Billericay
Billericay is a historic market town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies east of the City of London. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 28,562 and the built up area had a population of 34,075.
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
The origin of the name Billericay is unclear. It was first recorded as "Byllyrica" in 1291. 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, suggesting a Romano-British origin.
- bellerīca, a medieval Latin word meaning 'dyehouse or tanhouse'.
- 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.
- 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.
This suggests that a Romano-British place name was reused by the Anglo-Saxons following the end of Roman rule in Britain.
History
Early history
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. There may also have been a small cavalry fort at Blunts Wall Farm.Middle Ages
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 two separate manors are recorded as Burghestada. The name Great Burstead is first recorded in the early 13th century, but the division into Great and Little Burstead Manors had happened by the time of the Norman Conquest.The town of Billericay, first recorded as "Byllyrica" in 1291, 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.
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 of the road from the Thames to Chelmsford and the road linking Hutton to Wickford ; it is believed that the Crouch may have been navigable as far as Wickford at that time.
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.
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
The Wycliffe preachers influenced the town. Four local people were burnt at the stake. Two other residents were tortured for their Protestant faith during the reign of Queen Mary.Pilgrim Fathers
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
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.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.
The population of the town in the 1841 census was 1,824.
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. In 1899, Billericay's market, the reason for the town's establishment is recorded for the last time, though there were short-lived revivals.
20th century
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.
Geography
Open spaces
Billericay has two main parks, Lake Meadows and the Queen Elizabeth 2nd Playing Field. 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 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 that has been declared as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its unimproved neutral grassland.