Chadwell St Mary
Encyclopedia
Chadwell-St-Mary is a dispersed settlement
in the unitary authority
of Thurrock
in Essex
, England
. It is one of the traditional (Church of England) parishes in Thurrock and former civil parish
. It is a few miles east of the town of Grays
and is located north of the modern town of Tilbury
which was part of the parish until the end of the 19th century. It is frequently referred to simply as Chadwell, particularly before the 19th century.
adjacent to the River Thames
which is tidal and saline at this point. Decaying vegetation together with mud and silt from the river were deposited from the end of the most recent ice age until the marshes were reclaimed sometime before the 14th century. These sedimentary deposits reach a depth of fifty feet or more and are interleaved with a number of peat
y layers.
About two miles north of the river, the land rises steeply to a ridge that provides excellent views over the marshes and out to the Downs
of Kent
. This is one of the finest gravel
beds in the country and has been extensively worked. The higher (and dryer) ground extends north for roughly another mile. The north west of Chadwell lies at the end of the chalk
outcrop
.
period of British history. Artifacts found (some of which are in the local museum in Grays) show that the area was inhabited in the Stone
, Bronze
and Iron Age
s.
It is known that there was a sizeable non-military Roman
settlement to the south of the road between Chadwell and West Tilbury. A Roman oven was found in this location in 1922 containing three complete pots, fragments of others and a small clay lamp, all of which were given to Colchester
Museum. In the early Roman period, sea-levels dropped, making the marshes inhabitable and there may have been a Roman settlement on the site of what is now Tilbury Docks.
An archaeological investigation during the construction of new facilities for Chadwell Primary school recently discovered a complete site of a Saxon sunken floored hut (Grubenhaus
) from the 6th century.
The name Chadwell is first recorded in Domesday. Since the time of Domesday, the community has continued to thrive over the centuries.
There are other problems with "St Chad's Well". It was not St Chad, but St. Cedd, a Christian
Missionary
to the Mercians, whose bishopric was at Tilbury. He built churches in several places, two of which were at Ithancester (Bradwell on Sea) and Tilbury. The church at Bradwell, St Peter on the Wall, is still standing, but the site of the church at Tilbury is not known. Cedd was one of four brothers, all of who were priest
s, the others being Chad, Caelin and Cynibill. Although St Cedd was certainly active in the Thurrock area, there is no evidence that Chad ever visited Essex. The confusion may have arisen because a large part of what we know today as Tilbury was in the Parish of Chadwell St Mary; indeed until the early part of the 20th century St Mary's was the Parish Church for the developments around Tilbury Docks.
There are a number of places in Essex
said to be named after Chad, with whom Cedd is regularly confused and there are eight towns or villages in Essex that have the termination 'Well', which in Anglo-Saxon
meant 'spring'. However, "Chad's Well" is not consistent with any early forms of the parish name. It is nonetheless a very common name - there are apparently 42 instances of “St Chad’s Well” in different parts of the UK. The most likely reason is relatively modern confusion about the place name, Chadwell, which means (in old English) “cold spring” rather than having any connection with St Chad.
If the village name had retained its ancient Domesday
form, Celdewella, St Chad would in all likelihood be forgotten in Thurrock.
The original Chadwell parish church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and this is the source of the suffix "St Mary" in the modern name. It is a grade I listed building located at the crossroads overlooking the marshes. There was a church in Chadwell before the Norman conquest. The present church has a number of Norman features and probably dates to the 12th century. The tower was built in the early 16th century. The church contains an early memorial brass to Cicilye Owen (died 1603), the wife of Thomas Owen of London, who was a merchant tailor. The church has an extension on the south that was built at the beginning of the 20th century. There is now a second Anglican church in the parish - Emmanuel.
On the north side of the church is a war memorial to eight of Chadwell's dead from the first world war. In 2006, five names of second world war dead were added to this memorial.
