Benfleet
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Map of Essex
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Benfleet books (15 available)
Benfleet memories
Read and share memories of Benfleet and Essex inspired by Frith photos
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Essex memories
Dark lane School
I went to Dark Lane Primary and Junior school from 1976-1982 whilst living on Sandown Road Thundersley. I remember the various ways of getting to school, through the common, the woods, which were brilliant in early spring when the bluebells were out. The two sweet shops outside the school gate always seemed to do a roaring trade, especially with me, at the end of school day. The lollypop men and women were always friendly. I remember the grey and yellow uniform which we all had to wear, whilst the teachers are still etched upon my memory, Mr Riley, Mr Knight Mrs Davis all have made their respectives marks upon me. I also remeber walking down Hacks Drive and then along the ...read more here
A memory of Thundersley contributed by Michael deeley
Childhood Memories
I remember buying a lollipop & a caramac bar from the little sweetshop opposite my school in Dark Lane most days after school (they also sold Tizer by the glass). Mr Pope the kindly school lollipop man. The fish & chip shop where a very old lady (I was 6 so anyone over 30 was old!!) called Emma worked. Fairy lights strung along Hart Rd by the shops at Christmas time. Thundersley Infants School being set fire to, so no school for a while (Hurrah!) then lessons in some kind of huts near the church for a couple of months
before finally being shipped by bus daily to a school near Hadleigh for 2 terms while our school was repaired. Playing ...read more here
A memory of Thundersley contributed by Maureen Barnes
The Village Shops etc.
Born & bred 'Tarpotion'. The shops? The best I can remember, starting (1) Junc/Rushbottom Lane/London Rd - NAT, parcels & goods service (later Essex Carriers, Atlas Express), now the bank, cycle shop. (2) - Pie shop (Mrs Copphing). (3) - Fish Shop (Mr Davy) (3) Green grocer (Mr Roberts, later his son-in-law Mr Stovel). (4) - ?Tarpots Hall, Dance to Les Allen and his Band, and HQ of our brave Air Cadets, I think the only thing they flew were kites. (5) - I think this was a bakers and posh caff. (6) - The alley way down to the rear of the hall, this was the billiard hall, the dark underworld of Tarpots, local shopkeepers and others? would meet and ...read more here
A memory of Great Tarpots contributed by Jon Rogers
When Tarpots had real shops.
I remember when I first moved to Tarpots that we had proper shops. We had a butchers, greengrocer, baker, newsagent, and post office. You could get all you wanted without having to catch a bus to another town. Now most of the shops have gone only to be replaced by fast food outlets. There is fish and chips, KFC, Wimpy, in fact any hot food outlet you can think of. I also learn that another shop at Tarpots has applied to be another hot food shop. How many more of these shops do Tarpots need. It is such a shame as the area used to be great.
A memory of Great Tarpots contributed by MARY JONES
Extracts From Benfleet & Essex books
In the medieval manorial rolls there are
references to ancient roads and lanes
that carry the same names today. A field
known as Joiners Hill on the south corner
of St Nicholas Lane at the entrance
from High Road is shown on the 1839
Laindon Tithe Map, and it is thought
that the route via Laindon High Road
and St Nicholas Way was used by many
pilgrims on their way to Canterbury;
it was a busy trade route from the
1500s. In addition to the difficulty of
travelling over bad roads in the 18th and
19th centuries, murderers and thieves
abounded, and farmers coming home
from market would travel together for
protection. In 1815 two Laindon men
were robbed on their way home from
Rumford (now Romford) market.
An extract from from"Basildon - A History & Celebration".
In the medieval manorial rolls there are
references to ancient roads and lanes
that carry the same names today. A field
known as Joiners Hill on the south corner
of St Nicholas Lane at the entrance
from High Road is shown on the 1839
Laindon Tithe Map, and it is thought
that the route via Laindon High Road
and St Nicholas Way was used by many
pilgrims on their way to Canterbury;
it was a busy trade route from the
1500s. In addition to the difficulty of
travelling over bad roads in the 18th and
19th centuries, murderers and thieves
abounded, and farmers coming home
from market would travel together for
protection. In 1815 two Laindon men
were robbed on their way home from
Rumford (now Romford) market.
An extract from from"Basildon - A History & Celebration".
Laindon and Langdon Hills had always been
separate villages with long histories, and
even appeared as separate entries in the 1086
Domesday Book. Laindon took its name
from the River Lyge, a lost tributary of the
River Crouch, which rose from the hill on
which St Nicholas’s Church stands and is
responsible for the extreme dampness of the
graves dug in the churchyard. The Lynge, a
road in Laindon, was named after it, but no
longer exists. In 1777 Chapman and Andre
refer to Langdon clay, a clear indication of the
nature of the soil here. The first part of the
name Langdon Hills means ‘long hill’, which
it certainly is, and the highest point in Essex.
An extract from from"Basildon - A History & Celebration".
Built on the site of the Old Rectory, the Basildon tractor plant was finally completed on 20 February 1964. It
covered 60 acres of the 100-acre site, and had 1,360,000 square feet of buildings. Its most recognisable feature
was its distinctive 125ft-high water tower holding 200,000 gallons (right); nicknamed ‘the onion’, it is still
regarded as a local landmark.
An extract from from"Basildon - A History & Celebration".
Picturesquely perched on top of its steep
knoll and surrounded by a sea of 20th-
century housing, the church of St Nicholas,
Laindon, possibly dates from the 12th century.
It incorporates the stout original timbers of
its 14th-century belfry with broach spire,
weather-boarded outside in true Essex style.
The timber is about 700 years old, and the
bell turret rests on an arched frame of timber.
It is rumoured that the timbers supporting
the belfry came from ships of the Armada,
but they are more likely to have grown in the
nearby woods. The chancel and south aisle
were added later. From Saxo-Norman times
Basildon was closely associated with Laindon,
and Laindon parish was always described
as Laindon-cum-Basildon. St Nicholas’s and
Holy Cross, Basildon have similar curious
primitive 15th-century carvings on the
spandrels of their porches.
An extract from from"Basildon - A History & Celebration".