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71-582: South Benfleet is a town in the Castle Point district of Essex , England, 30 miles east of London. It is adjacent to the village of North Benfleet . The Benfleet (SS7) post town includes South Benfleet, Thundersley , New Thundersley and Hadleigh . The Battle of Benfleet took place here between the Vikings and Saxons in 894. The community is directly north of Canvey Island and is served by Benfleet railway station . It hosts South Benfleet Primary School, which

142-502: A "carve up", and demanding that the east/west split be retained. The resulting South Glamorgan was the only Welsh county council the Conservatives ever controlled (from 1977 to 1981). One of the effects of the Act was to confirm the area of Monmouthshire as part of Wales. Ambiguity as to the status of Monmouthshire had been introduced by legislation in the 16th and 17th centuries, and by

213-599: A 6-mile cycle way, from near Benfleet railway station to near Leigh-on-Sea railway station, the "de Neumann Way" after Captain Peter de Neumann, GM . The Battle of Benfleet took place between the Saxons and Danish Vikings in 894. This was towards the end of the Saxon period, and the Thames and other waterways made the area vulnerable to Viking attacks. Benfleet was used as a Viking base. However,

284-660: A Consultative Document in February 1971, at the same time as the English White Paper. The proposals were similar to the Labour proposals of 1968, except that the county boroughs were instead two-tier districts, and that Glamorgan was to be subdivided into West Glamorgan and East Glamorgan, making 7 counties and 36 districts. In the Bill as introduced Glamorgan had been split into three authorities: with East Glamorgan further subdivided into

355-514: A Mid Glamorgan covering the valleys and South Glamorgan. The decision to split East Glamorgan further left South Glamorgan with only two districts (one of which was the Conservative-controlled Cardiff , who had requested the split) and Mid Glamorgan one of the poorest areas in the country. The Labour-controlled Glamorgan County Council strongly opposed this move, placing adverts in newspapers calling for Glamorgan to be saved from

426-505: A civil parish council, its 'town council' which could act alone in some matters such as town twinning, whereas Welwyn Garden City did not and therefore had no separate representation. The Act introduced 'agency', where one local authority (usually a district) could act as an agent for another authority. For example, since road maintenance was split depending upon the type of road, both types of council had to retain engineering departments. A county council could delegate its road maintenance to

497-661: A division in the Lords on the inclusion of Weston-super-Mare in Avon, by 42 to 41. Two more metropolitan districts were created than were originally in the Bill: As passed, the Act would have included Charlwood and Horley in West Sussex , along with Gatwick Airport . This was reversed by the Charlwood and Horley Act 1974 , passed just before the Act came into force. Charlwood was made part of

568-608: A football club formed in 1978 for youth football but is now a men's and veterans' (over 35s) club. Their men's team currently play in the Sceptre League and their veterans teams are in the Premier Division and Division 3 of the Southend Borough Combination Veterans League. Benfleet Cricket Club (established 1948) currently play their home matches at Woodside Park at the top of Manor Road. Members of

639-477: A much larger area than the previous county of London . A Local Government Commission for England was set up in 1958 to review local government arrangements throughout the country, and made some changes, such as merging two pairs of small administrative counties to form Huntingdon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely , and creating several contiguous county boroughs in the Black Country . Most of

710-449: A new settlement, which became known as Little Benfleet, developed to the north of the original settlement. The new settlement did not last, and its site, which has since become known as North Benfleet, is now largely rural. The railway was brought to the town in 1855. The new Benfleet railway station connected the town with Southend-on-Sea to the east and London Fenchurch Street station. In July 2002, Castle Point District Council named

781-549: A population of 8,191. Benfleet Urban District was abolished on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , becoming part of the new district of Castle Point. No successor parish was created for the former urban district and so South Benfleet is directly administered by Castle Point Borough Council. Benfleet railway station is served by the London, Tilbury and Southend railway line, currently run by c2c rail. By road

