Post-mediaeval developments in South Essex, UK.

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The Post-mediaeval Period (c.1500) and Modern.

In the 15th and 16th century brick was a highly fashionable building material, and was widely used in Essex which has plentiful supplies of clay for brick production but little in the way of building stone. The church at West Horndon (below) and the massive tower of Rochford church with its diamond or diaper patterned brickwork are particularly good examples of brick construction of this period.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid 16th century their former wealth passed to prominent families who often used it to create fine new brick mansions such as Rochford Hall. In 1573 John Petre bought a large brick house at West Horndon and over the next twenty years set about a major rebuilding programme that transformed it into a classic Elizabethan mansion referred to as Thorndon Old Hall.

The house was 270 feet long with multiple gables, towers and tall ornate chimneys. The many large windows afforded fine views of Petre's large estates across the south Essex plain towards the Thames estuary. Fashionable though they might be, all these windows did not necessarily make for comfort. Writing of this fashion Francis Bacon commented 'You shall sometimes have fair houses so full of glass that one cannot tell where to come out of the sun or cold'.

West Horndon Church and the site of Thorndon Old Hall now lie within Thorndon Country Park.

A major factor in the wealth of south Essex at this time were the marshland pastures which provided rich grazing lands for livestock. The Thames estuary and its associated creeks with easy access to the London markets were a natural focus for fishing and shell fish production. Leigh is still famous for its shell fish industry and remains, such as oyster pits and this packing shed (below) at Canewdon, of the once widespread shellfish production can be found around the coastal zone.

The Thames estuary was the main route to London and made the area a prime target for attack in time of war. Throughout the second half of the 17th century century trading rivalry between England and the Netherlands led to a series of wars. In the 1650s following the defeat of the Royalists in the civil wars of the 1640s and the execution of the king the new republic's navy under admiral Blake successfully defeated the Dutch. Leigh, today the western part of Southend, was then a thriving small port and was used by Blake as a base for supplying and refitting his fleet anchored in the Nore.

Following the restoration of the monarchy the navy failed to maintain its success against the Dutch and in 1667 entered the Thames estuary and destroyed many ships in the Medway. The shock of the Dutch success led to an improvement in the defences of the Thames including the construction of an elaborate fort at Tilbury built to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme an eminent military engineer and, ironically, Dutch.

In the mid 19th century new developments in naval construction and in the effectiveness of artillery led to a kind of arms race and renewed invasion scares. This was achieved by building a pair of forts, commanding Lower Hope Reach, either side of the estuary at Coalhouse in Essex (about 3 miles east of Tilbury fort) and at Shornemead on the opposite side in Kent. Construction at Coalhouse began in 1861 but owing to design changes was not completed until 1874 the later phases being supervised by Charles Gordon later to become famous as Gordon of Khartoum.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, agricultural depression meant that many Essex farms were semi-derelict or derelict and abandoned, particularly on the heavy London clay lands of south and east Essex. Enterprising entrepreneurs bought up these farms at rock bottom prices, and split them up into individual plots to be sold separately.

Advertised as an opportunity to live in an arcadian paradise, the sales were often promoted by means of cheap train excursions to view the sites, accompanied by free food and drink on arrival. These 'Plotlands' proved very attractive to people living in the cramped slum conditions of the east end. However, such rather anarchic development brought many problems, already in 1898 plotland dwellers were being described as 'squatters' whose style of living 'might do in the Australian bush or the American backwoods but it is hardly what one might expect in the highly civilised county of Essex'. The high point of plotland development came between the First and Second World Wars, and there was a major concentration of plotland settlements in the Basildon area. In the 1950's and 60's basildon New Town was designed and built to replace these rather ramshackle buildings.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the massive growth of London accompanied by the spread of railways and the role of the Thames estuary as the major route linking London to the world brought a major industrial and urban development. Across south Essex quarrying for sand and gravel and, in places chalk to supply the cement industry, expanded enormously. In the 1880s Tilbury Docks were constructed and remain one of Britain's largest port facilities. In the early 1930's a major factory and associated housing was built by the Czech shoe company BATA bringing striking Modernist design to south Essex.

Into the 21st century.

The QE2 bridge is one of the major engineering monuments of the late C20th, binding together the north and south shores of the Thames estuary. This striking roadbridge will soon be joined by a railway tunnel beneath the Thames which will be part of the channel tunnel link to Europe.

Under the aircraft from which the photo was taken is the Neolithic submerged forest at Purfleet (below) and the Purfleet magazine, a scheduled ancient monument. The Rainham and Aveley marshes are one of the most extensive grazing areas in south Essex. Such marshes are historic landscapes of great complexity as well as being important for nature conservation.

The conservation and enhancement of the shared and internationally important natural and historic environment, together with the provision of much needed new housing and development, as well as major transport infrastructure, is a great challenge for the new century. It is a challenge that can be met, creating a new chapter in the long history of human life in south Essex.

More information on the archaeology of the area can be found on the Essex Wetlands website that was produced for the Ramsar Wetlands initiative in Essex.