Cliveden Conservation has successfully restored a rare surviving fragment of Barking’s eighteenth-century workhouse. The large Portland stone plaque was officially unveiled on Abbey Green on Wednesday 17 June, offering a powerful reminder of how London once responded to poverty and hardship
The Portland stone plaque, originally mounted high on the Georgian workhouse on North Street, is the only surviving remnant of a building that once dominated Barking’s civic life. Demolished in 1936, the workhouse has long since vanished from the townscape. Its former site is now occupied by an Asda superstore. The plaque, salvaged at demolition, spent decades lying in pieces in the kitchen garden at Eastbury Manor House.
Heritage of London Trust worked with BeFirst, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s regeneration delivery agency, to restore the stone and install it on the wall outside St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School on Abbey Green.
The workhouse plaque is composed of three sections of Portland stone, significantly weathered and split after years exposed to the elements. Cliveden Conservation has stabilised the stone and improved the legibility of the carved lettering, much of which survived thanks to historic paint infill.
A translation of the Latin reads:
“This house, of honourable industry, was built and paid for, by the distinguished members of Barking Parish, to restrain the disorder of the wicked and improve the spirit of the poor, for the glory of God.
178[6] – the 26th year of the reign of [King] George III.”
Kris Zykubek, Senior Conservator, Cliveden Conservation gives more details:
“Intensive biological growth had completely obscured the stone surface and inscription, so conservation cleaning was our first step. Once revealed, traces of black paint in the cut letters led us to repaint the lettering black for authenticity. We reattached broken sections using stainless steel dowels and weather-resistant resin, installed new stone indents where sections were missing, and carried out mortar repairs to the weathered surface. The transformation is amazing, I am so glad that we could save most of the inscription, which describes the origins and significance of Barking Workhouse.”
The restoration project has engaged over 220 local young people so far through Heritage of London Trust’s Proud Places programme. Students from Barking Abbey School and Eastbury Community School visited the plaque, met conservators and explored the social history behind the inscription. Young people from Future Youth Zone also took part in creative workshops inspired by the plaque. St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School pupils will continue to learn about the plaque and its significance through a programme of activities linked to its new permanent home.
The restoration offers an opportunity to reflect on a chapter of London’s welfare history that has largely disappeared from view. Workhouses shaped the lives of thousands of Londoners for more than two centuries, yet many former sites remain unmarked. The restored plaque provides a tangible link to changing attitudes towards poverty, charity, and social care.
Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said:
“Workhouses are incredibly rare survivors in London’s heritage but tell such an important story of how society addressed poverty and hardship in the past. This fragment of Barking’s workhouse has been beautifully restored and brings its history to life. It also gives us a chance to reflect on ideas about welfare and how this has evolved over the last 250 years.”
Barking Workhouse Plaque unveiling – Heritage of London Trust