Little Thurrock
Encyclopedia
Little Thurrock is a ward and Church of England parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock
.
.
Hangman's Wood is a small wooded areas in the parish. Hangman's Wood is well known for containing numerous denehole
s which were sometimes known as Cunobeline's gold mines. The origin of these deneholes is discussed by Tony Benton who concludes they were the result of chalk extraction. The deneholes are an important roosting site for rare bats.
. Around Hangman's Wood and Terrel's Heath
, there is little trace of the heathland habitat and associated fauna which would once have been characteristic of the area but the adjacent woodland together with the pond and wild life garden in Woodside Primary School attract a number of creatures. These include green and great spotted woodpeckers, a number of different mammals and the rare great crested newt. The trees on Terrel's Heath
are mainly oaks with wild bluebells in spring time.
In the north of Little Thurrock is a group of schools. On one side of Woodside Primary School, on the former Torrel's Secondary site is the campus of the new Thurrock special schools Treetops and Beacon Hill and on the other side is the Thurrock campus of South Essex College, formerly Thurrock and Basildon College
. Torrel's School was closed and repopened with St Chad's Tilbury as The Gateway Community College and has since become The Gateway Academy with a brand new site on Marshfoot Road in Chadwell St Mary.
With a long established sporting tradition in recent years the school has developed matching provision in the arts and children have regular opportunities to work with professionals from the arts world. Projects have included Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
workshops, the creation of a totem pole with stoneware faces with Hazle Ceramics, The National Gallery
Take one Picture projects, Batik
wall hangings with textile artist Louise Knight and the construction of a living willow dome. All children in year 3 are currently learning orchestral strings and a number of children take private lessons on strings, wind, keyboard or guitar. Last year infant children were involved in a Creative Partnership with arts professionals to improve their writing skills through video scripting and this year a similar project is underway in year 5.
In February 2010, the school won the South Essex Girls' 7 a side football competition.
The schools was described at "good" by Ofsted
in 2004, 2008 and, in 2010, good with outstanding features, and has achieved a number of independently awarded quality marks. These include Investors in People
, the Arts Mark Gold, Ormiston Education's Every Child Matters
Quality Mark Gold, Quality in Study Support, the Financial Management Standard in Schools, Healthy Schools, The Active Mark and its local replacement, Thurrock Gold award, the Sustrans Bike It award and two Department for Education and Skills
School Achievement Awards. The school also has entry level recognition for the International School Award and Eco Schools silver.
Little Thurrock now has a new Conservative Councillor Tom Kelly. All other Councillors are Conservative.
May 5th 2011 Election Candidates
Little Thurrock Rectory
Alan David Broad (United Kingdom Independence Party)
Tom Kelly (Conservative)
Eileen O`Reilly (Labour)
Matthew James Orbell (Liberal Democrat)
Working in partnership with Residents / Thurrock Council and Essex Police.
Meetings - Every Third Tuesday 19.20 for 19.30 start.
Police Meeting 18.30 to 19.15
Venue St Marys Church Hall Dock Road Little Thurrock
Current Chair Person: Vincent Offord
Stifford Community Forum (Blackshots Ward)
See website details below for meetings / contacts
Local Parks / Play Areas
Delafield / Rookery / Dipping / Blackshots / Hangman's Woods
Bull Public House - Dock Road / Oaks Public House - Lodge Lane / Tyrrell's Hall - WMC (CIU Club) - Dock Road /
RAFA Club - Southend Road
Shopping Areas
Broadway / Southend Road / Lodge Lane(Socketts Heath)
Thurrock
Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
.
Location
Little Thurrock is on the north bank of the river Thames, about 25 miles (40.2 km) east of London. It was originally a separate settlement, but housing and other developments in the 20th century have resulted in a continuous built up area with Grays ThurrockGrays
Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of the Thurrock's traditional parishes...
.
Hangman's Wood is a small wooded areas in the parish. Hangman's Wood is well known for containing numerous denehole
Denehole
A Denehole is an underground structure consisting of a number of small chalk caves entered by a vertical shaft. The name is given to certain caves or excavations in England, which have been popularly supposed to be due to the Danes or some other of the early northern invaders of the country...
s which were sometimes known as Cunobeline's gold mines. The origin of these deneholes is discussed by Tony Benton who concludes they were the result of chalk extraction. The deneholes are an important roosting site for rare bats.
Geology and Ecology
The southern part of Little Thurrock was formerly a tidal saltmarsh. The higher, northern area is part of a 100 feet (30.5 m) terrace extending for some miles east and west - a rich source of both gravel and chalk deposits which have been extracted for centuries.. Around Hangman's Wood and Terrel's Heath
Terrel's Heath
Terrel's Heath is, in spite of its name, an area of woodland in Chadwell St Mary named on the 1938 six-inch Ordnance Survey map.-Location and description: Terrel's Heath is adjacent to Woodside Primary School in Little Thurrock...
