Barking is a town and district in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is 8.8 miles east of Charing Cross and is amongst the 35 major centres named in the London Plan. Historically, it had been a fishing settlement in Essex and an ancient parish. Then it moved to market gardening and industrial development towards the south, beside the River Thames.
Barking quickly evolved into a larger town and its rail station opened in 1854. It has been served by the London Underground since 1908. Throughout the twentieth century, when there was considerable suburban development of London, Barking expanded and increased in population. This was primarily due to the construction of the London County Council estate at Becontree inside the 1920s. Barking became a municipal borough in 1931 and part of Greater London in 1965.
The town centre is a large retail and commercial district which is presently in plans for regeneration. You will find former industrial lands towards the south which are currently being redeveloped as Barking Riverside, which aims to regenerate the Thames riverside area of East London through new houses, jobs and services. It consists of 350 acres of brownfield land, and improvement began in 2008. It's expected to be finished by around 2025. 10,000 homes are going to be built, which are expected to house 25,000 individuals. The developers will also supply new transport links, which includes East London Transit as well as an extension of the Docklands Light Railway at Barking Riverside DLR station.