Barking Workhouse plaque

A ‘Free School’ for local children was established in Barking by Sir James Cambell in 1642, a short distance west of the ancient site of Barking Abbey. In 1722 a workhouse opened nearby and by the 1770s, paupers were housed in Barking’s workhouse with duties including winding silk, picking oakum and making mops. The space proved too small and in 1786, Parliament passed the Workhouse Act which transferred responsibility from the parish to ‘Directors of the Poor’. The Directors took over Cambell’s school, and funds were raised for a new workhouse which also included school rooms. The new workhouse opened in 1788. It was one of the largest in Essex, with an imposing Neo-Palladian frontage.

The pediment over the main entrance had a Portland stone plaque with a Latin inscription which translates as:
“This house of industry at the sole expense of the inhabitants of Barking is to provide and protect the industrious and to punish the idle and wicked.”

By 1841, the old workhouse had been converted to shops and in 1872 a new school building was constructed which in the 1960s moved to a new site overlooking Abbey Green (St Margaret’s Church of England School). The old workhouse was pulled down in 1936 and its plaque was salvaged and now lies in pieces in the kitchen garden of Eastbury Manor House.

The former site of Barking Workhouse is now occupied by an Asda Superstore.

The plaque was originally composed of three separate pieces of Portland stone with a larger central stone bearing the inscription and two taller and narrower flanking stones. The central stone and one of the flanking stones have split in two. The bottom right section of the central stone is missing. The stones are significantly weathered and the cut letters have been infilled and painted white. This has inadvertently preserved the letters in good condition and it is likely that minimal deepening/recutting will be required to enhance the inscription’s legibility.

The plaque will be restored and re-mounted in a publicly accessible location with an interpretation panel. Several options are being explored including sites near to the original workhouse overlooking Abbey Green.