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Billericay

Coordinates: 51°37′41″N 0°25′06″E / 51.628°N 0.4184°E / 51.628; 0.4184
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Not to be confused with Billerica, Massachusetts.

Billericay
Billericay High Street and St Mary Magdalen Church
Billericay is located in Essex
Billericay
Billericay
Location within Essex
Population28,558 (Parish, 2021)[1]
31,275 (Built up area, 2021)[2]
OS grid referenceTQ675945
Civil parish
  • Billericay
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBILLERICAY
Postcode districtCM11, CM12
Dialling code01277
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex

51°37′41″N 0°25′06″E / 51.628°N 0.4184°E / 51.628; 0.4184

Map

Billericay (/bɪləˈrɪkiː/ ⓘ BIL-ə-RIK-ee) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, 23 miles (37 km) east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Abbot of West Ham, in his Manor of Great Burstead.

During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the Essex rebels were defeated in a battle with Richard II's forces in the Battle of Billericay. In 1620 four local people were on board the Mayflower as it sailed to Massachusetts, to establish the first English settlement in what would become the north of the United States. The town has long taken a pride in this connection, and many businesses and other organisations use the name Mayflower, with the Town Council and other local organisations using it as their emblem.

Toponym

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The origin of the name Billericay is unclear. It was first recorded as "Byllyrica" in 1291.[3] The urban settlement, which was within the manor and parish of Great Burstead, was one of many founded in the late 13th century in an already densely populated rural landscape. Several suggestions for the origin of the place name include:

  • Villa Erica (Heather Villa), suggesting a Romano-British origin.
  • bellerīca, a medieval Latin word meaning 'dyehouse or tanhouse'.[4]
  • billers, a traditional name for watercress, for which Bilbrook in Somerset and Staffordshire are named. Watercress was farmed in Billericay springs during the 20th century.

Although the precise etymology of the name is not known, England has other places named Billerica:

  • Billerica, Kent. A deserted town adjacent to the settlement of Court-up-Street by Port Lympne. Significantly this is adjacent to a Roman "Saxon Shore" fort as well as being on spring lines suitable for growing watercress.
  • Billerica Farm, near Upton Noble, Somerset. Although this farm might be named after the other Billericas, the site is also close to springs suitable for farming watercress.

The Tudor antiquarian John Leland believed the already-abandoned Billerica in Kent was a variant of Bellocastrum, ‘fair castle’ in Latin. In Billericay there is a Roman fort at Blunt's Wall Farm; likewise ‘Burh’ gives its name to Great Burstead. This suggests that a Romano-British place name was reused by the Anglo-Saxons following the end of Roman rule in Britain.

History

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Early history

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Some of the earliest records of human occupation of Billericay are the burial mounds in Norsey Wood, showing evidence of occupation in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Evidence of a Roman town, subsequently abandoned, were found on the high ground at Billericay School, just south of the High Street during excavations in 1970–71.[5] There may also have been a small cavalry fort at Blunts Wall Farm.

Middle Ages

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St Mary Magdalen's Church, High Street, Billericay: 15th-century tower and Georgian main building behind.

The town of Billericay was established in the 13th century in the Manor and Parish of Great Burstead. The Manor of Burgestede is first recorded in an Anglo-Saxon will of 975 AD. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as Burghestada. Great Burstead is recorded in the early 13th century, showing that the division into Great and Little Burstead Manors and Parishes had happened by that time.[3]

The town of Billericay, first recorded as "Byllyrica" in 1291,[3] is understood to have been founded in the 13th century by the Abbot of West Ham, head of the Cistercian community of Stratford Langthorne Abbey, twenty miles away on the Lower Lea, in what is now inner London. The Abbey held the Manor of Great Burstead at the time.[6]

The town was established at the High Street. Like the abandoned Roman settlement just to the south, it benefitted from a prominent position on the high ground forming the watershed of the River Crouch and River Wid catchment areas. It was also on the crossroads (at Sun Corner) of the road from the Thames to Chelmsford (the modern B1007) and the road linking Hutton to Wickford (the A129); it is believed that the Crouch may have been navigable as far as Wickford at that time.[7][8]

At this time, the parish church for Billericay was at St Mary Magdalene, Great Burstead. By the 14th century a chantry chapel had been built on the High Street in Billericay, which became a chapel of ease to Great Burstead following the Reformation, eventually becoming a parish church in 1844, also dedicated to St Mary Magdalen.[9]

Norsey Wood
Norsey Wood

In the 13th and 14th centuries, some pilgrims to Canterbury journeyed via Billericay. Some of them may have spent the night in Billericay before crossing the River Thames at Tilbury. This may account for the large number of inns in the town.

