Heritage and History

Maritime and fishing heritage

Fishing heritage

Barking has been associated with fishing since the 1300s but it was only in the Victorian period that the industry suddenly developed.

The owner of a small fleet called Samuel Hewett decided to keep his boats at sea longer than most other people. His increased catch was regularly ferried to Billingsgate Market by special fast boats.

To preserve the fish, ice was used for the first time and a great ice-house was built in Barking. Other fishermen adopted the new practices and between the 1820s and the 1850s the number of fishing vessels in Barking increased from 70 to 220.

The town became dangerously dependant on fishing. By the 1850s Barking was full of fishermen, shipwrights, mast makers, sail makers, ships chandlers, water keg makers, pork cask makers, net makers, knitters, waterproof clothing and boot makers and ships biscuits bakers.

In the late 1850s a new dock opened at Grimsby in Lincolnshire and began to attract Barking fishermen.

In 1862 the Hewett's fleet moved closer to the fishing grounds and relocated to Gorleston in Suffolk.

Within a few years almost all the fishermen and the people that worked with them had left the town.

Today, the only easily accessible relic of the days of the Barking fishery is a boat on the arms of the borough of Barking and Dagenham.

Further study

Barking and Dagenham Libraries have much material relating to the fishing industry in Barking with many copies of original documents in collections such as Essex Record Office.

Search our catalogue online|

Select Catalogue search, then do a subject word search for 'Short Blue' and another for 'Hewett'. If you are able to visit, or live in, Barking and Dagenham, most of the material is kept at Valence House.

Sea Defences|

Dagenham Breach|

Barking Town Quay|

Maritime and Fishing Archive Photographs|

Fishing frescoes at Eastbury Manor House|

The Catch|

New public artwork celebrating the borough's Fishing and Saxon heritage.

Town Quay, 1922