Stanford-le-Hope is a town, 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 ...

and

Church of England parish The parish with its parish church(es) is the basic territorial unit of the Church of England. The parish has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church and survived the English Reformation largely untouched. Each is within one of 42 dioceses: divide ...

situated in the county of

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Often known locally simply as Stanford, the town is within the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

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 ...

and located 23.8 miles (38.4 km) east of Charing Cross in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 4311. Early modernist author

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

lived in Stanford-le-Hope from 1896 to 1898. More recent notable figures would include author Emma Robinson and comedian

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...

Geography

Stanford-le-Hope is bordered to the north 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 south by the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. It is located 12.7 miles (20.5 km) west of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. The town centre has a village feel with its 800-year-old church, St Margarets making a prominent and attractive landmark around which shops, pubs and restaurants have grown to create a lively core to the town. As Stanford-le-Hope grows in size, it has started to incorporate neighbouring settlements such as Corringham,

Mucking Mucking is a hamlet and former Church of England parish adjoining the Thames Estuary in southern Essex, England. It is located approximately south of the town of Stanford-le-Hope in what is now Thurrock unitary authority. In 1931 the parish had ...

and

Fobbing Fobbing is a small village and former civil parish in Thurrock, Essex, England and one of Thurrock's traditional (Church of England) parishes. It is located between Basildon and Corringham, and is also close to Stanford-le-Hope. In 1931 the pa ...

, the latter of which was the scene of one of the uprisings which led to the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

. The River Hope, a tributary of the Thames, runs through the town. Locally there are a number of parks and nature reserves, notably Thurrock Thameside Nature Reserve, with a visitor centre providing views up and down the Thames across both industrial and natural landscapes including the Mucking Flats and Marshes SSSI. In 2014, a group of residents led a restoration project which raised funds to finance a restoration of the

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, as part of the commemoration of the 1914-1919 conflict in Europe.

Transport and industry

The town is served by

Stanford-le-Hope railway station Stanford-le-Hope railway station is on a loop line of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the town of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. It is down the line from London Fenchurch Street via and it is situated between and . Its three-letter ...

. The town is home to many commuters working in London, thanks to its proximity to the capital and its

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

-operated

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 , , , ...

rail connections. Many residents also travel along the nearby A13 to work in the

Lakeside Shopping Centre Lakeside Shopping Centre, is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the compl ...

, as well as the industrial and commercial businesses along the north bank of the Thames running west towards the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Sea ...

. Until 1999 the town was home to two refineries located on the nearby Thames, Shell Haven and Coryton. The Shell site ceased operating in 1999 and has since been redeveloped as the

London Gateway DP World London Gateway is a port within the wider Port of London, United Kingdom. Opened in November 2013, the site is a fully integrated logistics facility, comprising a semi-automated deep-sea container terminal on the same site as the UK ...

deepwater container port, with attendant logistics and commercial development.

Politics

, Stanford-le-Hope is represented on

Thurrock Council Thurrock Borough Council, usually known as simply Thurrock Council, is the local authority for the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Since 1997, Thurrock has been a unitary authority, combining the functions of a non-metropolitan county wit ...

by seven councillors from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

- Shane Hebb, Terry Piccolo, James Halden, Gary Collins, Jack Duffin, Shane Ralph and Alex Anderson, and one Thurrock Independent councillor, Gary Byrne. The 2021 Thurrock Council local election saw the Conservatives win every contested seat in East Thurrock, including - for the first time ever - neighbouring ward

East Tilbury East Tilbury is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England, and one of the traditional Church of England parishes in Thurrock. In 1931 the parish had a population of 353. History In Saxon ti ...

which saw the reelection of Cllr Sue Sammons who stood for the Conservative Party. The serving Member of Parliament is Stephen Metcalfe from the Conservative Party, who was re-elected for the fourth time at the 2019 UK general election. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished to form Thurrock.

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in Essex Populated places on the River Thames Former civil parishes in Essex Thurrock