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Information About

Basildon




  Place Basildon
  Map Basildon - Essex dotpng
  Population 120,000+
  District Basildon
  County Essex
  Region East Of England
  Ceremonial Essex
  Traditional Essex
  Constituency Basildon
  PostalTown BASILDON
  PostCode SS14
  DiallingCode 01268
  GridReference TQ735895
  Police Essex Police
  Euro East Of England


Basildon is a New Town in the Basildon District of Essex in the East Of England . It is located 26.7 miles (43 km) east north-east of Charing Cross in London .

It was designated as a new town in 1949 to accommodate the overspill from London, to attract Londoners to the country. The town was formed from several smaller towns, Pitsea , Laindon and Vange. The larger Basildon District , formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , includes Billericay and Wickford . Basildon is bordered by Chelmsford to the north, Billericay to the north west, Southend to the east and Thurrock to the south.

Basildon can be traced as far back as 1086 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Behoter'. This is thought to refer to the 'Beorthals Hill' which was an area near what is now Holy Cross, Church Road just off of Whitmore Way. It appears that the name 'Basildon' comes from the Anglo-Saxon personal name 'Beorhthealh' and 'dun', the Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'hill'. In the past Basildon has been recorded as Berdlesdon, Bretlesden, Batlesdon, Bastelden, Basseldon and Bassendon.

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History

  • 1086 - 'Behoter', 'Berdestapia' and 'Leienduna' recorded in the Doomsday Book

  • 1381 - ( 28 June ) King Richard II's soldiers defeat rebels at Billericay's Norsey Woods which ends the Peasants' Revolt

  • 1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers meet in Billericay prior to sailing to what is now The United States

  • 1855 - ( 1 July ) Pitsea Railway Station is opened

  • 1877 - St. Mary's & All Saints Church in Langdon Hills is built

  • 1888 - (1 July) Laindon Railway Station is opened

  • 1888 - Wickford Railway Station is opened

  • 1905 - The first piped water supply between Pitsea and Vange is installed

  • 1912 - The first Telephone in Laindon is installed

  • 1922 - Pitsea War Memorial is unveiled in the Broadway, it was later moved to Howards Park

  • 1925 - The first Pitsea Market is opened on land near Station Road

  • 1929 - The Laindon Picture Theatre opens

  • 1930 - The Laindon Recorder Newspaper is published, now called the Basildon & Wickford Recorder

  • 1935 - Craylands Secondary School opens, it would later merge with Fryerns and form Fryerns Comprehensive

  • 1936 - The A127 nears completion

  • 1937 - A Police Station in Pitsea opens

  • 1946 - The 'New Towns Act' is past in Parliament

  • 1946 - Basildon Town Football Club is formed

  • 1948 - Basildon Cricket Club is formed, they play matches on what is now the Tractor Plant

  • 1949 - Basildon is designated a new town

  • 1951 - Eastern National open a small depot

  • 1951 - ( 18 June ) The first New Town tenants move in to houses in Vange

  • 1958 - ( 16 August ) The first shop opens in Basildon town centre

  • 1958 - ( 6 September ) The new 50 stall Basildon Market opens

  • 1960 - The Duke Of Edinburgh visits Basildon to open the Carreras Cigarette Factory

  • 1961 - (October) Basildon Bus Station is opened

  • 1962 - ( 18 June ) All services on the London, Tilbury & Southend railway are now solely operated by electric trains following the withdrawal of steam Locomotion

  • 1962 - (July) The Mother & Child Statue in the Town Centre is designed by late William Lambert R.A.

  • 1962 - ( 10 November ) St. Martin's Church, Basildon is opened

  • 1963 - ( 2 December ) Basildon Police Station in Great Oaks becomes operational

  • 1964 - The Ford Tractor Plant in Cranes Farm Road opens

  • 1965 - Chalvedon Secondary School in Wickford Avenue is opened