Wickford Dates
Compiled by Mrs Betty Watts in 1988
975 First mention of Wickford in the Will of Aethelflaed
1154 Wickford Church given to Prittle Priory
1305 Petrus – First recorded Rector of Wickford
1307 Last known mention of a Windmill in Wickford
1614 Elizabeth Read born, who married John Winthrop, and they lived in Wickford, Rhode Island, USA.
1645 Cornelius Gray deprived of his living
1706 Will of William Ammerson indicated that formal education was taking place in Wickford
1730 Stileman’s Manor demolished
1749 (4th June) Record of perambulation of hounds of parish
1773 Wickford Bridge rebuilt
1811 Congregation Chapel built in Runwell Road
1823 Planned canal through Wickford to Billericay
1832 Wickford became a Post Town (Mark 404)
1835 Well sunk for parish supply of water (High Street)
1851 Population 490
1861 Wickford National School built in Southend Road
1870 Government grants given to support the school
1875 New Congregational Chapel built in High Street
1875 (30th June) Last service at old parish church
1876 St Catherine’s Church rebuilt
1887 Foundation stone laid for GER Railway Station
1887 Wickford Cricket Club formed
1889 (1st January) GER Railway Station opened
1891 Lecture room added to Chapel in High Street
1894 Wickford National School enlarged
1895 Sale of agricultural land into plots – Cranfield Park Road area being earliest area which sold
1896 Wickford Parish Council press for acquisition of land for housing working class
1898 Wickford Colony set up in Castledon Road
1898 Barclay’s Bank opened every Monday
1899 Street lighting, under Lighting Act
1899 Wickford Football Club existed
1900 Darby Land Digger Co – S C Darby Ltd arrived from Pleshey
1901 Mission Room built in London Road
1901 Population 638
1902 Smallpox in village
1904 Wickford Ratepayers Association in existence
1905 Notes on the History of Wickford by Rev F Dormer-Pierce published
1905 Billiards room added to Castle Inn
1906 First sewerage scheme in operation
1906 Rector donated organ to church
1906 Mains water introduced to village
1907 Wickford, Rhode Island presented St Catherine’s Church with Silver Paten
1907 Wickford Mount Estate being developed
1908 Public Hall opened in Jersey Gardens
1908 Wickford National School burnt down and needed re-building
1908 Southern Waterworks Co takes over responsibility for the supply of water
1912 Peculiar People Chapel opened in Nevendon Road
1914 (14th September) Elementary School, Market Road, opened
1915 (29th October) Southend Road Bridge opened
1917 Refuse collection in Wickford
1920 (1st September) First Police Station in Wickford
1920’ s Wickford and District Electrical Supply Co operating in Southend Road
1923 Railway becomes part of LNER
1925 Gospel Mission Room built in London Road (but first used as a school)
1926 (30th August) Manual Telephone Exchange opened
1926 Plymouth Brethren open hall
1927 Methodists arrive in Wickford
1928 (28th March) Wickford Branch of Royal British Legion formed
1932 First Official Library service
1935 St Andrew’s Church built (later rebuilt)
1936 County of London Electric Supply Co Sub-station near cricket field
1937 Wickford County Senior School opened
1949 Avenue of Remembrance planted in Memorial Park
1951 Wickford Cricket Ground placed in trust on a 30 year lease
1953 (18th October) Dedication of Memorial Gates, Memorial Park
1957 Basildon District Council purchased Recreation Ground, Nevendon Road, from Essex County Council
1958 Beauchamps School opened (ammended thanks to Janet Howard nee Markham)
1959 Fire Station opened in Nevendon Road ( ammended thanks to Mr Geoff Fairey).
1959 (1st July) Post Office in Southend Road opened
1962 Library in Market Road opened
1962 New Cricket Pavilion built
1964 (19th November) Ambulance Station opened in London Road
1967 (4th December) Subscriber Trunk Dialing introduced
1972 Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel built
1972 Market moved to present site behind Woolworths
1973 Bromfords School opened. Willowdale Centre opened
1974 International Direct Dialing came into use
1975 Swimming Pool built
1980 Population 26,000
1980 Re-building of BR Station
1983 (5th October) New Sewerage Treatment works opened
1988 Re-building of Halls Corner, taking place.
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The canal (1823). Are there any plans available of where they were going?
I was also one of the first pupils to attend Beauchamps School when it opened, I went through the school from 1st to 5th year. If I remember rightly our uniform was maroon and grey at first and changed later to black and grey. I also walked to school from Shotgate meeting up with friends on the way, as you say no lifts to school in those days but werent we a lot more healthy. I also remember trying to get to school after a snowstorm or excessive rain, underneath the railway bridge in Southend Road always got bad snowdrifts in the dip or floods and we would climb up on to the railing which acted as a fence and inch our way along until we could get back on the path again, I can’t see kids today taking that much trouble to get to school.
1973 was year Bromfords School opened, I was there on day it opened to children, no desks just chairs and blackboards. We had to use our own pens and lean on the chairs for the first week. There was only 150 pupils that year, 50 in second year and 100 in first year. I used to get the school bus to school which picked us up in Cross Avenue.
I was in the first class to go to Beauchamps School when it opened, walked to and from Belmont Ave. London Rd. No lifts from parents in those days!
Peculiar peoples chapel opened 1912 this is our centenary!
The Fire Station was in London Road during the war. I think the date you quote is for the Fire Station in Nevendon Road.
The date for the opening of Beauchamps School is wrong… why do I know why because I was among the first lot of students to go there and it wasn’t 1950 it was 1958.
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