Stock 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in south

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It is about south of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, the county town. The village is in the borough of

and in the parliamentary constituency of

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

History

The origins of the village are uncertain and are subject to debate. Archaeological finds suggest that during the Iron Age period there was a settlement on the site. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 does not mention Stock. The first documentary evidence of the settlement dates from the 13th century. Until the 16th century, the village was known as ''Hereward Stock'' / ''Stoke'' or variations thereof. Formerly half of the village was in the parish of Buttsbury and the parish had within its boundaries a hamlet, which was a detached part of Orsett. Both of these anomalies have now been resolved.

Amenities

The village has three churches: the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of ''All Saints'', the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

of ''Our Lady and St Joseph'' and ''Christ Church'' (Free). There are three

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s in the village: ''The Bear'', ''The Hoop'' and ''The Baker's Arms''. Two further pubs lie on its outskirts: ''The Ship'', near West Hanningfield, and ''The King's Head'' near

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

. There is a post office and general store, a tapas restaurant and a coffee shop; ''The Harvard'' is a hotel, bar and restaurant. Stock Church of England Primary School was rated as ''Good'' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in September 2022.

Transport

The B1007 runs through the centre of the village, providing a direct connection by road to Chelmsford,

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

and Stanford-le-Hope. It also links Stock with the A12

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

to the north. First Essex operates frequent bus services on route 300 between Chelmsford, Galleywood, Billericay and Basildon. There are also two-hourly services on route 14 between Chelmsford, West Hanningfield and

Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county (England), 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 orig ...

. The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

stations are at , on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

, and , on the Shenfield-Southend line;

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

provides services from both stations to London Liverpool Street.

Notable residents

The poet

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the Engli ...

(pronounced Cooper) was a friend of Willam Unwin, who was the rector from 1769 to 1787. The Cowper poem that is most closely connected with Stock is ''Tithing Time at Stock'' or the ''Yearly Distress''. Admiral Sir Vernon Haggard lived in the village.Memories of Stock
/ref>

References

External links

The Village of Stock in Essex
{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex