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The Timber-Framed Development of
the town of Billericay
By David Bremner
There is ample evidence for accepting the
continuous existence of the occupation
of the area known as “Billericay”, Essex,
since the Stone Age. There are enough physical
artefacts and archaeological evidence to indicate
that there were people occupying the hill now
known as Billericay, since before pre-history.
Billericay is one of the few lofty prominences,
being over 300 feet high, in the otherwise flat
landscape of the East Saxons or Essex. Such a
site is an obvious place to choose for getting a
good vantage point from which to view the
surrounding land.
Archaeological Evidence
A flint hand axe thought to be Mesolithic or
Stone Age, 10,500 to 5,500 BC, has been found
in Norsey Wood. The main ride or pathway in
Norsey Wood is claimed to have existed since
the Iron Age c700 BC, when it would have been
used as a track to transport timber.
At this time, the people were hunter-gatherers.
As the hunter-gatherers became farmers during
the Bronze Age, c 1750 to 750 BC, they needed
to cut down trees to make farmlands, fields and
pastures. Farming encouraged the existence of
more permanent settlements. Bronze Age burial
tumuli still exist in Norsey Woods.
The main building materials were wooden posts
with wattle and daub infill for walls and straw
roofing. Any evidence of round houses, except
for maybe posthole pits, will have disappeared
along with the local Celtic tribe known as the
Trinovantes.
With the arrival of the Romans and their greater
building skills, evidence of habitation that is
more tangible exists of their occupation of
Billericay. Excavations at Billericay Secondary
School during 1987/8 revealed traces of Late
Iron Age, c 200 BC, and Romano-British, 43 AD
to 300 AD, occupation.
The military based Romans occupied the high
ground. The farming orientated Saxons, 500 to
800 AD, preferred to make use of the flatter
lands around Billericay, so little building
development took place in Billericay during this
Saxon period. This farming area was known as
“Burghstede”, a Saxon name for a fortified
place.
Building of Billericay
Billericay is an ancient “ribbon” town on a main
north-south road, the B1007, just north of its
intersection with an east-west road, the A129.
The right to hold a market in the Manor of
Great Burstead was granted in 1253 and to the
town of Billericay in 1476.
Buildings constructed in the 1300s, especially
churches, used combinations of flint, Roman
tiles, septaria and pudding stone to build their
walls and wood for their towers due to the lack
of natural stone quarries in Essex. The main
natural building resource in Essex is wood.
The Chantry Chapel, in the High Street was
originally built in 1342 AD, and was then called
St Johns. It was subordinate to Great Burstead,
or Burstead Magna, this farming area having
been more developed due to the use of the land
for agriculture. During this period, only a few
farmhouses were built on the Billericay hillside.
50 Billericay Town Guide