Basildon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since August 2006.
For other uses, see Basildon (disambiguation).
Basildon
Basildon
Statistics
Population: 165,661 in 2001
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference: TQ735895
Administration
District: Basildon
Shire county: Essex
Region: East of England
Constituent country: England
Sovereign state: United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county: Essex
Historic county: Essex
Services
Police force: Essex Police
Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}}
Ambulance: East of England
Post office and telephone
Post town: BASILDON
Postal district: SS13 and SS14
Dialling code: 01268
Politics
UK Parliament: Basildon
European Parliament: East of England

Basildon is a new town located in south Essex, England at 51°34′34″N, 0°29′19″E. It was designated as a new town after World War II to accommodate the London population overspill. Basildon was created from several pre-existing towns; Pitsea, Laindon and Vange. The larger Basildon district, formed in 1974 by the Local Government Act of 1972, includes Billericay and Wickford.

Contents

[edit] History

The first historical reference to Basildon is in records from 1086. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Belesduna'.[1]

It is believed that 'Basildon' is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name of 'Beorhthealh' and the Anglo-Saxon word for hill: 'dun'. In historical documents, Basildon has had various names including Berdlesdon, Batlesdon & Belesduna.

The constituency of Basildon is thought to be a barometer of public opinion in General Elections. The results of the constituency have been the same as the overall result of the General Election since 1974.

[edit] Transport

As a significant number of residents commute to London, which is assisted by good transport links to the city by rail and by road.

The London, Tilbury & Southend line transects the south of the town. The line is operated by c2c and there are three train stations in the town: Pitsea railway station, Basildon railway station and Laindon railway station. This line connects Basildon to central London via London Fenchurch Street by rail. Less frequent services provide connections to London Liverpool Street station.

On the north side of the town, the A127 Southend Arterial Road is next to Basildon and on the south side is the A13. These are both important commuter trunk roads to London and the M25 and in addition, link the town to Southend. Locally, the A13 gives easier access to Pitsea and Vange and the A127 gives more convenient access to the town centre and Laindon. Within the town, many main road names have include, 'mayne,' in there name. Broadmayne goes through the town. There is also a Nethermayne to the west and Southmayne to the south.

Buses provide a local form of public transport and also connect Basildon to nearby towns that are difficult to reach by rail, for example Billericay and Chelmsford. First Essex Buses Ltd is the dominant bus operator in the town.

[edit] Shopping

The Town Centre houses many High Street and Local retailers, including a Marks and Spencer and BHS. The Eastgate Shopping Centre is also situtated in the Town Centre.

[edit] Education

[edit] Secondary Schools

Basildon Town Centre
Enlarge
Basildon Town Centre

There are several Secondary Schools in the Basildon District:

Barstable School & Chalvedon school became federated in 2005 to become The Federation Of Barstable & Chalvedon School. This was initiated by the need to stabilise and improve Barstable School's reputation as a good Secondary School.

[edit] Twining

Basildon's twin towns include:

[edit] Festival Leisure Park

Festival Leisure Park is a trading leisure park located in the north of Basildon. It is owned by Norwich Union.[2] The Festival Leisure Park includes several restaurants, a hotel, a cinema, and a fitness facility. Festival Leisure Park is affectionately known locally as Bas Vegas.[3]

[edit] List of restaurants and leisure facilities[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Reference

  1. ^ National Archive Summary Record for Basildon (HTML). nationalarchives.gov.uk (November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  2. ^ Leisure real estate market makes waves (appeared in Property Week Feb 1998) (HTML). davidlawson.co.uk (November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  3. ^ Viva Bas Vegas (HTML). Queen Bee: www.jour.city.ac.uk/queenbeemag/ (November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  4. ^ Morley’s Festival Leisure Park, Basildon Now Fully Let 26 July 2005 (HTML). www.savills.co.uk (November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/a/s/Basildon.html"