Barking Abbey

10 atmospheric ruins in London – 9. Barking Abbey…

by exploringlondon
Footings of the abbey (these are modern with the real foundations below ground). PICTURE: diamond geezer (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Once one of the most important nunneries in the country, Barking Abbey was originally established in the 7th century and existed for almost 900 years before its closure in 1539 during King Henry VIII’s Dissolution.

The abbey was founded by St Erkenwald (the Bishop of London between 675 and 693) for his sister St Ethelburga who was the first abbess.

The Curfew Tower. PICTURE: Rept0n1x (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

In the late 900s, St Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury introduced the Rule of St Benedict at the nunnery.

King William the Conqueror stayed here after his coronation while famous abbesses included Mary Becket, the sister of St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was given the title in 1173 in reparation for the murder of her brother, as well as several royals including Queen Maud, wife of King Henry I, and Matilda, wife of King Stephen.

The nunnery gained wealth and prestige but this suffered somewhat as a result of floods in 1377 with some 720 acres of land permanently lost. It nonetheless remained one of the wealthiest in England and it’s said the abbess had precedence over all other abbesses in the country.

After the abbey was dissolved, some of the building materials were reused elsewhere and the site was later used as a farm and quarry.

Most of the buildings were demolished – today only the Curfew Tower, which dates from around 1460, remains. The Grade II*-listed tower contains the Chapel of the Holy Rood and now serves at the gateway to the nearby St Margaret’s Church.

Building footings also remain buried under the ground in what is known today as Abbey Green (the layout is marked today by modern additions). There’s a model of how the abbey once appeared inside the gateway.

Barking Abbey ruins, Abbey Road, Barking (nearest Tube Station is Barking); WHEN: Daily: COST: Free; WEBSITE: https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/find-your-nearest/barking-abbey-ruins

Treasures of London – The White Tower

by exploringlondon

It’s one of London’s most famous landmarks and, having just undergone a three year, £2 million restoration, we thought it was time to take a look at the origins of the White Tower.

Now the keep of the Tower of London, the White Tower was first built by the Norman King William the Conqueror following his defeat of Saxon King Harold Godwinson and the cream of the Saxon army at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Following his coronation at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, King William then withdrew to Barking Abbey while his men built several temporary strongholds in the city to ensure it wouldn’t cause any trouble – this included an earth and timber keep standing on an artificial mound in the south-east corner of the city’s Roman-era walls.

The White Tower, a permanent structure, replaced this and although the exact date its construction started is unknown, building – under the watchful eye of Gundulf, the Bishop of Rochester, was well underway by the mid-1070s. While the labourers were English, the masons in charge of the building were Norman and then even used some Caen stone imported from William’s homeland (along with Kentish ragstone). By 1097 the tower was complete.

Primarily built as a fortress rather than for comfort, the size of the Tower was intimidating and, at 27.5 metres tall, it would have dominated the skyline for miles. Initial defences surrounding the White Tower included the Roman walls and two ditches although in later years outer walls were added to create the massive fortifications and series of towers one encounters at the site today.

The tower earned its moniker, the White Tower, from the whitewash used on its walls during the reign of King Henry II. The caps on the four turrets which stand at each corner of the tower were originally conical but were replaced with the current onion-shaped domes in the 1500s (the round tower was once home to the Royal Observatory before it moved out to Greenwich). The White Tower’s large external windows are also more modern innovations, these were added in the 1600s by Sir Christopher Wren.

The original entrance to the White Tower was on the first floor, reached by a wooden staircase (that could be removed if necessary), much as it is today while, for security reasons, the internal stone spiral staircase was placed as far from this entry as possible in the north-east turret. A stone forebuilding was later added during the reign of King Henry II but was later demolished.

Inside, accommodation for the king was provided on the second floor – it originally had a gallery above but an extra floor – still there today – was later added. Accommodation for the Tower’s constable was probably on the first floor. Both floors were divided in two – with a large hall on one side and smaller apartments on the other. These rooms now house displays on the Tower’s history – at the present these include the Royal Armouries’ exhibition ‘Power House’.

The White Tower is also home to the Chapel of St John the Evangelist which, made from Caen stone, still looks much the same as it did in Norman times. It was used by the royal family when in residence at the tower but by the reign of King Charles II had become a store for state records. These were removed in 1857. Among some of the events which took place here was the lying in state of Queen Elizabeth of York, wife to King Henry VII, after her death in 1503, and the betrothal of Queen Mary I to Philip of Spain in 1554 (by proxy, Philip was not present). Prince Charles received communion here on his 21st birthday.

Other historic events associated with the White Tower include the apparent murder in 1483 of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ – King Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York – while legend says they were killed in the Bloody Tower, the discovery of two skeletons under stairs leading to the chapel during building works in 1674 has led some to believe that they may have been buried here.

It was also in the White Tower that King Richard II was forced to sign away his throne to King Henry IV in 1399 and it was from the White Tower that Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, the illegitimate son of  Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great, apparently fell to his death while attempting to escape captivity in 1244.

There are tours of the White Tower daily at 10.45am, 12.45pm, and 2.15pm.

WHERE: Tower of London (nearest tube station Tower Hill); WHEN: 9am to 5.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm Sunday to Monday (until 31st October); COST: Included in Tower of London admission – £19.80 adults; £10.45 children under 15; £17.05 concessions; £55 for a family (prices include a voluntary donation); WEBSITE: www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/.