Description
St Margaret's Church was founded in 1215 within the precincts of Barking Abbey; it may have been a chapel prior to becoming the parish church in c1300. The churchyard has remains of ancient stone wall abutting the Abbey ruins, and its main entrance is through the C14th Curfew Tower. There are numerous interesting tombs, headstones and monuments as well as fine plane and lime trees.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Barking Parish Church |
|---|---|
| Site location | The Broadway, Barking, Essex |
| Postcode | IG11 |
| What3Words | ///hips.start.worked |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Barking & Dagenham |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | churchyard unrestricted? Church open daily 8am-5pm |
| Facilities | Community Centre, with cafe |
| Public Transport | London Overground/Rail/Tube (Hammersmith & City, District): Barking. Bus: 5, 62, 87, 169, 179, 238, 287, 366, 368, 369, 387 |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2008 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Adjacent to Barking Abbey Ruins (q.v.), the flint and ragstone church of St Margaret was founded in 1215 and has a C13th chancel and octagonal pillars in the north aisle. The arcades were lengthened and the tower added when the church was enlarged in the C15th. Stones from the adjacent Barking Abbey may have been re-used for repairs post 1540. Within the church are numerous monuments and memorials dating back to the days of the Abbey; Captain James Cook was married to Elizabeth Batts here in 1762. The churchyard has a wide range of interesting tombs, headstones and monuments as well as some fine plane and lime trees and is enclosed by ancient stone walls adjacent to Barking Abbey/Abbey Grounds, with early C20th railings on The Broadway boundary and a brick wall on Abbey Road boundary. The main entrance to the churchyard is via Curfew Tower, the C14th Gateway to Barking Abbey; in a room over which is an early C13th rood with figures of Christ, the Virgin and St John.
Outside the churchyard, in front of Curfew Tower stands The Three Lamps - a lamppost moved here in the 1970s from its original site outside Captain Cook pub. It was a prominent meeting place in the Broadway since Victorian times and has associations with the Salvation Army, suffragette movement and trade union movement.
Outside the churchyard, in front of Curfew Tower stands The Three Lamps - a lamppost moved here in the 1970s from its original site outside Captain Cook pub. It was a prominent meeting place in the Broadway since Victorian times and has associations with the Salvation Army, suffragette movement and trade union movement.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ441839 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.12 |
| Site Ownership | Chelmsford Diocese |
| Site Management | LB Barking & Dagenham, Parks and Countryside Ranger Services |
| Dates | C13th |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Barking & Dagenham |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Abbey and Barking Town Centre |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Local Importance |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
This is the site of Barking Abbey, which had been founded in 666 AD, restored by King Edgar in 970 AD, and eventually dissolved in 1539 by which time it was the greatest Benedictine nunnery in the country. In 1910 Barking Town UDC purchased the site to create an area for public recreation and during associated road works the Abbey foundations were discovered. The site was carefully excavated to reveal the ruined foundations. The Abbey Playing Field, incorporating the site of Barking Abbey, was opened as a public garden in 1913. There are plans for re-landscaping of the whole Abbey Green site including the Abbey Ruins, subject to full approvals in 2011.
The Abbey Playing Fields were first proposed in Barking Town UDC's 1943 Report on Post War Redevelopment to provide a 'worthy setting' for Barking Abbey and St Margaret's Church, to be achieved by acquiring and demolishing properties on the site. The plan proposed by Professor G. Peter Youngman was eventually approved in 1965 and the completed scheme based on his design included various areas created as 'a composite whole by the continuity of footpaths, the repetition of similar trees and structural elements and by a sequence of views, enclosed spaces and open spaces.' Central Area Open Space (North & South) was substantially complete by December 1974. In 2009 plans for improving the wider site as Abbey Green commenced, with design proposals by Lynch Architects in partnership with Kinnear Landscape due to commence in 2010.
Quaker Gardens is a former Quaker Burial Ground established in 1672 by the Barking Meeting of the Society of Friends. Among those buried here was prison reformer Elizabeth Fry (d.1845). Her tombstone was moved to Wanstead Quaker Burial Ground where the Barking Meeting transferred in the late C19th. In 1980 the burial ground became a small public garden and all remaining headstones and monuments were then removed.