Bowers Gifford is a small village 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 authorit ...

, now in the parish of

Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet is a civil parish in the Basildon district, located within the county of Essex, England. The parish includes the villages of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet. The parish was formed on 1 April 2010. In 2021 the p ...

, in southern

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 Grea ...

, England. It is located east of

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 ...

, between

Pitsea Pitsea is a small town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Basildon, in south Essex, England. It comprises five sub-districts: Eversley, Northlands Park Neighbourhood (previously known as Felmores), Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount and B ...

and

Thundersley Thundersley is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Benfleet, in the Castle Point borough, in southeast Essex, England. It sits on a clay ridge shared with Basildon and Hadleigh, east of Charing Cross, London. In 1951 ...

. Pillboxes in the surrounding fields testify to its wartime role in defending 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 ...

which it overlooks. In 1931 the parish had a population of 468. The place-name 'Bowers Gifford' is first attested in the

Domesday Book 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 manus ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Bura'', meaning 'cottages', 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''bur'', in modern English ''bower''. The 'Gifford' element relates to its

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

History

The Giffards appear to have held the Manor of Bures Gifford as early as the reign of Edward I. In 1253, William Giffard, and Gundred his wife, were possessed of the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living ...

of the Church of S. Margaret de Bures; and in 1259 William Giffard is recorded as holding 100a of land in Bures, by the Sergeancy of making the King's lard or bacon, whenever he should be in England; and that he also held the Hundred of Barstable of the King for £16, and one mark, and used before to pay the King £18. In 1281, King Edward I, in exchange for the Bailyship of the Hundred-and-Half of Barstable, confirmed to William Gifford and Robert his son, and Gundred the wife of the said Robert, in fee, the Manor of Bowers, quit and exempt of the ancient fee farm, reserving view of

frankpledge Frankpledge was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in tithings. This unit, under ...

and other liberties of the same; reserving also to the said Robert the fairs and profits of his market in Horingdon ( Horndon), with some other exemptions, and fine warren. The most historic surviving building is the fourteenth-century Church of St Margaret. On 1 January 1937 the parish was abolished to form

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

References

External links

Basildon Heritage

Basildon Borough History - Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet

Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Parish Council

Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Residents Association
Villages in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Borough of Basildon {{Essex-geo-stub