Among the stones in Chadwell churchyard there is a memorial to Kadzuo Yamazaki (or Kazuo Yamazaki), a 22 year old Japanese naval officer. He died on July 13, 1899 in a fire on board the SS Kawachi Maru, while she was in Tilbury docks. The stone has an inscription in both English and Japanese.
records, that at the time of the survey, the Bishop of London
and Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux held the two manors in this parish. Later the land was divided into four manors, Chadwell, Ingleby, Longhouse and Biggin
(the last three names are kept in perpetuity by local road names). The location of Chadwell Hall, the manor house of the manor of Chadwell, is marked by flower beds on the western side of Chadwell Hill. The manor of Ingleby was bought by Peter Symonds
in the 1580s and was bequeathed by him to found Christ's Hospital in Winchester.
In addition to the church, the listed buildings in Chadwell include Biggin Farmhouse, Chadwell House, Chadwell Place and Sleeper's Farm. In Sandy Lane there is one of the few examples of an Art Deco
"Sunspan" house. This was designed by Wells Coates
and exhibited at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition
in 1934.
or the Blitz
. As part of the air raid protection scheme for London, there was an anti-aircraft battery (designated N16) on former heathland just south of the Greyhound pub. Immediately after the end of the war, prefabs
(pre-fabricated houses) were erected on the ground north of the church.
, which was one of the kingdoms in the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy
and which became the shire and subsequently county of Essex
. From 870 until 917, Essex (including Chadwell) was within the Danelaw
. It is part of the Barstable hundred.
Chadwell is a traditional Church of England parish. It was part of the Orsett deanery and the archdeaconry of Essex. It was within the Diocese of London
until 1845 when the archdeaconry became part of the Diocese of Rochester
, transferring again to the Diocese of St Albans in 1878. In 1914 it became part of the newly established Diocese of Chelmsford
.
Following the building of Tilbury Docks and the establishment of the new community of Tilbury Town, in 1903, the southern portion of the ecclesiastical parish was separated to form the parish of Tilbury Docks.
Chadwell was one of the parishes that formed the Orsett Poor Law Union
in 1835 and from 1875 it was part of the Orsett Rural Sanitary District.
Chadwell was part of the Orsett Rural District
from 1894 until 1912, when it became part of the Tilbury Urban District and became known as the upper ward. In 1936 it ceased to be a civil parish when it became part of the Thurrock Urban District. This became a borough in 1984 and in 1998 became the Thurrock Unitary Authority.
Ruskin Road is a medium sized housing estate in the west of Chadwell.
Waterson Road estate is a large area of numerous housing estates in the east and north east of chadwell.
Thamesview Estate is a smallish housing estate on the top of Chadwell Hill.
Chadwell St Mary has numerous shops including a Tesco Express, 2 other mini supermarkets, a shopping precinct in the north of Chadwell, Heath Road Newsagents, florists, butchers and numerous parades of shops down River View in the town centre of Chadwell.
graves from the 2nd Worlld War. Among the other graves is that of Neil Wright, a victim of the 9/11 attack on the twin towers.
As of the 2001 UK census, the Chadwell St Mary electoral ward had a population of 9,631. The ethnicity was 97.4% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.7% Asian, 1.0% black. The place of birth of residents was 96.9% United Kingdom, 0.5% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% other Western European countries, and 2.0% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 78% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu, 0.1% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.7% Muslim. 14.4% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 6.3% did not state their religion.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 37.5% in full-time employment, 12.9% in part-time employment, 5.2% self-employed, 3.6% unemployed, 1.9% students with jobs, 2.1% students without jobs, 18.1% retired, 8.7% looking after home or family, 6.9% permanently sick or disabled and 3.1% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 23.9% retail, 14.2% manufacturing, 9.4% construction, 8.8% real estate, 8% health and social work, 5.4% education, 12.2% transport and communications, 3.5% public administration, 4.2% hotels and restaurants, 4.7% finance, 0.8% agriculture and 4.9% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in retail, transport and communications. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 6.9% had a higher education
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
estimates, during the period of April 2004 to March 2005 the average gross weekly income of households was £490, compared with an average of £650 in South East England
.
In 2007, Chadwell was described by the former local MP, Andrew Mackinlay
, as one of the "pensioner hot spots" of Thurrock. Nearly a quarter of the current population is sixty or over.
, a now wooded area of former heath in the north east of the parish. The Gateway Academy (Secondary) is shared with Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury (near the corner of Marshfoot Road and St Chad's Road). Palmer's Sixth Form College
covers Chadwell St Mary, as does the Thurrock campus of the South Essex College of Further and Higher Education, although they are just across the parish boundary in Little Thurrock.
