Bill Meroy Creek is a small waterway flowing into the Thames to the east of

Tilbury Fort Tilbury Fort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames in England. The earliest version of the fort, comprising a small blockhouse with artil ...

West Tilbury West Tilbury is a village and former civil parish on the top of and on the sides of a tall river terrace overlooking the River Thames. Part of the modern town of Tilbury (including part of Tilbury Fort) is within the traditional parish of We ...

which from 1851 marked the eastern boundary of the area in which duty had to be paid on coal entering London.

Location

Bill Meroy Creek is to the east of Tilbury Fort in West Tilbury (within the

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 ...

unitary authority).

Name

The name of Bill Meroy Creek is a corruption of the name William Millroy who was an 18th-century cattle farmer. It has also been known as Bilmaroy Creek and Billmarry Creek. It is named on some maps as Ordnance Creek. It was previously known as Pincock's Creek.

Coal Duty

Coal sold in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

had been

taxed A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

since medieval times. With the coming of the canals and railways, the area in which duty was payable was extended and Bill Meroy Creek defined the eastern end of this area on the north bank of the Thames. To avoid paying this tax, wharfs were established at a number of places just outside the limits including what came to be known as Coalhouse point.

1953 Floods

It was through a breach in the sea wall at Bill Meroy Creek that the flood waters inundated Tilbury Town in 1953.

Notes

{{authority control Thurrock Rivers of Essex 1BillMeroy