East Horndon | |
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East Horndon shown within Essex | |
OS grid reference | TQ633888 |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRENTWOOD |
Postcode district | CM13 |
Dialling code | 01277 |
Police | Essex |
Fire | Essex |
Ambulance | East of England |
EU Parliament | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
East Horndon is a village in the civil parish of West Horndon, in the south of the borough of Brentwood in Essex in the East of England. It is situated just south of the A127 road near Herongate. The village Church of All Saints is located to the north of the A127, and is redundant, but in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
There were two manors in East Horndon, Heron on the north of the church and Abbotts on the south. By the fourteenth century the Tyrells of Herongate had been gaining influence, and became the patrons of the church. This family demolished most of the Norman church, rebuilding it in the present style. The chancel and south transept are late fifteenth century. There is a splendid limestone figure of Alice, wife of Sir John Tyrell, flanked by her children all named. The south and north chapels were built for the interments of the family. Climb the stairs to enter the south gallery - a pleasant living room for the chantry priest in pre-Reformation times, even a Tudor fireplace. Outside this attractive building is a squat tower with distinctive corner turrets, and a stepped parapet.
Below, on the south of the church, East Horndon is reduced to the original old road to Herongate, winding up the hill, two restaurants and two houses. Crossing the road bridge to the other side and returning the way we have come, we find the old road running off towards the Thames, and in its angle is East Horndon Hall, the old manor or Abbots. There is reputed to have been a tunnel from the Hall to the church across the present Southend Road.
East Horndon once had its own petrol station with a nightclub known as "Elliots", which was renamed Twilights in the mid 1980s. The club was opened during the early 1980s and closed in 1989. At the time of closure, everything was abandoned behind, including beer, furniture and equipment. The nightclub and petrol station still remain today, but they are totally derelict. The nightclub is a popular urban exploration hotspot but it is very unsafe to enter.