Pitsea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pitsea is a small town in the east of the Basildon district of south Essex, England. It comprises eight subdistricts Eversley, Felmores, Northlands Park Neighbourhood, Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount, Pitsea Village, Burnt Mills, and Rushley Park. Whilst Vange is located to the west of Pitsea most of its residents use facilities in Pitsea, such as the local shopping centre, schools and doctors surgeries.
The town is served by Pitsea railway station, at a junction on the c2c service from Fenchurch Street in the City of London to Shoeburyness with services running via Basildon on the main line or Chafford Hundred on a branch service.
The 125-acre Wat Tyler County Park is located in Pitsea.[1] Singer Scott Robinson is a native of the town. A market operates in Pitsea on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. There is also a small secondhand market on Friday.[2]
From 1894 to 1934 the Pitsea parish formed part of the Billericay Rural District. In 1934 it became part of the Billericay Urban District and in 1937 the parish was abolished and absorbed into a larger parish of Billericay.[3] The district, consisting only of the Billericay parish, was renamed Basildon Urban District in 1955.[4]
Pitsea is also somewhat unfairly described as a 'chavtown'.
During the creation of the new town in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Pitsea was put forward to be the main name for the new town along with Vange, however as Basildon village was central to the district it was that name that was chosen instead, plus the added fact that before the new town regeneration both Pitsea and Vange were run down little hamlets which were at the time in dire need of investment, and so that may have been an added factor in the decision as at the time Basildon was just a quaint little village with a church (which still stands today as Holy Cross church) and a few cottages.
[edit] History
There is little known history about Pitsea but its earliest recorded name is Piceseia which was in 1086 and probably recorded as this in the Doomsday Book. This however has changed over the years to many different names including: Pichesey(e), Pikeseye, Pithesey, Petchesey(e), Pisseye, Pitchesey, Pytsay, Pittessey, Pytchey and finally to what it is now Pitsea. It is thought however that all the names are derived from the meaning of Pics' Island, which refers to the area now known as Pitsea Mount.
Chalvedon, which is part of Pitsea has also been known under different guises. In its earliest form it was known as Chauendona meaning Calves Hill this was first recorded in 1119. Other names include: Chaluedona, Chaluedene, Calueden and Callwedone before it ended up being Chalvedon.
During the building of the new town Chalvedon became a housing estate in the west of Pitsea and the local secondary school has taken that name, where as Pitsea got swallowed up by Basildon New Town, although many residents of Pitsea still refer to it as a town in its own right.
[edit] Landmarks in Pitsea
Unfortunately Pitsea isn't blessed with many landmarks. The skyline at the southern end of the town is dominated by the ever busy A13 Pitsea flyover, which at rush hour gets extremely congested. When approaching Pitsea on the A13 from London or on the train on the Tilbury Loop one prominent landmark is that of the 13th century church of St. Michael and the surrounding residential area, unfortunately the church fell into ruin and only the main tower now survives, the church doubles as a mobile telephone aerial. It has many different names locally ranging from Church on the Hill, Pitsea Mount, and even Snob Hill. Its official name is Pitsea Mount.
There is talk however of an Angel of the North type figure being built within the regeneration of Pitsea.
[edit] The 'Pitsea Regeneration'
There is talk of a 'regeneration' of Pitsea town centre which would involve the moving of Pitsea market nearer to the Tesco Extra superstore as well as the building of pubs and bars to introduce a nightlife to the centre of Pitsea, this could be a saviour of the Pitsea landmark of the Railway Hotel public house, which could follow the fate of another local pub (The Fortune of War) in being pulled down and homes being built on the site, this could all depend on the plans for the redevelopment of the centre. The move of the market would see the much visited feature of Pitsea life returned to its original site, after it moved from Station Lane to the infamous 'Pitsea Domes' and then onto its current placement in the Pitsea Centre, this again could see the market given a new lease of life after a recent decline has seen alot of stall-holders up and leave.
