A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
BILLERICAY, a small town, a chapelry, and a district in Essex. The town stands on an eminence, near the site of a Roman station, 4½ miles S of Ingatestone r. station, and 9 SSW of Chelmsford. It commands a fine view of the surrounding country, away to Kent and the Nore; and it is of ancient origin, and has been much improved. It has a head post office, ‡ a banking office, one chief inn, a church, two dissenting chapels, an endowed school, a public reading room, and a workhouse; and is a seat of petty sessions, and a polling-place. The church is a brick building, partly as old as the time of Edward III.; and has a tower, of previous date, much decayed. A weekly market is held on Tuesday; fairs are held on 2 Aug. and 7 Oct.; and brewing, brickmaking, and country business are carried on. Rated property, £6,972. Pop., 1,390. Houses, 248.—The chapelry is conterminate with the town; and is in the parish of Great Burstead. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £220. Patron, the bishop of Rochester.
The district comprehends the subdistrict of Brentwood, containing the parishes of East Horndon, West Horndon, Childerditch, Little Warley, Ingrave, South Weald, and Shenfield; the subdistrict of Great Burstead, containing the parishes of Great Burstead, Little Burstead, Hutton, Mountnessing, Dunton, RamsdenCrays, Ramsden-Bellhouse, the liberty of Lee Chapel, and most of the parish of Laindon; and the subdistrict of Wickford, containing the parishes of Wickford, Downham, Nevendon, Vange, Pitsea, Bowers-Gifford, and North Benfleet, and the chapelry of Basildon. Acres, 50,845. Poor-rates in 1866, £7,426. Pop. in 1861, 15,031. Houses, 2,748. Marriages in 1866, 65; births, 440,-of which 22 were illegitimate; deaths, 299,-of which 73 were at ages under 5 years, and 13 at ages above 85 years. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 804; births, 4,192; deaths, 2,974. The places of worship in 1851 were 18 of the Church of England, with 2,751 sittings; 6 of Independents, with 1,716 s.; 3 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 140 s.; and 2 of Roman Catholics, with 390 s. The schools were 17 public day schools, with 844 scholars; 24 private day schools, with 358 s.; 18 Sunday schools, with 934 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 9 s.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))
| Linked entities: | |
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| Feature Description: | "a small town, a chapelry, and a district" (ADL Feature Type: "cities") |
| Administrative units: | Billericay CP Billericay RegD/PLU Essex AncC |
| Place: | Billericay |
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