West Horndon, United Kingdom
West Horndon is a town of 1,650 people in England, United Kingdom.
Why visit West Horndon
Townapedia lists 3 museums and landmarks, 9 parks and trails, 4 places to eat, 1 place to stay and 2 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Cranham Brickfields and Langdon Nature Reserve.
Weather in West Horndon
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About West Horndon
West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It is located 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London. As well as West Horndon village, the parish also includes East Horndon, the southern part of Little Warley, and surrounding rural areas. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,649.
From the Wikipedia article West Horndon (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do2
Museums and landmarks3
Parks, trails and playgrounds9
Langdon Nature Reserve
Park · 2.4 mi
Essex Wildlife Trust Nature reserve
Thorndon Park
Park · 2.6 mi
Site of Special Scientific Interest in England
Restaurants and cafes4
History
The name Horndon is Old English, and comes from horn or thorn meaning hawthorn, and dun meaning hill.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 there were three estates or manors listed at the vill of Torninduna or Torinduna in the Barstable Hundred of Essex. The area became the two parishes of East Horndon and West Horndon, with the parish of West Horndon corresponding to the manor of Thorndon Hall, and the parish of East Horndon covering the two manors of Heron (to the north) and Abbotts (to the south).
West Horndon's medieval parish church, dedicated to St Nicholas, stood adjoining Old Thorndon Hall, which had been a moated manor house in medieval times before being rebuilt in the 1570s as an Elizabethan mansion.
In 1712 the parishes of West Horndon and Ingrave were united for ecclesiastical purposes. Following the construction of a new church at Ingrave to serve the combined parish, the old church of St Nicholas at West Horndon was demolished in 1734. In the 1760s, a new Thorndon Hall was built 1.2 miles (1.9 km) north of the old hall, at the northern tip of the parish. Only slight ruins of the old hall now remain. Although abolished as an ecclesiastical parish in 1712, West Horndon continued to exist as a civil parish for the purposes of administering the poor laws.
Read more of the history
The London, Tilbury and Southend railway built its new shorter inland route to Southend in the 1880s, to relieve congestion on the original main line to the south. East Horndon railway station opened on the new route in 1886. Although in the civil parish of West Horndon, the station was named after nearby East Horndon, which was then the larger settlement. There was no village of West Horndon as such at that time, with the civil parish of West Horndon being very sparsely populated. Much of the parish was the parkland of Thorndon Hall, and the southern part of the parish where the station was built was open farmland. A new village of West Horndon subsequently grew up around the station, and the station was renamed West Horndon in 1949.
Further growth of the village was encouraged with the establishment of Rotary Hoes in 1938, a manufacturer of trenching machinery. House-building continued in the 1950s for commuters to London as well as for workers at Rotary Hoes. In 1975 Rotary Hoes left West Horndon.
The ecclesiastical parishes in the area were reorganised in 1961. West Horndon was separated from Ingrave and merged instead with East Horndon. All Saints' Church at East Horndon was declared redundant in 1970 and is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. The modern church of St Francis at West Horndon now serves as the Anglican parish church for the ecclesiastical parish of East and West Horndon.
From the History section of West Horndon on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
More about West Horndon
Geography
West Horndon is located 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London.
The parish includes the settlements of East Horndon, Dunton Hills and West Horndon. It is predominantly a rural parish with large sections of open land within the Metropolitan Green Belt. Within the main settlement of West Horndon village are some streets of suburban houses and a small area of light industrial use. To the southeast of the parish is the Dunton Hills golf course. Little Warley Hall Lane in the northwest is the other main area of activity with some houses and the Clearview sports centre. East Horndon is a scattered settlement to the northeast and is partially located north of the A127 Southend Arterial Road. The entire parish is within the post town of Brentwood in the CM postcode area.
The entire southern boundary with the borough of Thurrock is the London, Tilbury and Southend railway line, with a small deviation to include all of West Horndon railway station. The western boundary of the parish is the Mardyke river, where the parish touches the eastern Greater London boundary at North Ockendon. The northern boundary is partially formed by the Southend Arterial Road, with some land to the northeast of it included in the parish. The eastern boundary is with the Borough of Basildon.
From the Wikipedia article West Horndon, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay1
Churches and places of worship9
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries1
Map of West Horndon
30 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
London City Airport (LCY) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 13 miles away.
- Bulphan 2 mi southeast, about 3 min by car
- Ingrave 2 mi north, about 4 min by car
- Brentwood 4 mi northwest, about 6 min by car
- Upminster 4 mi west, about 6 min by car
- Orsett 4 mi south, about 7 min by car
- Horndon on the Hill 4 mi southeast, about 7 min by car
- Basildon 5 mi east, about 8 min by car
- South Ockendon 5 mi southwest, about 8 min by car
- Stanford-le-Hope 5 mi southeast, about 8 min by car
- Billericay 5 mi northeast, about 9 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near West Horndon
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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
- Cranham Brickfields path, Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 3.0
- St. Mary the Virgin 20080712-1, Hans A. Rosbach, CC BY-SA 3.0
- 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, adam2, CC BY-SA 4.0
Page built November 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.