The Pilgrim Fathers

A meeting of the Pilgrim Fathers prior to their sailing in the Mayflower is said to have taken place in Billericay, and many local names and much historical imagery reflect this: Mayflower House, Morris Men, Taxis, School, Hall. Sunnymede School's houseswere called Mayflower, Pilgrim, Chantry and Martin (after Christopher Martin, a Billericay merchant who travelled on the Mayflower as Ship's Governor).

Four people from Billericay were on board, including Christopher Martin. He and his wife Marie, along with Solomon Prowe and John Langemore, perished shortly after their arrival at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The unfortunate fate of the would-be pioneers did not deter other inhabitants of Billericay from setting sail for the New World. The town of Billerica, Massachusetts was established in 1655 to commemorate the origins of some of the first settlers.

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Georgian and Victorian era

In the Georgian period many excellent examples of the period's houses were built in Billericay. One of those remaining today is Burghstead Lodge in the High Street, which used to house the library. The road from Billericay to Tilbury still had a reputation for "footpads" and highwaymen[citation needed] operating along the road, where it passed through open country.

In the town, The Union Workhouse was built in 1840 to continue to implement the Poor Law. Parts of this building were later incorporated into what was St. Andrews Hospital. The railway arrived in Billericay in 1889, being on the Great Eastern Main Linebetween London and Southend-on-Sea.

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The 20th century

In 1916, during the First World War, one of the giant German Zeppelin airships was shot down during an aerial battle over Billericay. During its fiery demise, it narrowly missed the High Street, crashing into a nearby field. Recent research has indicated that this may be identified with the 'ghost Zeppelin' of Tonbridge which was allegedly seen floating over that town earlier in the day.

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St Andrew's Hospital, which was formerly the site of the town's Victorian workhouse, continued to function as an important communal building. From 1973, it housed the internationally renowned Regional Plastic Surgery and Burns unit until this was relocated to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford in April 1998. After the relocation, most of the hospital was redeveloped into housing. The listed buildings remain intact but are now residential.

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Geography

The Boating Lake at Lake Meadows

Billericay is within the London Basin and lies on a mixture of London clay, Claygate Beds and Bagshot Beds. Near the High Street, there is a change in soil type from sandy to clay, which gives rise to local underground springs. Open spaces include Norsey Wood, Mill Meadows Nature Reserve, Queen's Park Country Park, Sun Corner, Lake Meadows, Hanningfield Reservoir and South Green. Billericay containsBillericay School, Mayflower High School and St John's School.

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Governance

Between 1 July 1837 and 1 July 1939 Billericay was a registration district. From 1974 until the present, the town falls under the Basildon district. The registry office is located in Basildon, in the council offices. There is also the facility to register deaths in Basildon Hospital.[2]

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Parliamentary

Since major boundary changes in Essex for the 2010 general election, Billericay has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Basildon and Billericay, whose MP is John Baron of the Conservative Party. The town was previously represented by Teresa Gorman from 1987 to 2001, a Conservative rebel who had the whip withdrawn for opposing the Maastricht Treaty. Her predecessor, the Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, was also prominent in the news in 1987, when he was charged with indecency.[3]

Local government

Billericay is part of the Basildon district, although occasional proposals have been made to transfer it to the nearby Brentwood district.[4] Basildon District Council is Conservative controlled. Billericay is also served by a town council of 20 members elected in 3 wards. There is also a youth town council, elected in schools around the town.[5] The town council has powers related to local planning and finance, while the youth council has an annual budget of £500 to spend or invest in local services or entertainment.[6]

Billericay parish was not formed until 1937; before then the area had been part of the ancient Great Burstead parish.[7] In 1894 Billericay Rural District was created, which covered a wide area stretching as far as Brentwood and Pitsea.[8] In 1934 the core of this district around Basildon and Billericay became Billericay Urban District, and in 1937 a Billericay civil parish was created covering the same area. The urban district, but not the parish, was renamed Basildon in 1955. In 1974 the district was abolished and became the present-day Basildon district.

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Transport

Billericay is a part of the London commuter belt.

It is served by Billericay railway station on the Greater Anglia route from Liverpool Street station, in the City of London, to Southend. The station connects to local bus routes.

Billericay is close to two primary routes: the A12 to the north and the A127 in the south. The A176 provides a road link to Basildon to the south of Billericay, as well as to the A127. The only secondary road in the town, the B1007, passes from just south of the town centre as Laindon Road, meets the A129 at Sun Corner and then continues northwards as Billericay's High Street and then Stock Road. It continues north to the county town of Chelmsford. Along its route is the village of Stock and an interchange to the A12. The town is a destination on the A129, linking it to the neighbouring towns of Brentwood and Wickford.

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Sport

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Billericay Cricket Club

The town is represented by local teams in a number of sports. The grounds of the local football and cricket teams and tennis club are located in the West of Billericay, along Blunts Wall Road.

Billericay Rugby Football Club is the local rugby team, playing in Essex Division One. Their ground is the Willowbrook Sports Club to the North of the town off of Stock Road. They are the only team from Essex to play at Twickenham, the home of English Rugby, when they won the Tetley Bitter Vase in 1999, a trophy in which they were runners up in 2007. Billericay is the only town to have won both the football and rugby vases. The club was formed in 1969 (although evidence has been found dating back to 1905). There has been a tennis club in the town since c. 1930.

Billericay is also the hometown of the Essex Spartans American football team who play their home games on the 3G Astroturf field at Hannakins Farm Community Centre.

 

Football

Formed in 1880, Billericay Town FC is the local football team and are currently in the Ryman Premier League. The stadium is called the New Lodge and has a capacity of 3,500. Whilst members of the Essex Senior League, the club won the F.A. Vase in 1976 when Stamford were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at Wembley Stadium.

The following season, 1976/77, saw the club go to Wembley again and – after a 1-1 draw there – played at Nottingham Forest F.C. in the replay and emerged victorious with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield, the oldest club in the world. Billericay Town became the first (and so far the only) club to win the F.A. Vase for a third time in 1979 when they defeated Almondsbury Greenway 4-1. This match was notable for a hat-trick by Doug Young – the first hat-trick in a Cup Final at Wembley Stadium since Geoff Hurst's in the 1966 World Cup Final.

Ivory FC, a Sunday League Team, were formed in 2007 and are linked to The Ivory Rooms, a bar in the town. The team gained notability by being part of a viral advertising campaign by Nivea winning the Great Football Experiment in 2011.[9] They currently play in the Brentwood Sunday League Division 1, and are managed by Will Rockett.

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Culture

The town was immortalised in the Ian Dury and the Blockheads song "Billericay Dickie". Billericay is also mentioned in George Orwell's novel Down and Out in Paris and London. Billericay is also the setting of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey as the home of Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and his parents, however the actual filming took place in Wales.

The Cater Museum is a privately owned local history museum housed in an 18th & 19th century building in the High Street.