The first written record of Basildon was in the Domesday Book of 1086.  At the time it was just a hamlet known as ‘Berlesduna’ that contained seven households as well as some cattle, pigs and sheep.

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The hamlet centred around the area occupied by Holy Cross Church.  The name ‘Basildon’ is thought to mean ‘Boerthal’s Hill’. ‘Boerthal’ was a Saxon personal name and ‘don’ is an old English word meaning ‘hill’.

 

I am yet to find out who Boerthal was but it is thought that his or her hill was also near Holy Cross.

 

On Tuesday 4 January 1949 Basildon was designated as a New Town by then Minister of Town and Country Planning Lewis Silkin. The New Town would be made up of Basildon, still a hamlet at the time, and the neighbouring towns of Pitsea and Laindon.  Basildon was chosen as the town’s name because of its geographical position in the centre of the New Town.

 

Basildon Train Station was opened on 25 September 1974 between Pitsea and Laindon.  This linked the New Town to the City of London.  Today the station regularly has over 3 million passengers2, with many of these commuting in to London for work.

 

In 2010 Basildon made national news when the large ‘Basildon’ sign was erected next to the Pipps Hill junction of the A127.

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