it was demolished along with the nearby Tudor Market Hall and the Axe Street slums in the thirties. The end of an era.

  Meanwhile the town centre and particularly East Street benefited from many new and distinguished buildings in the early twentieth century: the United Westminster Charities block (1-11) and after the road widening of 1927 the Woolworths block. In 1931 the art deco Burton’s building and in 1935 Marks and Spencer's Ltd moved around the corner from Broadway to 34 East Street (now Iceland). Like Burtons it was a prominent corner building, also probably designed by an in-house architect, such as Robert Lutyens (son of Sir Edwin). There is a great photograph of the new building next to the Capitol Cinema – when it was showing, ‘The Shopworn Angel’ (1938, starring Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart) a film title which makes us think of those stocking our groceries in the very busy supermarkets during the Corona Virus outbreak.

  Michael Marks acquired a partner in 1894, Yorkshireman Thomas Spencer, and together they opened their first store in Manchester. By the 1930s Marks & Spencer had moved far beyond penny purchases and ventured into new essentials such as underwear - one of the ranges they have since become most famous for. It was during the depression era that they focused on two key departments - food and clothing!

  The Capitol Cinema closed its doors in the 1960s and in the seventies M&S purchased that site and built a redbrick extension to their store (now Poundland). It was a sad day for many local residents when, in 1990, M&S departed from its enlarged store on East Street. Those in search of quality bras and other M&S essentials in 2020 can travel to Ilford or Stratford, and many Barking folk have not given up hope that the store will return to Barking once again, perhaps in a new guise, following the latest town centre developments.

  The NLHF town heritage project hopes to demarcate lost stores, such as M&S, with mosaics and other artworks of their original logos in the pavements outside their old residences. If you would like to feedback on this idea or join our heritage volunteers you are in the right place and you can also find us on Facebook!

  With thanks to LBBD and The M&S Company Archive…

  
  

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• Share Pawnbrokers and Penny Stores on Facebook Share Pawnbrokers and Penny Stores on Twitter Share Pawnbrokers and Penny Stores on Linkedin Email Pawnbrokers and Penny Stores link

  Pawnbrokers and Penny Stores

  over 6 years ago
  

  After the festive period, gift giving and indulgence follows the contrastingly bleak winter months and a period of self-deprivation: alcohol free, less calories and reduced spending… It is time to look back to thriftiness in Barking’s past - shopping here a hundred years ago involved pawnbrokers and penny stores.

  During the nineteenth century Robert Willet, inherited a drapery business (selling cloth), from his father, John, who became a Pawnbroker on North Street, by 1881. Around this time, Philip Barton owned the Unredeemed Pledge Stores at 5, East Street. He sold items that had been pawned and not reclaimed.

  Moneylending... Continue reading

  After the festive period, gift giving and indulgence follows the contrastingly bleak winter months and a period of self-deprivation: alcohol free, less calories and reduced spending… It is time to look back to thriftiness in Barking’s past - shopping here a hundred years ago involved pawnbrokers and penny stores.

  During the nineteenth century Robert Willet, inherited a drapery business (selling cloth), from his father, John, who became a Pawnbroker on North Street, by 1881. Around this time, Philip Barton owned the Unredeemed Pledge Stores at 5, East Street. He sold items that had been pawned and not reclaimed.

  Moneylending has ancient origins but was considered disreputable for centuries and only recognised legally in the UK from 1800 onwards. The industrial revolution fuelled the need for pawnbrokers, which supplied extra income for people with regular, but low-paid work.

  Pawnbrokers were not used by the poorest people, who had nothing to ‘pawn’, but by those in financial difficulties or whose regular wage was not enough. Many families slipped into the trap of pawning their ‘Sunday best’ outfits on Mondays to pay the weekly bills and redeeming them on Saturdays (after pay day) to wear for the weekend, church or chapel.

