A brief economic history of Barking & Dagenham
Barking’s economic history originates from its location situated by the river Roding at Barking Creek, an inlet of the Thames.
Fishing
Barking became a flourishing fishing port during the Middle Ages. From the 1400s until late Victorian times the Barking fishing fleet was the most important in the country and it was only after the big ports were built at Grimsby and Hull did the fishing fleet move from the area. The first Ice House to enable fish to be preserved was built in Barking in 1829.
In 1850 Barking was full of fishermen, shipwrights, masts makers, sail makers, ships chandlers, water keg makers, pork cask makers, net makers, knitters, waterproof clothing and boot makers and ship biscuits bakers. However, the areas lack of diversity in the economic sectors made it dangerously susceptible to economic competition and change.
Reference to the historical significance of Barking fishery is depicted by a boat on the Barking & Dagenham Council’s coat of arms.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
Barking Abbey had a big influence on its immediate and wider economic area. Barking Abbey was founded in 666AD. The Abbey was rich and influential because of its royal patronage. It was the most important Abbey in England from this time until Henry VIII ordered its destruction in 1538 after he formed the Church of England.
The real beneficiaries of the Dissolution of the Monasteries weren’t royals associated with King Henry VIII but the new class of gentry who bought the lands. The suppression of the monasteries and places of pilgrimage was devastating for those pilgrimage centres that had no other economic base. The other great loser of the Dissolution was culture; many monastic libraries full of priceless illuminated manuscripts were destroyed with little or no regard for their value.
Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries one of the most important merchants associated with Barking was William Pownsett (d.1554), of Loxford, a grazier. He was the last Steward of the Abbey. The borough’s proximity to London also made it a convenient place of residence for politicians and government officials, like the Fanshawes of Jenkins. They were the largest landowners from the 1500s until late Victorian times when they relocated to Devon. The manor of Barking was sold by the Crown to Sir Thomas Fanshawe in 1628.
Agriculture
In 1601 Barking Creek had been used by boats carrying provisions to the abbey, and corn and meal to and from the adjoining watermills. The wharf was also used by fishermen for taking hay and reeds from the marshes, for landing cattle to feed there, and for the shipment of provisions to the queen’s manor of Greenwich and to the City of London.
Market gardening became popular in the 19th century when Barking wharf was increasingly used by manure barges. In 1851 there was a campaign against this traffic through the streets by day and new regulations were made forbidding the landing of night soil and restricting the hours during which other kinds of manure might be landed. The growth of motor transport in the late 19th Century caused a great decline in traffic at the wharf. Dagenham grew all the green vegetables for the London market right up until the 1920s.
Industrial Heritage
As the fishing industry declined, new industries moved into the area. In the 19th century new laws on pollution forced many factory owners to move to sites in nearby counties. In 1857 an artificial fertilizer and sulphuric acid factory was built at Creekmouth in Barking, on the shores of the Thames. This was followed by the largest jute works in the world opening in 1866, employing women and children to make mail sacks. River transport by barges was very good along the river Roding and by 1900 Barking was proud to be attracting small factories to its riverside sites.
Heavy industry and chemical plants opened and later oil refineries and storage buildings for hazardous waste. Pollution from some factories left legacies in the town for years. For example, an asbestos factory built in 1913 gave Barking one of the highest death rates in the country from asbestosis. However, Whites Lemonade factory were models of good employee relations and sources of great pride.
In Dagenham development was slower. In 1887 a barge builder called Samuel Williams built a new deep water dock on the Thames. His dock was slow to attract new businesses until 1921, when farms were compulsorily purchased to build the Becontree Estate for those who fought in World War I. This led Ford Motor Company to acquire 244 acres of Dagenham marshland from Samuel Williams & Sons, and in 1929-31 built a large car factory.
Ford Motor Company
Ford is famous for introducing large-scale methods of manufacturing especially engineering sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Highly efficient factories and low prices revolutionized manufacturing which came to be known around the world as “Fordism” by 1914. However, during the late 1990s macro economic factors caused Ford to end car production in 2002, although engines are still made in Dagenham.
Today Ford Motor Company employs about 5000 people aiming to reduce the environmental impact of existing operations, while producing a new Tiger Engine “zero-effluent” facility with a best in-class environmental print.
The Future Economic Vision
Barking and Dagenham Council has a vision for the year 2020. The aim is “to build communities and transform lives”. One of its three key priorities is to:
Increase prosperity for all by encouraging the development of a well-educated and skilled workforce, increasing access to jobs, supporting existing businesses to grow and attract new investment.
In 2006 the Barking and Dagenham Partnership was awarded £15.5 million over a 3 year period under the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) document “Inspire to Aspire”, a government programme to boost business and enterprise in deprived areas. LEGI forms a major part of the borough’s new Local Area Agreement.
Rob Whiteman, Barking & Dagenham Chief Executive, said:
“Our winning Local Enterprise Growth Initiative proposal is about people – taking the enterprise message and business support out into our businesses, schools, homes, community and voluntary sector groups, to exploit the opportunity that abounds in our borough and across London.”
Barking & Dagenham Enterprise (BDE) has been chosen to deliver the LEGI programme, to initiate and manage projects to create a sustaining enterprise culture, support start-up and existing businesses and develop two state-of-the-art business centres in the borough.
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