Prittlewell, Essex
Historical Description
Prittlewell, a village, and the mother parish of Southend, in Essex. The village stands on the slope of a hill, 1 mile N of Sonthend station on the London, Tilbury, and Southend and G.E. railways; is an ancient place known in the time of Edward the Confessor; takes its name from a well situated at an ancient priory, and feeding several fish-ponds; consists chiefly of two main streets at right angles with each other; and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (T.S.O.) under Southend-on-Sea. The parish contains also the municipal borough of Southend-on-Sea and the hamlet of Milton, includes a part of Canvey Island, and comprises 3441 acres; population, 12,333. The manor belongs to the Scratton family. A Cluniac priory was founded here in the time of Henry II. by R. Fitzwaine, and went at the dissolution to the Audleys. The living is a vicarage jn the diocese of St Albans; net value, £176, in the gift of the Bishop of St Albans. The church, which stands at the junction of the village's two streets, on the top of the hill, is one of the largest and one of the most interesting in Essex. It is in the Perpendicular style, with the exception of the three westernmost bays of the nave, which are Early English, and consists of chancel, nave, S aisle, with eastern chapel, S porch, and a lofty western embattled tower. All Saints' ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1877 Population, 1904. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of St Albans; gross value, £150 with residence, in the gift of Keble College, Oxford. The hamlet of Milton has been noticed separately.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Essex | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Prittlewell St. Mary | |
Hundred | Rochford | |
Poor Law union | Rochford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Prittlewell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Prittlewell (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Essex is available to browse.
The Essex pages from the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 is online.
Maps
Online maps of Prittlewell are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Essex online: