Barking Town Heritage Project

Local historian and former magistrate, Sue Hamilton, explores crime and punishment in our latest ‘Stories behind the stores’ feature. Sue has researched some of the borough’s earliest crime and punishment buildings and practices, including picking oakum and pelting with eggs or rotten fruit and vegetables.

It’s an exciting contribution to our heritage project uncovering Barking town centre’s past.

See the story here and get involved by joining our Heritage Volunteers here.

We're delighted to announce our new Facebook page: NLHF Barking Heritage Project and Heritage Volunteers group: Barking Heritage Volunteers. The link to the page can be reached through the new headline above. We hope that these can help keep us connected over coming weeks or months of possible isolation to combat the Covid-19 outbreak! Hopefully other residents and friends of the borough who are interested in conserving and promoting the borough's heritage will join us on Facebook. If we can share the links we may be able to use social media as a form of digital community engagement and feedback on our town trails and heritage interpretation ideas, such as the mural and possible pavement art going forward...

The heritage volunteers visited Rippleside Cemetery on the 23d of October, it did not go unobserved that this was the date of the auspicious St Ethelburga’s feast which celebrated the first Abbess of Barking, with festivities such as the Barking Fair, until 1875. This event has recently been marked by Eastbury Manor House, as St Ethelburga’s Hallowtide Fair, produced by Punchdrunk, in 2014. We looked forward to warming up with a hot drink and refuelling with lunch at Eastbury Manor House, a short walk away, after our tour, especially as it was a damp day (some of us got wet feet).

We gathered at Rippleside’s beautiful grade II listed Chapel of Rest, designed by local architect CJ Dawson and inspired by St Margaret’s Church and the Curfew Tower, when the Barking Burial Board sought to find more space for burials beyond St Margaret’s Churchyard. The new cemetery and chapel opened in 1886 and we discovered a photograph at Eastbury afterwards, which showed the cemetery at this time, the chapel looked marooned in a rather desolate place (previously known as Maesbrook Meadow) before the graves were dug and the newly planted trees had grown (praised by London gardens online website as, ‘notable cedars, holly, yew, laurel and bay…’).

Cemetery staff joined us inside the chapel where we discussed some of the Barking residents who had pursued the town improvements and Social reform which became prevalent in the late Victorian period, including two members of the Barking Burial Board of the 1880s: Doctor Hugh Herbert Mason and his wife Susannah Mason, who lived at Abbey Lodge, East Street. Dr Mason was also Barking’s factory surgeon and local medical officer as well as manging the Dispensary on The Braodway, which offered subscriptions to enable the poorer residents to afford medical advice and medications, in the days before the NHS. Mrs Mason served on the Barking School Board in the 1890s and became the first female councillor for the inaugural Barking Urban District Council in 1894! She would have served in the offices of the newly built Town Hall - now known as the magistrate’s court and probably the finest of Barking’s few Victorian buildings, also designed by CJ Dawson who had his offices there. Susannah made an extremely significant contribution to local society for a Victorian woman, particularly as she was also the mother to two young children Edward and Marianne. Tragically Marianne passed away in October 1896, and with a spooky coincidence was buried at Rippleside a day earlier than our visit, 123 years ago.

Marianne’s grave was found to be unmarked, though lying next to that of CJ Dawson, who was buried some time later in 1933 with his wife and several of his sons, who had died before him. Marianne was not without a memorial however, as her parents paid for the set of striking stained-glass windows inside the chapel, one of which depicts Marianne, just seven years old, in her likeness, with her parents behind her (see the attached photograph). Dr Mason had a fine red beard, which is on fine display in a portrait of him as the first Chairman of the Urban District Council (from 1895), unveiled by his wife in 1897, a year after Marianne’s death. Her parents departed Barking after forty years’ service to the area, and returned to the midlands in the early 1900s, so they are not buried at Rippleside, leaving Marianne’s memorial in the chapel and evidence of their significant impact on the area to tell their story. Mark Watson, the heritage officer, informed us that the cemetery chapel was not consecrated because the Burial Board had intended that it could be used by people of all faiths, and it certainly still feels like a spiritual and peaceful space for anyone remembering those who have been lost to us.

