Interesting Facts About Billericay

History of Billericay

Some of the earliest records of human occupation of Billericay are the burial mounds in Norsey Wood: evidence of occupation in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Evidence of Roman occupation has been found at a number of locations in the town and there may have been a small cavalry fort at Blunts Wall. The Saxons did not settle in the center of Billericay. They established themselves two miles south, at Great Burstead. In the late 10th century it was known as ‘Burhstede’. Billericay was not mentioned in the Domesday Book, as it lay within Great Burstead. At this time the parish church for Billericay was at Great Burstead.

General Info

Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, 23 miles (37 km) east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Abbot of West Ham, in his Manor of Great Burstead.

During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the Essex rebels were defeated in a battle with Richard II’s forces in the Battle of Billericay. In 1620 four local people were on board the Mayflower as it sailed to Massachusetts, to establish the first English settlement in what would become the north of the United States. The town has long taken a pride in this connection, and many businesses and other organisations use the name Mayflower, with the Town Council and other local organisations using it as their emblem.