Aveley is a town and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

. In the

2021 United Kingdom census The decennial 2021 censuses of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021, and the census of Scotland took place on 20 March 2022. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England an ...

it had a population of 9,801. In 1931 the parish had a population of 2,003.

Position

Aveley is located on the very edge of Greater London and is roughly bounded to the north and west by the London Borough of Havering, to the south by the

A13 road This is a list of roads designated A13. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * ''A13 highway (Australia)'' may refer to: ** South Australian route A13, including Main South Road and Victor Harbor Road * A13 motorway (Aust ...

and to the east by the M25 motorway. The nearest places are Purfleet, South Ockendon, Wennington and Rainham.

Prehistory and history

Aveley has given its name to the Aveley

Interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene in ...

period around 200,000 years ago. Important evidence of the local flora and fauna of the period and some signs of occupation by Neanderthal humans have been found there. In

Domesday Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

the name has various spellings – Alvithelea, Alvileia and Alvilea. The name means Aelfgyth's wood clearing. A variation, in 1418, is Alvythele. After the Second World War the population grew rapidly as the area absorbed London overspill. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished to form Thurrock.

Notable people

* Martina Cole, the crime writer, was brought up in Aveley *

Alice Diehl Alice Diehl (25 February 1844 – 13 June 1912) was an English musician and novelist. She changed in 1872 from being a concert pianist into being a writer – of music reviews, some 50 novels and several other books. Family and career Alice Dieh ...

(née Mangold), the novelist and concert pianist, was born in Aveley. *

Robert W. Gibson Robert W. Gibson, AIA, (1854 in England – 1927 in New York City) was an English-born American ecclesiastical architect active in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century New York state. He designed several large Manhattan churches and a ...

, English-American architect, born in Aveley in 1854. * Kate Evelyn Luard, Royal Red Cross and bar was born in Aveley vicarage. * John Newton, the author of '' Amazing Grace'', lived in Aveley, which was the home of his father's second wife.

Historic buildings

St Michael's Church

The parish church of St Michael is a Grade I listed building dating from the 12th century. It contains a 14th-century

memorial brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...

to Radulphus de Knevynton, which is echoed in the arms of the Thurrock unitary authority. The church was declared unsafe in the 19th century, with the recommendation that it should be pulled down. However, this was averted by its parishioners, who raised £1,000 to save it.

Other listed buildings

Grade II* *Brett's Farmhouse *''Sir Henry Gurnett'' public house Grade II *79, High Street *''Crown and Anchor'' public house *Park Corner House *54 and 56 High Street *Courts Farm, Park Lane. The core is half of a 13th century timber framed Manor house. *Court's Farmhouse barn - demolished within last 15 yrs to make way for a modern housing estate. *Brett's Farmhouse barn *Aveley Hall 'The Old Ship' public house in Aveley - geograph

'The Old Ship' public house in Aveley - geograph

The Old Ship public house at 58 High Street is on the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors The National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors is a register of public houses in the United Kingdom with interiors which have been noted as being of significant historic interest, having remained largely unchanged for at least 30 years, but usu ...

Demographics

According to Thurrock Council, the ward of Aveley and Uplands had a population of 8,381 people in 2001. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 9,461.

Sport

Aveley is the home of

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club Aveley, which plays at Parkside. It was also home of now defunct Thurrock, who played at Ship Lane. Belhus golf course is located in Aveley near the site of the former Belhus Mansion. Much of the remaining land from Belhus forms the Belhus Woods Country Park.

Transport

The nearest railway stations are: *

Chafford Hundred railway station Chafford Hundred Lakeside railway station, also known simply as Chafford Hundred station, is located on a single-track branch line of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the town of Chafford Hundred as well as Lakeside Shopping Centre ...

Ockendon railway station Ockendon railway station is located on a passing loop on a single-track branch of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the town of South Ockendon, Essex. It is down the line from London Fenchurch Street via ; the following station on ...

Purfleet railway station Purfleet railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line serving the town of Purfleet, Essex. It is down the line from London Fenchurch Street and it is situated between to the west and to the east. Its three-letter station code ...

It is also within reach of the

M25 Motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

Notes

External links

History of Aveley in 1863 Whites DirectoryHistoric photos of Aveley
* {{authority control Towns in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Thurrock