), Gerard Rice (elected May, 2008
), and Anthony Fish (elected May, 2007
). In the 2010 election, the British National Party
(BNP) candidate came third, having secured second place in 2008 and 2007.
who signed the death warrant for Charles I lived in this parish between 1607 and 1622. Another regicide, Temple's kinsman Edward Whalley
also lived in the parish in the 1620s and 1630s.
It is sometimes suggested that the writer Daniel Defoe
or his family came from this parish, but research by a local historian has proved this unfounded. However it is known he managed and later owned a tile factory on the Tilbury Marshes and lived in a house on the edge of the river.
World javelin champion, Fatima Whitbread
, grew up in Chadwell St Mary after being adopted by the Whitbread family when she was thirteen.
The writer, Molly Cutpurse
, currently lives in the parish.
Dispersed settlement
A dispersed settlement is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world....
in the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Thurrock
Thurrock
Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is one of the traditional (Church of England) parishes in Thurrock and former civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
. It is a few miles east of the town of Grays
Grays
Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of the Thurrock's traditional parishes...
and is located north of the modern town of Tilbury
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
which was part of the parish until the end of the 19th century. It is frequently referred to simply as Chadwell, particularly before the 19th century.
Geology
The southern part of the parish was originally a natural salt marshSalt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
adjacent to the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
which is tidal and saline at this point. Decaying vegetation together with mud and silt from the river were deposited from the end of the most recent ice age until the marshes were reclaimed sometime before the 14th century. These sedimentary deposits reach a depth of fifty feet or more and are interleaved with a number of peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
y layers.
About two miles north of the river, the land rises steeply to a ridge that provides excellent views over the marshes and out to the Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. This is one of the finest gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
beds in the country and has been extensively worked. The higher (and dryer) ground extends north for roughly another mile. The north west of Chadwell lies at the end of the chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
outcrop
Outcrop
An outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. -Features:Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be...
.
History
Not much is known of the occupation in Chadwell until the SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
period of British history. Artifacts found (some of which are in the local museum in Grays) show that the area was inhabited in the Stone
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
s.
It is known that there was a sizeable non-military Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
settlement to the south of the road between Chadwell and West Tilbury. A Roman oven was found in this location in 1922 containing three complete pots, fragments of others and a small clay lamp, all of which were given to Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
Museum. In the early Roman period, sea-levels dropped, making the marshes inhabitable and there may have been a Roman settlement on the site of what is now Tilbury Docks.
An archaeological investigation during the construction of new facilities for Chadwell Primary school recently discovered a complete site of a Saxon sunken floored hut (Grubenhaus
Grubenhaus
A Grubenhaus is a type of sunken floored building built in many parts of northern Europe between the 5th and 12th centuries AD...
) from the 6th century.
The name Chadwell is first recorded in Domesday. Since the time of Domesday, the community has continued to thrive over the centuries.
Origins of the parish name
Chadwell means "cold spring". Confusingly another old word (Chaud) means a warm. St. Mary was added to the name in Victorian times to reduce confusion with Chadwell Heath, near Romford. There is, however, another more romantic, but less academically respectable theory as to how the name of Chadwell originated.St Chad's Well
A 19th century directory is tersely specific. "Chadwell St Mary takes its name from a well blessed by St Chad whose bishopric was at Tilbury". Thurrock's earliest historian, William Pallin, described the well: "Descending the hill from the venerable church, we find ourselves on the border of the level, face to face with an ancient well, having more the appearance of a tank, wide and shallow, large enough to walk into, just such as the apostolic Chad might be thought to choose for the baptism of his East Saxon converts". "St Chad’s Well” is shown on the late 19th century 6” Ordnance Survey map, just north and east of the roundabout at the bottom of Chadwell Hill, although, the modern Ordnance Survey map appears to place it a few yards away, just south of Marshfoot Road – roughly on the site of the Gateway Academy. By 1980 the well had disappeared, but Arthur Astbury was able to conclude that "it is likely that it was Roman, and the road beside it. It is presumably the cold well that gave Chadwell its name”. However, the English Heritage National Monuments Record describes the feature as medieval (or post medieval).There are other problems with "St Chad's Well". It was not St Chad, but St. Cedd, a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to the Mercians, whose bishopric was at Tilbury. He built churches in several places, two of which were at Ithancester (Bradwell on Sea) and Tilbury. The church at Bradwell, St Peter on the Wall, is still standing, but the site of the church at Tilbury is not known. Cedd was one of four brothers, all of who were priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s, the others being Chad, Caelin and Cynibill. Although St Cedd was certainly active in the Thurrock area, there is no evidence that Chad ever visited Essex. The confusion may have arisen because a large part of what we know today as Tilbury was in the Parish of Chadwell St Mary; indeed until the early part of the 20th century St Mary's was the Parish Church for the developments around Tilbury Docks.
