In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Billericay like this:
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.
Billericay through time
Billericay is now part of Basildon district. Click here for graphs and data of how Basildon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Billericay itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Billericay, in Basildon and Essex | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1240
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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