Belhus Park, Thurrock, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest:

Remnant of a mid 18th century park by Lancelot Brown, with additions by Richard Woods, now (2000) a golf course and leisure centre.
 

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Belhus Park is situated on the eastern edge of London, between the settlements of Aveley and South Ockendon, beside junction 30 of the M25 which cuts through the park. The site, which occupies about 119 hectares, is bordered to the west by the houses of Aveley, to the east by South Ockendon, to the south by a small area of open land, and to the north by Belhus Woods Country Park. These boundaries give the site an urban-edge setting. The ground is generally level, with the M25 sunk into a cutting which runs north/south through the eastern half of the park, isolating the woodland areas from the open parkland.

REFERENCES used by English Heritage:

P Morant, The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex (1763-1768)

P Muilman, A New and Complete History of Essex I, (1771), p 133

T Barrett-Lennard, The Families of Lennard and Barrett (1908)

L Dickens and M Stanton, An eighteenth century correspondence (1910) [letters between Lord Dacre and Sanderson Miller]

Country Life, 47 (15 May 1920), pp 656-662; (22 May 1920), pp 690-696

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 72-74

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Essex (1979), p 83

Panorama Journal of the Thurrock Local History Society 23, (1980)

Victoria History of the County of Essex VIII, (1983)

Garden History XV, No 1 (1987), pp 34-35

F Cowell and G Green, Repton in Essex (2000), pp 21-22

Maps

Belhus Park in 1619 (D/DL M14 and P1), (Essex Record Office)

J Chapman and P Andre, A map of the county of Essex from an actual survey ..., 1777 (Essex Record Office)

Tithe map for Aveley parish, 1839 (Essex Record Office)

OS Surveyor's drawings, 1799 (British Library Maps)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1869

2nd edition published 1897

1938 edition

OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1897

Archival items

Engraving of the gardens in the mid C17 (D/DL T1/779A), (Essex Record Office)

Bird's-eye view of Belhus in the late C17/early C18 century (Thurrock Museum)

Engraving from Peacock's Polite Repository (1807) [reproduced in Cowell and Green 2000]

Engraving by W Wallis from drawing by J P Neale, 1819 (Thurrock Museum)

Engraving by J C Armytage from drawing by W Bartlett, 1835 (Thurrock Museum)

Description written: January 2001

Amended: April 2001

Edited: September 2001