  The song, often sung to children, which begins: “Half a pound of tuppenny rice, Half a pound of treacle, That’s the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel!”, dates from around 1850 and implies that the coat (‘weasel and stoat’ in Cockney Rhyming Slang) was regularly given up for the purchase of foods…

  Pledging belongings (to ‘pawn’ comes from the Latin pignus or ‘pledge’) in return for a loan, to be repaid with interest, was one way to avoid the much-feared Workhouse. There was a large, foreboding Workhouse on North Street from 1788, where local inmates were usually separated from loved ones, kept on meagre rations and forced to work on mundane tasks. It was a haunting reminder of where poverty could lead to, until 1836…

  If the debt to a pawnbroker was not repaid within the agreed time-limit, items were sold to cover the cost, on set days and often by auction, although the pawnbroker could set the reserve price.

  The typical pawnbroker’s symbol of the three golden balls may have its origins in the Italian Medici family, famous for banking and money-lending, in the fifteenth century, the Lombard bankers or Saint Nicholas who, gave away three bags of gold to help young women avoid destitution…

  You can see three gold balls hanging at 27 East Street - pawnbrokers and moneylending remain part of local high-street services today, perhaps revived by the bad publicity for ‘pay-day loan’ companies. There are some interesting photographs of number 27, when H Frank, the tailor, continued to trade from his shop whilst the new Woolworth’s block was being built behind it.

  Bill George wrote an interesting article on 'H Franks and Son', after an old wooden hanger from the store was sold on Ebay. From his research he discovered that' H' was not originally for Harry, as he was later known, but Hyman! Hyman and Rose (nee Kactlwith) were still living at 27 East Street in 1939 - the rebuilt Woolworth's block by then, with their two sons Morris and Ronald. Hyman's father was known as Joseph Hyman and the family's original surname was Cwang, before being changed to Franks... Both of Hyman's parents emigrated from Russia, probably in the nineteenth century. Bill discovered that the tailoring business of H Franks began in 1913, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 1963. Sadly Ronald Franks, lost his life, whilst serving as a Glider Pilot in World War Two, dying from war wounds, as a prisoner of war, in September 1944! His father died two years later. Morris, perhaps with his mother's help, until her death in 1970, managed the tailoring business, until it was dissolved In 1980. Bill has proved that even a coat hanger can tell an interesting story!

  Many residents will recall that 23-25 East Street hosted Woolworths - a stalwart of British high streets. The American, Frank Woolworth, believed, that a good penny store, (influenced by Penny Bazaars like Mark’s and Spenser’s) ran by a Yankee, would go down a storm. The first one opened in 1909. The original Barking store-front advertised Woolworths as: ‘3d and 6d stores’, and numbered 328 of over 800, including fifty built in 1928. The last UK Woolworth’s closed in January 2009, and after more than a hundred years of inflation, it is apt that the three-penny store is now a 99p store. The grand pilasters (imitation columns) along this row still stand proud and will hopefully be cleaned up to enhance their original beauty, as part of this Barking Town Heritage Project.

  There was a lovely photo of Maureen Jones, working on the Beauty Counter at the Barking Woolworths, in 1953, shown in the Treasured Memories exhibition at Eastbury Manor House, recently. She was probably one of many who enjoyed the store and missed it when it closed. The Post articles at the time of its closure, quoted local people’s fond memories of the store. Luckily there are still several inexpensive shops on East Street selling a variety of items as Woolworth’s used to do, although perhaps with less panache. Even at Woolworth’s the personal level of customer service was eventually replaced with self-service shopping and eventually it failed to compete with on-line sales.

  The earliest penny store in Barking was probably the London Penny Bazaar on Broadway, which was replaced by Mark’s and Spenser’s - who claim to be the originators of Penny Bazaars, through Mark’s Penny Bazaar, established in Leeds in 1884. The history of M&S in Barking is another story to tell, next time…

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• Share 'The Full Monty' - Burton's in Barking by Simone Panayi on Facebook Share 'The Full Monty' - Burton's in Barking by Simone Panayi on Twitter Share 'The Full Monty' - Burton's in Barking by Simone Panayi on Linkedin Email 'The Full Monty' - Burton's in Barking by Simone Panayi link

  'The Full Monty' - Burton's in Barking by Simone Panayi

  over 6 years ago
  

  Barking’s Curfew Tower or Fire-Bell Gate, where a curfew bell tolled until the early twentieth century, is the grand gateway to historic Barking - St Margaret’s Church, Barking Abbey ruins and the old quay beyond. When viewed from East Street, it is framed by two more heritage buildings! On the corner of North Street, is the 1925 rebuild of The Bull Inn, which, as an establishment, has possibly been present since the abbey gate, opposite, was first built in 1370. There were no rooms at the inn this Christmas unfortunately, as it undergoes redevelopment, before offering accommodation for Barking visitors... Continue reading

