Origin

Barking Abbey was founded 1350 years ago in 666 AD as a spearhead to convert the East Saxons to Christianity. Apart from a brief disruption during the Viking occupation of East Anglia after 870 AD (known as the Danelaw) it flourished until dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, and left behind the parish church of St Margaret of Antioch to continue the mission.

Conversion of the East Saxons started in 604 when St Mellitus was appointed Bishop of the East Saxon capital at London. Changes of rulers over the next six decades were marked by returns to paganism, and the matter was only resolved through a determined conversion campaign during which a nobleman named Erkenwald was appointed Bishop of London and founded two monasteries that bracketed the East Saxon capital — one at Chertsey for himself c.661 AD, and another at Barking c.666 AD for his sister Ethelburga. Most of our knowledge of these early years comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede a century later.

Barking was a “double house” of both nuns (women) and monks (men) in separate quarters, who shared the church and were both ruled by an abbess. Other double houses existed in these early years, but all were reformed into single-sex abbeys by the 10th century.

Development

We do not know the exact location of the original abbey buildings or their layout — they were probably timber structures in the Saxon building tradition. Even the exact location of the abbey precinct is disputed, with several possible locations along the River Roding put forward, but evidence from excavations in the 1970s and 80s on the west side of Abbey Road strongly suggests the abbey was always here in the heart of Barking, perhaps with structures closer to the riverside. Abbey-related finds included gold thread, styluses for writing, and glass — a rare and expensive luxury.

The ruins currently marked out represent the abbey in its later medieval phases. Sacked in 871 AD by Viking marauders It was probably rebuilt in late-Saxon style after the recovery of southwest Essex from the Danes in the early Tenth century, and then rebuilt again by the Normans in the 12th century. These final buildings would have reflected the latest style of “Norman” architecture under the Plantagenet kings that followed William in the 11th and 12th centuries. The layout is typical of Benedictine sites across Europe, but with the twist of a cloister located on the north side of the abbey church instead of the traditional arrangement with the cloister at the south. Reasons for this are debated, but might be related to its early foundation since there are other known “north cloister” monasteries in England which are broadly contemporary 7th-century establishments at Canterbury, Malmesbury, Bury St Edmunds, Chertsey, Minster-in-Sheppey, Sherbourne, and Gloucester. The practical implication of this arrangement was the lack of sunlight in the cloister during winter months, since the towering bulk of the abbey church cast its shadow over the other buildings.

The Buildings

Abbey Church

The heart of the abbey was its church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Similar in size and appearance to a cathedral, it had a nave for public use at the west, a crossing with transepts in the middle that held side chapels, and then a choir section to the east for use exclusively by the nuns for their worship.

The High Altar was at the east of the choir, and then a Saints Chapel was added at the extreme east of the building forming a burial crypt for notable individuals. The building now laid out in low stub-walls of rubble is the late-medieval version based on the plan drawn by Alfred Clapham from the outcome of his excavations. We do not know much about the late-Saxon and earlier predecessors, although the footprint of the medieval church is likely to be built on the earlier ones. The church measures 103 metres long (337 feet) by 30.5 metres wide (I00 feet) at the transepts.

Saints Chapel

At the top of the steps in the Saints Chapel are three grave slabs, popularly attributed to the sainted abbesses Ethelburga, Hildelitha, and Wulfhilda. Clapham’s site plan shows the tomb of Abbess Maud (Henry II’s daughter) in this location. The steps are a recent addition — demolition in the 1540s coupled with major excavations in 1911 -13 left the bulk of the ruins in an artificial bowl nearly 2m (6ft) deep. The footings in this bowl were all laid out from Clapham’s plan during the creation of a park in the 1920s. The South wall of the Abbey church survives in the foundations of the churchyard wall that was built on top- the change in masonry is obvious.

Cloister

North of the church is the cloister, a quiet open square around which the main abbey buildings were arranged. Cloisters held gardens and ornamental fountains; the open arcades of the surrounding walkways allowed nuns to look out across this space while attending their duties. The effect of this arrangement was to shut out the secular world so the nuns could focus on their devotions and contemplations without distraction or temptation — creating an inner sanctum within the wider bounds of the abbey’s enclosure wall.

Cloisters are based on the classical Roman villa layout, and appear to sweep through Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, so it is likely that Barking’s cloister was an innovation added after the abbey was re-established in the 10th century. Prior to this the abbey was probably a collection of unconnected functional buildings (dormitories, refectory, kitchen, store-rooms) scattered around the grounds, with the church at it centre — a layout more common to Celtic monasteries of the period.

