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Rayleigh Leasing

Did You Know?

Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in the Rochford District in Essex, England; it is located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, 32 miles east of central London.

With plenty of great local amenities, easy access to most of the south east's major destinations, and a wealth of green space on the doorstep, Rayleigh is becoming increasingly popular with homebuyers.

The word "Rayleigh" is said to derive from two Anglo-Saxon words, "Roe", a deer, and "leigh" a clearing. The Rayleigh Windmill is over 200 years old and is a museum and popular venue for weddings. The Windmill, an 18th C. octagonal Dutch Cottage and Holy Trinity Church are the three most famous landmarks.

Rayleigh owes its origins to the flints on Hambro Hill, which attracted its first human residents as long ago as the Stone Age. In Saxon times the focus moved to the area covered by the modern High Street, but it was not until Rayleigh Castle was built under the Normans that the town really came to life.

The castle was built by the lord of the manor of Rayleigh, named Sweyne. As the fourth largest landowner in Essex, Sweyne was a vastly rich and powerful man, responsible for maintaining law and order, ensuring the King's taxes were collected.

Weymouth in Dorset was a famous holiday spot of King George III. The royal suffered from a “madness” which historians now suspect may have been Bipolar Disorder. His doctors recommended sea swimming, which was believed to be extremely curative, so King George began holidaying in Weymouth. 

John William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh, was born on November 12, 1842 at Langford Grove, Maldon, Essex, as the son of John James Strutt, second Baron, and his wife Clara Elizabeth La Touche, eldest daughter of Captain Richard Vicars.

Rayleigh derives its name from the Saxon words ‘raege’ (a wild she goat or roe deer) and ‘leah’ (a clearing). When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 he ordered the building of a network of castles. Robert Fitzwymarc who held the ‘Honour of Rayleigh’ before the invasion was one of few allowed to retain his lands.

An area of religious devotion since Saxon times, Rayleigh’s distinctive Parish Church at the top of the High Street dates mainly from the Perpendicular Period (14th to 16th centuries). In 1555 two Protestant martyrs were burnt at the stake for refusing to deny their faith and a memorial was erected to their memory in 1908 at the top of Crown Hill.

Rayleigh Windmill is a grade II-listed mill which was built in 1809 for local timber trader Thomas Higgs. He became bankrupt in 1815 and the mill was sold on to numerous individuals. It was the last of five mills which served the town throughout history. The mill had to be repaired in or just after 1869.