  Barking’s Curfew Tower or Fire-Bell Gate, where a curfew bell tolled until the early twentieth century, is the grand gateway to historic Barking - St Margaret’s Church, Barking Abbey ruins and the old quay beyond. When viewed from East Street, it is framed by two more heritage buildings! On the corner of North Street, is the 1925 rebuild of The Bull Inn, which, as an establishment, has possibly been present since the abbey gate, opposite, was first built in 1370. There were no rooms at the inn this Christmas unfortunately, as it undergoes redevelopment, before offering accommodation for Barking visitors once again. On the even side of East Street, at number two, on the corner of The Broadway, is the equally striking, white stone Burton Building, of 1931.

  Currently an International Supermarket, this site was the location of fabric and fashion stores in years gone by. During the Victorian era William Lake, son of John, a fishing-smack owner and bootmaker, became a bootmaker too and had a shop on this spot. He purchased the alms houses (charity homes for the poor) at the back of the store, in 1879, probably to expand the property or to add storage space, but two more homes for those in need were purchased with the proceeds, further up East Street. These Alms houses, opposite the station and parade, survived until the twentieth century.

  Mr Lake went into partnership with Mr King - probably a relative of Richard, the local baker and confectioner or Philip, the fishing-smack owner, ship and house painter – Lake and King Drapers is listed in the 1870s trade directories. It was on the corner of Broadway and East Street opposite another drapers – Willets - which was next to the Curfew Tower on the Broadway. [See photo of the snowy scene]

  Drapers sold cloth and fabric by the yard, in the days when people usually made their own clothes or relied on a dressmaker or tailor to make them.

  John King obviously enjoyed a celebration, he has the Union Flags out (in an early photograph of his store), possibly for the coronation of George V in 1911, or Armistice Day at the end of World War One, in 1918. By 1930 John H King had sold this shop to Montague Burton, who consistently sought out corner locations to build grand stores for his bespoke tailoring business. At this time Mr King must have moved to a smaller store along East Street (listed as number 35, which is now the site of Macdonald’s but the numbering has varied over the years). There is a marvellous photograph of Mr King’s Gent’s Outfitters shop in 1931, on our home page, when W D Stewart created an incredible display on top of the store, documenting Barking’s heritage in celebration of Barking’s Town Borough status confirmed by a charter in 1931 and a royal visit by Prince George (the father of Queen Elizabeth II).

  The Barking Charter parade was filmed by Pathe news and can be viewed on the Valence House Collections webpage. The film and photos from the Borough’s Archives show the recently built limestone Burton building in the background (at the end of the street, positioned behind the carriage). Whether this was serendipity for Mr Burton, or he planned for the fine new store to be completed in time for the royal visit we don’t know, but it was certainly the type of occasion, full of pomp and glory, that Mr Burton would relish too.

  By 1931, Burton had over 400 shops, and this famous ‘tailor of taste’ would soon control one of the largest tailoring businesses, in the world. This was an incredible journey for a European immigrant. Burton arrived in Britain, in 1900, as Meshe David Osinsky, 15 years of age. The Jewish teenager had fled the Russian pogroms (from Kovno, in modern Lithuania). He probably started out as a ‘peddler’ of garments, before he opened his first outfitter’s shop in Chesterfield in 1904, under his new name, Maurice (later Montague) Burton. He began to offer ‘wholesale bespoke’ suits, which were manufactured to measurements rather than ‘made to measure’ - therefore they were more cheaply available, and he could quickly respond to increased demand. This business model survived the First World War (when he made uniforms) and enabled him to rise above the depression era, buoyed by the production of ‘de-mob suits’ following both world wars. Phrases such as ‘gone for a Burton’ and ‘The full Monty’ are often said to have originated in reference to Montague Burton’s suits!

  Burton was a paternalist employer, providing amenities for his workers such as a huge canteen for his thousands of mill workers in Leeds, (producing the cloth) with state of the art catering facilities, medical and rest rooms, sports field and recreation ground, all provided during the 1920s and 1930s… He also valued the temperance movement and, like the Methodists, aimed to provide local alternatives to public houses. He installed billiards/snooker halls on the top floors of his stores.

