Bowers Gifford
| Bowers Gifford | |
|---|---|
  Bowers Gifford Location within Essex | |
| OS grid reference | TQ7588 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BASILDON |
| Postcode district | SS13 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
Bowers Gifford is a small village in southern Essex, England. It is located east of Basildon, between Pitsea and Thundersley. Pillboxes in the surrounding fields testify to its wartime role in defending the Thames Estuary which it overlooks.
The place-name 'Bowers Gifford' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Bura, meaning 'cottages', from the Old English bur, in modern English bower. The 'Gifford' element relates to its lords of the manor: in 1243 the land was held by William Giffard.[1]
The most historic surviving building is the fourteenth-century St Margaret's church.
References
- ^ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.56.
External links
- Basildon Heritage
- Basildon Borough History - Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet
- Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Parish Council
- Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Residents Association
Media related to Bowers Gifford at Wikimedia Commons
 | This Essex location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |