Barking

Barking grew beside the River Roding, downstream from an abbey founded by Erkenwald in about 666. The abbey became a wealthy house of Benedictine nuns and held extensive lands in Essex and beyond. Its gates and church stood close to the settlement that developed around it, while the river connected the town to the Thames.

The abbey was suppressed in 1539 and its buildings dismantled two years later. Barking nevertheless continued to prosper through fishing. Boats working from the town quay brought catches from the North Sea to local markets and to the growing city of London, and the trade encouraged other businesses along the river. The surviving abbey gateway remained a reminder of the religious house that had once dominated the town.