The Landscape of Ashingdon Parish
LANDSCAPE
The landscape of Ashingdon Parish is very beautiful, green, rural and undulating. From many elevated vantage points, one can see beautiful views of farmland, woods and the River Crouch and its valley. One can see the sails of yachts on the River Crouch and the hills on the other side. Elsewhere, one can see the hills of Hockley from Lower Road and from Footpath 4 and views of Southend on Sea and even Southend Airport are visible from Rectory Avenue.
The highest elevation in the parish is 55 metres (180 feet) on Footpath 16 which crosses a field above The Chase. Another steep hill is inside and beside Beckney Wood where it about 50 metres (164 feet). The height at St Andrew’s Church on another hill is about 40 metres (135 feet). Much of the southern part of the parish is about 30 metres (100 feet).
The roads with hills are: Ashingdon Road with a long gentle hill leading from Brays Lane up to the village and a very steep hill leading into the village from Hockley between Canewdon Road and Church Road; Greensward Lane has a hill from near Trinity Wood Lane towards the Hockley boundary and another in the opposite direction; The Chase has a steep Hill up its left hand fork to Rouncefall House and also up its right hand fork, previously called Red Lane; Church Road has a steep hill leading towards St. Andrew’s Church; Trinity Wood Road and two other lanes off Greensward Road are very steep; Rectory Avenue has a long hill leading towards Ashingdon Heights.
RIVER CROUCH
The tidal River Crouch forms the Northern boundary of Ashingdon Parish. It is about 3.9 km (2.4 miles) long from the West to East limits of the Parish. The river is quite straight here and approximately 300 metres wide for most of this distance. It is a great amenity for bird watching, fishing, wind-surfing, rowing, sailing, water skiing and motor boating. The River Crouch is famous for sailing and especially famous for the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at Burnham on Crouch.
The River Crouch is steeped in history. It was an important harbour for arriving vessels from across the North Sea. In some cases it was the convenient point of arrival for invading forces, particularly due to visits by the Angles, Saxons, Danes and Vikings. King Canute of Denmark who was also King of England used Canewdon and Ashingdon as his base before an epic battle. It is said and widely believed that the place where he is supposed to have sat by the waters edge and ruled that the tide shall not rise to cover his feet - was on the banks of the River Crouch near Canewdon, 1 to 2 miles from Ashingdon. Contrary to popular myth, he did not arrogantly rule that the waves should not rise. Instead, he was demonstrating to his flattering barons and courtiers that he was not an all powerful ruler capable of all that he desired, but that it was God alone who was all powerful. His endeavours with the rising tide demonstrated that adequately - that it was God who was all powerful and that he as king was merely God’s servant on Earth ruling his kingdom.
STREAMS
There are several small streams running through Ashingdon Parish. Some appear to be no more than a trickle in the summer and some look like a ditch. The most important are :
The River Roach - It has its source near Marylands Wood in Hockley. It runs mostly underground, past Plumberow School, then enters Ashingdon, under the Harrogate and Broadlands areas, then it can be seen running through beautiful countryside beside Footpath 15 until it enters Hawkwell near Footpath 7 and continues on through Rochford to the tidal River Roach at Stambridge Mills.
Beckney Brook - It has its source in Ashingdon Common near Cavendish Road and Beckney Wood. It runs through fields near Woodside Road, under Clarendon Road and Granville Road, alongside Lower Road, then beside the road to Beckney Farm, where it is our Parish boundary and it continues to the River Crouch near the Brandy Hole saltings, where oysters used to be cultivated and harvested.
Old Fleet - This is a river which has its source near Canewdon Road. It runs along our Parish boundary, then it enters Canewdon Parish, past Upper Raypits and Lower Raypits, past the old Lion Wharf where boats used to load and unload cargos, to Lion Creek and into the River Crouch.
WOODS
There are about a dozen woods in Ashingdon Parish and about as many more spinneys. A great number of properties in our Parish have wooded gardens. There have always been woods in Ashingdon and some are mentioned in The Domesday Book survey in 1086. In particular, Beckney Wood which was a detached part of Beckney Manor and its farm. The manor owned Beckney Wood and the road from the manor ran as it does now southward from near the River Crouch shore, past Beckney Manor (now Beckney Farm) along a short stretch of Lower Road, then along the green lane past the house now called Westonbridge into the Wood.
The woods in Ashingdon Parish make up a total area of nearly 33 hectares or about 80 acres and vary from the largest – Beckney Wood at 14 hectares (35 acres) to the woods beside St Andrew’s Churchyard at 0.25 hectare (0.6 acre). The spinneys and the wooded gardens are in addition to those areas and add about another 20 hectares (50 acres).
