History of Barking in 1886, Kellys Directory

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History of Barking in 1886, Kellys Directory part 2 , part 1

A cemetery, 12 acres in extent, with mortuary chapel, was formed here in 1886 at a cost of £6,000; it is under the control of nine members, C H Mills, clerk to the Board.

A mission chapel, in connection with the Church of England, was erected in Fisher Street in 1878.

Here is a Catholic church, dedicated to SS Mary and Ethelburga, also Congregational, Wesleyan and Baptist places of worship and a meeting place for Brethren; a savings bank and Metropolitan police station.

In the High Street stands the old market house, now used as a Town Hall; it has an overhanging upper storey, and a portion of the wooden arcade is still remaining.

Of the endowed charities, amounting to £300 yearly. The following may be enumerated:- 1. In the year 1818 James Hayes left £400 (3 per cent Reduced Annuities). 2. Mrs Ann Nepton left an estate to the Poulters Company of London, subject to a yearly rent charge of £40, to be distributed by the masters and wardens of that company in 5s gifts to 160 poor persons yearly in May. 3. Sir Thomas Fanshawe gave for the benefit of the poor of the parish of Barking the Market House and tolls, with seven cottages, the latter now producing £20 yearly. 4. Sir Thomas Campbells’ legacy of £100, expended in the purchase of land in Eastbury Marsh, realises £24 yearly. 5. Cotlands charity consists of about five acres of ancient copyhold poor’s land, held of the manor of Barking and producing £25 yearly. 6. Jonathan and Thomas Collett left certain land, known as “Kings’ Bridge Marsh”, since sold for £1,500 and vested in the 3 per cents: an annual dividend of £48 9s arising herefrom is distributed by the churchwardens in bread every Sunday morning among the deserving poor. 7. Towkes’ charity enables the authorities of Barking and Ilford to send two boys, sons of parishioners to Christ’s Hospital, London. 8. In 1614 John Wilde left to the poor of Barking a house in East Street, containing four rooms, occupied rent free by poor people placed in them by the parish officers but this property becoming very dilapidated was sold to Mr William Lake for £225 and two new almshouses have been built adjoining the seven almshouses in East Street, making in the whole nine almshouses of four rooms each, and rent free, containing about twenty one inmates. 9. There are eight other charities, arising either from rents of land or investments and producing on the aggregate about £30 yearly, variously distributed in money, bread and coals.

There is a provident dispensary in Broadway, supported by subscriptions.

The market has dwindled down to the exhibition of a few street stalls on Saturday nights. A fair is held on October 23^rd. Some smacks are built here and there are sail lofts and rope yards. A large jute manufactory has been established here.

A considerable portion of Hainault Forest is in this parish, within the limits of which formerly stood the renowned Fairlop Oak, the stem of which, at three feet from the ground, measured 36 feet in girth, with boughs extending over a circumference of 300 feet; under its shade for many years, a fair established by Mr Daniel day, a block and pump maker of Wapping, was held on the first Friday in July; but the tree is gone and Fairlop Fair now lives only in the records of the past.

At Uphall, a farm situated north of the town, are the remains of a fortification of Roman origin, nearly 40 acres in extent.

The North London main Drainage Sewer passes through the marsh lands on the banks of the river Roding and the reservoir, or main outfall, is constructed on lands in Barking parish, on the west side of the mouth of Barking creek, and covers an area of nearly 10 acres; the reservoir is constructed of brick, with stone flooring, and rests on foundations of concrete 20 feet deep; it is divided into four compartments, and will hold 39,000,000 gallons of sewage, some of which is applied to agricultural purposes at Lodge farm, near Barking, and the rest discharged into the Thames at high water.

Eastbury House, about one mile from Barking, is an ancient and very spacious gabled mansion of brick in the Domestic Tudor style; the buildings surround three sides of a quadrangle, and include an octagonal tower rising above the roofs, and a tall stack of curiously decorated chimneys; the mullioned windows are retained, but the interior has been modernised; this house is connected by tradition with the Gunpowder Plot, same accounts designating it as a meeting place of the conspirators and others as the residence of Lord Monteagle; it is now used as a farm house; the estate on which it stands belongs to the Sterry family.

The manor of Barking, which is paramount all over the hundred, remained in the Crown till James I sold it to Sir Thomas Fanshawe; since then it has been in the families of Humphrey and Gore; it was purchased of the latter by Smart Lethieullier esq, and is now the property of Sir Edward Hulse bart, a descendant of Mary, the last heiress of the Lethieullier family.

The principal landowners are the marquess of Salisbury KG and Sir Edward Hulse bart.

The parish contains 12,269 acres of land and 351 of water; rateable value £122,601. The population of the entire parish in 1881 was 16,848. The population of Barking ward and town in 1881 was 9,203.

Rippleside consists of a number of scattered farms, extending from 1 to 3 miles east of Barking, near the bank of the Thames. The population in 1881 was about 1,138. To the north west are Porters and Parsloes.

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And Last updated on: Wednesday, 02-Oct-2024 12:29:42 BST