Hockley
Hockley is located in Essex
Hockley
Hockley
Location within Essex
Population9,616 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ826924
Civil parish
  • Hockley
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHOCKLEY
Postcode districtSS5
Dialling code01702
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

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 1890s[2] and at the 2001 census had a population of 13,616 people,[3] reducing to 9,616 at the 2011 Census,[1]. The parish of Hockley itself had a population of 8,909 at the (2001 census), while the urban area runs into the neighbouring parish of Hawkwell. Hockley railway station serves the village.

History

The place-name 'Hockley' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hocheleia. The name means "Hocca's woodland clearing or glade".[4] Today, there is still a large wooded area named Hockley Woods. Notable buildings in the village include the church of St Peter and Paul, which has a nave which was possibly built before the twelfth century, a thirteenth-century chancel and a fourteenth-century tower, the upper half of which is octagonal and was built at a later date. The tower holds three bells, manufactured by Miles Gray in 1626, by James Bartlett in 1684 and by John Hodgson in 1657, and the building is Grade II* listed.[5] The church is situated to the north-west of the village centre, where Grade II listed Spa Pump Room is situated. The building was built as a spa to a design by James Lockyer in 1842, after Robert Clay found a medicinal spring there in 1838.[6] Hockley is also the site of the former Bullwood Hall prison which closed in 2013.[7]

Plumberow Mount, a Roman burial mound,[8] was excavated in 1913 by Mr. E. B. Francis. At the time, there was a summer house on the top of the mound, and so trenches were cut on three sides. The excavation found a Roman coin of Domitian and some Saxon pottery which may indicate a secondary burial. The oval mound is 14 feet (4.3 m) high, and 76 feet (23 m) in diameter, with a flattened top, where the summerhouse was located.[9] Since 2005, a metal fence has surrounded the mound to protect it from erosion, and a number of trees which were growing on or near it were cut down at the same time.[10]

In 2009, the sixteenth-century Hockley Pendant was discovered in a field at Hockley.[11]

Governance

Hockley has a parish council consisting of two wards[12] and is part of Rochford District Council[13]

References

  1. 1 2 UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Hockley Parish (1170213946)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Hockley Parish Council website: History". Hockley-essex.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Entry for K80403 Hockley". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.243.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1112667)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 March 2011. Church of St Peter and St Paul, Hockley
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1112670)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 March 2011. Hockley Spa Rooms
  7. ↑ Danny Shaw (10 January 2013). "BBC News - Seven prison closures in England announced". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Plumberow Mount". Geograph. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "Plumberow Mount (419159)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  10. ↑ "Plumberow Mount". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  11. ↑ "Boy, four, unearths 16th Century gold pendant in Essex". BBC News Online. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Hockley Parish Council | Councillors". Hockley Parish Council. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Rochford District Council". www.rochford.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
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