NOTES ON EAST TILBURY, 1962
215
East Tilbury is a riverside village situated on a spur of high
land about three miles East of Tilbury proper. The riverside
area is essentially reclaimed marsh but there is, on the river side of
the river wall, an interesting area of Saltmarsh about a mile in
length and varying in width from a mere 30 or 40 yards to nearly
a quarter of a mile. Some is grazed, but the area in front of the
Fort, that I shall be dealing with a little later on, is usually not.
The village itself consists of two parts separated by nearly a
mile of open country. The northern part is the Bata village, an
estate developed before the war for employees of the Bata factory
situated there.
The southern part, the old village, straggles along the road for
about a quarter of a mile, the last building, apart from the Fort,
being the twelfth century church of St. Catherine. East Tilbury
lies at that point on the river where the course changes abruptly
North from Gravesend Reach to the Lower Hope. Tidal move-
ment here is considerable and at low tide considerable expanses
of mud flats are exposed and a wide selection of waders can be
seen at the appropriate times.
Historically East Tilbury has long occupied a position
recognised as strategically important in the defence of the river
approaches to London and there were fortifications here as long
ago as 1539. The present Fort, now used as a store, was built in
the 1860's under the direction of General Gordon of Khartoum to
take twenty or more guns as part of a fort system giving a
combined defence from both banks of the river (the North Kent
forts being at Cliff Creek and Shornmead).
Undoubtedly the most interesting building in the village
historically is St Catherine's Church. It is twelfth century in
origin and is said to be very near the site of the monastery known
to have been founded at Tilbury by St. Cedd soon after the
building of the much better known St. Peter's on the Wall near
Bradwell.
Since it was first built the fabric of the church has been added
to on a number of occasions, and partially demolished at least
once. This occurred in July 1667 when the Dutch Fleet sailed
up the Thames and shelled the church destroying the tower, the
South aisle and the Rectory.
East Tilbury is also historically notable as the terminal of an
ancient ferry across the Thames to Higham in Kent. Between the
present low and high water limits the river mud conceals the
remains of a Romano-British settlement. The settlement which
was discovered and investigated some years ago consisted of four
round huts dating from the first or second century A.D. Large
quantities of fragments of Roman pottery were also found on the
site.
The botanical interest of the area lies in the Saltmarsh and in
the areas more immediately behind the river wall. The Saltmarsh
area in front of the Fort, approximately 400 yards by 200 yards,
supports a high concentration of Saltmarsh flora ranging from the