Barking is a town and district within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is 8.8 miles east of Charing Cross and is among the 35 significant centres named in the London Plan. Historically, it had been a fishing settlement in Essex and an ancient parish. It then shifted to market gardening and industrial development towards the south, adjacent to the River Thames.
Barking soon progressed into a larger town and its rail station opened in 1854. It's been served by the London Underground since 1908. Through the twentieth century, when there was considerable suburban growth of London, Barking expanded and increased in population. This was mainly as a consequence of the development of the London County Council estate at Becontree within the 1920s. Barking became a municipal borough in 1931 and part of Greater London in 1965.
Improvement designs were unveiled in 2007, planning to transform the town square included in the Mayor of London's 100 Public Places.