Hockley

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For other uses, see Hockley (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 51°36′05″N 0°38′11″E / 51.6014°N 0.6363°E / 51.6014; 0.6363
Hockley
Hockley

 Hockley shown within Essex
Population 8,909 (2001)
OS grid reference TQ826924
District Rochford
Shire county Essex
Region East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HOCKLEY
Postcode district SS5 5
Dialling code 01702
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament Rayleigh
List of places
UK
England
Essex

Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex, England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea. More specifically it lies between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 1890s[1] and at the 2001 census had a population of 13,616 people,[2] many of whom commute to London.[citation needed] The parish of Hockley itself has a population of 8,909 (2001 census), while the urban area runs into the neighbouring parish of Hawkwell. Hockley railway station serves the village.

History

Hockley is an Anglo Saxon word meaning a small hill and today there is still a large wooded area named Hockley woods. Notable buildings in the village include the church of St Peter and Paul, which has a nave which was possibly built before the twelfth century, a thirteenth-century chancel and a fourteenth-century tower, the upper half of which is octagonal and was built at a later date. The tower holds three bells, manufactured by Miles Gray in 1626, by James Bartlett in 1684 and by John Hodgson in 1657, and the building is Grade II* listed.[3] The church is situated to the north-west of the village centre, where a grade II listed Victorian pump room is situated. The building was built as a spa to a design by John Lockyer in 1842, after Robert Clay found a medicinal spring in 1838. It was subsequently used as a Baptist chapel, and now houses a factory.[4] Hockley is also the site of the former Bullwood Hall prison which closed in 2013.[5]

Hockley is also home of a burial mound, Plumberow Mount,[6] which was excavated in 1913, by Mr. E. B. Francis. At the time, there was a summer house on the top of the mound, and so trenches were cut on three sides. The excavation found a Roman coin of Domitian and some Saxon pottery which may indicate a secondary burial. The oval mound is 14 feet (4.3 m) high, and 76 feet (23 m) in diameter, with a flattened top, where the summerhouse was located.[7] Since 2005, the mound has been surrounded by a metal fence to protect it from erosion, and a number of trees which were growing on or near it were cut down at the same time.[8]

Governance

Hockley is split into three wards.[9]

Culture and community

Hockley also has its own football club, Hockley United F.C. who compete in the Sceptre Sunday League.

The Hockley Massive Project is a youth club started in 2010.[10] The club entered one of their members into the Essex Boys and Girls Clubs Table-Tennis Finals, which took place at Ingatestone Boys' Own Club in February 2011. He came away as the overall winner of the under-19 boys group, and progressed into the table tennis finals, held in Cheshire later in the year.

There is also the Hockley Lawn Tennis club, located down Folly Lane.

References

  1. ↑ "Hockley Parish Council website: History". Hockley-essex.gov.uk. Retrieved 2013-05-03. 
  2. ↑ "Entry for K80403 Hockley". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 
  3. ↑ Details from listed building database (122989) . Images of England. English Heritage. Church of St Peter and St Paul, Hockley
  4. ↑ Details from listed building database (122997) . Images of England. English Heritage. Hockley Spa Rooms
  5. ↑ Danny Shaw (2013-01-10). "BBC News - Seven prison closures in England announced". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-05-03. 
  6. ↑ "Plumberow Mount". Geograph. 2006-07-27. Retrieved 2013-05-03. 
  7. ↑ "National Monuments Record for Plumberow Mount". Pastscape. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 
  8. ↑ "Plumberow Mount". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 
  9. ↑ "Hockley Parish Council: Council Members". Essexinfo.net. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2013-05-03. 
  10. ↑ "About". The Massive Project. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 

Hockley

External links

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