  In 1931 Montague Burton was knighted, for his service to, ‘industrial relations and international peace’ - the Burton’s website acknowledges that he played a role in promoting education around the world and in the creation of the United Nations. He was also appointed Justice of the Peace, a post he held for many years. This was the year when Barking’s Burton’s building was built - in a classic Art Deco style. Designed by Burton’s in-house architects, it features key Art Deco motifs that also appear on other stores. Look closely at this beautiful building to view the elegant Elephants, positioned as capitals on the columns, beneath a cartouche - which would have displayed the Burton logo – and the decorative overlapping quadrants. These were all regular features on Burton buildings built between 1931-2, as is the foundation stone, at the base of the building, laid by one of his children.

  The 1930s could be described as the hey-day for Burton’s, but the number of Burton stores continued to grow - there were 616 stores at the time of his Montague’s death in 1952. You can look out for the grand buildings in their various styles, as most towns had one, and many are now listed for their protection.

  In Barking, Burton’s tailoring and fashionwear business moved out of the purpose-built store in 1990, when they transferred to a new commercial space at Vicarage Fields. It is perhaps timely to think of what the original Burton’s building once stood for, as high street fashion stores struggle to compete with internet sales; and the fashion industry in general is under pressure to address the environmental consequences and sustainability of ‘fast fashion’. Maybe we will one day return to hand made clothing, as produced by the dressmakers and drapers of Victorian East Street. Meanwhile, this classic, thirties building remains on the intersection of Broadway and East Street and will hopefully get a face-lift over coming months as part of the Barking Abbey and Conservation Area Townscape Heritage improvements, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and managed by Be First. The Photographs of Burtons and the earlier Drapers (William King and John H King) and the Barking Charter Parade, were kindly provided by the Borough's Archives and Local Studies Library, at Valence House. A version of this article appeared in Barking and Dagenham's Post Newspaper on Wednesday 1 January.

  
  

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• Share Abbey Lodge - East Street, by Simone Panayi on Facebook Share Abbey Lodge - East Street, by Simone Panayi on Twitter Share Abbey Lodge - East Street, by Simone Panayi on Linkedin Email Abbey Lodge - East Street, by Simone Panayi link

  Abbey Lodge - East Street, by Simone Panayi

  over 6 years ago

  Many Barking residents will remember that before Sam99’s, 23-25 East Street hosted Woolworths - a stalwart of high streets across the country. The American, Frank Woolworth, whose ancestors were from Woolley in Cambridgeshire, founded the British branch of FW Woolworths, noting in his diary, ‘I believe that a good penny and sixpence store, run by a live Yankee, would create a storm here...’ The first store opened in Liverpool (where he had first docked) in November 1909 and the last closed in January 2009. After more than a hundred years of inflation, it is of no surprise, and actually apt... Continue reading

  Many Barking residents will remember that before Sam99’s, 23-25 East Street hosted Woolworths - a stalwart of high streets across the country. The American, Frank Woolworth, whose ancestors were from Woolley in Cambridgeshire, founded the British branch of FW Woolworths, noting in his diary, ‘I believe that a good penny and sixpence store, run by a live Yankee, would create a storm here...’ The first store opened in Liverpool (where he had first docked) in November 1909 and the last closed in January 2009. After more than a hundred years of inflation, it is of no surprise, and actually apt that a Woolworth's penny store (influenced by the Penny Bazaars) has become a 99p store - Sam's is a very fitting replacement. For further information on the history of Woolworths see www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk.

  The building plans for 13-27 East Street – a row of three-story buildings with distinctive pilasters (imitation columns) - were submitted by FW Woolworth & Co, in 1927, with signage for a double shop front described as, ‘Wood Fascia and cornice etc. Painted our standard red colour [with] giltwood [gold] letters…’ The original store-front sign also proudly advertised Woolworths not as a 1d and 6d store as originally suggested but, slightly more expensive: ‘3d and 6d stores’… The original plans and early photographs of the store are available to view at Barking and Dagenham's Archives.

