Barking Park is a public park covering 30 hectares to the northeast of
Barking town centre in east
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. It was opened as the Recreation Ground in 1898 by the Barking Town Urban District Council and is now the oldest public park in 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 ...
. It lies north of
Longbridge Road and south of the neighbourhood of
Loxford
Loxford is part of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge in east London, UK. It is a built-up, multi-ethnic locality.
History
The medieval manor of Loxford was in the possession of Barking Abbey and in 1319 the Abbess of Barking was lice ...
, with the northern boundary of the park along Loxford Water also the borough boundary with Redbridge.
History
The classic
Victorian park for the urban district of
Barking Town was established from land acquired in 1896. It was officially opened on 9 April 1898 by Councillor C. L. Beard JP, Chairman of Barking Town Urban District Council.
The park's most significant feature is a long boating lake on the north side of the park. Rowing boats were introduced first, and then on 1 April 1953, motor boats and a Mississippi style paddle steamer called ''Phoenix II'' made their debut. The paddle steamer continued to operate on the lake until 1967.
The park contains a war memorial, renovated in 2000,
[ for men of the Barking Town Urban District who fell in ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
A lido was built in 1931 but this was closed permanently in 1988.[The Borough's parks and open spaces]
, Local studies info sheet #6, Barking and Dagenham Council. Retrieved 1 January 2013. The longstanding park cafe was demolished and a roller-skating park built on the site.
In 2006 the council received stage one funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
to develop a proposal for restoration and improvement of the park. Funding of over £3 million was approved, and works were completed between 2010 and 2012, including two lengthy new pathways, a children's play area and splash park.
Features
Facilities include tennis and basketball courts, two bowling greens (indoor and outdoor), a children's playground, a waterpark, football pitches and a flower garden
A flower garden or floral garden is any garden or part of a garden where plants that flower are grown and displayed. This normally refers mostly to herbaceous plants, rather than flowering woody plants, which dominate in the shrubbery and ...
.
Barking Park Light Railway
Barking Park Light Railway, a miniature passenger railway, opened in the early 1950s. It originally consisted of three coaches hauled by a steam locomotive named "The Empress", running over a length of gauge track, from the main park entrance at Longbridge Road to a turntable at the boating lake. After being replaced by a sit-in diesel locomotive named "Little Nan", ''The Empress'' was eventually restored and re-gauged to and is now running at the Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway
Lakeside Country Park is a country park just south of the town of Eastleigh in Hampshire. The park covers 60 acres[Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in ...](_ ...<br></span></div>.
About halfway along the line, trains went through a gated level crossing. When trains were not running, the level crossing afforded access to the park from the adjacent Park Avenue, but this side entrance has now been permanently closed.
The railway ran until 2005 when it was closed by the owner, who felt that it was no longer cost effective to maintain and repair the train; however, the railway has since been redeveloped by a father & son team who bought the line from the previous owner. It now features new trains, and new gauge track, with wheelchair-friendly station access. The new train service ran a few times during 2008 but the official grand re-opening took place at Easter in 2009. The previous level crossing was removed.
<h1><br><p> Events</h1></p>
Every year on <div class=)
(usually the 2nd Sunday in November) a commemorative ceremony is held at the war memorial preceded by music from a local marching band.
Barking parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
takes place in the park every Saturday morning at 9am.
References
External links
Barking Park
Barking and Dagenham Council
{{coord, 51.545, 0.088, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Barking Park Light Railway
7¼ in gauge railways in England