Most of the current Pitsea Centre is now beginning to look old and in dire need of a makeover. The centre which was completed in the late 1970s is a main focal point for local people, however a recent decline has seen a number of businesses leave, and on days when the market is not in the centre it is left looking somewhat of a ghost town. The market was leased by Charfleets from its owners in the mid 1990s and they introduced the Sunday market to a grand opening with both Essex FM and comedian Bobby Davro entertaining the happy shoppers. However recent events regarding its owners has left the market facing a perilous future and this could again hinge around the redevelopment of the centre. It is thought that among the development more homes would be built within the centre, along with more larger shops.
[edit] Sport in Pitsea
Pitsea is also the home to Essex Senior League side Bowers & Pitsea F.C. They play at Crown Avenue, or to give its proper name the Len Salmon Stadium. The club has never played any higher than its current level. The club play every year in the FA Vase and have even competed in the FA Cup. In season 2006-2007 Bowers & Pitsea F.C. exited the competition at the hands of Dunstable Town. It was in the FA Vase that Bowers & Pitsea F.C. achieved their highest
ever attendance of 1,800 against a Billericay Town side which featured ex-West Ham United and Charlton Athletic forward Steve Jones. The club first competed in the FA Cup in season 1994/95 when they lost 4-1 at home to Barking in the Preliminary round, they have never progressed beyond the first qualifying round, and have suffered some quite heavy defeats along the way. The club has also had some well known faces play for them including current Southend United manager Steve Tilson, ex-Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace forward Paul Williams and were even managed by ex-Millwall keeper Brian Horne.
There aren't many more sporting clubs in Pitsea other than Eversley Park Cricket Club, Basildon & Pitsea Cricket Club, Chalvedon F.C., Chalvedon Boys Amateur Boxing Club, Pitsea Running Club and numerous Sunday League junior and mens football teams, most of these teams can be found playing locally on a Sunday at various points across Pitsea including Eversley Recreation Ground, Trenham Avenue and Pitsea School.
People can also fish locally at Northlands Park, where Match fishing often takes place should it take your fancy, also in the park a cafe can be found, quite useful on those cold winter days!
[edit] Education in Pitsea
- Chalvedon School & Sixth Form College
- Northlands Infant & Junior School
- Briscoe Infant & Junior School
- Eversley County Primary School
- Felmore Infant & Junior School
- St Margarets Church of England School
- Pitsea Infant & Junior School
Also located in Burnt Mills Road is the Basildon Information and Technology Education Centre. The centre provides both day and night courses in computer IT and design and technology for both school leavers and adults. It was once a infant and junior school for the local area called Nevendon Infant and Junior School, but due to other schools opening in the area pupil numbers declined and the school eventually closed and eventually the school playing field was built on.
There is a library located in Pitsea Centre, as part of the Leisure Centre complex. While it does not have as good a selection of books as Basildon library, the library has a perfectly adequate selection of books and DVD's. It also offers an internet service free of charge, and also offers people the chance to browse the Essex County Council's library catalogue to order books not on offer at Pitsea Library.
There are a few schools in Vange as well including Ryedene Infant & Junior School, Vange Infant & Junior School, and Bardfield Infant & Junior School.
[edit] Things to see and do in Pitsea
- Wat Tyler Country Park
Wat Tyler Country Park (previously known as Pitsea Hall Park) offers a fun day out for the family. During the summer it often has special events catering for both young and old. The park is also home to a motorboat museum as well as various craft shops. It also has a marina which again is popular for local sailors. Also upon entering the park you will also notice that the park has a miniture steam railway, this does not go all the way round park, but does offer great views of the park. Also you will see some old cottages that have been moved to the park from across the south of Essex, many of which have a great story behind them. But the parks main attraction is the wildlife. Dotted all around the park are small huts which give fantastic views across the Pitsea Marshes and give ornothologists the opportunity to spot some rare breeds of birds.
