Hawkwell 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 authorit ...
in the
district of Rochford in
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 the second largest village after
Rayleigh. The 2001 census gave a population for the parish of 11,231, increasing to 11,730 at the 2011 Census.
Hawkwell is mentioned 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, but not as 'Hawkwell', it appears as Hacuuella or Hechuuella.
[
]
Settlement
The parish includes the village itself, and also much larger suburban developments in the east (running into Rochford) and the west (running into Hockley
Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...
). East and West Hawkwell are divided by the London to Southend railway line. The White Hart Public House is no longer within Hawkwell since boundary changes and the only public house within Hawkwell is The Victory Inn.
Church
The parish church of St Mary the Virgin is located amidst fields between the two centres of population. The building is Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, and is largely from the fourteenth century, with the addition of a fifteenth-century bell turret and some other alterations. It was restored in the nineteenth century, and includes twentieth-century stained glass in the south and east windows.[ Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkwell] The building was damaged during a bombing raid on 15 September 1940. The concrete and asbestos vestry on the north side was removed in the 1990s, and was replaced by a north aisle, vestry and office constructed in a style to match the rest of the building. The extension nearly doubled the size of the building, and was opened in July 1996.
Amenities
The village has a primary school, leisure centre, pub and other amenities.
References
External links
Hawkwell Residents Association A Blog from a Hawkwell District CouncillorHockley & Hawkwell Methodist ChurchHawkwell Parish Church, St. Mary's and Emmanuel
Villages in Essex
Rochford District
Civil parishes in Essex
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