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852-453: A regional average of 39 and national average of 40. Castle Point has several estates laid out as seaside resorts for retirement, which is reflected in 7% of its population at the time of the 2011 census being aged 75 to 84, compared to 5.5% nationally. The A13 crosses Castle Point and the A127 skirts it to the north, providing direct links to both Southend and London. The only station in

923-403: A six-day-a-week service to Chelmsford . Waterside Farm Sports Centre, on Canvey Island is set in 88 acres (36 ha) of parkland and has a range of indoor and outdoor facilities, including a 25-metre swimming pool, a learner pool and facilities for badminton, squash, netball, basketball, trampolining and gymnastics. The centre also includes an outdoor 6 lane, 400-metre athletics track. Opposite

994-461: A system of single-tier unitary authorities for the whole of England, apart from three metropolitan areas of Merseyside , SELNEC (South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire, now known as Greater Manchester) and West Midlands ( Birmingham and the Black Country ), which were to have both a metropolitan council and district councils. This report was accepted by the Labour Party government of

1065-498: Is a civil parish with a town council, forming a third tier of local government in that part of the borough. The mainland part of the borough (the former Benfleet Urban District) is an unparished area . Following the 2024 election , a majority of the seats on the council were held by local party the People's Independent Party , which won all the seats on the mainland part of the borough, but did not contest any seats on Canvey Island. All

1136-497: Is a brick built structure built in 1903, which is 30m high with a 22m mast sited on the roof. All radio equipment is housed within the tower. Being on a prominent hilltop, some 137m amsl, this is an exceptional radio transmission and reception site. Coverage includes the whole estuary, including the Isle of Grain, Medway Towns, Southend, Bradwell, Danbury etc. This site provides both Highband and Lowband CBS systems. Benfleet FC are members of

1207-819: Is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Government of 1970–74 . The Act took the total number of councils in England from 1,245 to 412 (excluding parish councils ), and in Wales to 45. Its pattern of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan county and district councils remains in use today in large parts of England, although

1278-727: The 2024 election the composition of the council was: Notably, Castle Point is currently the only council in England where no seat is held by the Labour Party , the Conservatives , the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party . The next election is due in May 2028. The council is based at the Council Offices on Kiln Road in Thundersley. The building was built in 1962 as the headquarters of

1349-854: The A13 and A12 / A127 / A130 connect the town to London. The Church of England in Benfleet is served by the Church of St Mary the Virgin . The public houses located in the Monument and St Mary's area of the town include The Anchor , The Hoy and Helmet and the Half Crown . Further north is the Benfleet Tavern . There is also a range of restaurants in the South Benfleet conservation area. Benfleet Water Tower ( TQ 790 867 )

1420-478: The Mole Valley district and Horley part of Reigate and Banstead . Gatwick Airport was still transferred. Although willing to compromise on exact boundaries, the government stood firm on the existence or abolition of county councils. The Isle of Wight (originally scheduled to be merged back into Hampshire as a district) was the only local campaign to succeed, and also the only county council in England to violate

1491-605: The 13th century, forming the most important historic site in the borough and the most important late medieval castle in Essex. The Dutch Cottage Museum contains a variety of exhibits that illustrate the history of Canvey Island, and the Castle Point Transport Museum, also situated on Canvey in the retired District bus depot, features a display of over thirty old buses, coaches and commercial vehicles. Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70)

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1562-456: The 250,000 minimum for education authorities. The government bowed to local demand for the island to retain its status in October 1972, moving an amendment in the Lords to remove it from Hampshire, Lord Sanford noting that "nowhere else is faced with problems of communication with its neighbours which are in any way comparable". Protests from Rutland and Herefordshire failed, although Rutland

1633-564: The Act came into force at midnight on 1 April 1974. Elections to the new councils had already been held, in 1973, and the new authorities were already up and running as "shadow authorities", following the example set by the London Government Act 1963 . The Act specified the composition and names of the English and Welsh counties, and the composition of the metropolitan and Welsh districts. It did not specify any names of districts, nor indeed

1704-618: The City of Southend-on-Sea to the east, Rochford District to the north, the Borough of Basildon to the west, and the Thurrock unitary authority area to the south-west, across Holehaven Creek . Castle Point was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , as one of 14 non-metropolitan districts within Essex. The new district covered the areas of the former urban districts of Benfleet and Canvey Island , both of which were abolished at