- Northlands Park (Known locally as Two Lakes)
Northlands Park Pitsea, a favourite haunt for many a fisherman.
Northlands Park's main feature are its lakes. During the summer the lakes are extremely popular with local fisherman, and is a venue for local match fishing. It also has a basketball court which doubles up as a five a side pitch for football, it also has a skate park for local skateboarders. During the summer Pitsea Carnival has its main fairground there as well. Also to the south of the park you will find an enormous hill which is a challenge for runners and cyclists alike.
- Eversley Recreation Ground (Known locally as The Rec) and Eversley Leisure Centre
Eversley is really your bog stand recreation park, it does have a kids playing area in the north end of the park. On a Sunday morning it plays host to many a junior and senior football match with the park containing 8 pitches in total. At the north end of the park you will find the Eversley Leisure Centre (previously known as The Terry Marsh Centre) which was built in 1986, the centre offers many activities ranging from five-a-side football, roller hockey and aerobics. It also has a bar in the upstairs area as well. It was once host to a very popular youth club which moved from its previous site in the Crown Centre, however due to vandalism it closed shortly after moving. In the west of the park you will also find the cricket pavillion, this acts as both changing rooms for the cricket matches played there and for the footballers on a Sunday. Also during the summer you will often see people feeding the horses in the farms to the east of the park.
- Howard's Park
Located on the eastern corner of Rectory Road and High Road, Howard's Park is named after local 1930's entrepreneur Reginald Howard. Originally named Bexley Park it opened in the early 1930s and got quite busy, so much so children were queueing to use the slide which still remains along with the roundabout and swings. Over the years the park has declined significantly. Up until the early 1990s the park had two tennis courts, a putting green and a crazy golf course, however vandalism has led all except the tennis courts being removed, albeit that the tennis courts have now been turned into a basketball court. The park had a park keepers block and toilets as well, unfortunately again these got vandalised and were demolished in the mid-1990s. During the summertime the park is very good still. The park also has the local war-memorial situated to the north of the park which can be accessed via Howard's Crescent. The memorial was moved here from Station Lane opposite the Railway Pub due to the restructuring of Station Lane and the busyness of the High Road.
- Pitsea Leisure Centre
Pitsea Leisure Centre, along with the local library, was built in the early 1980s as a local hub for the community. It has two large halls which are readily available for private functions. It also has 4 bars. One main bar as you enter, one in each hall, and one in a conference suite which is located upstairs. It has also in the past had a snooker table for locals to use, however difficulty in booking the table led to this being faded out. It also plays host to may activities such as aerobics, karate and judo, and a local playgroup. During governmental elections it is also used as a polling station. It also has a small cafe at the front of the centre which gets particularly busy on market days.
Previously known as Granada Bingo, the site began life as a local cinema before the new town was built and brought with it the larger multi-screen cinemas.
- Pitsea Swimming Pool
The council run facility is popular with the local schools, which allows its use to them. It offers swimming classes.
- Essex Horse Sanctuary
This is a self funded organization which rescues abandoned horses and donkeys. The sanctuary often has fundays mainly on Bank Holidays for people to visit and stroke the horses. The sanctuary also offers people the chance to adopt a horse as well.
[edit] Pubs in Pitsea
Pitsea has a few watering holes:
- The Bull
- The Gun
- The Chalvedon Hall
- The Watermill
- The Chalvedon Square Social Club
- The British Legion
- The Vange & Pitsea Social Club
- Pitsea Leisure Centre
- Eversley Leisure Centre
- Bowers Sports & Social Club
- As of February 2007 the Railway Pub is now closed. The owners of the pub Turlbrook Properties have stated in the Basildon Echo dated 21.2.07 that the pub will not be demolished and will re-open as a new drinking establishment in the near future, probably as part of the regeneration.
