Anglo-Saxon founding Barking Abbey was founded c. 660–664 by
Saint Earconwald (later
Bishop of London) for his sister
Saint Ethelburga. At the same time, he founded
Chertsey Abbey for himself. Earconwald died at the abbey in 693, and his body was taken to
St. Paul's Cathedral in
London for burial.
Bede recounts many miracles associated with the early abbey. Barking Abbey was initially dedicated to the
Virgin Mary and later to both St. Mary and St. Ethelburga, who served as the abbey's first
abbess. and it was built of wood,
wattle and daub, and reused
Roman tile. During Ethelburga's lifetime, the abbey's holdings were enlarged by the Hodilred Charter and possibly the Earconwald Charter. Ethelburga was taught and succeeded as abbess by
Saint Hildelith of Faremoutier, who retained the position until her death c. 712. The abbey was burned by
Vikings c. 871, and the nuns fled to their London estate, probably
All Hallows Barking by the Tower. Another version of the story says that
Queen Ælfthryth, as overseer of the abbey, deposed the abbess Wulfida after complaints made by the nuns; and that it was the Queen, not her son, who reinstated her twenty years later.
Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury changed Barking Abbey to follow the
Rule of St. Benedict. According to medieval scholar Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, Barking Abbey may have been "especially devoted to
Martha", the sister of
Mary of Bethany and
Lazarus in the Gospels of
Luke and
John. In ,
Osbert of Clare wrote a letter to Adelzia, who was abbess at the time, requesting that the Barking Abbey nuns pray for him; Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis states that it demonstrates his "confidence in the promptness and solicitude" of their prayers.
After the Norman Conquest At the time of the
Norman conquest of England, the abbess was Æfgiva.
King William the Conqueror confirmed Æfgiva's control of the abbey with a royal charter issued in either November or December 1066. William granted her
"my peace and love, and all my rights within and without the burgh as fully as any abbess in that monastery of St.Mary had them in the time of King Edward". At the time, King William was staying at Barking Abbey whilst he constructed the
Tower of London. It was also at the abbey that King William received the submissions of the brothers
Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, and
Edwin, Earl of Mercia; Morcar and Edwin's sister,
Queen Ealdgyth was the widow of the defeated
King Harold II (Godwinson). She also commissioned
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin to write a series of
hagiographies for Ethelburga, Hildelith, and Wulfhilda, which he completed c. 1087. In the early thirteenth century, the east end of the abbey was expanded into a saints' chapel, where the relics of Ethelburga, Hildelith, and Wulfhilda were translated and given greater prominence. The church was rededicated by Abbess Mabel de Bosham (1215–1247). Prior to 1214, as a "royal foundation", the abbesses of Barking had been chosen by the King. However, following pressure from the Pope,
King John allowed the nuns to conduct elections to choose their abbess. The crown would later, however, claim they had the right to select a nun to join the abbey each time a new monarch acceded to the throne. This privilege was used to nominate Alice de Belhus on the accession of
King Edward II in 1307, Margaret Swinford (daughter of
Katherine Swynford and later abbess) on the accession of
King Richard II in 1377, Maud Kylet in 1404 (five years after the accession of
King Henry IV), and Goda Hapton in 1430 (eight years after the accession of
King Henry VI). Whilst imprisoned some of her "valuable possessions" were extorted but they were later recovered. In 1404, Barking Abbey is recorded as having a librarian, one of just three insular abbeys to do so. and
Ordinale and Customary. The latter includes a calendar, instructions on how to perform certain rites, and commemorations of Barking's three saintly abbesses (Ethelburga, Hildelith, and Wulfhilda). During
Katherine de la Pole's time as abbess, the young
Edmund and
Jasper Tudor were sent to be brought up in the abbess's custody by
King Henry VI's council. The boys were Henry VI's half brothers: the children of
Owen Tudor and
Catherine of Valois; herself the widow of
King Henry V and Henry VI's mother. The Tudors were raised and educated at Barking under the care of Abbess Katherine. An allowance of £52 12s () was paid for their maintenance. The
Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 records the abbey's gross income as £1,084 6s 2¼d (), which made it the third wealthiest nunnery in England; behind
Sion Abbey and
Shaftesbury Abbey.
Dissolution The abbey was dissolved in 1539 as part of
King Henry VIII's
Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was formally surrendered by the abbess, and the 30 nuns, in the abbey's chapter-house on 14 November 1539. The abbess and nuns were all granted annual pensions 12 days later. The abbess' was 200 marks a year. Many of these pensions were still being paid during the reign of
Queen Mary I. ==Remains (and present day)==