Billericay's most notable historical episode was the Battle of Billericay during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

Tudor period

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The Wycliffe preachers influenced the town. Four local people (Thomas Watts, Joan Hornes, Elizabeth Thackwell and Margaret Ellis) were burnt at the stake. Two other residents (Joan Potter and James Harris) were tortured for their Protestant faith during the reign of Queen Mary.

Pilgrim Fathers

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A meeting of the Pilgrim Fathers, prior to their sailing in the Mayflower, is said to have taken place in Billericay high street; many local names and much historical imagery reflect this, such as Mayflower House, Mayflower Morris Men, Mayflower Taxis, Mayflower School and Mayflower Hall. Sunnymede School's houses were called Mayflower, Pilgrim, Chantry.

Christopher Martin, who was born in Great Burstead and later became a Billericay goods merchant and property owner, travelled on the Mayflower in 1620 as the official Ship's Governor and purchasing agent, procuring ships supplies for the voyage.

The Mayflower ship set sail once the Pilgrim Fathers had all boarded and set to meet the Speedwell in the English Channel; the Speedwell was sailing from the Netherlands. Unfortunately the Speedwell developed leaks and so the ships headed for the Devon coast to repair her, but this proved impossible; the Mayflower eventually sailed from Plymouth without her.

Four people from Billericay were on board, including Christopher Martin, his wife Mary Prowe, along with Solomon Prowe - her son from her first marriage - and John Langemore - the Martins' servant. All four pilgrims perished after their arrival at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Christopher Martin died of fever on 8 January 1621. His wife perished in Plymouth in 1621. Both Christopher and Mary are buried in the Cole Hill Burial ground in Plymouth. The unfortunate fate of the would-be pioneers did not deter other inhabitants of Billericay from setting sail for the New World. The town of Billerica, Massachusetts, was established in 1655 by colonists from Billericay and named after their hometown in England.

Georgian and Victorian eras

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Old Town Hall, 94 High Street: Converted to a restaurant in 2000.

In the Georgian period many excellent examples of the period's houses were built in Billericay. One of those remaining today is Burghstead Lodge in High Street, which used to house the library. The Town Hall was built in 1830 at 94 High Street.[10]

The Billericay Poor Law Union was created in 1835 to serve the town and several surrounding parishes. It built a workhouse in 1840 on Norsey Road. Parts of this building were later incorporated into St Andrew's Hospital.[11]

The railway arrived in Billericay in 1889; the station is situated on a branch line from the Great Eastern Main Line between Shenfield and Southend-on-Sea.

20th century

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In 1916, during the First World War, a German Zeppelin airship was shot down during an aerial battle over Billericay. During its fiery demise, it narrowly missed the High Street, crashing into a field off Greens Farm Lane. A plaque was erected at the site in 2016, to commemorate 100 years since the incident. Parts of the aluminium frame can be seen at the Cater Museum in Billericay High Street. Recent research has indicated that this may be identified with the 'ghost Zeppelin' of Tonbridge which was allegedly seen floating over that town earlier in the day.

The former workhouse became St Andrew's Hospital, which housed the internationally renowned Regional Plastic Surgery and Burns unit from 1973 until this was relocated to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford in April 1998. After the relocation, most of the hospital was redeveloped into housing, with the listed old workhouse buildings being converted to residential use.[11]

Geography

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Lake surrounded by trees in Billericay
The Boating Lake at Lake Meadows
Cowslip Wild Flower - Butchers Field - Mill Meadows, Billericay, Essex - 11 April 2016
Billericay rural area overlaid with snow, during snowy weather, near Mill Meadows, near High Street

Open spaces

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Billericay has two main parks, Lake Meadows[12] and the Queen Elizabeth 2nd Playing Field (usually known as Sun Corner). The other urban open spaces are much smaller.

