| Thundersley | |
|---|---|
 Bread and Cheese Hill is the name of one of the roads climbing the main slope up to the heart of Thundersley. | |
  Thundersley Location withinEssex | |
| Population | 24,800 (2021) |
| OS grid reference | TQ800887 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BENFLEET |
| Postcode district | SS7 |
| Dialling code | 01268 & 01702 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°34′N0°35′E / 51.57°N 0.59°E /51.57; 0.59 | |
Thundersley is a town in theCastle Point borough of southeastEssex, England. It sits on a clay ridge shared withBasildon andHadleigh, 31 miles (50 km) east ofCharing Cross,London. In 2011 it had a population of 24,800.
Theecclesiastical parish of Thundersley St Peter takes inDaws Heath to the east which is also part of the currentSt Michaelslocal government electoral ward. The two areas haveAnglican churches. A third Anglican church is in the secular ward ofSt John's, which is commonly conflated on maps withSouth Benfleet which it adjoins and it is separated from Thundersley by a narrowgreen buffer. As of the May 2024 local elections, the main wards in the area are Thundersley North and Thundersley South.[1]
Thundersley derives from theOld EnglishÞunres lēah = "grove or meadow [perhaps sacred] belonging to the godThunor orThor". It has also historically been known asThunresleam.[citation needed] The place-name is first attested in theDomesday Book of 1086, where it appears asThunreslea.[2]
The place-name is historically significant as a survival from England's pre-ChristianAnglo-Saxon paganism.
The area is relatively hilly for Essex, a typical height for the central and eastern part of (old) Thundersley is about 200 feet (60 m) above sea level. The town is partly rural, with large woods and commons; includingThundersley Common (aSite of Special Scientific Interest), Shipwrights Wood (12 hectares) and Thundersley Glen all owned and managed by the council; West Wood (22½ hectares acres) owned by the council and managed by Castle Point Wildlife Group;Tile Wood (6½ hectares) andPound Wood (22¼ hectares) are owned by theEssex Wildlife Trust; Starvelarks Wood and Wyburns Wood are both part ofLittle Haven Nature Reserve (37¼ hectares) which is owned by Havens Hospice Trust and leased to Essex Wildlife Trust; Coombe Wood is under mixed ownership and much of it has Village Green status.
A clear majority of households in all wards are economically employed (or in self-employment). The proportion of people who are retired is slightly higher than the national average.
| 2011 ward name | households | with no adults in employment | as a % of households |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Hall | 2500 | 1000 | 40% |
| St Peter's | 2578 | 853 | 33% |
| Boyce | 2563 | 823 | 32% |
| St George's | 2288 | 710 | 31%[3] |
| 2011 ward name | adults | retired | as a % of adults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Hall | 4156 | 963 | 23% |
| St Peter's | 4759 | 946 | 20% |
| Boyce | 4370 | 869 | 18% |
| St George's | 2288 | 831 | 19%[4] |
The wards have a high rate of owner-occupation. In the 2011 census tenure is stated for all 8570 wards ofEngland and Wales, all of Thundersley's wards ranked between 236th and 341st as to this statistic (the degree to which the census returnees stated they owned their homes either outright or with a mortgage). Specifically these varied in owner-occupation between 87.5% and 88.6%, the average in the jurisdiction being 67.8%.[5][n 1]
Samuel Lewis's major work, aTopographical Dictionary of England in 1848 gives this account:
THUNDERSLEY (St. Peter), a parish, in theunion of Billericay [...] S.[outh] division of Essex, 2¼ miles (S. W. by W.) from Rayleigh; containing 596 inhabitants, of whom 120 are in the hamlet. This parish is about two miles in length [east-west], and a mile and a half in breadth, and comprises 2100 acres, of which 100 are common or waste; the village is on elevated ground, and the surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified. The [parish priest] living...[was] valued in theking's books at £14. 13. 4., and in the gift [appointment of the Rev. G. Hemming: the tithes have been commuted [near-eliminated] for £570; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe comprises 40 acres. The church is a venerable structure in the later Norman and early English styles, with a tower and spire.[6]
In 1951 the parish had a population of 6 482.[7]Greeves motorcycles were produced in a purpose-built factory at Thundersley from 1953 to 1976. Initially the bikes were an offshoot of theInvacar company, which produced invalid cars and needed to diversify its products.
In the wards of Thundersley North, Thundersley South and St Michaels, there are two secondary schools –The King John School and Sixth Form andThe Deanes. There is alsoUSP College (Seevic Campus) for further education, and Cedar Hall School,[8] which is a special educational needs school for those aged 4-18. There are two primary schools - Thundersley Primary School and Kingston.
There are two tiers of local government covering Thundersley, atdistrict andnon-metropolitan county level:Castle Point Borough Council, based on Kiln Road in Thundersley, andEssex County Council, based inChelmsford.
Thundersley was anancient parish. In 1929 the parish was merged with the neighbouring parishes ofHadleigh andSouth Benfleet to becomeBenfleet Urban District. The three parishes were thereafter classed asurban parishes and so no longer had separate parish councils, instead being directly administered by Benfleet Urban District Council.[9][10]
Benfleet Urban District was abolished on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, becoming part of the new district of Castle Point. Nosuccessor parish was created for the former urban district.[11]
Thundersley elects one councillor toEssex County Council. Within Castle Point Borough Council, Thundersley is represented by 12 councillors, all Conservative, elected from the wards (from west to east) of St George, St Peter and Cedar Hall.
The Parish of Thundersley includedDaws Heath. The western part of Thundersley (approximately St George's parish or the St George ward) is known as New Thundersley.
Thundersley is within the SS7 Postcode Area.[n 2].
Thundersley is bounded by theA127 road to the north, where it borders the Borough ofRayleigh, theA130 road to the west where it borders the villages ofNorth Benfleet andBowers Gifford. TheA13 road to the south and eastwards beyond theA129 road bordering throughDaws Heath, Belfairs Park inLeigh-on-Sea andHadleigh.
The nearest railway stations areBenfleet railway station andRayleigh railway station. The London Tilbury and SouthendLT&SR 79 Class 4-4-2T No. 80 locomotiveThundersley was named after this area, and it is on exhibition atBressingham Steam and Gardens in Norfolk, on loan from theNational Railway Museum.
Football club Thundersley Rovers Sports Club was formed in 1963 and currently has a senior mens team along with junior teams for boys and girls. Since 1980 it has been based at Thundersley Common.
There are multiple parks in the area aimed at children under 12. There is one park located inSwans Green Recreation Ground, along Hart Road and another at Thundersley Great Common.
Other leisure opportunities include Runnymede Leisure Centre, which contains two swimming pools and a gym.
The Parish of Thundersley has three Anglican churches: St Peter's, Thundersley, St George's, New Thundersley and St Michael's, Daws Heath the original of which has been replaced by an enhanced timber church, consecrated by the Bishop of Bradwell on 1 December 2012.[12][needs update])
Fully reformed Christian churches include Thundersley Congregational Church which runs as its mission The Beacon,[13] Thundersley Gospel Hall, Daws Heath Evangelical Churchand Thundersley Community Church at Cedar Hall School.
Thundersley Christian Spiritualist Church was formed in October 1933 and moved to a wooden hut on Bread and Cheese Hill in July 1947. A new building opened at the same site in 1998.[14]
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