Chafford Hundred
Chafford Hundred is the name of both a Hundred of Essex and of a modern village built as a housing development near Grays within that hundred. The Hundred of Chafford is extensive in the southwest of the county, while the village after which it is named sits tucked within the development along the River Thames, away from the river itself but forming a suburb of the riverside town of Grays.
Contents
The Hundred
|AreaFirst=35,712.0 acres (144.5 km²) |AreaFirstYear=1870 |AreaLast=34,703.0 acres (140.4 km²)
Chafford is an ancient hundred in the southwest of Essex, one heavily affected by the urban growth spreading out from London; much of its area is covered in the towns mainly captured by the metropolitan conurbation, such as Romford, and others developed along the arterial roads and the railway running east along the north shore of the Thames.
History
Hundred meetings are thought to have taken place in Chafford Heath[1] (TQ564836), in what is now Bramble Lane, South Ockendon.
The hundred contains the historic parishes of Aveley, Brentwood, Childerditch, Cranham, Grays Thurrock, Great Warley, Little Warley, North Ockendon, Rainham, South Ockendon, South Weald, Stifford, Upminster, Wennington and West Thurrock.[2]
It borders the Ongar Hundred to the north, Barstable Hundred to the east and the Havering liberty to the west. The River Thames forms its southwern boundary for 7 miles, beyond which lies Kent to the south. The hundred covers a narrow area stretching 12 miles northwards from the river.
Chafford Hundred village
| Chafford Hundred | |
| Essex | |
|---|---|
 Housing in Chafford Hundred | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ595795 |
| Location: | 51°29’31"N, 0°17’55"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 13,466 (est 2006) |
| Post town: | Grays |
| Postcode: | RM16 |
| Dialling code: | 01375 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Thurrock |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Thurrock |
Chafford Hundred is a turn of the 21st century settlement built just outside the formal metropolitan conurbation between Grays and South Ockendon in the Borough of Thurrock. Its station also serves, to its western side, Lakeside Shopping Centre in the largely retail and distribution-dominated area of West Thurrock.
History
Built on an area of 600 acres, northwest of Grays Town centre. ⅔ of the site was previously used as a chalk quarry, the rest was agricultural land.
Approximately 5,300 houses and flats have been built since 1989 on 353 acres of brownfield housing land. These areas have a variety of housing types which includes private sector housing as well as housing associations and retirement homes.[3] Chafford Hundred railway station serves the local area, and was built expressly for the settlement. It opened in 1993.
The name is re-used from the Hundred of Chafford.
The area has seen large growth since its inception, with many City workers living there due to the relatively easy commute into central London. In 2012, it was reported in the national press, that more than half the flats (in the estate) were repossessed during the early 1990s housing slump, impacting it so signficantly that prices fell by half. [4] Housing ranges from one or two bedroom apartments up to five / six bedroom large houses and therefore the area caters for many, although property prices grew rapidly dring the late 1990s - The Evening Standard article, "the most coveted address in Britain" by Nick Curtis in 2001 included properties in the new village. [5] This is not due to the architecture of the houses (mostly all very similar starter homes), but because it provides relatively affordable housing with public and recreation areas, as well as generally large private gardens, well connected to many jobs.
Geography
The land is on very gentle slopes (ranging from 60 feet to 110 feet above sea level) and the area also has included a number of park and recreational areas. The largest area is of special environmental and scientific interest, 'Chafford Gorges Nature Park'; its management was taken over by Essex Wildlife Trust on the 9th June 2005, since which it has a visitor centre open to the public.[3][6]
See also
Outside links
References
- ↑ History of the County of Essex: Volume 7, Chafford hundred: Introduction, (1978)
- ↑ British History Online - Map of Chafford Hundred c. 1845
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Chafford Hundred Station Travel Plan". thurrock.gov.uk. http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/travel/travelplans/pdf/station_chaffordhundred_201208.pdf. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ↑ Clark, Ross (December 11 2002). "Who will survive a crash?". telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3309808/Who-will-survive-a-crash.html. Retrieved November 11 2012.
- ↑ Curtis, Nick (December 11 2002). "The Most Coveted Address in Britain". telegraph.co.uk. http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-78234477/the-most-coveted-address-in-britain. Retrieved November 11 2012.
- ↑ "Threats to brownfield in the Thames Gateway". essexfieldclub.org. http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Threats+to+brownfield. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
