Why is this place called Childerditch? The name itself offers a clue to this place’s past. The ditch part refers to a stream flowing through the parish. Childer could come from Celia an old river name. Welcome to Childerditch.
Childerditch remains isolated and rural near Brentwood. It is one of long narrow parishes sloping to the Thames plain. The terrain drops from 100 meters in the north to 6 meters in the south. London clay makes up the soil. Several streams flow south. One stream formed part of the boundary with Little Warley. It joins another from Childerditch Pond before flowing into the river Mardyke. The former Childerditch fen was in the angle of the stream and the Mardyke.
Childerditch has been sparsely populated throughout its history. In 1066 the three manors had 21 inhabitants. By 1670 there were 32 houses. The population was 188 in 1801. It rose to 289 in 1821 but declined to 184 in 1931.
This parish consists of scattered farms and cottages. Settlement mainly exists in the northern half. In the early 18th century a lane from Brentwood and Little Warley linked houses along Childerditch common’s southern edge. The lane continued east past Childerditch Pond to Bell End Hatch. The lane’s western end is now part of Magpie Lane. Footpaths mark its course farther east. A footpath marks a wide road’s remains. The road ran south over the common to old Thorndon Hall in the early 18th century.
The lane and road disappeared after new Thorndon Hall’s building between 1764 and 1770. Childerditch common was incorporated into Thorndon Park. Childerditch Street and Dunnings Lane ran south out of the old lane from Little Warley. Childerditch Street contained about 10 houses in the later 18th century. It follows the stream from Childerditch pond. It curves west through the valley to join Childerditch Lane. Dunnings Lane was associated with the Dunning family. Until the 18th century the name applied to the spinal road from the common to the fen. It is now restricted to the section south of the railway.
The parish church stands on a hillock west of Childerditch Lane. Nearly opposite is the former vicarage. Farther south are three farms on ancient sites: Nuttys, Tillingham Hall, and Blankets. Tillingham was a Domesday manor.
The London Tilbury and Southend railway extension opened in 1886. It crossed Childerditch south of Nuttys Farm with a station at East Horndon. An industrial township has grown around the station in the present century. Factories are on the Childerditch side. The Southend arterial road opened in 1925. A new road Stahlton Lane links the cement works at Childerditch Hall with the arterial road.
Most older buildings are in Childerditch Street. Woodlands is a much-altered 15th-century house near the street’s north end. Opposite is Rose Brook which also dates from the 15th century. Meadow View dates from the 18th century. Roses Farm is a timber-framed building. Blankets is an 18th-century building of red brick. Nuttys Farm was rebuilt in stock brick in 1866. Hill Farm appears to have been rebuilt in the earlier 19th century as was Childerditch Hall.
Childerditch has always sought goods services and social life outside its boundaries. Steeplechasing was carried on there during the 1860s. In 1884 attempts were being made to start a parish circulating library. In 1848 Childerditch had a beerhouse a shop and a school. All three had closed by 1915.
In 1086 there were three estates in Childerditch. They were held by the king Saisselin and Swein of Essex. The king’s land was held in 1066 by Earl Harold. Henry I granted the land to Otes the goldsmith between 1108 and 1115. Saisselin’s land had been held in 1066 by Orgar a free man. Swein’s land became the manor of Tillingham.
The two estates granted to Coggeshall abbey in 1251 became known as the manor of Childerditch. In 1377 the manor of Tillingham was added to the estate. Coggeshall abbey surrendered Childerditch and Tillingham manors to the king in 1538.
Childerditch Hall farm was bought in 1920 or 1921 by the tenant Henry Ford. Since the 1930s part of the former farm land to the west has been developed for industry. Childerditch Hall was rebuilt in the 19th century in stock brick.
Tillingham Hall was built around 1970 replacing an earlier building. East of it is a homestead moat.
Childerditch’s story is one of quiet rural life. It is a place where the streams the fields and the ancient manors have shaped the community’s identity. Today Childerditch balances its historical roots with modern industry.