There are a number of places in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
said to be named after Chad, with whom Cedd is regularly confused and there are eight towns or villages in Essex that have the termination 'Well', which in Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
meant 'spring'. However, "Chad's Well" is not consistent with any early forms of the parish name. It is nonetheless a very common name - there are apparently 42 instances of “St Chad’s Well” in different parts of the UK. The most likely reason is relatively modern confusion about the place name, Chadwell, which means (in old English) “cold spring” rather than having any connection with St Chad.
If the village name had retained its ancient Domesday
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
form, Celdewella, St Chad would in all likelihood be forgotten in Thurrock.
Chadwell Church
On the north side of the church is a war memorial to eight of Chadwell's dead from the first world war. In 2006, five names of second world war dead were added to this memorial.
Among the stones in Chadwell churchyard there is a memorial to Kadzuo Yamazaki (or Kazuo Yamazaki), a 22 year old Japanese naval officer. He died on July 13, 1899 in a fire on board the SS Kawachi Maru, while she was in Tilbury docks. The stone has an inscription in both English and Japanese.
Manors
The Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
records, that at the time of the survey, the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
and Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux held the two manors in this parish. Later the land was divided into four manors, Chadwell, Ingleby, Longhouse and Biggin
Biggin, Essex
Biggin is a hamlet and manor in Chadwell St Mary, part of the borough of Thurrock, in the ceremonial county of Essex. It is about north of the town of Tilbury and a similar distance east of Grays Thurrock.-Name:...
(the last three names are kept in perpetuity by local road names). The location of Chadwell Hall, the manor house of the manor of Chadwell, is marked by flower beds on the western side of Chadwell Hill. The manor of Ingleby was bought by Peter Symonds
Peter Symonds
Peter Symonds was a wealthy English merchant and benefactor, notable for the foundation of a number of almshouses in the South East of England. His most notable legacy is the foundation of an almshouse in Winchester which later developed into Peter Symonds College.-Family background:Symonds was...
in the 1580s and was bequeathed by him to found Christ's Hospital in Winchester.
Peter Symonds Charity
In addition to founding the school in Winchester, Peter Symonds left annual payments for a number of charitable purposes, including the poor of All Saint, Lombard Street and Chadwell in Essex. Payments to Chadwell from this charity seem to have stopped around 1740, but in 1794, the rev William Herringham, rector of Chadwell, succeeded in obtaining £52 in arrears. Herringham and other local landowners increased the available funds which were then used to give clothing and coal to the poor.Buildings
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
"Sunspan" house. This was designed by Wells Coates
Wells Coates
Wells Wintemute Coates OBE was an architect, designer and writer. He was, for most of his life, an ex-patriate Canadian architect who is best known for his work in England...
and exhibited at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition
Ideal Home Show
The Ideal Home Show is an annual event in London, now held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The show was devised by the Daily Mail newspaper in 1908 and continued to be run by the Daily Mail up until 2009...
in 1934.
Chadwell in the Second World War
During the Second World War, Chadwell was at risk from enemy action both because of its proximity to Tilbury Docks and because German bombers used the Thames to navigate to London. A number of buildings were destroyed or damaged in the Battle of BritainBattle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
or the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. As part of the air raid protection scheme for London, there was an anti-aircraft battery (designated N16) on former heathland just south of the Greyhound pub. Immediately after the end of the war, prefabs
Prefabricated home
Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled....
