Shotgate is a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 and village in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. On 1 April 2007, Shotgate became the first area of Wickford to have a Parish Council.

A Bried History of Shotgate

Mid-iron age pottery found at Shotgate Farm shows that the area was inhabited in 300 BC. In Roman times, a road ran from Ilford to Latchingdon through here. In the Saxon period commonhold land was often sliced into parallel strips known as 'Sceats'. This is the origin of the 'Shot' part of Shotgate, which has nothing to do with shooting or hunting. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists four farmsteads in Wickford, one of which was probably on the site of Shotgate. By 1300 this is listed as Ames or Aimes Farm. By 1540 the Rede family owned the farm, and one of its members, Elizabeth, emigrated to America to marry the son of the governor of Massachusetts, and is an ancestor of both former US president George Bush Jr and presidential contender John Kerry. In 1663, Turnpike (Toll) roads appeared in England, and one ran from Shenfield to Rayleigh until 1866 along the Old Southend Road, after which it was turned over to the Rochford Highway Board. During this period (1747), the Sharpe family renamed the Ames Farm as Shotgate Farm. Perhaps this indicated the existence of a tollgate at the Wickford / Rawreth boundary. During this period an inn, the King's Head, stood near present-day Oak Avenue. In 1907, houses were built as part of the `Plotlands' initiative in Enfield Road and Oak Avenue. In 1921, the Archer family bought Shot Farm, and in 1927 sold land for development. This led to the foundation of modem-day Shotgate, consisting of Bruce Grove, 1st to 5th avenues and the shopping parades. In 1989, the village was greatly expanded by the Hodgsons Way Industrial Estate and housing estates, so named after the WW2 RAF airman, who was shot down but managed to ditch his Hurricane aircraft avoiding the houses of the Shotgate estate.

Shotgate Sign

The sign is located next to the Southend Road (A129), it is made up of various symbols; Gate, Wheatsheaf, Archer, River, Hurricane.

• The GATE is the way into and out of a SHOT of land.

• The WHEATSHEAF derives from the Wickford coat of arms.

• The ARCHER represents the fact that land previously owned by the Archer family, sold in 1927, became known as the Shotgate Estate.

• The RIVER CROUCH was once much wider and deeper than today and its salt marshes covered what is now Shotgate.

• The HURRICANE fighter recalls the incident on 31 May 1940, when RAF
  Royal Air Force
  The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
  
   Pilot Officer
  Pilot Officer
  Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
  
   William Henry Hodgson, a New Zealand
  New Zealand
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
  
  er, engaged hostile bombers and fighters over the River Thames
  River Thames
  The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
  
   in his Hawker Hurricane
  Hawker Hurricane
  The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
  
  , but it was hit and caught fire. In attempting to return to his base at RAF Debden
  RAF Debden
  RAF Debden is a former RAF airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles SE of Saffron Walden and approximately 1 mile north of the village of Debden in North Essex.-RAF Fighter Command:...
  
  , he resisted bailing out, which would have left the aircraft to crash on a populated area and instead, crash landed in fields just outside Shotgate to avoid damage and injury to local people. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
  Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
  The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
  
  .

Community Hall

Shotgate Community Hall was built in 1958 and is owned and run by Shotgate Community Association. It has been extended and refurbished several times since then, the most recent being in 2007 when a disabled toilet was added.

Nature Reserves

There are two nature reserves in Shotgate. Shotgate Thickets and Giddings Copse are located north and south of the River Crouch

River Crouch

The River Crouch is a river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex.The distance of the Navigation between Holliwell Point which is north of Foulness Island and Battlesbridge is 17.5 Miles, i.e. 15.21 Nautical Miles.-Route:...

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