Rawreth is a village and

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 ...

in the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 ...

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. It is situated between

Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the original town of Basil ...

and Rayleigh. The place-name 'Rawreth' is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for 1177, where it appears as ''Raggerea''. It appears as ''Ragherethe'' in the Feet of Fines for 1240, and as ''Raureth'' in the

Charter Rolls A charter roll is an administrative record created by a medieval chancery that recorded all the charters issued by that office. Origins In medieval England, King John in 1199 established a fixed rate of fees for the sealing of charters and lett ...

of 1267. The name means '

herons The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

' stream', as seen on the Village Sign (at right). The area is mainly agricultural, sparsely populated, and with a small amount of industry. Historically most of the farmhouses in Rawreth were moated manors, many of which survive today. The original parish council was disbanded in the 1930s when the area was united with Rayleigh to form the original

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

. It was reformed in 1994 following the reorganisation of local government.

Governance

Rawreth is part of the

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 ...

called Downhall and Rawreth. This ward stretches to and covers much of Rayleigh. The ward had a total population of 4,843 at the 2011 Census.

Geography

A stream linked to the

River Crouch The River Crouch is a small river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex. The distance of the Navigation between Holliwell Point which is north of Foulness Island and Battlesbridge is 17.5 Miles, i.e. 15.21 Nautical Miles. Ro ...

passes under Church Road near to Rawreth Equestrian Centre. It joins the river near to the A1245 (old A130).

Church

St Nicholas, Church Road. Medieval in design, only the tower is an original of that era, the majority of the building rebuilt in late Victorian times.

School

St Nicholas Church of England Primary School closed at its original location and has relocated to a new building just a few metres over the civil parish boundary into Rayleigh.

Chichester Hotel

The Chichester Hotel is supposed to have derived its name from the Norman Knight, Sir John de Chichester, rumoured to have been the first occupant of Chichester Hall, a 13th-century moated farmhouse which still survives.The Chichester Hotel & Restaurant website, http://www.thechichesterhotel.co.uk/ However, during the 16th century the hall was the home of the Andrewes family, one of whom,

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

, became

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...

(1605 - 1609), and it is more likely the hall was named by him for the eponymous city.Benton, P. (1888). ''The History of the Rochford Hundred''. Vol. II. Harrington, London. In the early 18th century, the hall was home to Thomas Holt White FRS, brother of the celebrated naturalist

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

. White raised the famous

Chichester Elm Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

from a tree which stood in the grounds.

References

External links

Ordnance Survey get a Map
{{authority control Rochford District Villages in Essex