East London & Essex

We cover areas along the A13  linking Central London with east London and south Essex. Including Barking, Upminster, Basildon, Grays, Tilbury, Southend and Shoeburyness Rainham ,Grays, Tilbury, Stanford-Le-Hope & Pitsea, and runs the entire length of the northern Thames Gateway area, terminating on the Thames Estuary at Shoeburyness.

It is a trunk road between London and the Tilbury junction, a primary route between there and Sadlers Hall Farm near South Benfleet, and a non-primary route between there and Shoeburyness.

History of the Area

The main town of Barking in 1890 was still situated round the St. Margaret’s Church and Town Quay area, where there was a large proportion of cottages; there were also numerous small cottages to the west of the railway. The more up market part of Barking was found at the northern end of North Street. Today however only two dwellings of that period survive.  The civil parish of Ilford had been created out of Barking, (becoming separated at the end of the previous decade); it became a local Government District on the 8th August 1890. Barking Town in 1891 had a population of 25,214. Some development had, and still was taking place east of the railway, (which at this time was still known as Barking New Town) but principally that area remained mostly agricultural.  https://www.barkingdagenhamlocalhistory.co.uk/late-victorian-barking-1890

Manor of Barking

Barking was a huge Manor (landholding), first mentioned in a charter in 735 AD. The Manor covered the areas now known as Barking, Dagenham and Ilford. The Manor was held by the Nunnery of Barking Abbe

Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few fishermen’s huts and a farm at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell. In the 1790s, the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed.