Another in the occasional series on “Far-Flung Lost London” …
Eastbury may be said to have begun its life, as a farm-estate belonging to Barking Abbey, in 666, although it was not named as such until 1321. The estate came to be owned by William Denham after the abbey was dissolved in 1539, and was bought by Clement Sysley in 1557.
Eastbury Manor House
Entrance
Eastbury Manor House was built by Clement Sysley sometime between 1557-73. After he died in 1578, the house passed to his widow Anne, on her death to her son Augustine Steward. And after he died, it was sold on in turn to a succession of new owners, ultimately becoming much neglected. The National Trust stepped in to save the house in 1918. It is still owned by the National Trust, although it is run, as an arts, heritage and community centre, by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
Lord Monteagle lived here in 1605, and local legend has it that the letter warning him of the Gunpowder Plot was sent to him here (in fact, it was sent to him at his town-house in Hoxton).
