LOCATION
With an ancient history and an exciting future, the riverside town of Barking offers superb transport links, green spaces and a range of housing to suit all buyers Barking HOT spot
1 Bustling Barking Market 2 Romantic ruins at Abbey Green 3 Riverside walks – and seals! 4 Go to work by train, bus or boat 5 Family fun in Barking Park 5 REASONS WE LOVE… BARKING
city,
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Whether it’s history, nature, sport or shopping that makes your weekends
special, Barking has it all. History buffs will enjoy exploring Abbey Green with its scenic ruins, including the partially restored Grade II* listed Curfew Tower, or neighbouring Grade I listed St Margaret’s Church, with parts dating back to 1215. Nearby National Trust property Eastbury Manor House is an Elizabethan home with a rare spiral oak staircase inside a turret and 17th century wall paintings, while Valence House museum in Dagenham is full of fascinating local history exhibitions. If you prefer to enjoy the great outdoors, there is plenty to choose from. Barking Park first opened in 1898, but has recently been restored and improved with a visitor centre, cafe, pond-dipping platforms around its lake and a splash park with fountains, sandy areas and little boats to hire. Mayesbrook Park has an adventure playground, outdoor gym, sports pitches, trampoline park and skate park, along with a nature reserve with lakes and woodland. At Barking Riverside you can take a stroll on the Wildlife & Wellbeing Trail along the water’s edge, where you are
city with a median age of 33, and the highest percentage of children of any area in the UK. With a borough population of around 235,000, a quarter are under 16, resulting in an array of schools to choose from. It’s a population that is growing fast, with a 17.7% increase in residents from 2011 to 2021, drawn to the area by new housing and good connectivity. Barking station is served by the c2c service from Essex to Fenchurch Street, the District and Hammersmith & City underground lines and the Suffragette Overground, which travels on to Barking Riverside in six minutes. From there, you can also catch the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers into central London. Barking Riverside is one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, with around 20,000 new homes coming to the area, largely one to three bedroom apartments, many of which are available through Shared Ownership. In the older part of town, and in nearby Dagenham,
Barking grew up around the Abbey founded in the 7th century by Saint Ethelburga, who embraced religious life after eeing an arranged marriage. Barking Abbey became one of England’s most in uential nunneries, and William the Conqueror stayed there while building the Tower of London. The area developed with shops, taverns, farming and shing, and became the home of The Short Blue Fleet – a 220-strong shing eet owned by the Hewett family that at one point was the largest in the world. Barking railway station opened in 1854, and by the late 1800s, London’s rapid population growth had spilled into the area. Homes and heavy industry rubbed shoulders, with jute works, tanneries, fertiliser plants and chemical factories. The London Underground’s District Line was extended to Barking in 1908, prompting more growth. The 20th century brought the massive Barking Power Station in 1925 and Ford’s Dagenham plant in 1931 – which in its heyday employed more than 40,000 workers (now around 2,000). The Becontree Estate, built by the London County Council in the 1920s, provided 27,000 new homes to accommodate the workers and is still a thriving community. Barking, part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, is now one of London’s most multi-cultural areas, with a population that is one of the youngest in the
likely to see grey seals resting on the mudflats and perhaps a glimpse of a porpoise in the now surprisingly clean waters of the river. Hungry
apartments and older, terraced homes are available at low prices for an area with such good links to central London.
60 First Time Buyer April/May 2026
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