(pre-fabricated houses) were erected on the ground north of the church.
Administrative history
Chadwell St Mary was within the Kingdom of EssexKingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
, which was one of the kingdoms in the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy
Heptarchy
The Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, conventionally identified as seven: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex...
and which became the shire and subsequently county of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. From 870 until 917, Essex (including Chadwell) was within the Danelaw
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
. It is part of the Barstable hundred.
Chadwell is a traditional Church of England parish. It was part of the Orsett deanery and the archdeaconry of Essex. It was within the Diocese of London
Diocese of London
The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater...
until 1845 when the archdeaconry became part of the Diocese of Rochester
Diocese of Rochester
The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in South-East England and forms part of the Province of Canterbury. It is an ancient diocese, having been established in 604; only the neighbouring Diocese of Canterbury is older in the Church of England....
, transferring again to the Diocese of St Albans in 1878. In 1914 it became part of the newly established Diocese of Chelmsford
Diocese of Chelmsford
The Diocese of Chelmsford is a Church of England diocese, part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers Essex and the five East London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest, and is co-terminous with the boundaries of the Catholic Diocese of...
.
Following the building of Tilbury Docks and the establishment of the new community of Tilbury Town, in 1903, the southern portion of the ecclesiastical parish was separated to form the parish of Tilbury Docks.
Chadwell was one of the parishes that formed the Orsett Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
in 1835 and from 1875 it was part of the Orsett Rural Sanitary District.
Chadwell was part of the Orsett Rural District
Orsett Rural District
Orsett Rural District was a local government district in south Essex, England from 1894 to 1936. It was formed as a rural district in 1894. From 1835, the constituent parishes had made up the Orsett Poor Law Union and from 1875 they also formed the Orsett RSD....
from 1894 until 1912, when it became part of the Tilbury Urban District and became known as the upper ward. In 1936 it ceased to be a civil parish when it became part of the Thurrock Urban District. This became a borough in 1984 and in 1998 became the Thurrock Unitary Authority.
Housing Estates and Facilities
Godman Road estate is Chadwell St Mary's main housing estate, which includes three high-rise flats. It is in the north and west part of Chadwell.Ruskin Road is a medium sized housing estate in the west of Chadwell.
Waterson Road estate is a large area of numerous housing estates in the east and north east of chadwell.
Thamesview Estate is a smallish housing estate on the top of Chadwell Hill.
Chadwell St Mary has numerous shops including a Tesco Express, 2 other mini supermarkets, a shopping precinct in the north of Chadwell, Heath Road Newsagents, florists, butchers and numerous parades of shops down River View in the town centre of Chadwell.
Municipal cemetery
The church graveyard is closed to new burials. The municipal cemetery on Brentwood Road was opened in 1925. It contains more than 30 Commonwealth War Graves CommissionCommonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
graves from the 2nd Worlld War. Among the other graves is that of Neil Wright, a victim of the 9/11 attack on the twin towers.
Demographics
The population of Chadwell increased erratically during the 19th century from 167 in 1801 to 587 in 1881. With the opening of Tilbury Docks, the population grew to 3,391 in 1891.| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 |
| Population | 167 | 153 | 202 | 180 | 236 | 282 | 457 | 589 | 587 | 3,391 | 5,203 |
| Chadwell St Mary compared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 UK Census | Chadwell St Mary ward | Thurrock borough | England |
| Population | 9,631 | 143,128 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 3.1% | 5.0% | 9.2% |
| White | 97.4% | 95.3% | 90.9% |
| Asian | 0.7% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Black | 1.0% | 1.2% | 2.3% |
| Christian | 78.0% | 75.1% | 71.7% |
| Muslim | 0.7% | 1.1% | 3.1% |
| Hindu | 0.2% | 0.6% | 1.1% |
| No religion | 14.4% | 15.5% | 14.6% |
| Unemployed | 3.6% | 3.4% | 3.3% |
| Retired | 18.1% | 11.8% | 13.5% |
As of the 2001 UK census, the Chadwell St Mary electoral ward had a population of 9,631. The ethnicity was 97.4% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.7% Asian, 1.0% black. The place of birth of residents was 96.9% United Kingdom, 0.5% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% other Western European countries, and 2.0% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 78% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu, 0.1% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.7% Muslim. 14.4% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 6.3% did not state their religion.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 37.5% in full-time employment, 12.9% in part-time employment, 5.2% self-employed, 3.6% unemployed, 1.9% students with jobs, 2.1% students without jobs, 18.1% retired, 8.7% looking after home or family, 6.9% permanently sick or disabled and 3.1% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 23.9% retail, 14.2% manufacturing, 9.4% construction, 8.8% real estate, 8% health and social work, 5.4% education, 12.2% transport and communications, 3.5% public administration, 4.2% hotels and restaurants, 4.7% finance, 0.8% agriculture and 4.9% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in retail, transport and communications. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 6.9% had a higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimates, during the period of April 2004 to March 2005 the average gross weekly income of households was £490, compared with an average of £650 in South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
.
