Dunton Plotlands

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The Dunton Plotlands was an area of small rural plots of land in southern Essex inhabited from the 1930s[1] to the 1980s.[2]

The 'plotlands' consisted of small plots of land sold in the first half of the 20th century to people who built weekend cottages, holiday bungalows or smallholdings there. [3] Many of the people building weekend cottages here would have come out from London.

After the Second World War, the new town of Basildon was created, encompassing the the plotlands here and in the surrounding areas of Laindon and Pitsea. At the time, 25000 people lived in the whole area, often with unsurfaced roads and limited water supplies.[3]

Dunton Plotlands is situated to the west of Laindon and the Langdon Hills, now on the edge of the Basildon district.

Today, Dunton Plotlands is part of the Essex Wildlife Trust's Langdon nature reserve. The Langdon Visitor Centre[4][5] and a museum housed in a converted bungalow[6] exhibit the social history of the area. The Plotlands is still a wooded area where a small number of cottages, and some of the original grid of grass tracks remain.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dunton Plotlands. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  2. ^ Dunton Plotlands - Autumn, 1984: last days...... Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  3. ^ a b Colin Ward. The hidden history of housing. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  4. ^ Essex Wildlife Trust: Langdon Visitor Centre. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  5. ^ Essex Wildlife Trust, Langdon. Hidden Treasures. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  6. ^ The Haven Museum, Dunton, Essex. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 51°33′40″N 0°23′40″E / 51.56111, 0.39444

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