Langdon Hills is a township and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

located in

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

in Essex, England. It is located south of Laindon railway station on the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , ...

. It is the location of the Langdon Hills Country Park, which is in the unitary authority of

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

History

In 1767, Arthur Young commented on the view from Langdon Hills :"''…near Horndon, on the summit of a vast hill, one of the most astonishing prospects to be beheld, breaks almost at once upon one of the dark lanes. Such a prodigious valley, everywhere painted with the finest verdure, and intersected with numberless hedges and woods, appears beneath you, that it is past description; the Thames winding thro’ it, full of ships and bounded by the hills of Kent. Nothing can exceed it…''" Until its abolition in 1936, Langdon Hills was a civil parish, part of the

Orsett Rural District Orsett Rural District was the local government district centred on Orsett in south Essex, England from 1894 to 1936; a little of its far west is in modern Greater London. Likewise in modern terms the area is mostly east of the M25 motorway and no ...

. From the 1930s the

Dunton Plotlands The Dunton Plotlands was an area of small rural plots of land in Dunton Wayletts, southern Essex inhabited from the 1930s to the 1980s. The 'plotlands' consisted of small plots of land sold in the first half of the 20th century to people who buil ...

developed and are now commemorated by a museum. In 1931 it covered an area of and had a population of 2,103. 100 years earlier, in 1831, the population was 224 and the area covered was .

Community

On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished to form Thurrock parish, part went to

Lee Chapel University Chapel (formerly Lee Chapel) of Washington and Lee University is a National Historic Landmark in Lexington, Virginia. It was constructed during 1867–68 at the request of Robert E. Lee, who was president of the school (then known as Wa ...

, it became part of the

Thurrock Urban District Thurrock was a local government district and civil parish in south Essex, England from 1936 to 1974. The parish and urban district was formed from the former area of the following civil parishes which had been abolished in 1936: *From Grays Thu ...

. In 1974 the Thurrock Urban District was split with most of the Langdon Hills area going to Thurrock District and the smaller but more built up part to the north that was within Basildon New Town going to Basildon District. The town has a church ( St. Johns Church), two schools ( Great Berry Primary School and Lincewood School). It has a nature reserve stretching down to

Laindon Laindon is a commuter town in Essex, between Basildon and West Horndon. It was an ancient parish in Essex, England, that was abolished for civil purposes in 1937. It was based on the (probably smaller) manor of the same name and now lies mostly ...

. It also has a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

superstore in the towns boundaries. Langdon Hills has a small area as the new district of

Great Berry Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

is placed just north of

. Maple tree lane is however situated inside of Basildon and is not part of any of the above.

References

External links

Laindon and District Community Archive

Langdon Living Landscape

Basildon Borough History - Langdon Hills & Dunton
{{authority control Villages in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Borough of Basildon