Basildon Leasing

Did You Know?

Thousands of years ago the early inhabitants of Basildon were roving bands of hunters. Evidence of their existence, in the form of tools and weapons, has been unearthed in the past century. Bronze Age inhabitants left ample evidence of their settlement in the area and some years ago a Bronze Age axe was found at Vange. Sites of more permanent Iron Age settlements have been excavated at Wickford, Billericay, Langdon Hills and Basildon New Town.

During four centuries of Roman occupation, Basildon and its inhabitants became Romanised. Roads were built, new towns founded and local industries became organised. But in AD 412 the Romans withdrew their Legions to defend the Empire in Gaul and Britain was left to defend herself. In the 4th century the Essex coast was invaded, this time by Saxon raiders. The country was soon overrun when Saxon raids intensified and all vestiges of Roman civilisation in Eastern Britain were destroyed - the beginning of the 'Dark Ages'.

The Saxons favoured settlement away from Roman towns, so it is possible that the Basildon area became important at this time. It's said that Sebert, first King of Essex (King of the East Saxons), lived at Burstead and that even London (at the time a desolate ruin), was part of his kingdom.

The name Basildon was not new at all, being of Saxon origin meaning 'Beorhtels Hill', but in the late 1940s was little more than a small scattered village close to the site of Holy Cross Church.

Since March 2010 Basildon has a miniature famous white Hollywood sign, reading "Basildon": at five feet tall, the new sign is one-ninth of the height of the Hollywood original. This was aimed "to bring the town into the 21st century and to attract more visitors.

In 2017, Costa Coffee opened their new coffee roastery in Basildon. It is said to be Europe's biggest coffee roastery – quadrupling Costa's roasting capacity from 11,000 tonnes per year to 45,000 tonnes. The facility, which is dubbed "Paradise Street" stands at 85,690 ft and can handle around 24 tonnes of coffee beans per hour.