Did You Know?

Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of Thurrock's traditional parishes. The town is approximately 20 miles to the east of London on the north bank of the River Thames.

Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that he visited Grays on 24 September 1665 and apparently bought fish from the local fishermen.Parts of Grays and Chafford Hundred are set within three Victorian chalk pits.

The Pleistocene gravels at Grays have yielded a remarkable series of mammalian remains, including those of the wild cat, spotted hyena, wolf, bear, bison, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and mammoth. Remains of human occupation from the Palaeolithic to the Roman period have been found in the parish, the Bronze Age being especially well represented.  Roman finds, including burials, are sufficient to suggest a substantial settlement.

Medieval Grays grew up along the narrow High Street which ran north from the Thames to join the road from Purfleet to West Tilbury (now Orsett Road). As late as 1777 the built-up area of the town extended no farther north than the church.

Between 1871 and 1901 the town burst out of its ancient shell, expanding north, east, and west. Growth was stimulated by the coming of the railway, the continuing development of local industries, the opening of the neighbouring Tilbury docks, and the financial needs of the lord of the manor, James Theobald, who succeeded his father in 1871.

Sailing is a popular sport in Grays, and with the proximity of the Thames has potential for growth. Most sailing activities take place at Thurrock Yacht Club or Grangewaters outdoor education centre.

With its valuable mineral deposits Grays might well have grown faster if it had had better communications, but until the 19th century it remained a remote marshland township. The coastal east-west road, now London Road, was in the 18th century only a local road, linking Purfleet, West Thurrock, Grays, and West Tilbury.

The port of Grays, with its wharfs and ferries, is described elsewhere. As early as 1637 there were regular boat services between Grays and London. In 1838 travellers to London could use the Gravesend river steamers, 'hailed by a boat put off Grays'. From c. 1841, when Grays pier was built, the steamers called there, and by 1848 there were services five times a day

Some visitors in the later 19th century were struck by the large number of public houses. In 1866 one even remarked that Grays 'for its size contains more than any other town in England'.  That may have been an exaggeration, but it is true that in 1866 there were at least 9 wellestablished public houses, i.e. one for every 122 inhabitants of the parish.