The parish church of Barking sits inside the abbey precinct, sharing the ancient graveyard with the abbey ruins. The building is largely 13th-century with later medieval additions — a low, broad nave of Kentish ragstone with a squat west tower. Inside it still functions as a working Church of England parish.
The reason most visitors find their way here is Captain Cook. The navigator married a local woman in this church in 1762, and the link is celebrated with a stained-glass window and a plaque. Beyond that, the church holds the tomb of the medieval poet Maurice Abbot and a 13th-century rood screen. Open to visitors when services are not in progress; check the door for hours.