THE ESSEX CHURCHES SITE

home - index - latest - e-mail
links - small print - about this site
Norfolk churches - Suffolk churches
www.simonknott.co.uk

St Mary Magdalene, Billericay

Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

You can tell that Billericay must once have been a fairly typical Essex market town, but rapid expansion after the Second World War has made it irreparably what it is today. This may be no bad thing, for as James Bettley recalls in his revision of the Buildings of England volume for Essex, Billericay was described in Kelly's Directory of Essex in 1874 as 'a small, decayed market town'. There are some good surviving 17th and 18th Century buildings in the High Street, and the modern buildings have been designed to fit in rather than stand out, but perhaps the result is a bit dull and middle brow, and the traffic is so awful that it is hard to admire the town centre very much. The historic parish church sits on the High Street. It is an odd sight. There was a medieval church here, but all that survives of it is the red brick tower of the late 15th Century. This of itself is not uncommon in Essex, but what is most unusual is that the rest of the church was demolished and completely rebuilt in red brick in a preaching box style in the 1780s. The new church hugs the tower, creating a curious effect of two entirely different architectural styles in their closest possible proximity but not talking to each other. The strangeness is accentuated by the church being on what is effectively a traffic island, both ends facing onto busy roads. Obviously, I would very much like to have seen inside, but when I visited on the occasion of the Essex Historic Churches Trust's annual Ride and Stride event the church was not taking part and was locked without a keyholder notice. This was annoying as I had cycled a long way just to see it, but even so, I suspect that the exterior is more interesting than the interior. Simon Knott, January 2022 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

 

The Churches of East Anglia websites are non-profit-making, in fact they are run at a loss. But if you enjoy using them and find them useful, a small contribution towards the costs of web space, train fares and the like would be most gratefully received. You can donate via Paypal.

 

home - index - latest - e-mail
links - small print - about this site
Norfolk churches - Suffolk churches
www.simonknott.co.uk