Outside the chapel the closest graves are the oldest graves in the cemetery and the heritage volunteers were able to find several of the past residents and reformers, that they have been researching. We marked our respects to these people of the past who we have become familiar with, with red roses. One of whom, Robert Hewett, whose eye-catching grave is recognised by a nautical anchor, was of the distinguished Barking fishing family, who lived for several years at Fawley House on East Street, first built by the Hewett family in the early nineteenth century. Robert chose not to be buried in the family plot at St Margaret’s but in the newer Rippleside Cemetery, which fits well with his contributions to the improvements of the town during the Victorian period. Significantly the victims of the fatal Barking boiler explosion of 1899, which occurred at Hewett’s Yard and acted as death knell for the last remains of the Short Blue Fishing Fleet in Barking, are also buried at Rippleside. We paid respects at the grave Arthur Hulme, one of the youngest victims, an apprentice, sixteen years old, at the time of the tragic explosion. He is buried with his father of the same name, who had been born and raised in France before returning to England and training as an organ player, as noted in John Blake’s article on the Barking (and district) Historical Society website, and served as St Margaret’s Church organist for 43 years. Sadly, like the Mason Family, and Dawson family the Hulmes had to live with the bereavement of a child, something that even wealthy and distinguished families could not avoid. Poorer residents could not always afford a separate grave for their youngest loved ones, and at a time of high infant and child mortality Mark and the cemetery staff informed us that a mass child grave used to exist at Rippleside...

On a brighter note the volunteers recognised several other graves of local residents and traders of East Street and important contributors to Victorian Barking, including Arthur Blake whose Ironmongery gave the name to Blake’s Corner (corner of East Street and Ripple road), the site of Boots in recent years. This building was lost to enemy action in World War 2 along with its locally famous ‘clock house’, though the connected buildings remain in East Street. We are very grateful to the cemetery staff who also guided us to the grave of Annie Huggett the longest surviving suffragette, who died in 1996, aged 104. She moved into one of the borough’s first council houses in King Edward’s Road in 1903 and was the longest card-carrying member of the Labour Party. We also debated which of the Frogley family were buried here, there were generations of Josephs, but we agreed that the Frogley who recorded and illustrated Victorian Barking so effectively in his unpublished manuscript, in the early twentieth century, was William Holmes Frogley. We have been lucky enough to see this wonderful old record of Barking at the borough’s Archives and Local Studies Library, Valence House.

Also accompanying us on our tour was Jonathan King (we wondered if he knew of the King Family who owned businesses in Barking for several decades – the best photo of one of them is that of John H King’s store in 1931, on our website homepage). We are grateful for Jon’s report of our Rippleside cemetery tour on the Post website, the link is included here, it has additional photos of the day and the portrait of Dr Mason. The Post will also be publishing a heritage article on the ‘Stories behind the Stores’ of East Street, for Woolworths/Abbey Lodge – so stay posted for that!

Post Report on the tour

Barking Heritage Project was at the One Borough event this weekend, promoting its aim to put heritage at the heart of Barking's regeneration, with heart shaped Barking Heritage balloons. We engaged with the visitors, especially the families, as the children were attracted to our bright silver balloons, 'they went down (and up) very well, and we manged to avoid the storms!' Adults had the chance to get involved too, viewing photographs of historic buildings and discussing their knowledge and memories of them. It was another windy day of community outreach - 'this time we lost a couple of hearts to the skies above - the upside was hopefully our message has spread far and wide...'

This July our new team of Barking Town Heritage Volunteers enjoyed an insight into our local Archives and an introduction to research resources that can help them investigate the history of Barking's High-Street.

We will be focusing on East Street and the old buildings and stores in the surrounding conservation area, past and present. Topics that are of interest to the team include changing forms of transport in the town centre, pubs and breweries, cinemas and entertainments - yes we used to have several picture houses in the heart of Barking and there are timely plans for a return of a cinema in the near future! Barking's Tudor Court House (demolished in 1923) and the more recent Magistrate's Court, built in 1893, make an interesting case, as do examinations of war time history, including bomb damage in the area and the inter-war hey day of the High Street. 1931 was a particularly significant year, as Barking celebrated its town charter (superbly illustrated by John H King's decorated shop front on East Street, (see the featured photograph) and the Art Deco Burton's building was completed.

There are many interesting stories behind the various high-street stores that have served local shoppers to be revealed - from Burton's to Bulley's and beyond. There are also some interesting East Street residents to research too, including the hugely influential Glennys of Barking, who lived at Cecil House but also The White House - East Street, not Washington, and The Paddock (before Blake's Corner replaced it). These farmers, land owners/agents and brewers of Barking had great influence on developments in Barking Town Centre. The Famous fishing fleet owners Samuel and his father Scrymgeour Hewett and James Morgan lived on East Street - the latter built Fawley House, 33-35, which is the oldest house still standing in the town centre. The first female Councillor, Susanne Mason, lived with her husband, Doctor Mason, at Abbey Lodge, East Street, a site later taken by Woolworths...

