AVELEY
Aveley is a long and pleasant village situated on a bold rise about 2 miles north of the River Thames and Purfleet, 8 miles S.S.E. of Romford, and 15 miles east of London. The parish covers 2,852 acres, including 162 acres of woodland, and recorded 849 inhabitants in 1841, though 113 of these were labourers only temporarily present during the census.
The village formerly held a market and still maintains a fair on Whit-Monday. Its origins are believed to be Roman, and in the reign of Henry II the manor was held by Gilbert de Tani. In 1505 it was granted by the Crown to the Hospital of the Savoy in London. Following the dissolution of that institution, Edward VI granted the manor to St. Thomas’s Hospital, to which it continues to belong, although many other proprietors now hold portions of the parish.
The largest estate belongs to Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, Bart., whose handsome seat Belhus (or Belhouse) stands here. The estate takes its name from the knightly family of Belhus, resident during the reigns of King John and Henry III. The present large and stately mansion dates from the reign of Henry VIII, though it has since been much enlarged and adorned. It sits within an extensive park stocked with deer and rich in ancient forest trees, and several points within the grounds offer broad views across the Thames into Kent. The house remains a fine and characteristic example of Tudor architecture.
BRENTWOOD (formerly Burntwood)
The town was anciently known as Burntwood, and, being situated on a principal thoroughfare, it possessed several good inns and public houses. One old house—formerly the Crown Inn—is believed to have borne that sign for at least four centuries. The assizes were at one time held here; and in the High Street stand the remains of the old Town Hall and Prison, now converted into a dwelling.
The antiquary Camden conjectured that the Roman station Cæsaromagus, mentioned in the Itinerary, might have been located in this neighbourhood. His opinion found little support among later scholars, though two Roman lares were unearthed at Shenfield, half a mile east of the town, and various pateræ and other earthen vessels have been discovered along the old military way running from Billericay towards Ongar.
On the south-western edge of Weald Hall Park are the remains of a circular, single-ditched camp, enclosing about seven acres. It is believed to have been a castra exploratorum—a Roman outpost or scouting station.
The manor of Brentwood was granted to the Abbey of St. Osyth by William de Wochendon, Camerarius, and this gift was formally confirmed by Henry II. At the Dissolution, the estate was granted to Lord Cromwell.