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Tilbury, West (St. James)

TILBURY, WEST (St. James), a parish, in the union of Orsett, hundred of Barstable, S. division of Essex, 3¾ miles (E.) from Grays-Thurrock; containing 516 inhabitants. According to Bede, Tilbury or Tillaburgh was the seat of Bishop Cedda, when, about 630, he was engaged in baptizing the East Saxons. Tilbury Fort, partly in this parish and partly in that of Chadwell, was originally a block-house, built in the reign of Henry VIII.; but after the memorable attack of the Dutch fleet upon the shipping in the Medway, in 1667, it was converted into a regular fortification, to which considerable additions have since been made. The fort is encompassed by a deep wide fosse, and its ramparts present formidable batteries of heavy ordnance, particularly towards the river. It contains comfortable barracks, and other accommodations for the garrison, which consists of a fort-major and a detachment of invalids. The parish is bounded on the south by the Thames, and comprises 1830 acres, of which 118 are common or waste: the surface is elevated, and the soil light and gravelly, in the northern parts; the marsh lands in the vicinity of the river are stiff and clayey. Tilbury lies directly opposite to Gravesend, with which town and the interior of Kent there is a constant traffic by means of ferry-boats. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20, and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £577. 10.; the glebe contains 47½ acres. The church is an ancient edifice; its lofty embattled tower fell down some time since, and was replaced with a belfry-turret and spire of wood. In a chalk hill near the village are several caverns termed Danes' Holes, curiously constructed of stone, narrow at the entrance, and very spacious at the depth of thirty feet. Some traces of a camp formed in the neighbourhood, to oppose the invasion of the Spanish Armada, are still visible. Two mineral springs were discovered in the last century, the water of one of which was much celebrated a few years since; but they have now both fallen into disuse.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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