The volunteers said they 'thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated' their first workshop and 'found everyone really helpful'... If you want to find out more about any of these topics, follow this webpage or to help us with our research, please sign up as a heritage volunteer - the details are also on this web page.

The Barking Town Heritage Project is pleased to announce the lucky winner of the Barking Heritage Quiz! David Harley, Head of Regeneration at Be First, presented Lateefat Owolabi, a Barking resident, with her £50 Asda voucher and she was very pleased with her good fortune! Along with many residents and visitors attending the Barking Folk Festival and Eid at Eastbury, last month, she tested her knowledge of people and events from Barking's past...

Top Marks went to Ashan Ahmed, who completed an almost perfect quiz, showing great knowledge of Barking's history from Saxon times to present day - well done Ashan!

If you would like to find out how much you know about Barking Heritage you can find the quiz (and the answers, no cheating mind) on this web page!

The Barking Town Heritage project brought a horse and carriage back to town last Saturday, 8th June, recreating some of the old black and white photos of East Street and the surrounding area, from the days before cars, buses and trams. There were a few horse-drawn journeys along the Broadway, with Buster and Wilbur, the beautiful friesians, as the bells of St Margaret's chimed charmingly and the folk bands began to play.

Among the pretty, crafted flowers and knitted delights on the Abbey Grounds, David Harley, Head of Regeneration at Be First, and Simone Panayi, the project's engagement officer, dressed in late Victorian costume, engaged with the festival visitors and local people. "We were not blown away by the forceful winds, but by the interest and enthusiasm of visitors and residents, who were keen to test and improve their knowledge of the local area."

Plans for improving the landscaped entrance to the Abbey Ruins, in front of the Curfew Tower, the conservation of the building facades and shop front improvements in East street and nearby, were discussed. Meanwhile many tested their knowledge of local history with the Barking Quiz. All completed quiz sheets were entered into a prize draw for a £50 Asda voucher and then the answers were supplied, giving residents more information about Barking's heritage.

On Sunday 9th June, Eastbury Manor House, a grand Tudor home built on Barking Abbey land, after King Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in the 1500's, was also blooming with colour and buzzing with sounds and activities, as Eid celebrations took place. As well as wishing, "Eid Mubarak", visitors were pleased to discuss local heritage and, "many adults and children shared their impressive historical knowledge." So the Barking Town Heritage project had another delightful day of community engagement, with dressing up costumes for the children and an array of historical hats linked to stories of Barking's past. More quizzes were completed and the winning quiz sheet was drawn!

We hope people will stay in touch and follow updates about the progress of the project via this web page and that some might be interested enough to volunteer to help with the local research. In the coming months we will build up a detailed picture of the residents, shops and services along East Street, across many years of history, in this ancient part of town that evolved out of it's links with Barking Abbey. From this research we will find interesting and relevant stories from past times that continue to resonate with Barking's current community and celebrate the high-lights through trails and tours, information boards, educational resources and a permanent mural in East Street.

Thank you to everyone involved with the wonderful Eid at Eastbury and also the borough's Summer of Festivals Events' Team and Tami, at White Horse Farm Carriages, for making this a great weekend for this National Lottery Heritage Funded project, and of course to all those who engaged with us!

Join up in June! The Barking Town Heritage Project will be present at the Barking Folk Festival on Saturday 8 June, with a heritage style horse and carriage and at Eastbury Manor House, on Sunday 9 June, for Eid at Eastbury. There will be further information available about our project and the opportunity to sign up as a volunteer as well as a chance to test your knowledge of the local area with a Barking History Quiz! We hope to see you there!

Join us in July! New volunteers can attend our induction and first workshop at the borough's Archives and Local Studies Library, with Karen the Archivist and Teresa our local studies librarian. You will be introduced to the centre's treasure trove of local resources and archive material and trained in research skills, to help us to produce a legacy of Barking Town Heritage resources. These will inform a permanent heritage mural in East Street, the creation of town trails and tours, pop-up exhibitions and educational materials for local schools. This could be the perfect opportunity for you to share and develop your historical knowledge and skills and join a friendly and enthusiastic team of heritage volunteers!