1775-414: The English counties were designated as metropolitan counties. The new English counties were based clearly on the traditional ones, albeit with several substantial changes. The thirteen historic counties of Wales were abandoned entirely for administrative purposes and eight new ones instituted. The Act substituted the new counties "for counties of any other description" for purposes of law. This realigned

1846-781: The Essex Olympian Football League. The First Team play in Senior Division 1 and Seconds in the Reserve Division 2. There is also a third team who compete in the Mid-Essex Division 3. The club play their home fixtures at Woodside Park Extension at the top of Manor Road. Fixtures are organised on a Saturday afternoon, with some mid-week fixtures towards the end of the season. Benfleet is the home to Sceptre League Division 1 Sunday team Benfleet FC, who finished 8th in 2010/2011 season. Benfleet FC (Sunday) managed to win

1917-696: The Hambro Financial Cricket League (formerly Shepherd Neame Essex League), they currently field five adult teams on a Saturday, two adult teams on a Sunday, and teams at u9, u11, u13 and u15 age groups in competitions organised by the South Essex Cricket Participation Group. Benfleet was referred to as Beamfleot in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell . [REDACTED] Media related to South Benfleet at Wikimedia Commons Castle Point The borough borders

1988-557: The Leeds or Wakefield districts. (Rothwell had been planned for Wakefield, but an amendment at report stage was proposed by local MP Albert Roberts and accepted by the government, then overturned by the Lords.) Instead, the Wakefield district gained the town of Ossett , which was originally placed in the Kirklees district, following an appeal by Ossett Labour Party. The government barely won

2059-619: The Local Government Bill into Parliament soon after the start of the 1971–1972 session. In the Commons it passed through Standing Committee D, who debated it in 51 sittings from 25 November 1971 to 20 March 1972. The Act abolished previous existing local government structures, and created a two-tier system of counties and districts everywhere. Some of the new counties were designated metropolitan counties , containing metropolitan boroughs instead. The allocation of functions differed between

2130-588: The Middle Ages or even earlier; industrialisation had created new and very large urban areas like the West Midlands, Liverpool and Manchester which spanned traditional county boundaries and were now often bigger than and far from their traditional county towns. The Local Government Commission was wound up in 1966, and replaced with a Royal Commission (known as the Redcliffe-Maud commission ). In 1969 it recommended

2201-573: The Mike Wigget Cup in 2009/2010 season, beating Shoebury Boys 4–2 in the final at Burroughs Park, Great Wakering. Benfleet Vikings RFC are the town's local rugby club, formed in 2013, with Senior, Youth, and Minis sides. The senior side currently compete in the Shepherd Neame Essex Merit League 6 East and play their home fixtures on Saturdays at Richmond Park, off of Brook Road. Benfleet is also home to South Benfleet United F.C.,

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2272-503: The Redcliffe-Maud report, and its findings that the division of functions between town and country had been harmful, but that some functions were better performed by smaller units. The White Paper set out the proposed division of functions between districts and counties, and also suggested a minimum population of 40,000 for districts. The government aimed to introduce a Bill in the 1971/72 session of Parliament for elections in 1973, so that

2343-456: The Vikings were defeated in the battle by the army of King Alfred under the command of his son Edward the Elder and his son-in-law Earl Aethelred of Mercia . Subsequently, a church was built by the Saxons in thanksgiving for the victory over the Vikings. St Mary's is the most recent church building occupying this site and is a Grade I listed building . In December 2008 a sculpture commemorating

2414-594: The act was substantially different in Wales. The Redcliffe-Maud Commission had not considered Wales, which had been the subject of the Welsh Office proposals in the 1960s. A White Paper was published in 1967 on the subject of Wales, based on the findings of the 1962 report of the Local Government Commission for Wales . The White Paper proposed five counties, and thirty-six districts. The county boroughs of Swansea , Cardiff and Newport would be retained, but

