Prittlewell
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Prittlewell is an inner city area 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 ...
in the
City 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 ...
, in the ceremonial 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. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. The village of Prittlewell was originally centered at the joining of three main roads, East Street, West Street, and North Street, which was extended south in the 19th century and renamed Victoria Avenue. The principal administrative buildings in Southend are located along Victoria Avenue, although Prittlewell is served by
Prittlewell railway station Prittlewell railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the residential district of Prittlewell in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and ...
.


History


Prehistoric

People first settled by the
Prittle Brook The Prittle Brook is a 7.2 mile (11.59 km) watercourse in south Essex, England. A tributary of the River Roach, the brook rises in Thundersley and passes through Hadleigh, Leigh-on-Sea, Westcliff, Prittlewell, Rochford and discharges into ...
at least 10,000 years ago in the late
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
. Little appears to have affected life in Prittlewell as its population gradually evolved from their original character as
hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
s to a more settled existence during the
Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
and
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
s.


Roman

The
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
occupation began to influence the area with the construction of a Roman-style dwelling, probably a farmhouse or
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
, close to the brook in what is now Priory Park. The introduction of new ideas, new skills and social structures under this Roman influence would have brought significant change to the area. The discovery of Roman burial sites during road and rail construction in the 1920s and 1930s indicated that the settlement was well developed and of some significance, although no prominent buildings were preserved.


Saxons and Vikings

Following the decline of Roman Britain, the area came under the influence of
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
raiders, over time becoming established as part of the kingdom of the East Saxons. During this time (largely the 5th and 6th centuries), the historic Saxon name of ''Prittleuuella'' came into being. Part of a blocked archway built of Roman tiles survives in the north wall of the chancel of St Mary's church, and it has long been assumed that it represents part of a small Anglo-Saxon chapel built in the 7th century, possibly as early as the reign of King
Sæberht of Essex Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert (d. 616) was an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex, King of Essex (r. 604 – 616), in succession of his father King Sledd of Essex, Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been conver ...
. However, more recent study and comparison with surviving architectural remains elsewhere suggest instead that the arch may date as late as the 10th or early 11th century, and that this is the date of the first church to be built on the site.


Royal Saxon tomb

The construction works of 1923 and 1930 that revealed Roman burials also unearthed evidence of numerous
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
burials, a significant number of which were high-status or warrior burials containing weapons, imported goods, jewellery and decorative beads, some of which were made out of
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
. The high status of the area during the Anglo-Saxon period was confirmed by the discovery of a substantial and undisturbed 7th-century
chamber tomb A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...
in 2003. The burial site was uncovered by archaeologists from
Museum of London Archaeology MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) is an archaeology and built heritage practice and independent charitable company registered with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), providing a wide range of professional archaeological servic ...
, who had been commissioned to prepare the site in advance of a road widening scheme. In 2009, following local opposition, the scheme was dropped and the traffic congestion eased by works to a different road location. The unusually rich contents and their condition have excited archaeologists, being described as "unique" by the
Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...
. A fuller description of the excavation and the artefacts of the burial chamber, thought to be of
Sæberht of Essex Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert (d. 616) was an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex, King of Essex (r. 604 – 616), in succession of his father King Sledd of Essex, Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been conver ...
, can be seen at the dedicated Museum of London website. The story of the excavation was also thought so significant as to be the subject of a special documentary titled "King of Bling", as part of the ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' series.


Medieval

At the time of the
Domesday Survey 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 manusc ...
in 1086, the two manors in the area that is now Prittlewell were Prittlewell and Milton, the former owned by Swein of Essex and the latter by the Priory of Holy Trinity,
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. ...
(now
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
). In the 12th century, Robert de Essex, also known as Robert FitzSwein, founded
Prittlewell Priory Prittlewell Priory is a medieval priory in the Prittlewell area of Southend, Essex, England. It was founded in the 12th century, by monks from the Cluniac Priory of St Pancras in Lewes, East Sussex, and passed into private hands at the time ...
as a cell of the
Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
Priory of St Pancras Lewes Priory is a part-demolished medieval Cluniac priory in Lewes, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The ruins have been designated a Grade I listed building. History The Priory of St Pancras was the first Cluniac house in England and had ...
,
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
. The foundation charter included the manor and church of Prittlewell. At this time, the lands of the priory extended to the seafront. Due to this, when a fishing settlement was set up two miles (3 km) south of the priory in the 14th century, it was still regarded as part of Prittlewell and as such was named ''Stratende'', ''Sowthende'' or ''South-End''. From this settlement, the modern town of Southend-on-Sea grew. Over a period of around two hundred years, the Parish Church, St. Mary's, was substantially enlarged, reaching its present size with the addition of its tower in the mid-15th century. At the time of the Tudor Dissolution of the Monasteries by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, the
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
, which had by this time developed into a sprawling complex, was closed and the lands seized by the crown.