Parlour, Dormitory, Reredorter

The walkway surrounding the cloister had a sloped lean-to roof. There were two doorways from the nave into the cloister — one at the west corner and one at the east. The west entrance provided access from the Dormitory (or”Dorter”) building, which occupied the whole west side of the cloister. This was the communal bedroom for the nuns on the first floor, with the ground floor storerooms. Also on the ground floor was a passageway from the outside — the Parlour – where outsiders could meet with nuns under strict supervision. As the name suggests, this was the only room in the abbey where the nuns were free to talk.

Off to the west (under the present-day Abbey Road) was the Reredorter, a two-storey communal toilet building connected to the Dorter by an enclosed passage. It stood over a water channel that acted as sewer. Originally the nuns were expected to share the dormitory, which resembled a barracks room lined with cots. However, as abbeys became established a taste for greater comfort crept in — the open-plan dormitory was often subdivided into smaller individual bedrooms. The Abbess and her senior officers would have moved out of the dormitory into private houses within the grounds by the time the first cloister was built here.

Refectory

The north side of the cloister was occupied by the Refectory (or”Frater”) — the communal dining hall. Here the nuns ate in strict silence, while listening to a reading from scripture. Windows would have been set high in the walls to let in light while limiting distracting views of outside. Before entering, each nun washed her hands in the laver, a large wash¬basin in the cloister set against the Frater wall. Cooking took place in a separate kitchen just north of the Refectory.

Warming Room & Chapter House

At the north end of the east side of the cloister was the Warming Room, one of the few places in the abbey where a fireplace was allowed. Nuns were expected to cope with the cold winter weather, but the elderly or unwell could come here to ease their discomfort — with permission of course. In other monasteries the Dormitory was usually built above this room, a small luxury since the rising heat would take the chill from the room above.

The next room to the south was the second most important space in an abbey after the church — the Chapter House. Here the nuns gathered each day to conduct the business associated with being major landholders. The name derives from the custom of reading a chapter from the Rule of St Benedict at the start of these meetings, and the business to be discussed might include confessions and even punishment for sins or other transgressions. The remaining space between the Chapter House and the north transept of the church was a passage out to the nuns’ graveyard.

Infirmary, Miserichord

Beyond the cloister were a number of service buildings, of which we have found only a few. The passage through the Warming House led to the Infirmary, a building dedicated to the care of the aged and the sick within the convent. It featured a large open hall similar to a modern hospital ward, and a separate chapel for worship by those unable to attend services in the abbey church. Between the Infirmary and Warming Room is the Misericord (from the Latin for “act of mercy”), a special dining room where the restriction of the Rule against the luxury of eating meat from four-legged animals was relaxed. St Benedict recognised the need for weaker nuns to rebuild their strength with red meat, so a special room was added to many monasteries for this purpose. This led to a general softening of the austere lifestyle over time, with the healthy nuns taking turns to eat here each day instead of the Refectory.

Missing Buildings

Many out-buildings are missing from the plan. There should be a guest hall for general visitors and more private apartments for important guests, and private lodgings for Abbess and Prioress — either as extensions to the cloister or separate buildings.

A noviciate was normal for most abbeys – a range of rooms where the novices training to become nuns slept, ate, and were taught. In many abbeys this took the form of a separate cloister. Then there were service buildings — stables, bakehouse, kitchen, brewhouse, washhouse, slaughterhouse, hen-house etc. These were probably located north and west of the ruins but have not been explored. The other important service building was the abbey’s watermill where all the townsfolk had to bring their grain for grinding into flour, a source of income for any abbey, so control of milling was closely guarded.

The end – 1539

Henry VIII closed all the abbeys in England in the late 1530s, taking the lands, treasures, and lead from the roofs. In 1539 Barking was surrendered, almost the last due to
its importance and wealth. Henry needed materials for palaces being constructed on the Thames at Greenwich and Dartford, so the buildings were completely dismantled over a period of 18 months. After the Dissolution the abbey site was sold off, and became a farm until 1911.The only surviving complete building from the abbey is the Curfew Tower. It acts as the gateway into the parish churchyard, which is probably why it survived the demolition.

First mentioned in a Papal indult of 1400 granting the nuns the right to hold services in the “chapel of the rood above the cemetery gate”, the upper chamber houses a 12th-century segment of a carved relief panel depicting Christ on the cross —this was probably salvaged from one of the rebuilding episodes in either the abbey church or in St Margaret’s. A second gateway once stood further north at the corner of London Road, but was taken down in the 19th century.