London Borough of Barking & Dagenham

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

Local Studies Information Sheet No.2

BARKING ABBEY

Barking Abbey was founded in AD666 by Erkenwald, then Abbot of Chertsey (Surrey) and later Bishop of London. He established his sister Ethelburga as the first Abbess. The abbey survived, interrupted only by the Danish invasions of the 9th century, until its dissolution in 1539 during the reign of Henry VIII.

It was destroyed by the Danes (Vikings) in 870 and probably remained abandoned for the next hundred years.Its restoration by King Edgar (959-75) placed it under royal patronage which gave succeeding kings the right to nominate the abbess. As a result, several abbesses came from noble families. Royal patronage and proximity to London brought it important connections,and it became one of the richest abbeys in England.

After its closure in 1539, the Abbey buildings were comprehensively demolished between 1540 and 1541. The finest stones were shipped across the river to build a new manor house for the King at Dartford. All that remains in Barking is the medieval entrance gate to the parish churchyard, known as the Curfew Tower or Fire Bell Gate.

Visit the Archaeology Gallery in Valence House Museum to see a model of the abbey in its heyday and objects discovered during archaeological digs.

Despite its wealth, very few records of the Abbey survive. Barking and Dagenham Archives and Local Studies Centre at Valence House holds no original documents. However, it holds copies of primary material as well as a selection of printed histories.

Primary Sources held elsewhere:

Bodleian Library, Oxford 15th century Ordinal (Ms. Univ. Coll.169), Book of Gospels (Ms. Bodl.155), Cleansing of man’s soul (Ms.Bodl.923), Canticles and Lamentations (Ms. Laud Lat.19), Accounts for demolition of abbey buildings 1540-1 (Ms. Rawlinson D.782)

British LibraryRental of the manor of Barking, 1456 (Add.MS.45387), Charche [Charge/Duties] of the Celleress (Cott.Julii.D.viii),Oedilred’s Charter (Cott. Aug.ii., 29)

Essex Record Office, Manorial Court Rolls and other records for Abbey estates (various references)

Hatfield House, Hertfordshire 16th century extracts from an earlier lost cartulary (Ilford Hospital 1/6). Access is restricted to postgraduate researchers by appointment.

Magdalen College, Oxford, Religious Tracts, (Ms. Lat.41)

Trinity College, Cambridge, Hymnal [bound sheets], (MS 0.3.54)

Financial information, particularly concerning the 16th century Abbey, will be found in the Exchequer records of the Augmentations Office and Ministers’ Accounts at The National Archives.

Secondary sources held in the Archives & Local Studies Centre:

Barnes, T:A nun’s life: Barking Abbey in the late Medieval and early modern periods (2004) (copy of unpublished MA thesis, Portland State University, 2004)

Bell, David N:What Nuns Read: Books and Libraries in Medieval English Nunneries (1995)

Clapham, A.W:The Benedictine Abbey of Barking: a sketch of its architectural history and an account of recent excavations on its site in Transactions of Essex Archaeological Trust New Series (1913)

Foot, Sarah: Monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England c600-900 (2006)

Foot, Sarah: Veiled women (2 volumes) (2000)

Hart, C:The Early Charters of Barking Abbey (1953)

Keene, D and Harding, V:A survey of documentary sources for property holding in London before the Great Fire (1985).

Letheuillier, S:History of Barking, 1750 (photocopy).

Lockwood, H.H:Where was the first Barking Abbey? (1986), and ‘One thing leads to another’ in Essex Journal Vol.25 no.1 (Spring 1990)

Locks, W.A:Barking Abbey in the Middle Ages, (1913)

Loftus, E.A. and Chettle, H.F:A History of Barking Abbey(1954)

Oxley, J.E:The accounts for the destruction of Barking Abbey (Barking Historical Society 1961); Account Book of the Celleress of Barking Abbey and The Account Book of the Office of Pensions of Barking Abbey (Barking & District Archaeological Society’s Transactions 1956 and 1958).

Power, E:Medieval English Nunneries c.1275-1535 (1922)

Randolph, J. A:Abbeys around London being short accounts of their buildings, lands, abbots and churches their values at the Dissolution, 1899 (photocopy of part).

Sturman, W.M:Barking Abbey: a study in its external and internal administration, 1960 (copy of unpublished London Ph.D. thesis).

Tolhurst, J.B.L:The Ordinale and Customary of the Nuns of Barking, 2 vols, (1927). (In Latin)

Victoria History for the County of Essex vol.2.

Whitelock, D:English Historical Documents c.500-1042(1955)

Young, K:The Drama of the Medieval Church vol.1 (1933) pp.384-488 (concerning the Abbey’s Easter play.)

Archives & Local Studies Centre, Valence House, Becontree Ave, Dagenham RM8 3HT / 09.2014