Council secures £1.4m to protect Barking’s historic town centre
Barking and Dagenham cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Cameron Geddes outside St Margaret's Church, Barking. - Credit: Archant
Barking and Dagenham Council has been handed a million-pound grant to protect historical buildings across Barking town centre.
The initial £1.4m Townscape Heritage (TH) cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will be used to improve the appearance and profile of the Abbey and Barking Town Centre Conservation area, increase awareness of the borough’s historical assets and ensure heritage plays a key part of the town’s ongoing regeneration.
Development funding of £101,400 has also been awarded to help the council apply for a full grant at a later date, working in partnership with St Margaret’s Church, Barking and Dagenham College’s Technical Skills Academy and other key town centre players.
The conservation area stretches from Station Parade, by Barking Station, to the town quay on the River Roding, where the famous Short Blue fishing fleet helped Barking flourish into a major fishing point by the mid-19th century.
Also included are Barking Abbey, dating back to 666AD and once home to William the Conqueror, and Grade II-listed St Margaret’s Church, where the explorer Captain James Cook was married in December 1762.
You may also want to watch:
Students from the academy will have a lead role in the design and delivery of the building improvements, and the project will develop guidelines for local businesses to maintain their high street buildings once the scheme is completed.
The borough’s largest high street, East Street, is also in the conservation area and features a number of prominent Victorian and Edwardian locally-listed buildings.
Most Read
- 1 Dagenham rallies round to make memories for family of 'joyful, little' tot with cancer
- 2 Second blaze breaks out at White Horse pub in Chadwell Heath
- 3 Man recalled to prison after persistent anti-social behaviour in Dagenham cul de sac
- 4 Organisers seek former Mayesbrook teachers to join school reunion
- 5 Dagenham primary scoops second mental health award
- 6 Christmas Day babies to spend their first few weeks in lockdown
- 7 Go green with the council's garden waste collection service
- 8 Appeal after shots fired at house in Dagenham
- 9 More than 100 Covid dead at Queen's and King George this week
- 10 Welcome to Chadwell Heath Spartans, a true family football club
Cllr Cameron Geddes, cabinet member for regeneration, said: “Cabinet colleagues and I are thrilled and extremely grateful for the award.
“The generosity will be a catalyst to supporting our ambition to regenerate and revitalise the town centre as we strive towards establishing it as the cultural capital of east London.”