Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet
Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet | |
|---|---|
Civil parish | |
St Margaret's Church, Bowers Gifford | |
Interactive map of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet | |
| Coordinates: 51°33′36″N 0°31′43″E / 51.559944°N 0.52873616°E | |
| Country | England |
| Primary council | Basildon |
| County | Essex |
| Region | East of England |
| Created | 2010 |
| Status | Civil parish |
| Main settlements | Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet |
| Government | |
| • Type | Parish council |
| • Body | Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.81 km2 (3.79 sq mi) |
| Population (2021[1]) | |
• Total | 2,055 |
| • Density | 209/km2 (543/sq mi) |
| Website | https://e-voice.org.uk/bgnb-parishcouncil/ |
Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet is a civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. The parish includes the villages of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 2,055.
There are seven listed buildings in Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet.[2] The local council is Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council.
History
North Benfleet and Bowers Gifford had each been ancient parishes in the Barstable Hundred of Essex. Both parishes included exclaves on Canvey Island until 1880 when the island was made its own civil parish.[3][4]
The two parishes were included in the Billericay poor law union in 1835.[5] They therefore became part of the Billericay rural sanitary district in 1872, which was reconstituted as the Billericay Rural District when elected parish and district councils were created in 1894.[6][7]
In 1934 most of the rural district, including the two parishes of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet, was converted into the Billericay Urban District. The parishes within it were then classed as urban parishes and so became ineligible to have their own parish councils. All the civil parishes within the urban district were merged into a single parish called Billericay in 1937. The urban district was renamed Basildon in 1955 and was reformed to become the modern Basildon district in 1974, at which point the district also became an unparished area.[8]
The modern civil parish of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet was created on 1 April 2010 from part of the unparished area following a community governance review.[9]
Geography
The northern boundary is the A127 road. In the east it follows the A1245 road, the A130 road and East Haven Creek. The southern boundary, also formed by East Haven Creek, is with the civil parish of Canvey Island.[10] The western boundary is Vange Creek, Pitseahall Fleet and an irregular boundary mostly aligned to fields.
Governance
There are three tiers of local government covering Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet, at parish, district, and county level: Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council, Basildon Borough Council, and Essex County Council. The parish council meets at the Benbow Club at 77 Pound Lane in Bowers Gifford.[11]
References
- ^ "2021 Census Parish Profiles". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2025. (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)
- ^ "Listed buildings in Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet, Basildon, Essex". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Bowers Gifford". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Relationships and changes Bowers Gifford AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ Higginbotham, Peter. "Billericay, Essex". The Workhouse. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
- ^ "Guardians' minutes (1835-1915, 1920-30); Ledgers (1835-1930)". Essex Record Office. G/Bi Title BILLERICAY UNION.
- ^ "Billericay Rural District". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ "Billericay Urban District". Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
- ^ "The Basildon (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2010" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The National Archives. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
- ^ "Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ "Minutes and Agendas". Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
External links