West Thurrock

West Thurrock was an ancient parish in the Hundred of Chafford in Essex. When elected parish and district councils were established under the Local Government Act 1894, West Thurrock was given a parish council and included in the Orsett Rural District. In 1929, West Thurrock and the neighbouring parishes of Aveley and South Ockendon were removed from Orsett Rural District to become the short-lived Purfleet Urban District. As part of that reform, West Thurrock was reclassified as an urban parish and so lost its parish council; the lowest elected tier of local government was Purfleet Urban District Council. The Purfleet Urban District was abolished just seven years later in 1936, becoming…

circa 1830]]West Thurrock is the location of the Lakeside Shopping Centre on the site of a chalk quarry owned by Tunnel Cement. St Clement's Church, the historic parish church, was used for the funeral in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. A modern replacement church, also dedicated to St Clement, now stands on London Road. The old church is now managed by Procter & Gamble, who own the adjoining factory, but occasional services are still held there. Belmont Castle, England, a neo-Gothic mansion, was built in West Thurrock in 1795 but was demolished in 1943 to make way for a chalk quarry.