There is also The Barge pub in Vange situated on the corner of Vange High Road and Clay Hill Road. Two other pubs in the Vange area have shut down in recent years. Firstly The Commodore was knocked down and flats built on top of it, then there was The Powerhouse, this was pulled down mainly because of the violent troubles which surrounded the pub, it was eventually pulled down and flats built on top of it.
[edit] Shopping in Pitsea
Pitsea's shopping area is dominated by one shop, Tesco Extra. Most things can be found in the shop, and at one point was the second biggest Tesco in England. Pitsea also boasts many fast-food outlets which get busy during the lunctime break at the local secondary school at Chalvedon School and on a Saturday when shoppers flock to the market. Pitsea Town Centre in recent years has declined significantly with Sainsbury's, local tool specialists Beech Brothers, Leisure Sports, Hickley's, Pitsea Electrics, Simply Grooves, Pitsea Video, and Martin McColl all leaving, add to this well known local trader A.W. Rust, it leaves you wondering what is going to be next.
Shops & Businesses in Pitsea Town Centre include:
- Aldi
- Poundland
- Lidl
- Subway
- Thresher
- Fish 'n Chicken
- McDonalds
- Kentucky Fried Chicken
- Tesco
- Homebase
- Ladbrokes
- Corals
- Blockbuster Video
- Patels Newsagents
- Golden Travel
- Essex Pizza & Kebab Shop
- Pitsea Spice
- St Luke's Hospice Shop
- Pitsea Tile Centre
- Fancy Dress Shop
- An Indian Restaurant
- A Hairdressers
- Snips
- A&B Taxis
- Smokers Paradise
- Chemys
- Eon
- Catalogue Clearance Shop
- The Card Shop
- Pizza Express
- Abbey National
- Barclays Bank
- Woolwich
- Lloyds TSB
- John Fisk Estate Agents
- Cartridge World
- Timpsons (This shop is located inside of Tesco Extra)
Add to this Tower Radio, another Homebase, and The Paul Simon Fabric Shop in Vange.
Pitsea has many more smaller independent shops including a jewellers, fancy dress, florists, and dry cleaners.
In September of 1997 part of the mock Tudor buildings that were built by Mr Howard in the 1930s burnt down, there was alot of local mystery surrounding the fire as there were talks about redeveloping the site even then, business were lost including a fishing tackle shop, a pet shop and insurance company.
In June of 2006 part of the Pitsea retail park burnt down, three shops were subsequently demolished. Pet Smart, BeWise and Farmfoods were all destroyed in the fire, some animals from Pet Smart were saved, whilst many more died, the site at the moment is waiting to be built on.
There are also many useful local shopping areas as well, these are located in Rectory Road, Felmore Shopping Centre, Chalvedon Square in Mill Green, as well as odd shops in London Road and Burnt Mills Road. There are also some local shopping areas in Vange including The Riverview Centre, Clay Hill Road, Paynters Hill and Stacey's Corner. There is also an electrical shop called Tower Radio located just after the Two Bridges in the High Road.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s Pitsea boasted a third supermarket in the shape of Co-Op which was located in the market place where the amusement arcade, clothes shop, catalogue clearance shop, and hair dressers are. When Sainsbury's moved into Pitsea in 1980, the Co-Op duly closed and the site remained empty for many years. Various owners have come and gone since in both the upstairs site, and downstairs site. Upstairs has boasted a snooker club, which when open proved very popular, and a Health and Fitness Club called the Feline Centre, whilst downstairs even boasted a nightclub called 'The Playground' which only lasted a very short period of time before closing. The downstairs was eventually turned into the current shops we have now, whilst the upstairs remains empty and looking vandalised. There we rumours recently of it re-opening as a snooker club, but those rumours have since faded away.
[edit] Transport Links
Transport links to the main town centre in Basildon is served well by the local bus, taxi and train services.
