A History of the County of Essex - 9780197227213

Oxford UP

A History of the County of EssexVolume VIII\nAuthor(s): W. R. Powell, Beryl A. Board, Norma Knight\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Oxford University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Early English Text Society\nISBN-13: 9780197227213, 978-0197227213\nSynopsis\nThis volume completes Chafford hundred and covers Harlow hundred. The part of Chafford hundred, now in Brentwood District and Thur-rock borough, includes Aveley, Stifford, Grays Thurrock and West Thurrock beside the Thames and, further north, Childerditch, Brentwood, and South Weald. Grays Thurrock, formerly a small port with a brickworks and a brewery, is now the main centre of the borough. The coastal marshes west of Grays were used mainly as sheep pastures until the 18th century, when large-scale chalk quarrying and lime burning began. The West Thurrock cement industry, which grew up in the 19th century, became one of the largest in Europe. It has since declined and the area isnow used mainly for the storage of oil and petroleum.