19th century

Southend was developed as a bathing resort in the 18th century, and by the 19th, Prittlewell was regarded by visitors to Southend as "an attractive village in the hinterland". In 1848, Prittlewell was described in the White's Directory of Essex as "a neat and well built village with many modern houses overlooking the estuary of the Thames, 1½ miles North West of Southend, and 3 miles South of Rochford". Links between Prittlewell and Southend were improved in 1889 when a road, named Victoria Avenue, was built between the village crossroads by the church to Southend and in 1892 when
Prittlewell railway station Prittlewell railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the residential district of Prittlewell in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and ...
was built on the
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
, linking Southend and London. 1892 also saw the foundation of the
Municipal Borough of Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea was a local government district from 1866 to 1974 around the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. Its origin was a local board formed for the parish of St John the Baptist, which had been split off from Prittlewell f ...
, which took over responsibility for Prittlewell from an earlier local board.


20th century

The old priory, which had been in ownership of the Scratton family, was bought by local jeweller and benefactor
R. A. Jones Robert Arthur Jones (20 November 1849 – 23 May 1925) was born in Liverpool but moved to Southend-on-Sea after working for a clock and watchmaker in Manchester. In 1890 he set up his jewellery business on Southend's High Street. He went on to bec ...
and was given to the people of Southend as Priory Park. In 1901, Eric Kingham Cole was born in Prittlewell and went on to form
EKCO EKCO (from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited) was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924 until 1960. Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plasti ...
, a radio, TV and plastic manufacturer, in 1924. In 1930, he built a large factory opposite Priory Park, but by 1966 the electrical side of the factory was closed (except for the car radio repair department, which closed in 1977). The
Access (credit card) Access was a British credit card brand launched by Lloyds Bank, Midland Bank and National Westminster Bank in 1972 to rival the already established Barclaycard. It became defunct in 1996, when it was taken over by MasterCard. History The Ac ...
business moved into the factory in 1972, but with the business changing in the 1990s,
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
moved out, leaving the EKCO (now Linpac) plastic factory the only operative on the site. This closed down in 2007, and the whole site was demolished in 2012, with a combined housing and commercial development (and a new Havens Hospice) being given planning permission on 14 January 2015. On 9 November 1913 the parish was abolished to form "Southend on Sea".


Geography

Modern-day Prittlewell stretches from the crossroads by St Mary's Church to
London Southend Airport London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of Southend-on-Sea and the Ro ...
on the boundary between Southend and
Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...
.


Demography

At the 2001 UK census, the Prittlewell
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
had a population of 9,478. The ethnicity was 95.1% white, 1% mixed race, 2.8% Asian, 0.5% black and 0.6% other. The place of birth of residents was 93.9% United Kingdom, 0.8% Republic of Ireland, 1.2% other Western European countries, and 4.1% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 71.2% Christian, 0.3% Buddhist, 1.2% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 1.1% Jewish, and 1.7% Muslim. 16.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 8.0% did not state their religion. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 39.5% in full-time employment, 12.6% in part-time employment, 9.6% self-employed, 3.3% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 2.9% students without jobs, 16.5% retired, 6.3% looking after home or family, 4.5% permanently sick or disabled and 2.6% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 15.8% retail, 11% manufacturing, 8.1% construction, 11.6% real estate, 12.9% health and social work, 7% education, 6.2% transport and communications, 6.7% public administration, 2.8% hotels and restaurants, 11.7% finance, 0.7% agriculture and 5.5% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in finance and health and social work. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 14.4% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. According to
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...
estimates, during the period of April 2004 to March 2005 the average gross weekly income of households was £590, compared with an average of £650 in
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
.


Landmarks

Only a small proportion of the historical village of Prittlewell remains standing; the ruins and standing remains of the Priory, visible in Priory Park; St. Mary's Church; A building recently restored following fire damage, though more recently a bakery, now an
estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...
appropriately named Tudor Estates; as well as a number of
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s, the most famous of which is the Blue Boar. This is famous as being where Southend United F.C. were formed, however the building that currently stands there is of Victorian construction, as the original building was destroyed by fire. Since 1955, Prittlewell has been the home to Southend United F.C. at their ground Roots Hall, and has been since the 1960s home to a weekly market which takes place on a Thursday. Southend are planning to move from this location, and Sainsbury's currently have planning permission to build a supermarket on the site of Roots Hall, St Mary's flats, the former Eastern National Bus Garage/former Prospects College and the shops on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Fairfax Drive.


Transport

The area is served by
Prittlewell railway station Prittlewell railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the residential district of Prittlewell in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and ...
on the
Shenfield–Southend line The Shenfield–Southend line is a branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in Essex, in the east of England. It links in the west to , in Southend-on-Sea, in the east. The vast majority of services connect to or from the Great Eastern Main ...
.


Sports

Prittlewell is home to football teams Ekco Whitecaps and Prittlewell Badgers.


Gallery

File:Prittlewell, Essex - St.Marys Church.jpg, St. Mary's Church, Prittlewell File:Prittlewell, Essex - Cluniac Priory of St.Mary.jpg, Remains of the Cluniac Priory of St Mary Prittlewell in the grounds of Priory Park File:PrioryPark Prittlewell.JPG, Priory Park Gardens, Prittlewell File:Prittlewell, Essex - 16th cent.House.jpg, 16th-century wooden framed house with centre cartway west of church in Prittlewell


References


Further reading

*


External links


"A Brief History of Southend"



(Museum of London Archaeological Services) The "Prittlewell Prince"
The undisturbed 7th-century Saxon burial chamber. {{authority control Towns in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Southend-on-Sea (town)