Calendar of Hadleigh
500 BC to 2012 AD
500 – 400 BC The beginning of a settlement in Hadleigh (Iron Age burial found near parish church)
43 BC-411 AD Romans invaded Kent and marched into Essex. Roman finds located in Hadleigh and surrounding districts.
449-597 AD Saxon invasion
653 St Cedd converts Saxons to Christianity in area
870-1020 Arrival of Vikings (who settled mostly in the north and east of England)
1000 Hamlet of farmers – Saxon church probably on site of present parish church
1066 Invasion by the Normans
1140 Church of St. James the Less built (or possibly extended) by the Normans
1231 Castle built and market established in Hadleigh, held on Wednesdays
1234 Park farm established
1256 Enquiry ordered into disrepair of Castle
1270 Philip Dawe became landowner – Daws Heath named after him
c.1327-1340 Extensive repairs and building works to castle
1381 Peasants’ revolt
1400 Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford died. He had held the castle and manor of Hadleigh
1491 Sayers Farm established by William Sayer
1500s Church given its unusual dedication of St James the Less
1553 Castle sold, demolition work commenced but change of plans left it in ruinous condition
1500-1600 Strangmans Place and Blossoms farm houses built
1600’s Hadleigh Hall established – home of Heber family (Thomas Heber died 1697)
1641 Signing of ‘The Protestation’
1643 Signing of ‘The Vow and Covenant’
1644 Signing of ‘The Solemn League and Covenant’
1651 Inn built – Boar’s Head (now call ‘The Castle’)
1700’s Solby’s built
1701 Commencement of oyster industry
1767 Annual fair
1769 Earliest record of ‘The Crown’ Inn
1780 James Murrell (Hadleigh’s White Wizard) reputedly the 7th son of a 7th son, born in Rochford.
c1800 Hadleigh House built at ‘Four Wont Ways’ (now the site behind the shops on the roundabout at Victoria House Corner.
1808-14 Peninsular Wars (Napoleonic) against France by Britain/Portugal and Spain – Daws Heath settled by squatters returning from this war
1820 First weekend school started in St James the Less church, from endowment by Mrs Martha Lovibond
1828 Mrs Lovibond died at Tunbridge Wells and buried at Hatfield Peverel. (She was only 58 years old).
1838 Jonathan Wood moved to Solby’s
1839 Workhouse in Chapel Lane closed
1840 The Wagon and Horses Ale house opened
1852 The Peculiar People built chapel in Daws Heath Road
1855 First school built in Hadleigh – Church school built on land donated by Lady Olivia Sparrow (later the school closed and became the Parish Church Hall).
1856 Rectory built for the Rev. E. Espin in Rectory Road
1856 Railways reach Southend
1860 James Murrell died (December)
1867 Stibbards Funeral Undertakers established
1890/91 Land purchased (at least three farms) and the establishment of the Salvation Army Colony in Castle Lane
1897 Alfred Lawrence – Confectioners/Stationers established in High Street
1900 Steve Choppen died aged 70 yrs. He had been Hadleigh’s blacksmith, his forge had been opposite the Castle Inn in the rear yard.
1903 Congregational Church built in Church Road
1910 First Council school built in Church Road (in October 2010 the School was opened to the general public to celebrate 100 years)
1924 Church school closes having merged with Council school. Premises become the Church Hall of St. James the Less
1924 New main road through Hadleigh and development of the Kingsway shops
1926 Elim church built in Oak Road
1935 Kingsway cinema built in ‘Kingsway’ Hadleigh and contained Compton organ
1937 The first public library in Hadleigh
1940 Air raid damaged buildings in Hadleigh including the Salvation Army temple roof
1949 The King John Secondary School, Thundersley opened (construction had begun before the Second World War)
1950 Victoria House, formally Hadleigh House, pulled down
1956 St. Barnabas Church built
1953-4 Present rectory built in Rectory Road
1962 Hadleigh Hall pulled down
c1965 Kingsway cinema closed – became a Bingo Hall and Dance venue
1965 New infants school built in Bilton Road
1966 Westwood Primary School built
1968 Kingsway cinema building pulled down
1971 The Deanes School, Thundersley opened
2000 Original school/Church Hall sold (although still used by children as purchased by Sandcastles Nursery)
2009 Wagon and Horses public house pulled down and flats built on site on corner of New Road/London Road
2010 Fire station closed and new station built in Rayleigh Road near the A127
2010 Harold House pulled down and flats built on corner of Chapel Lane/London Road.
2011 Web site for Hadleigh’s history set up
2012 Olympic games come to Hadleigh; mountain-bike events to be held on Salvation Army land overlooking the estuary.
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The Church of St Barnabas was built before the 2nd world war. It was slightly damaged when the flying bomb fell in Church Road – about three houses away from the Rectory. I attended the church and belonged to the Cub group there.
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Thanks for this comment. From the church’s web-site, an editor found: ‘ The Church of St Barnabas Hadleigh began as daughter church of the ancient Parish Church of St James the Less, Hadleigh. A ‘Mission Church’ designed to be eventually the church hall was dedicated on 1st October 1935.
The building was damaged during the second World War, but was restored and re-opened on 19th January 1946. Subsequently, a permanent church was built; it was commissioned on 29th January 1958. The chancel and tower were completed in1961 and dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford on 12th September. ‘
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