  Another interesting website, www.wooliesbuildings.wordpress.co.uk, describes the Barking store as number 328 of over 800 opened in Britain and Ireland in total, and one of 50 built during 1928. In East Street the new buildings were part of a road-widening scheme and improvements to the high street.

  Modernist town planners aimed to bring a row of incongruous nineteenth century homes and low-rise shops into the new century and literarily in line with the row 1-11 East Street – an earlier development, approved in 1906, and built by United Westminster Charities who had purchased the Bull Inn, and surrounding buildings with permission of King Charles I in 1636. You can still see the charity’s crest, carved into the stonework of these three storey buildings, with stores on the ground floor and residences above. The Bull Pub itself was rebuilt in 1925, as East Street transformed into a modern high-street, between the World Wars...

  Historical resources, found in the Archives and Local Studies Library at Valence, including Joseph Frogley’s invaluable manuscript from the early 1900s, have revealed that before the impressive Woolworths store was built, there was a, ‘long – moderate sized bricked house of one storey’ on East Street called Abbey Lodge. ‘Before that there was, 'a butcher’s shop and sheds’, but during the 1850s Doctor Davidson built a residence there which was occupied by medical practitioners (perhaps as a surgery) until the early twentieth century. The most notable residents of the Lodge were, quite coincidently, the Mason family - who were far from dull!

  Doctor Hugh Herbert Mason and his wife Susanna, were both from The Midlands and yet were pro-active residents, who made significant contributions to Barking society in the Victorian period. Doctor Mason was living at Abbey Lodge from around 1874. He ran the Provident Dispensary on the Broadway, which in the days before the NHS, was supported by subscriptions and thus enabled the poor to receive medical advice and medicines cheaply. He was also a Factory Surgeon and Medical Officer for the local Poor Law Union. In September 1878 The Essex Times reported that Dr Mason was called to Creekmouth to assist with the survivors brought there after the Princess Alice Steamship disaster, when around 650 lives were lost, in this Thames tragedy!

  
  

  Local historian Herbert Lockwood described Doctor Mason as, a striking man ‘… a good six feet in height with flowing sandy beard [and] a liberal of advanced views’. He was known locally to be a ‘radical’ or 'progressive’, and an ally of the working classes - he petitioned for a free library in Barking and became the first chairman of the new library committee .He was a member of the local board (an early form of the town council) and was the chair of the burial board - who managed the expansion of St Margaret’s graveyard to Rippleside Cemetery, which opened in 1886. Doctor Mason was also elected to the county council in 1892 and 1895.

  Susanna married Hugh in 1887 and gave birth to a daughter, Marian, in 1889, and a son, Edward, a year later, but was not confined to a domestic role as a Victorian ‘angel of the house’ - she served on the Barking Burial Board with her husband and also the new School Board from 1892 which was overseeing the building of the first Barking Board School – The Park, now known as Gascoigne Primary. More significantly, Harry Dawson confirmed to the Town Clerk, in 1943, that, Susanna Mason was the first female town councillor, elected to the newly formed Urban District Council in 1894. Hugh Mason had failed to win his ward, but he was later co-opted to the chair by the public – mainly by his trade unionist supporters from Beckton Gas Works…

  This remarkable couple challenged the local establishment at every turn (supported by those less fortunate than themselves) and fought to improve the conditions of the poor, including the dire unemployment problem, which peaked in 1894. Maybe it was their high-profile activism which led to a hoax bomb being, 'discovered on the doorstep' of their East Street home in May 1894. This disturbing event was followed by personal tragedy in 1896, when they lost their young daughter Marian. Her brief life is commemorated in a beautiful stained-glass window - one of a series donated by Susan Mason - in Rippleside Chapel, which was designed by industrious borough architect Charles Dawson in 1886, at the behest of the Burial Board. The sad ending to this story which possibly explains Susanna’s departure from Barking in 1903 and her husband’s several months later, sadly reminds us of the high mortality rate at that time, particularly among children. Marian’s parents dedicated themselves to improving the lives of the poorer folk of Barking, but tragically were unable to save their only daughter, who remains with us in Barking and is lovingly remembered at Rippleside Chapel of Rest.

  To discover more about Barking Town's local history visit LBBD’s Archives and Local Studies Library at Valence House Museum, Dagenham.

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