Hadleigh, United Kingdom
Hadleigh is a town of 18,300 people in England, United Kingdom.
Why visit Hadleigh
Townapedia lists 3 museums and landmarks, 17 parks and trails, 21 places to eat and 5 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Rayleigh Town Museum, Hadleigh Castle, Tile Wood and Belton Hills.
Weather in Hadleigh
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Hadleigh
Hadleigh is a town in the borough of Castle Point, in the south-east of Essex, England. It lies on the A13 road between Thundersley, Benfleet and Leigh-on-Sea. The A127 'Southend Arterial Road' bypasses the town to the north.
From the Wikipedia article Hadleigh, Essex (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do5
Museums and landmarks3
Rayleigh Town Museum
Museum · 2.3 mi
Small local museum located in Rayleigh High Street
Parks, trails and playgrounds17
Little Haven Nature Reserve
Park · 1.3 mi
Essex Wildlife Trust Nature reserve
Great Wood and Dodd's Grove
Park · 0.7 mi
Essex Wildlife Trust Nature reserve
5 more on the map.
Restaurants and cafes21
mall road
Restaurant · Indian
305-307 London Road, Benfleet
Mo off; Tu-Th 17:30-22:30; Fr-Sa 17:30-23:00; Su 17:30-22:00
9 more on the map.
History
Hadleigh is known for Hadleigh Castle, and the adjoining country park to the south of the town centre. The castle's name is referenced in the name of the local government district of Castle Point, along with Canvey Point. The castle has extensive views overlooking the Thames Estuary. Most of the facing stones were stripped from the castle in the 16th century – the only bits still visible today being high inside the surviving towers and a small section of the 'gate house' – so most of what remains today is the rubble infill that was packed between the outer facing stones. Despite this the skeletal remains are pleasing to the eye and have been considered a romantic ruin for a few hundred years. John Constable painted Hadleigh Castle in 1829. The painting now belongs to the Yale Center for British Art, and is on permanent display in its museum on the Yale campus.
Based on the previous census, writing in 1848, Samuel Lewis, summarised the facts of its history and economy as follows:
In the reign of Henry II of England a castle was built here by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, the remains are situated on the brow of a steep hill, and consist chiefly of two circular towers.
Read more of the history
The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 14. 7.; net income, £450 [per year]; patrons, the Rector and Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford. The church is an ancient structure, of which the eastern end is semicircular, and in the Norman style. A school is endowed with £781 three % consols.
In the 19th century, Hadleigh was the home of the cunning man James Murrell. He died in the town in December 1860.
Hadleigh was an ancient parish in the Rochford Hundred of Essex. When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, Hadleigh was given a parish council and included in the Rochford Rural District. In 1929, Hadleigh and its neighbours South Benfleet and Thundersley were removed from the Rochford Rural District to form the new Benfleet Urban District. Hadleigh continued to exist as a civil parish after the 1929 reforms, but classed as an urban parish, making it ineligible to have a parish council; Benfleet Urban District Council was the lowest tier of local government. The civil parish and Benfleet Urban District were both abolished in 1974 when the new Castle Point district was created. At the 1951 census (one of the last before the abolition of the civil parish), Hadleigh had a population of 5,209.
The town has never had a railway station and almost all of its architecture is late 19th and 20th century – only three buildings are listed but one of these is the church, which is Grade I listed.
From the History section of Hadleigh, Essex on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable people from Hadleigh
Peter de NeumannBritish Royal Navy officer, and latterly harbourmaster at Gravesend in Kent, and then Dockmaster at Tilbury in EssexPhoto: Adeligneumann at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5- Alf AdamsBritish physicist
- Peter Edenmusical artist
- Edmund HazleBritish World War II medical orderly (1918-2006)
- Alison ChildsBritish diver
Born in Hadleigh, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.
Churches and places of worship13
Shopping2
Gas and EV charging3
Schools, colleges and libraries11
Healthcare3
Map of Hadleigh
78 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
London Southend Airport (SEN) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 4 miles away.
- Rayleigh 2 mi north, about 4 min by car
- Pitsea 4 mi west, about 7 min by car
- Southend-on-Sea 5 mi east, about 7 min by car
- Rochford 5 mi northeast, about 7 min by car
- Wickford 5 mi northwest, about 9 min by car
- Basildon 7 mi west, about 11 min by car
- Stanford-le-Hope 8 mi west, about 13 min by car
- Sheerness 10 mi southeast, about 16 min by car
- Gillingham 12 mi south, about 19 min by car
- Rochester 12 mi south, about 20 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Hadleigh
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- St James the Less ~ Hadleigh, Essex, Tigtib, CC BY 4.0
- St James the Less ~ Hadleigh, Essex, from due West, Tigtib, CC BY 4.0
- St James the Less ~ Hadleigh, Essex ~ from NNE, Tigtib, CC BY 4.0
- Rayleigh Town Museum 190916, Terryjoyce, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tile Wood 11, Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Belton Hills 6, Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Hadleigh Castle curtain and east towers, Oneblackline, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Little Haven 3, Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Belfairs Methodist Church cropped, David Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0
- StClementsChurch LeighOnSea, JohnArmagh, Public domain
- Pound Wood 2, Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
- HadleighCastle, JohnArmagh, Public domain
- St Margaret's Church, Lime Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea (NHLE Code 1268406) (May 2024) (2), User:Hassocks5489, CC0
- Chalkwell Park Cricket Ground, Glyn Baker, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, sunnnnnnonny, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, wasd42, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, techie2000, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
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