Dunton Wayletts or Dunton is a hamlet and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Borough of Basildon The Borough of Basildon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Essex, England. It is named after its largest town, Basildon, where the council is based. The borough ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It lies on the western outskirts of the borough's main town of

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

, adjoining the suburb of Laindon.

Toponymy

The name Dunton has

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

origins ("dun" meaning hill and "tun" meaning town). Wayletts is also derived from the

("Weylete") and

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

("Weg-gelaetu") both meaning a place where ways or roads meet. There have been many reported names for Dunton, including: * Dantuna * Dunton * Dunton(a) juxta Herwardstoke * Dunton(a) Weylate * Duntune * Dont(h)on(e) * Dounton * Dounton Weylate * Dounton Waylate * Downton Waylate * Denton

History

The earliest reference to Dunton is found in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 when 'Dantona' was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux (half brother of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

). During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the parish of Dunton was divided into two manors: Dunton Hall and Fryern Manor. In the 12th century Dunton came under the ownership of the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin. In the 1440s the manor of Dunton was granted to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. The manor of Dunton remained in the possession of King's College until well into the 18th century.''Portrait of Dunton the Lost Village'' Dunton was an

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

. The name Dunton was usually used for the parish in civil matters whilst the name Dunton Wayletts was usually used in ecclesiastical matters. In 1801 the population of Dunton was 121. In 1837 the parish comprised 2,000 acres of land out of which 1,719 was cultivated land, 222 acres meadow pasture, 37 acres woodland, 22 acres was common land and 17 acres belonging to the Rector. In the 1841 census the population of Dunton was 194. In 1931 it had a population of 661. On 1 April 1934 the civil parish was abolished. Part was transferred to Brentwood, but the majority of the area, including the village itself, was absorbed into the Billericay Urban District. It briefly became part of the

urban parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Little Burstead until three years later in 1937 all the parishes in the urban district were united to form a single parish called Billericay. Billericay Urban District was renamed Basildon Urban District in 1955, with Dunton having been administered as part of Basildon ever since. In 1967 the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

opened the Dunton Technical Centre on former agricultural land at the north end of Dunton. Dunton's amenities declined during the 1970s. The village school closed in 1977 and the one village shop closed a year later. In November 2023, Brentwood Council gave permission to build Dunton Hills Garden Village in the parish of West Horndon to the west of Lower Dunton Road, between the A127 and the c2c trainline. The village will include 3,700 homes on land owned by Brentwood Borough Council and CEG Land Promotions and was designated as one of the government's 14 garden villages sites in January 2017. Permission was given against concerns that the new homes would impact local amenities in Basildon and West Horndon.

Buildings

Friern Manor, to the north of Lower Dunton Road, was built in the 18th century. It was owned by the governors of

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by Rahere, and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by ...

in the 19th century. During the 1930s it was owned by the parents of

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...

. It is now used as a wedding venue. Dunton Wayletts Farm is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, a timber-framed and plastered farmhouse built in the 16th century, probably on the site of a much earlier building. It is now owned by the

Highways Agency National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards u ...

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

. Upper Dunton Hall (now Dunton Hall) and Lower Dunton Hall were owned by

. Dunton Hall was built in the 18th century and is a Grade II listed former farmhouse. The building was converted to a private dwelling following the closure of the farm. The Old Rectory is a substantial Victorian house built in the mid-19th century which originally served as the rectory of St Mary's Church, until a new rectory was built in the 1930s. In 1934 the Old Rectory was bought by journalist Charles Leatherland, who lived there for fifteen years; when he received a life peerage in 1964, he took the title Baron Leatherland of Dunton. Charles Leatherland also bought the former Dunton School building. In 1987 the Old Rectory became a restaurant and is now used as a country house hotel and wedding venue. Rose Cottage and Ivy Cottage are small 18th-century Grade II listed timber-framed and plastered cottages in Dunton Road, weatherboarded on the front. Southfields Farm was an early 18th-century farmhouse. It was destroyed by fire in the early 1960s, and the land was bought by the

as part of the site of their Dunton Technical Centre.

St Mary's Church

The parish church of St. Mary the Virgin has medieval origins. It was rebuilt in 1873 at a cost of £950, except for a part of the north wall of the chancel which is of 16th-century brick and a 15th-century truss. St Mary's stands on the site of a medieval church or priory. In 1923 the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England cited evidence of its medieval origins including a 13th-century font, a 13th-century stone coffin in the churchyard, a cup dating from 1563, a date stone of 1686, a 17th-century table in the vestry, and a church bell dating from 1712. By the 1950s St Mary's was in a poor structural condition caused by subsidence. The condition of the church had been causing concern for many years and in 1968 the Lay Commission on Churches advised it be pulled down. In 1978 the former Dunton parish was now united with Laindon and the church closed to services and became a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

(a church building other than the main church) before the Church Commissioners applied to have it declared redundant which was granted in 1980. After closure, the building and churchyard was left to the mercy of the elements and vandals. The Church Commissioners recommended it become a private residence, and the building was sold in 1985. Following the sale the church was restored for use as a private residence which it remains to this day. There are still a few gravestones remaining from the former churchyard adjacent to the house. St. Nicholas Church in Laindon now serves the parish of Laindon with Dunton.

Schools

Dunton's first known school was a

dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for children aged two to five. They emerged in Great Britain and its colonies during the Early modern Britain, early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman ...

which opened in 1836. In 1843 a National School was built in Lower Dunton Road on a site granted by King's College, Cambridge. The school had two rooms to accommodate some fifty children. In 1929 Dunton School was sold by

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

and became a private dwelling. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

occupied the building. After the war a new council school was built partly to accommodate the growing number of children from the new Dunton Plotlands estate. The school closed in 1977 due to declining attendance.

Dunton Poor Law labour colony

In 1904 the Poplar

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

acquired Sumpners Farm, Dunton as a 130-acre labour colony for 110 men who were transferred from Poplar

Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

in East London. This was the first Poor Law labour colony in England. It closed in 1935.

Dunton Plotlands

The Dunton Plotlands were smallholdings which became popular with East Enders moving out of London. Much of the Plotlands area was compulsorily purchased for the Southfields Industrial Estate. However a small part was saved and is now located within the Langdon Nature Reserve.

References

External links

Basildon Borough History – Langdon Hills & Dunton
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518080815/http://basildonhistory.wix.com/essex#!langdon-hills/c1n3k/ , date=18 May 2015
Basildon Heritage
* http://www.bnhs.net/living-landscape/ * http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=123327 * http://www.stnicholaslaindon.co.uk/Mag/Images/Mags%202009/April2009IWeb.pdf ages 24–27* http://www.roselake.co.uk * http://www.laindonhistory.org.uk/category_id__20.aspx * http://www.laindonhistory.org.uk/page_id__221_path__0p127p20p.aspx * https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054948/http://www.onthelakes.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Thurrock%20Paranormal/old%20rec%20history.htm
British Listed Buildings – Dunton Hall

Poplar Workhouse
Former civil parishes in Essex Hamlets in Essex Basildon (town)