Place Name
Richard Horn was a local man who in the 16thCentury was responsible for shoring up much of the flood defences of Barking Abbey’s land. For centuries flooding had been an on-going problem in this part of the Essex marshes with the area around Barking in 1380 being described as a “broad lake or pond”. The abbey did its best to protect the land spending £2,000 in 1409 to enclose and drain the area. The work was successful enough that by 1456 the land was being rented out, however, the problems persisted and in 1539 the abbey was paying Horn and a team of men to strengthen the flood defences. It was recorded that the convent paid “Richard Horn and his fellows for barrowing the cellaress’s wall in Ripple Marsh at 6d. a day, 3s. 6d.; Richard Horn for making the cellaress’s wall at Ripple Marsh 20s.”, while at the same time, the Treasury paid “to Richard Horn and his fellows at Easter for repairs done on the seawall in Ripplemarsh £6.13s.2d.” A few years later and the religious order was no more, having been shut down by Henry VIII’s as part of the king’s dissolution of the monasteries. Shortly afterwards, around 1547, Horn features in records again, this time leasing land in the area, which is about the time that Horns village was named, although it is better known today as Newbury. The street itself appears unnamed on Andre and Chapman’s 1777 map of Essex. At this time, the name applied instead to today’s Hainault Road. The present Horns Road had been named by 1898.
