Coordinates: 51°29′28″N 0°20′21″E / 51.491098°N 0.339296°E
| Little Thurrock | |
 Little Thurrock
Little Thurrock shown within Essex |
|
| OS grid reference | TQ625795 |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | Thurrock |
| Ceremonial county | Essex |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GRAYS |
| Postcode district | RM |
| Dialling code | 01375 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Thurrock |
Little Thurrock is a ward and Church of England parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock.
Contents |
Location [edit]
Little Thurrock is on the north bank of the river Thames, about 25 miles (40 km) east of London. It was originally a separate settlement, but housing and other developments in the 20th century have resulted in a continuous built up area with Grays Thurrock.
Hangman's Wood is a small wooded areas in the parish. Hangman's Wood is well known for containing numerous deneholes which were sometimes known as Cunobeline's gold mines.[1] The origin of these deneholes is discussed by Tony Benton who concludes they were the result of chalk extraction.[2] The deneholes are an important roosting site for rare bats.
Geology and Ecology [edit]
The southern part of Little Thurrock was formerly a tidal saltmarsh. The higher, northern area is part of a 100 feet (30 m) terrace extending for some miles east and west - a rich source of both gravel and chalk deposits which have been extracted for centuries.[3] Around Hangman's Wood and Terrel's Heath, there is little trace of the heathland habitat and associated fauna which would once have been characteristic of the area but the adjacent woodland together with the pond and wild life garden in Woodside Primary School attract a number of creatures. These include green and great spotted woodpeckers, a number of different mammals and the rare great crested newt. The trees on Terrel's Heath are mainly oaks with wild bluebells in spring time.
History [edit]
Parish Church [edit]
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The original building probably dates from 1170.[2] The church was extensively "restored" in Victorian times.[4]
Origin of name [edit]
Thurrock is a Saxon name meaning "the bottom of a ship".[5] Little Thurrock is one of three "Thurrocks", the others being West Thurrock and Grays Thurrock.
Schools [edit]
Little Thurrock Primary School[6]
In the north of Little Thurrock is a group of schools. On one side of Woodside Primary School, on the former Torrel's Secondary site is the campus of the new Thurrock special schools Treetops and Beacon Hill and on the other side is the Thurrock campus of South Essex College (formerly Thurrock and Basildon College). Torrel's School was closed and re-opened with St Chad's Tilbury as The Gateway Community College and has since become The Gateway Academy with a brand new site on Marshfoot Road in Chadwell St Mary.
Woodside Primary school [edit]
Woodside now admits up to 60 children a year. There are two part time nursery classes, each for up to 26 children; one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and a breakfast club and after school club giving extended provision from 8.00 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. The school is responsible for admissions to the nursery classes while Thurrock Council deals with admissions for the rest of the school.[7] Children can start in the reception class in September of the year they are five and at the same time in one of the nursery classes a year earlier. Children need to be 3 years old, at the beginning of the term, to start in the nursery.
With a long established sporting tradition in recent years the school has developed matching provision in the arts and children have regular opportunities to work with professionals from the arts world. Projects have included Royal Philharmonic Orchestra workshops, the creation of a totem pole with stoneware faces with Hazle Ceramics, The National Gallery Take one Picture projects, Batik wall hangings with textile artist Louise Knight and the construction of a living willow dome. All children in year 3 are currently learning orchestral strings and a number of children take private lessons on strings, wind, keyboard or guitar. Last year infant children were involved in a Creative Partnership with arts professionals to improve their writing skills through video scripting and this year a similar project is underway in year 5. In February 2010, the school won the South Essex Girls' 7 a side football competition.[8]
The schools was described at "good" by Ofsted in 2004, 2008[9] and, in 2010, good with outstanding features, and has achieved a number of independently awarded quality marks. These include Investors in People, the Arts Mark Gold,[10] Ormiston Education's Every Child Matters Quality Mark Gold,[11] Quality in Study Support, the Financial Management Standard in Schools, Healthy Schools, The Active Mark and its local replacement, Thurrock Gold award, the Sustrans Bike It award and two Department for Education and Skills School Achievement Awards. The school also has entry level recognition for the International School Award and Eco Schools silver.
Local Politics [edit]
There are two wards that cover Little Thurrock - Rectory Ward and Blackshots Ward. Little Thurrock now has a new Conservative Councillor Tom Kelly. All other Councillors are Conservative.
Little Thurrock - Rectory [edit]
May 5, 2011 Election Candidates Little Thurrock Rectory Alan David Broad (United Kingdom Independence Party) Tom Kelly (Conservative) Eileen O`Reilly (Labour) Matthew James Orbell (Liberal Democrat)
Little Thurrock - Blackshots [edit]
Community Forum - Est. 2003 [edit]
Little Thurrock Forum (Rectory Ward)
Working in partnership with Residents / Thurrock Council and Essex Police. General Meetings - Every Third Tuesday 19.20 for 19.30 start. Specialist Meetings: Held at Tyrrells Hall WMC and Little Thurrock School
Police Meeting (Now attending Forum General Meetings)
Venue St Marys Church Hall Dock Road Little Thurrock
Current Administrator: Vincent Offord
Stifford Community Forum (Blackshots Ward)
See Stifford Community Forum Website Current Chair: Len Orpin
Local Parks / Play Areas
Delafield / Rookery / Dipping / Blackshots / Hangman's Woods
Facilities [edit]
Pubs & Clubs
Bull Public House - Dock Road / Oaks Public House - Lodge Lane / Tyrrell's Hall - WMC (CIU Club) - Dock Road / RAFA Club - Southend Road
Shopping Areas
Broadway / Southend Road / Lodge Lane(Socketts Heath)
Notes [edit]
- ^ Thomas Wright, The picturesque beauties of Great Britain
- ^ a b Tony Benton, Boldly from the Marshes
- ^ South Essex: landscape and memory
- ^ Nikolas Pevsner, The Buildings of Essex (Penguin, 2nd edition reprinted 1996),
- ^ PH Reaney, The Place-Names of Essex, (CUP, 1969)
- ^ "Little Thurrock Primary School". BBC News. 1 April 2009.
- ^ Primary Education in Thurrock 2010 Thurrock Council
- ^ "Essex FA". www.essexfa.com. Retrieved 2010-04-04. Text " News " ignored (help); Text " 2010 " ignored (help); Text " March " ignored (help); Text " County Winners Move on to Regional Finals " ignored (help)
- ^ Thurrock Council news
- ^ Arts Council database
- ^ "Woodside wins gold and silver awards". Thurrock Gazette. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- ^ a b Thurrock Council
- ^ a b Thurrock Council
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External links [edit]
- Little Thurrock Community Forum
- Stifford Community Forum
- Ward profile -Rectory
- Ward profile -Blackshots
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