In 2007, Chadwell was described by the former local MP, Andrew Mackinlay
Andrew MacKinlay
Andrew Stuart MacKinlay is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Thurrock from 1992 until he stepped down at the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
, as one of the "pensioner hot spots" of Thurrock. Nearly a quarter of the current population is sixty or over.
Education
There are three primary schools serving the Chadwell area - Chadwell St Mary Primary, Herringham Primary and Woodside Primary, although Woodside is in an adjacent parish. The wood that gives Woodside its name is Terrel's HeathTerrel's Heath
Terrel's Heath is, in spite of its name, an area of woodland in Chadwell St Mary named on the 1938 six-inch Ordnance Survey map.-Location and description: Terrel's Heath is adjacent to Woodside Primary School in Little Thurrock...
, a now wooded area of former heath in the north east of the parish. The Gateway Academy (Secondary) is shared with Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury (near the corner of Marshfoot Road and St Chad's Road). Palmer's Sixth Form College
Palmer's College
Palmer's College is a sixth form college for 16 - 19 year olds in Thurrock, Essex, England. With an 'outstanding' Ofsted inspection in 2007, the College was awarded Beacon status in 2008...
covers Chadwell St Mary, as does the Thurrock campus of the South Essex College of Further and Higher Education, although they are just across the parish boundary in Little Thurrock.
Politics
Chadwell has three councillors on Thurrock council. For most recent elections, Labour councillors have been elected. Current councillors are Barbara Ann Rice (elected May 2010Thurrock Council election, 2010
The result of the Thurrock Council election, 2010 was that Thurrock Council stay under no overall control. The Conservative party gained two seats from Labour while Labour gained one seat from the Conservatives. Of the 16 wards contested, eight were won by the Conservatives and eight by Labour...
), Gerard Rice (elected May, 2008
Thurrock Council election, 2008
The 2008 Thurrock Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Thurrock Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control....
), and Anthony Fish (elected May, 2007
Thurrock Council election, 2007
The 2007 Thurrock Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Thurrock Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party lost overall control of the council to no overall control....
). In the 2010 election, the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
(BNP) candidate came third, having secured second place in 2008 and 2007.
Famous residents
James TempleJames Temple
James Temple was a puritan and English Civil War soldier who was convicted of the regicide of Charles I. Born in Rochester, Kent, to a well-connected gentry family, he was the second of two sons of Sir Alexander Temple, although his elder brother died in 1627...
who signed the death warrant for Charles I lived in this parish between 1607 and 1622. Another regicide, Temple's kinsman Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley was an English military leader during the English Civil War, and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.-Early career:The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown...
also lived in the parish in the 1620s and 1630s.
It is sometimes suggested that the writer Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
or his family came from this parish, but research by a local historian has proved this unfounded. However it is known he managed and later owned a tile factory on the Tilbury Marshes and lived in a house on the edge of the river.
World javelin champion, Fatima Whitbread
Fatima Whitbread
Fatima Whitbread MBE is a British former javelin thrower and multiple medal-winner.-Early life:...
, grew up in Chadwell St Mary after being adopted by the Whitbread family when she was thirteen.
The writer, Molly Cutpurse
Molly Cutpurse
Molly Cutpurse is an English transgender author. She was born in Stratford in the East End of London in September 1952 and raised in nearby Leyton...
, currently lives in the parish.