, there is little trace of the heathland habitat and associated fauna which would once have been characteristic of the area but the adjacent woodland together with the pond and wild life garden in Woodside Primary School attract a number of creatures. These include green and great spotted woodpeckers, a number of different mammals and the rare great crested newt. The trees on Terrel's Heath
Terrel's Heath
Terrel's Heath is, in spite of its name, an area of woodland in Chadwell St Mary named on the 1938 six-inch Ordnance Survey map.-Location and description: Terrel's Heath is adjacent to Woodside Primary School in Little Thurrock...
are mainly oaks with wild bluebells in spring time.
Parish Church
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The original building probably dates from 1170. The church was extensively "restored" in Victorian times.Origin of name
Thurrock is a Saxon name meaning "the bottom of a ship". Little Thurrock is one of three "Thurrocks", the others being West Thurrock and Grays Thurrock.Schools
Little Thurrock Primary SchoolIn the north of Little Thurrock is a group of schools. On one side of Woodside Primary School, on the former Torrel's Secondary site is the campus of the new Thurrock special schools Treetops and Beacon Hill and on the other side is the Thurrock campus of South Essex College, formerly Thurrock and Basildon College
Thurrock and Basildon College
Thurrock and Basildon College was a further education college in Grays, Essex, England. It was formed by the merger of Thurrock Technical College and Basildon College. The college merged with South East Essex College of Arts and Technology on 1 January 2010 to form South Essex College....
. Torrel's School was closed and repopened with St Chad's Tilbury as The Gateway Community College and has since become The Gateway Academy with a brand new site on Marshfoot Road in Chadwell St Mary.
Woodside Primary school
Woodside now admits up to 60 children a year. There are two part time nursery classes, each for up to 26 children; one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and a breakfast club and after school club giving extended provision from 8.00 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. The school is responsible for admissions to the nursery classes while Thurrock Council deals with admissions for the rest of the school. Children can start in the reception class in September of the year they are five and at the same time in one of the nursery classes a year earlier. Children need to be 3 years old, at the beginning of the term, to start in the nursery.With a long established sporting tradition in recent years the school has developed matching provision in the arts and children have regular opportunities to work with professionals from the arts world. Projects have included Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
workshops, the creation of a totem pole with stoneware faces with Hazle Ceramics, The National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
Take one Picture projects, Batik
Batik
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...
wall hangings with textile artist Louise Knight and the construction of a living willow dome. All children in year 3 are currently learning orchestral strings and a number of children take private lessons on strings, wind, keyboard or guitar. Last year infant children were involved in a Creative Partnership with arts professionals to improve their writing skills through video scripting and this year a similar project is underway in year 5.
In February 2010, the school won the South Essex Girls' 7 a side football competition.
The schools was described at "good" by Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
in 2004, 2008 and, in 2010, good with outstanding features, and has achieved a number of independently awarded quality marks. These include Investors in People
Investors in People
Launched in 1991 Investors in People is a business improvement tool administered by UK Commission for Employment and Skills and supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ....
, the Arts Mark Gold, Ormiston Education's Every Child Matters
Every Child Matters
Every Child Matters is a UK government initiative that was launched in 2003, at least partly in response to the death of Victoria Climbié...
Quality Mark Gold, Quality in Study Support, the Financial Management Standard in Schools, Healthy Schools, The Active Mark and its local replacement, Thurrock Gold award, the Sustrans Bike It award and two Department for Education and Skills
Department for Education and Skills
The Department for Education and Skills was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007. It was responsible for the education system and children's services in England. On 28 June 2007 the department was split in two by Gordon Brown's government...
School Achievement Awards. The school also has entry level recognition for the International School Award and Eco Schools silver.
Local Politics
There are two wards that cover Little Thurrock - Rectory Ward and Blackshots Ward.Little Thurrock now has a new Conservative Councillor Tom Kelly. All other Councillors are Conservative.
Little Thurrock - Rectory
- Rob Gledhill (elected 6 May 2010)
- Tom Kelly (elected 5 May 2011)
May 5th 2011 Election Candidates
Little Thurrock Rectory
Alan David Broad (United Kingdom Independence Party)
Tom Kelly (Conservative)
Eileen O`Reilly (Labour)
Matthew James Orbell (Liberal Democrat)
Little Thurrock - Blackshots
- Benjamin Richard Maney (elected 6 May 2010)
- Joycelyn Redsell (elected 1 May 2008)
Community Forum - Est. 2003
Little Thurrock Forum (Rectory Ward)Working in partnership with Residents / Thurrock Council and Essex Police.
Meetings - Every Third Tuesday 19.20 for 19.30 start.
Police Meeting 18.30 to 19.15
Venue St Marys Church Hall Dock Road Little Thurrock
Current Chair Person: Vincent Offord
Stifford Community Forum (Blackshots Ward)
See website details below for meetings / contacts
Local Parks / Play Areas
Delafield / Rookery / Dipping / Blackshots / Hangman's Woods
Facilities
Pubs & ClubsBull Public House - Dock Road / Oaks Public House - Lodge Lane / Tyrrell's Hall - WMC (CIU Club) - Dock Road /
RAFA Club - Southend Road
Shopping Areas
Broadway / Southend Road / Lodge Lane(Socketts Heath)