The Dunton Plotlands was an area of small rural plots of land in Dunton Wayletts, southern Essex inhabited from the 1930s [1] to the 1980s. [2]
The 'plotlands' consisted of small plots of land sold in the first half of the 20th century to people who built weekend cottages, holiday bungalows or smallholdings there. [3] Many of the people building weekend cottages here would have come out from London.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, many weekenders moved out to their plots on a permanent basis, to escape the worst effects of the Blitz. This period saw the Dunton population at its highest.
After the Second World War, the new town of Basildon was created, encompassing the plotlands here and in the surrounding areas of Laindon and Pitsea. At the time, 25000 people lived in the whole area, often with unsurfaced roads and limited water supplies. [3]
Dunton Plotlands is situated to the west of Laindon and the Langdon Hills, now on the edge of the Basildon district.
Today, Dunton Plotlands is part of the Essex Wildlife Trust's Langdon Nature Reserve. The Langdon Visitor Centre [4] [5] and the Haven Plotlands Museum, housed in a converted bungalow, [6] exhibit the natural and social history of the area.
The Plotlands is still a wooded area where a small number of cottages, and some of the original grid of grass tracks remain. Visitors can look around a preserved bungalow. Many wildlife events are held throughout the year.
Basildon is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159.
The Borough of Basildon is a local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred on the town of Basildon. It was formed as the Basildon District on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon Urban District and the part of Thurrock Urban District that was within the Basildon New Town. The population of the district as of 2010 is about 172,000. The local authority is Basildon Borough Council. The council made an application for borough status in February 2010 and this was given approval that year, with Mo Larkin becoming the first mayor in October.
The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres.
Laindon railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the Laindon area of the borough of Basildon, Essex. It is 22 miles 69 chains (36.8 km) down the main line from London Fenchurch Street and is situated between West Horndon to the west and Basildon to the east. Its three-letter station code is LAI.
The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in Essex, England. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking Romford with Southend-on-Sea, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a trunk road, it was "de-trunked" in 1997. It is known as the Southend Arterial Road except for part of its length in Southend-on-Sea. It is also streetlit for its whole length despite its majority coverage through rural land.
West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood, Essex on the boundary with Thurrock. It is located 20 miles (32 km) east north-east of Charing Cross in London. The civil parish also includes East Horndon and Dunton Hills.
Basildon and Billericay is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since its 2010 creation it has been represented by John Baron, a Conservative.
Barstable was a Hundred in the English County of Essex. Both the hundred and the manor with the same name are mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A number of parishes in the western part of the Barstable hundred are now in Thurrock.
Noak Bridge is a housing estate in the civil parish of Laindon in Basildon, Essex.
Laindon is a commuter town in Essex, between Basildon and West Horndon. It was an ancient parish in Essex, England, that was abolished for civil purposes in 1937. It was based on the manor of the same name and now lies mostly within the urban area of Basildon.
Vange is a former village and civil parish now subsumed within the urban area of the Basildon borough of Essex. As it is much smaller than Basildon, Laindon and Pitsea, it does not have its own town centre or railway station. The London Road (B1464) is the main road through Vange and used to be part of the A13 until it was bypassed in the 1970s. The population of the Vange ward within the Basildon Borough taken at the 2011 Census was 10,048. In 1931 the parish had a population of 2300. On 1 January 1937 the parish was abolished to form Billericay.
Langdon Hills is a township and former civil parish located in Basildon in Essex, England.
Shotgate is a civil parish and village in Essex, England. On 1 April 2007, Shotgate became the first area of Wickford to have a Parish Council.
Little Burstead is a village in Essex, England. It lies 2¼ miles SSW of Billericay, and 4½ E by S of Brentwood railway station.
Dunton Wayletts is a hamlet in the unparished area of Basildon, on the western outskirts of Laindon, in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It is located between the Southend Arterial Road and the London, Tilbury and Southend line. It is usually known as Dunton.
The Dunton Campus is a major automotive research and development facility located in Dunton Wayletts, Laindon, Essex, United Kingdom owned and operated by Ford Motor Company. As Ford's European headquarters, it is the largest automotive technical centre in the United Kingdom and takes its name from the nearby Dunton Wayletts. Ford Dunton houses the main design team of Ford of Europe alongside its Merkenich Technical Centre in Cologne, Germany. With the closure of Ford's Warley site in September 2019, the staff from the UK division of Ford Motor Credit Company and Ford's UK Sales and Marketing departments have moved to the Dunton site. As of November 2019, Dunton had around 4,000 staff working at the site.
The 1999 Basildon District Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
The 2000 Basildon District Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.
Charles Edward Leatherland, Baron Leatherland OBE MSM DL was a British journalist and Labour Party politician.
Langdon Nature Reserve is a 210 hectare nature reserve west of Basildon in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, and forms part of the Langdon Ridge Site of Special Scientific Interest.