To get to Basildon Town Centre by bus you can get the 1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 21, and 22 all from Pitsea Broadway. The 5 and 8 run on a 10 minute basis i.e. they run every 10 minutes. If you wish to get a bus to Southend you can catch the 2, or Arriva 5. If you wish to travel to either Canvey or Lakeside then you can catch the 22.
To get to Basildon Town Centre by train you can get a train on the c2c line from Pitsea to Basildon, this line will also take you to either London or Southend as well.
There are many cab firms serving Pitsea inluding A & B, Davita and Intercab.
Road links in and out of Pitsea are very good as well. To the south, the town is served by the ever busy A13 Pitsea bypass, this road will take you to either London or Southend and has a direct link to the M25 as well as Lakeside Shopping Centre in the evening rush hour this road can get very, very congested. To the east is the A130 which will take you to either Canvey or Chelmsford and links to the A12 which will take you either into London or up into East Angliia. To the north is the A127 which serves the same purpose as the A13, and to the west is the A132 which is the border which separates Pitsea from Barstable and Vange, this road takes you from Pitsea to many links into either Basildon town centre, the A127 and Wickford.
[edit] Employment in Pitsea
Most people living in Pitsea either commute to Basildon, Southend or London for employment whereas the main employer in Pitsea is probably Tesco Extra.
Pitsea has a fair few amount of office spaces as well, which can be found in Pembroke House, which is in the main Pitsea Centre, Broadway Chambers which is located in the main Pitsea Broadway and Tudor Chambers located in Station Lane. The offices include solicitors, insurance companys, and an employment agency.
An office in Tudor Chambers was used a for a while by Richard Howitt the Labour Member of the European Parliament for the East of England, although how often this was used is unclear.
To the north of Pitsea is the Burnt Mills Industrial Estate which has many industrial units, including freight delivery, printing, a car wreck yard and a small amount of manufacturing, also in this area is the main delivery depot for the courier T.N.T. again they employ many people from the Pitsea area. Also in this area is the main waterworks for the area, unfortunately during the summer this can prove to be rather smelly, although Essex and Suffolk Water deny there is anything wrong with it. Also further along from there is the main local depot for the cable TV company Telewest Blueyonder which came to the area in the early 1990s under the name of United Artists before changing its name to Telewest and then more recently to Virgin Media.
[edit] Local issues
In the land between the waterworks and the Hovefields Industrial Park, there has been ongoing talks of building a large incinerator much to the town residents disagreement. This has led to local disapproval and petitons have been signed and handed in to the government over this matter. Concerns surround the fumes which would be churned out by the chimneys on the incinerator and what effect it could have on local people's health.
Pitsea Tip also has to deal with refuse that is sent down from London and again there has been concern regarding the type of waste that is dumped there. However it is not just waste from London that is dumped there, but also from neighbouring councils. What is of even more concern that there is also talk of transforming part of the tip into a country park, wether or not this would be deemed safe is another matter.
There is also a possibilty of transforming land beside Pitsea Flyover into a site for travellers to live on, this has given a degree of dismay to local residents as it was revealed that it would be home to travellers from the infamous Dale Farm site.
[edit] Famous people from Pitsea
- Angela Smith Labour MP for Basildon & Thurrock
- Scott Robinson from Five
- QBoy - UK's leading gay rapper
- Carla Brown Page 3 model
- Paul Smith ex-footballer with Brentford, Gillingham and Southend United
- Michael Kightly footballer with Wolverhampton Wanderers, previously with Southend United and Grays Athletic
[edit] References
- ^ Basildon District Council - Wat Tyler County Park. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
- ^ Basildon District Council - Shopping in the Basildon District. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
- ^ Vision of Britain - Pitsea parish (historic map)
- ^ Vision of Britain - Billericay parish (historic map)
[edit] External links
- Bockingham Green, Pitsea, Basildon
- Old photos of Pitsea
- Bowers & Pitsea Football Club
- Chalvedon School website
- Eversley County Primary School website
