Pilgrims Hatch is a residential suburb of Brentwood,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, in the

east of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

. There is a borough council ward bearing the name 'Pilgrims Hatch' which covers the Bishops Hall and Flower estates (the urban area north of the

A12 road This is a list of roads designated A12. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by country. * A012 road (Argentina), a road around the city of Rosario * A12 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Kufstein and the German Autobahn A 93 to Landec ...

) and a small rural area to the north up to Ashwells Road and Days Lane. Pilgrims Hatch usually elects

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

councillors. It has a population of around 6,000 people. 'Pilgrims Hatch' literally means ''Pilgrim's Gate'' (with 'hatch' being derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

form of ) and, until recently, local schools used a large farmer's gate as a symbol of the area. While no longer common it is still the semi-official symbol of the village. One of the local schools that still has the "gate" incorporated within their school badge is Larchwood Primary School. The name derived from 12th century

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

pilgrimages to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

through Brentwood, a popular stopping place at the time, before travelling onto

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

for the ferry. Pilgrims from the Midlands would pass through Pilgrims Hatch en route to Brentwood. At this time Pilgrims Hatch was not recognised as a community as such, having only a few properties in an area which was mainly open countryside and not settled in any numbers until the 20th century. The Chapman & André map of 1777 references 'Pilgrims Hatch Common' and shows limited development along what was to become the modern Ongar Road near the junction with Coxtie Green Road (Cox Green then). The main development of Pilgrims Hatch as a village occurred after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although population development may have been quite late, Pilgrims Hatch was home to a critical part of early communications infrastructure with Cable & Wireless having a substantial telegraph radio receiving station built on the junction of Hatch Road and Doddinghurst Road in 1921. (with the associated transmitting station in nearby North Weald) During World War II this site was considered sufficiently important in the war effort that substantial air defences were also constructed around it. Although some buildings from the site remained early into the 21st century it has now been transformed into housing developments and an extension to Bishops Hall Park. The Brentwood Centre is situated on the edge of Pilgrims Hatch, and is the centre of sport, leisure, and musical events within the borough. There is an annual festival held at the centre, as well as a traditional fireworks display on or close to Guy Fawkes Night each year. The area relies mainly on Brentwood's high street stores and supermarkets, but does have a number of local shops and businesses. It also is well served by local restaurants, takeaways and pubs.

References

{{authority control Borough of Brentwood Villages in Essex