(1 of 2) The first journey through our community

The Journey starts from Laindon Common and has so far reached the start of the main section of Laindon High Road

Laindon Common Plan
Ken Porter
Dukes Head - Click on picture to reveal more
Ken Porter - Dec 2010
Victorian Post Box
Ken Porter
Ken Porter
White House Farm - Now a retreat -click on image to reveal more
Ken Porter
Blackmore - Click on picture to reveal more
Looking down Noak Hill - Click on picture to reveal more
Ian Mott
The Old Fortune - Click on picture to reveal more
Ken Porter
Old Forge - Click on picture to reveal more
Milestone - Click on picture to reveal more
Ken Porter
The Spires - Click on picture to reveal more
Ken Porter
Looking East (left) at the Junction - Click on picture to reveal the Fortune of War
Looking West (right) at the Junction - Click on picture to reveal the history of this location
Fortune Service Station -Click on picture to see how it fits into our History

Our journey starts at the northern end of our district at Laindon Common. This is on the north side of Laindon Common Road off Noak Hill Road.

The northern tip of the old Parish of Laindon stretched as a finger along Noak Hill Road to just past Frith Farm. The road is believed to be named after William ate Noak who lived in Noak (Noke) Bridge Farm around 1319. During the fifteenth century the road for a time was known as North Street. Presumably because it lay north of the hamlet that was situated at the junction of the road with Wash Road, Dunton Road and the Laindon High Road.

This formed the northern most settlement of the parish.

On the opposite side of Laindon Common road to the common is the Dukes Head.

As we turn towards the junction with Noak Hill Road we pass Frith Farm, of which there will be more later, on the north side of the road.

As we approach the junction we see a Victorian post box

We now join Noak Hill Road and start our journey south

As we join Noak Hill Road the first notable building we come across on the west side is the old White House Farm house

The second landmark we see is Blackmore (Bungs) Farm House on the west side of the road.

As we continue our way south we come to Great Burstead parish church ‘St Mary Magdalene’ across the field to our left. This is accessed from the junction at the top of Noak Hill.

We now proceed down Noak Hill

As we travel down Noak Hill we have this general view looking towards St Agnes Road

From the bottom of the hill it is a short distance to The Old Fortune of War.  This was one of the settlements forming the parish of Laindon.

We now turn right and then take the left fork at the junction with Dunton Road to continue our journey towards the New Fortune, just deviating to take a look at the Blacksmiths

Turning back into the High Road just a few yards down on the east side of the road we come across a Milestone. There is another on our route but we will come to that later. The first map of our route showing mileage was drawn up by John Ogilby in 1683. We also know that in 1823 coaches were running from the Bell, Horndon on the Hill along our route to the Crown Inn, Billericay. Arthur Young in 1767 makes reference to the road being “twenty one years in a turnpike, but is now free”. So it would appear that this stone was laid any time between 1683 and 1823. Milestones are rapidly disappearing so we are pretty fortunate to have two on our route. There are only approximately 130 left in Essex.

We now travel on to the New Fortune of War

The stretch of road from the Old Fortune of War to the A127 is now known as High Road North. Prior to the building of the A127 it linked up with the High Road on the southern side.

To reach the New Fortune of War we need to make an excursion across the roundabout and our first links to the past are the buildings known as the Spires

We now reach the New Fortune of War at the junction with the A127, but if we look to the east (left) we see:

No Fortune of War

We look to the west and see McDonald’s

As we look across the A127 we see Laindon High Rd and our continuing journey

On the west side of the junction we see the Fortune Service Station, a modern establishment, but with a lot of historical connections with Laindon

To continue our journey we have to retrace our journey to the roundabout and turn right to cross the A127 by a new bridge.

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  • That was so interesting.  I’m new to this site but love local history. It’s amazing how you pass these places every day but unless you take time to read about them you would never know these things are still around. 

    By Bartholomew Simpson (28/09/2017)
  • My granddad lived in a self-built bungalow (he and my dad built it in the 30’s) in Waverley Road, which was compulsorily purchased by Basildon Corporation in 1961 as part of the development of Basildon New Town and he bought another in Basildon Drive. At that time Basildon Drive was an unmade road.

    By Sue Tripp (Nee Moore) (29/01/2015)
  • Thank you so much for this most interesting trip down memory lane, I have enjoyed every aspect of the site. I was born in Northumberland Avenue and then later lived in Elizabeth Drive and I, like my parents, was married in St Nicholas Church and then lived in a new home built by Rawleys in Tattenham Road. My connections with Laindon are long standing ones as they go back to my great grandparents. I am now a pensioner living in Scotland but return to Laindon several times a year to visit the family and maintain the family graves at St Nicholas. Something else we have to thank Ken Porter for as he has organised and worked hard to maintain the graveyard. It will be so nice for me to have this page to bring me back to the old Laindon I loved and from the comfort of my armchair too.

    We are glad to be able to evoke your memories of Laindon and will with the assistance of the community work to tell the full story.

    By Linda Smith (02/04/2011)

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