Horndon-on-the-Hill

The Horndon Woolmarket
Horndon-on-the-Hill
Horndon-on-the-Hill
 Horndon-on-the-Hill shown within Essex
Population 1,612 
OS grid referenceTQ665835
Unitary authorityThurrock
Ceremonial countyEssex
RegionEast
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town STANFORD-LE-HOPE
Postcode district SS17
Dialling code 01375
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
List of places
UK
England
Essex

Coordinates: 51°31′33″N 0°23′55″E / 51.525869°N 0.398746°E

Horndon-on-the-Hill is a village and Church of England parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock, in the county of Essex, England. It is located close to the A13, around one mile northwest of Stanford-le-Hope and around two miles northeast of Orsett.

Horndon-on-the-Hill has one church, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, which dates from the 13th century and is Grade I listed.[1] It also has a primary school, a recreational park and two public houses, The Swan and The Bell.

The village is said to be haunted. Ghostly figures have been reported walking through pathways at night and a few locals have reported seeing a ghostly shadow of a woman by the footbridge at South hill.

History

Horndon-on-the-Hill appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Horninduna, meaning "horn-shaped hill".[2] It may have been the site of the 11th-century Horndon mint, based on the survival of a single Anglo-Saxon penny from the village.

A woolmarket was established in the village in the early 16th century; the building later became a shelter for the poor people of the area.[3]

On the south wall of the church is a memorial to Thomas Higbed, who was burned at the stake in Horndon in 1555 and is included in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.[4]

Horndon-on-the-Hill is one of the seven conservation areas of Thurrock and was the first of the seven to be designated, in September 1969.[5]

Governance

Horndon-on-the-Hill belonged to the Barstable hundred of Essex, before becoming part of Orsett Rural District in 1894 and then part of Thurrock Urban District in 1936. In 1974, the urban district became the Borough of Thurrock under the Local Government Act 1972. The borough was given administrative independence from Essex County Council in 1998.

Notable residents

The founder of Vincent Motorcycles, Philip Vincent lived in High House, Horndon-on-the-Hill. On 21 July 2002, a Thurrock Heritage green Plaque was unveiled by Vincent's grandson, Philip Vincent-Day, at High House. Another resident was BBC journalist and arts administrator John Tusa.[6]


References

  1. "St Peter and St Paul, Horndon-on-the-Hill". Thurrock Local History Society. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. Mills, A.D., A Dictionary of British Place Names (Oxford University Press, 2011). ISBN 978-0-1996-0908-6
  3. "The Horndon Woolmarket". Thurrock Council. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  4. Christopher Harrold, Exploring Thurrock (Thurrock Local History Society, 2008)
  5. "Conservation Areas in Thurrock". Thurrock Council. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  6. Lecture by John Tusa

External links

Media related to Horndon-on-the-Hill at Wikimedia Commons