In addition to the ancient Beckney Wood and Trinity Wood, the latter belonged to Trinity College, Cambridge, there was another ancient wood in Ashingdon. It was called Kangle Wood which still existed in the 1700s. It was larger than Beckney Wood and was south of Greensward Lane and probably belonged to the Chamberlains Manor which has long since gone. Chamberlains was north of Greensward Lane in the area south of Beckney Wood near Harrogate Farm. It is now occupied by the Leamington, Harrogate and Tonbridge Roads housing area. Kangle Wood was in the area now occupied by the Broadlands Estate in the west and Footpaths 7, 14 and 15 in the east. Two small woods still exist in Ashingdon which must have been part of Kangle Wood, the wood between Footpaths 14 and 15 at TQ852929; and the wood opposite it, north of Footpath 15 at TQ853930.
There is one more nearby remnant of wood opposite and southeast in Hawkwell Parish at TQ854927. That may have been part of the large lost Kangle Wood.
This example of our lost ancient Kangle Wood must illustrate the importance of preserving woods, because once the woods are cleared and occupied, those important woods providing habitat, biodiversity, oxygen, beauty and recreation, whether ancient or more recent, can be lost forever.
WOODS NEAR ASHINGDON
There are several woods near Ashingdon's Parish boundary within easy walking distance. They are :
Magnolia Park woods, Hawkwell, beside our Parish boundary.
Hyde Wood, Canewdon, 5 metres (5.5 yards) from our Parish.
Plumberow Mount Wood, Hockley, 350 metres (383 yards) from our Parish.
Marylands Wood, Hockley, 800 metres (875 yards) from our Parish.
Crabtree Wood, Hockley, 1220 metres (1335 yards) from our Parish.
Belchamps Wood, Hawkwell, 1250 metres (1368 yards) from our Parish.
Hockleyhall Wood, Hockley, 1375 metres (1500 yards) from our Parish.
Hockley Woods, Hockley and Hawkwell, 1400 metres (1530 yards) from our Parish.
Great Bull Wood, Hockley, 1550 metres (1695 yards) from our Parish.
The Scrubs wood, Rochford, 2.40 kilometres (1.49 miles) from our Parish.
Cherry Orchard Country Park, Rochford, 2.85 kilometres (1.77 miles) from our Parish.
OLD BUILDINGS
Fine old buildings in Ashingdon include : Ashingdon Minster known as Saint Andrew’s Church built in 1020 and Ashingdon Hall in the heart of the village; Rouncefall is in The Chase; Along the road to Fambridge there are Rectory Farm House, All Saints Church built in 1846, South Fambridge Hall, Brickhouse Farm, The Old Ferry House, Coach House, a row of Victorian cottages and two rows of cottages of fascinating design in South Fambridge. The Anchor Inn was demolished for flats in 2004; New Hall, Linden Lea, Beckney Wood House, Beckney Farm and Uguess are in or near Lower Road; Brooks Cottages, Old Farm House, Smithey’s Cottage and The Forge are found along Greensward Lane; Also in Greensward lane are the ruins of a beautiful mediaeval thatched cottage which was destroyed by fire about 1995; Moon’s Cottages, now one house, are in Canewdon Road; and, Hydewood Farm and a few fine old houses are in Hyde Wood Lane. Local people call it “Hydie” Wood Lane, pronouncing the final “e” in Hyde.
FARMS
Some of the farms shown on the map in Ashingdon still work as farms and a few have lost their function as a working farm. The farms of Ashingdon are : Beckney Farm, Brenham Farm, Brickhouse Farm, Homefield Farm, Hydewood Farm, Lowlands Farm, Moons Farm, New Hall Farm, Pulpits Farm, Rectory Farm, Rouncefall Farm, South Fambridge Hall Farm and The Mink Farm. Some farmers in neighbouring parishes farm in Ashingdon Parish or own fields here, they include Little Doggetts Farm in Hyde Wood Lane, Scaldhurst Farm and others.
The several farms, small holdings and nurseries within the parish, produce arable root and corn crops, garden plants, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. Among the agricultural products suppliers, there is a potatoes and eggs supplier, a pigs and rare eggs suppliers whose eggs have every colour from white, grey, blue, green, pink, brown, etc. and a goat farm selling goat products. Nurseries in Ashingdon produce and sell bedding and house plants, vegetable seedlings, trees and shrubs.
