Southminster Railway Station, 2011
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Southminster is a town and
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 ...
on the Dengie Peninsula in the
Maldon district Maldon District is a local government district in Essex, England. The district is managed by ''Maldon District Council'', which is based in Maldon, the largest town in the district. The district also includes the town of Burnham-on-Crouch and ...
of
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 ...
in the
East of England East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...
. It lies about north of
Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex, in the East of England; it lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...
and south-east of
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
; it is approximately east-north-east of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. To the north is the River Blackwater, which is tidal, and, since
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
times, has been the gateway to trading in the area.


History

Southminster is in the centre of the
Dengie Dengie is a scattered village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England, with a population of 119 at the 2011 census. It is about 4 km NE of the nearest town (and railway station), Southminster, on the slightly higher ground ...
peninsula, which once formed a
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of the same name. A major horse market used to be held annually in the town. Southminster marshes were a favourite centre for
hare coursing Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight, not by scent. In some countries, it is a legal, competitive activity in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn ...
in Victorian times. Pandole Wood contains ancient earthworks believed to date from the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
. The landscape surrounding the town, and elsewhere on the peninsula, is characterized by a pattern of strictly rectangular field boundaries, with evidence of a unit of measurement having been applied to the scheme as a whole. Middle
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 ...
administrations have been suggested as its origin, although the road to the Roman
Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore () was a military command of the Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Shore". In the ...
fort of Othona at
Bradwell-on-Sea Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England; it is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located north-north-east of Southminster and is east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Maldon and in th ...
also conforms to the pattern.


St Leonard's Church

The medieval St Leonard's Church dates mainly from the 15th century, although there are traces of much earlier work, including from the 12th century. It is a relatively large, "townish" church by Essex standards. The church also stands at an important road junction, contrasting with the familiar Essex pattern of a church and
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
complex on the same site. These features are consistent with John Blair's
formulation Formulation is a term used in various senses in various applications, both the material and the abstract or formal. Its fundamental meaning is the putting together of components in appropriate relationships or structures, according to a formula ...
of an Anglo-Saxon minster, in contrast to a private oratory in its origins, and the place-name would perhaps suggest
Cedd Cedd (; 620 – 26 October 664) was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop from the Kingdom of Northumbria. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England and a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby, a meeting which r ...
's mission at the
Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea, is a Christian church dating from the years 660–662 and among the oldest largely intact churches in England. It is in regular use by the nearby Othona Community, in addition to Church of En ...
near Bradwell (to the north) as its parent. The church 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 ...
. Several well-known clergymen are associated with the church, including
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
Walter Henry Hill, curate from 1832 to 1839, and
Alexander John Scott Alexander John Scott (23 July 1768 - 24 July 1840) was an Anglican chaplain who served in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He served as Horatio Nelson's personal chaplain at the Battle of Trafalgar, and had ...
, rector 1805 to 1840 but previously personal chaplain to
Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...
. After the
Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...
Nelson died in the arms of Scott, and several artefacts that once belonged to Scott are found in the church. There is also a brick-built
United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...
building in North Street, Southminster.


Facilities

The town has a pre-school, infant and a primary school, a small library, a handful of pubs, a swimming pool, a brewery and cidery and one holiday park. The local football team - Southminster United F.C. play on the King George V Memorial Field.


Transport


Railway

Southminster railway station Southminster railway station is the eastern terminus of the Crouch Valley Line in Essex, England; it serves the town of Southminster and other settlements on the Dengie Peninsula. It is down the line from Liverpool Street station, London Liver ...
is the northern terminus of the
Crouch Valley line The Crouch Valley line (sometimes referred to as the Southminster branch line) is a branch line off the Shenfield–Southend line in Essex, in the east of England. It links in the west to in the east. During peak hours, trains connect to or ...
, which provides generally hourly stopping services to
Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county (England), county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the orig ...
. Some early-morning peak services continue beyond Wickford to
London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is ...
. Trains are operated by
Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...
. The single-tracked line was electrified in the 1980s.


Buses

Bus services in Southminster are operated by
First Essex First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Ea ...
,
Hedingham & Chambers Hedingham & Chambers was a bus operator, part of the larger Go East Anglia unit within the Go-Ahead Group, consisting of the #Hedingham, Hedingham and #Chambers, Chambers brands. The group was formed when Go-Ahead purchased the two firms in Jun ...
and
Stephensons of Essex Stephensons of Essex is a privately owned bus company based in Rochford, Essex. It operates local bus services throughout Essex and West Suffolk, from headquarters at Rochford, near Southend-on-Sea, and depots at Maldon, Boreham, Braintree, Ess ...
. Routes include: * 331
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...
Burnham on Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex, in the East of England; it lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...
* D2 Maldon – Southminster


Location grid

Parishes adjacent to the Southminster parish:


References

{{authority control Civil parishes in Essex Maldon District