Southminster

Southminster
St Leonard's, Southminster
Southminster Location within Essex
Population	4,272 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	TQ961995
District	Maldon
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SOUTHMINSTER
Postcode district	CM0
Dialling code	01621
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Maldon

Southminster is a town and electoral ward on the Dengie peninsula in the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It lies about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Burnham-on-Crouch and 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Maldon; and approximately 52 miles (84 km) east-northeast of London. To the north is the River Blackwater, which is tidal and since Roman times has been the gateway to trading in the area.

History

Southminster is in the centre of the Dengie peninsula, which once formed a hundred of the same name.

A major horse market used to be held annually in the town.

Southminster marshes were a favourite centre for hare coursing in Victorian times.

Pandole Wood contains ancient earthworks believed to date from the Iron Age. The landscape surrounding the town, and elsewhere on the peninsula, is characterized by a pattern of strictly rectangular field boundaries, with evidence of a unit of measurement having been applied to the scheme as a whole. Middle Saxon administrations have been suggested as its origin, although the road to the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Othona at Bradwell-on-Sea also conforms to the pattern.

St Leonard's Church

The medieval St Leonard's Church dates mainly from the 15th century, although there are traces of much earlier work. It is a relatively large, "townish" church by Essex standards. The church also stands at an important road junction, contrasting with the familiar Essex pattern of a church and manor house complex on the same site. These features are consistent with John Blair's formulation of an Anglo-Saxon minster, in contrast to a private oratory in its origins, and the place-name would perhaps suggest Cedd's mission at the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall near Bradwell (to the north) as its parent.

Several well-known clergymen are associated with the church, including naturalist Walter Henry Hill, curate from 1832 to 1839, and Alexander John Scott, rector 1805 to 1840 but previously personal chaplain to Horatio Nelson. After the Battle of Trafalgar Nelson died in the arms of Scott, and several artefacts that once belonged to Scott are found in the church.

The church also gives its name to the town's local football team, Southminster St. Leonards F.C.

There is also a brick-built United Reformed Church building in North Street, Southminster.

Facilities

The town has an infant and a primary school, a small library, a handful of pubs, a swimming pool, a brewery and cidery and one holiday park.

Transport

Southminster railway station, the terminus of a single-line branch that was electrified in the 1980s, provides services to Wickford and Liverpool Street station in the City of London.

In Literature

Southminster is the name given to the fictional cathedral city featured in the short story 'An Episode of Cathedral History' by M.R. James, published in A Thin Ghost and Others, his third collection of Ghost Stories published in 1919.

Location Grid

Parishes adjacent to the Southminster parish: