Hockley

For other uses, see Hockley (disambiguation).

Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 1890s^[2] and at the 2001 census had a population of 13,616 people,^[3] reducing to 9,616 at the 2011 Census,.^[1] The parish of Hockley itself had a population of 8,909 at the (2001 census), while the urban area runs into the neighbouring parish of Hawkwell. Hockley railway station serves the village.

Hockley
Hockley Location within Essex
Population	9,616 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ826924
Civil parish	Hockley
District	Rochford
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOCKLEY
Postcode district	SS5
Dialling code	01702
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Rayleigh
List of places UK England Essex 51.6014°N 0.6363°E / 51.6014; 0.6363

History

The place-name 'Hockley' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hocheleia. The name means "Hocca's woodland clearing or glade".^[4] Today, there is still a large wooded area named Hockley Woods. Notable buildings in the village include the church of St Peter and Paul, which has a nave which was possibly built before the twelfth century, a thirteenth-century chancel and a fourteenth-century tower, the upper half of which is octagonal and was built at a later date. The tower holds three bells, manufactured by Miles Gray in 1626, by James Bartlett in 1684 and by John Hodgson in 1657, and the building is Grade II* listed.^[5] The church is situated to the north-west of the village centre, where Grade II listed Spa Pump Room is situated. The building was built as a spa to a design by James Lockyer in 1842, after Robert Clay found a medicinal spring there in 1838.^[6] Hockley is also the site of the former Bullwood Hall prison which closed in 2013.^[7]

Plumberow Mount, a Roman burial mound,^[8] was excavated in 1913 by Mr. E. B. Francis. At the time, there was a summer house on the top of the mound, and so trenches were cut on three sides. The excavation found a Roman coin of Domitian and some Saxon pottery which may indicate a secondary burial. The oval mound is 14 feet (4.3 m) high, and 76 feet (23 m) in diameter, with a flattened top, where the summerhouse was located.^[9] Since 2005, a metal fence has surrounded the mound to protect it from erosion, and a number of trees which were growing on or near it were cut down at the same time.^[10]

In 2009, the sixteenth-century Hockley Pendant was discovered in a field at Hockley.^[11]

Governance

Hockley has a parish council consisting of two wards (West Ward and East Ward)^[12] and is part of Rochford District Council^[13]