There are several open spaces on the urban edge; the mixed use park at Hannakins Farm to the north-west includes a number of playing fields, Queens Park Country Park, also to the north-west, is managed as a nature reserve, as is Norsey Wood and Mill Meadows on the eastern side of the town. Norsey Wood and Mill Meadows act as 'green wedges' in that they extend from the open countryside to the centre of town.

Both Mill Meadows and Norsey Wood are environmentally valuable and sensitive, and have, in part or whole, been designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as a result. Mill Meadows is a local nature reserve near the centre of Billericay. Centuries of grazing have created the ideal conditions for a wonderful diversity of wild flowers, fungi, insects and invertebrates, many of which are very rare. It contains an area of 16.63 acres (6.73 ha) that has been declared as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its unimproved neutral grassland.

Neighbouring settlements

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Neighbouring settlements include Stock to the north, Ramsden Heath and Ramsden Bellhouse to the east, Basildon to the south, Little Burstead to the south-west and Havering's Grove to the west.

Geology

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Billericay is within the London Basin and lies on a mixture of London clay, Claygate Beds and Bagshot Beds on the higher ground. The point where the soils change from sandy to impermeable clay creates springs.

Governance

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Chantry Centre: Town Council's headquarters

There are three tiers of local government covering Billericay, at parish (town), district and county level: Billericay Town Council, Basildon Borough Council and Essex County Council. The town council has its headquarters at the Chantry Centre on Chantry Drive, which was purpose-built for the council in 2020 and also serves as a community centre.[13] The town council has run a youth town council scheme since 1998, elected in schools around the town.[14]

Administrative history

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Billericay was historically a chapelry in the ancient parish of Great Burstead. The Billericay Poor Law Union created in 1835 gradually took on local government powers, becoming a rural sanitary district in 1872 which in turn became the Billericay Rural District in 1894, when a Great Burstead Parish Council was also created covering the parish which included the town. The rural district covered a large area stretching as far as Brentwood and Pitsea. In 1934 most of the rural district was reconstituted as Billericay Urban District and the parish councils within the area were abolished. Three years later all the urban parishes within the district were united into a civil parish of Billericay.[15][16]

The urban district, but not the parish, was renamed Basildon in 1955, although the council continued to be based at the Town Hall and adjoining offices in Billericay until the early 1960s when it moved into new premises in Basildon itself.[17][18][19] In 1974 the Basildon Urban District was reconstituted as the modern Basildon district and the civil parish of Billericay was abolished, becoming an unparished area.[20] A new civil parish of Billericay was established in 1996, this time just covering the town itself rather than the whole Basildon district.[21]

Parliamentary

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Since major boundary changes in Essex for the 2010 general election, Billericay has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Basildon and Billericay. Since 2024 the MP has been Richard Holden of the Conservative Party.

Transport

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Billericay is a part of the London commuter belt, with a high proportion of people working in the City and other central parts of London.

The town is served by Billericay railway station, which is on the Shenfield to Southend Line. Services between London Liverpool Street, Shenfield and Southend Victoria are operated by Greater Anglia; some trains in peak hours run to Southminster.[22]

Local bus services are operated by First Essex, which connect Billericay with Chelmsford, Basildon, Brentwood and Wickford. The railway station bus stop connects to many routes, including service 300 which operates regularly between Basildon and Chelmsford. School services are provided by First Essex and NIBS Buses.[23]

The town was established at the crossroads (at Sun Corner) of the roads now known as the B1007 (higher grade parts of which are designated the A176) and A129.

The B1007 provides a road link to Basildon to the south of Billericay, as well as to the A127. The road passes from just south of the town centre as Laindon Road, then the A129 junction at Sun Corner, continues northwards as Billericay's High Street and then Stock Road. It continues north to Chelmsford. Along its route is the village of Stock and an interchange to the A12.

