Barking was a local government district, and later civil parish and borough, in southwest

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England from 1882 to 1965. It was known as Barking Town from 1882 to 1931. The district included the town of

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, eastern

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Barki ...

and the southwestern part of the

Becontree Becontree or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

estate. The district was within the Metropolitan Police District and experienced a steady increase in population during its existence. It now forms the western part of the

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames ...

and the eastern extremity of the London Borough of Newham in Greater London.

Background

The ancient parish of Barking covered an area of in the

hundred. The parish was the largest in Essex in terms of area and was divided into the four wards of

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, Ripple, Great Ilford and Chadwell.The ancient parish of Barking: Local government and poor relief
, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5, (1966) The Town ward covered land immediately to the east and west of the

River Roding The River Roding () rises at Molehill Green, Essex, England, then flows south through Essex and London and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames. Course The river leaves Molehill Green and passes through or near a group of eight ...

and the Ripple ward stretched from Longbridge Road in the north to the River Thames in the south taking in Creekmouth and the western part of the modern estate of

. Chadwell ward was immediately to the northeast including Goodmayes, part of Chadwell Heath and Little Heath. Great Ilford was to the northwest and included the modern areas of Barkingside, Clayhall, Gants Hill, Ilford, Redbridge and Seven Kings.

Formation

local board Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

was formed for Town ward in 1882 and was extended to cover Ripple ward in 1885. In 1888 Barking parish was reduced in size, to match the area of the local board, as the Chadwell and Great Ilford wards formed a new parish of Ilford. In 1894 the area of the local board became the Barking Town urban district of Essex, as part of the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, and the Ilford parish became the Ilford Urban District.

District and borough

The district gained the status of

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in 1931 and was renamed Barking. The borough ran its own

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

services,

Barking Town Urban District Council Light Railways Barking Town Urban District Council Light Railways operated a passenger tramway service in Barking between 1903 and 1929.The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis. History Barking Town Urban District Council opened services ...

, until they became the responsibility of the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

in 1933.Reed, J., ''London Tramways'', (1997) The borough bordered East Ham to the west, Ilford to the north and Dagenham to the east. In the south the borough bordered the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, with the

Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich was a metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was formed from the civil parishes of Eltham, Plumstead and Woolwich. Its former area is now part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and ...

in the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

to the south. There was also a land boundary as the eastern part of the

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London. It is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. De ...

exclave was surrounded by Barking on three sides. Barking MB wards

Abolition

Since the building of the Becontree estate in the 1920s across the three districts of Ilford, Barking and Dagenham, there had been periodic discussion and review of the local government arrangements in the area.The borough of Barking
, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5, (1966) The districts were all considered to form part of the Greater London conurbation and in 1957 formed part of the review area of the

Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was established in 1957 and published its report in 1960. The report made recommendations for the overhaul of the administration of the capital. They ...

. The 1960 report of the commission recommended the union of Barking and Dagenham as a single

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

. Following the review, in 1965 the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

abolished the municipal boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, and transferred their former area from Essex to Greater London, to form the London Borough of Barking. The section of Barking west of the

around

became part of the London Borough of Newham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barking History of local government in London (1889–1965) History of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham History of the London Borough of Newham Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 Municipal boroughs of England Barking, London