South Ockendon

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= South Ockendon
map_type=Greater London
latitude=51.5207
longitude=0.2956
unitary_england= Thurrock
lieutenancy_england=Essex
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= Thurrock
post_town= SOUTH OCKENDON
postcode_district= RM15
postcode_area=RM
dial_code= 01708
os_grid_reference= TQ592827
population=

South Ockendon is a village in the Thurrock borough and unitary district in the East of England, United Kingdom.

South Ockendon has been a village since before the Norman Invasion. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wokenduna, supposedly named after a Saxon chief, Woken, whose tribe lived on a hill. Until the late 1940s, the village centred on The Village Green, with its Norman Church facing "The Royal Oak" a 17th century tavern. North, South and West Roads all converge on The Green.

South Ockendon is a very ancient parish. The village has links with the founding of the United States as some of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to the new world in The Mayflower originated from the village. As recently as 1894 along with North Ockendon, it formed part of the Orsett Rural District of Essex. In 1929 South Ockendon civil parish was transferred to Purfleet Urban District and became administratively separated from North Ockendon. At the 1931 census the parish consisted of 2,936 acres and a population of 1,355. The civil parish was abolished in 1935 and its former area became part of Thurrock Urban District in 1936.

In the 1970s The Ford Motor Company factory at Aveley housed Ford's Advanced Vehicle Operations which built cars such as the RS1600. [http://www.carkeys.co.uk/features/classichistoric/953.asp] [http://www.channel4.com/4car/ft/feature/retrospective/1693/2]

In 1912, Mollands Farm to the south of the village was bought for use as a 'rehabilitation' facility for what are now termed 'disadvantaged' or 'educationally challenged' people. It gradually developed into a major mental hospital (known locally as The Colony). The hospital closed about 1990 and was demolished in 1994 as an indirect result of the devastating "South Ockendon Report" which redefined the borders of bad management of mental patients and led to a nationwide re-appraisal of mental care in the UK.

Separately, South Ockendon village became a location for pre-fab houses accommodating bombed-out residents of East London/West Essex in the very late 40's. The majority of these were demolished in the late-1960s when a sizeable Greater London Council estate - the Flowers' Estate - was built to replace them, once more with pre-fabricated dwellings, albeit of a superior design. There were prefabs along the length of Orchard Road, originally. But they were replaced by more convivial accommodation. Current plans to rebuild a major part of South Ockendon particularly 'the Flowers Estate' are seen by local people of just another attempt to rip apart an established community.

The railway line from Upminster to Grays separates the old village of South Ockendon from Belhus, which has been in continuous development since the early 1950s and has been subsumed, in name at least, into South Ockendon.Belhus effectively divides Aveley from Ockendon.

The Ockendon School, based in Belhus and formerly known as Lennard's Seconday Modern School (run in conjunction with the now closed Culverhouse School), has recently been cited for its GCSE results and its Environmental Team. The latest OFSTED inspection (2008) described it as "outstanding" in the top 5% in the country. The school claims that its "amazing achievements being recognized ... is due to the hard work and dedication of all community partners including students, parents, staff and our wider community".

Nearest places:

* Aveley
* Chafford Hundred
* North Ockendon
* North Stifford

Nearest stations:

* Ockendon station

External links

* [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10245138&c_id=10001043 Parish boundaries - A Vision of Britain] [http://southockendon.webs.com