The A129 links the town to nearby areas such as Brentwood to the west and Wickford to the east.

The nearest primary routes are the A12 to the north and the A127 in the south.

Schools

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Billericay contains Billericay School, Mayflower High School and St John's School.

Sport

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Billericay Cricket Club
Billericay Cricket Club
The clubhouse, main stand and The Cowshed at New Lodge, 2007
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Billericay's local radio stations are BBC Essex on 95.3 FM, Heart Essex on 96.3 FM and Phoenix FM on 98 FM, a community radio station which is based in Brentwood.

Local TV coverage is provided by BBC London and ITV London which is received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter.[24] Some areas of town can also receive BBC East and ITV Anglia from the Sudbury TV transmitter.[25]

The town is served by the local newspaper, Southend Echo.[26]

The town was mentioned in the Ian Dury song "Billericay Dickie".

Billericay is the setting of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey as the home of Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and his parents; however, the actual filming took place in Wales.

The Cater Museum, a charity, is a local history museum containing artefacts recording the lives of people in the area. It is housed in an 18th and 19th-century Grade II listed building on the High Street.

The Billericay Community Archive strives to record photos, memories and history relating to the town and surrounding areas on their website.

Billericay's commercial cinema "The Ritz" closed its doors in 1971. However, in 2015, the Billericay Community Cinema was established. Less than a year after it started, the not-for-profit, volunteer-based group won a national award: the "Best New Film Society" at the Cinema for All Community Cinema Awards.

Twinning

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Billericay is twinned with:

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ "Billericay parish". City Population. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021". Census 2021. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c PH Reaney-Place Names of Essex- English Place name Society - V12
  4. ^ 'Oxford Dictionary of British Place-Names', A.D. Mills, Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Excavations at Billericay School https://www.esah1852.org.uk/library/files/Essex-Archaeology-and-History-2010-1-4th-Series.pdf
  6. ^ The Essex landscape, A study in its form and history, John Hunter, Essex Record Office, Chapter 8.
  7. ^ The position of the school https://www.esah1852.org.uk/library/files/Essex-Archaeology-and-History-2010-1-4th-Series.pdf
  8. ^ The Story of Billericay, Charles Phillips, The History Press, 2013
  9. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary Magdalene (Grade II*) (1170075)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  10. ^ Basildon Council (2011). Billericay Conservation Area Character Appraisal (PDF). p. 30. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  11. ^ a b Hickinbottom, Peter. "Billericay Workhouse". The Workhouse. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  12. ^ http://www.lakemeadows.org.uk
  13. ^ "The Build". Billericay Town Council. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Youth Town Council". Billericay Town Council. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  15. ^ Vision of Britain Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Great Burstead parish (historic map) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  16. ^ Vision of Britain – Billericay RD (historic map). Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  17. ^ "No. 42367". The London Gazette. 30 May 1961. p. 4003.
  18. ^ "No. 41960". The London Gazette. 19 February 1960. p. 1321.
  19. ^ "No. 42298". The London Gazette. 10 March 1961. p. 1835.
  20. ^ Local Government Act 1972
  21. ^ "The Basildon (Parishes) Order 1996" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The National Archives. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Timetables". Greater Anglia. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Stops in Billericay". Bustimes.org. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  25. ^ "Full Freeview on the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  26. ^ "Southend Standard". British Papers. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  27. ^ "Twinning Ceremony in Billericay". Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  28. ^ "Billericay Mayflower Twinning Association". Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  29. ^ "Le Comité de Jumelage" (in French). Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  30. ^ "French Charter". Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  31. ^ "Bacon, Francis Thomas [Tom] (1904–1992), engineer and developer of the fuel cell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50801. Retrieved 10 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  32. ^ "Teresa Gorman, Tory MP - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 28 August 2015. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  33. ^ "Parker reflects on career blighted by racist abuse; Billericay resident was sent racially abusive letters by Everton fans". Brentwood Gazette. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  34. ^ Gordon, Byrony (17 March 2009). "Russell Tovey interview: A History Boy with a big future". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
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