2485-519: The areas during the Bill's passage through Parliament were: In the Bill as published, the Dorset/Hampshire border was between Christchurch and Lymington. On 6 July 1972, a government amendment added Lymington to Dorset, which would have had the effect of having the entire Bournemouth conurbation in one county (although the town in Lymington itself does not form part of the built-up area, the borough

2556-776: The battle was erected in Ferry Road, South Benfleet. There are two tiers of local government covering South Benfleet, at district and non-metropolitan county level: Castle Point Borough Council , based in Thundersley, and Essex County Council , based in Chelmsford . South Benfleet was an ancient parish . In 1929 the parish was merged with the neighbouring parishes of Hadleigh and Thundersley to become Benfleet Urban District . The three parishes were thereafter classed as urban parishes and so no longer had separate parish councils, instead being directly administered by Benfleet Urban District Council. In 1951, South Benfleet urban parish had

2627-491: The borders of the non-metropolitan districts in England – these were specified by Statutory Instrument after the passing of the Act. A Boundary Commission, provided for in the Act, had already begun work on dividing England into districts whilst the Bill was still going through Parliament. In England there were 45 counties and 332 districts (excluding Greater London and the Isles of Scilly), in Wales there were 8 and 37. Six of

2698-589: The borough is Benfleet railway station on the London, Tilbury and Southend line from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness , operated by c2c . Castle Point has an extensive bus network operated by the First Essex and Arriva Shires & Essex , with services across the borough and to Southend , Basildon , Lakeside Shopping Centre and Rayleigh . Weekday services by Stephensons of Essex also travel to London, Southend and Thurrock College and Regal Busways offers

2769-454: The boroughs, responded to Redcliffe-Maud by putting forward a scheme where England outside London would be divided into 13 provinces, with 132 main authorities below that. The AMC argued that the Redcliffe-Maud units would be too far removed from the people they served, and suggested units that in some places were much smaller in size. The Times gave the example of Kent, which under Redcliffe-Maud would have consisted of two unitary authorities,

2840-451: The boundaries of ceremonial and judicial counties used for lieutenancy , custodes rotulorum , shrievalty , commissions of the peace and magistrates' courts to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The Act also extended the rights of the Duchy of Lancaster to appoint Lord-Lieutenants for the shrunken Lancashire along with all of Greater Manchester and Merseyside . Before

2911-405: The commission's recommendations, such as its proposals to abolish Rutland or to reorganise Tyneside , were ignored in favour of the status quo. It was generally agreed that there were significant problems with the structure of local government. Despite mergers, there was still a proliferation of small district councils in rural areas, and in the major conurbations the borders had been set before

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2982-587: The concept of unifying estuaries, through the creation of the county of Humberside on the Humber Estuary , and the inclusion of Harwich and Colchester in Suffolk to unify the Stour Estuary . The latter was removed from the Bill before it became law. Proposals from Plymouth for a Tamarside county were rejected. The Bill also provided names for the new counties for the first time. The main amendments made to

3053-469: The council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Castle Point. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 2014 have been: Following

3124-505: The counties in which they were physically situated. The county areas were two-tier, with many municipal boroughs , urban districts and rural districts within them, each with its own council. Apart from the creation of new county boroughs, the most significant change since 1899 (and the establishment of metropolitan boroughs in the County of London ) had been the establishment in 1965 of Greater London and its 32 London boroughs , covering

3195-690: The country. Many of the new boundaries proposed by the Redcliffe-Maud report were retained in the White Paper. The proposals were in large part based on ideas of the County Councils Association, the Urban District Councils Association and the Rural District Councils Association. The White Paper outlined principles, including an acceptance of the minimum population of 250,000 for education authorities in

3266-481: The county boundaries found in the Bill). A further eighteen districts were added in the final proposals of November 1972, which were then ordered. The splits were as follows (in most cases the splits were not exact, and many other changes to the borders of the districts took place at this time) The new district in Suffolk was necessitated by the decision to keep Newmarket in Suffolk; which would otherwise have become part of

3337-443: The district council if it was confident that the district was competent. Some powers were specifically excluded from agency, such as education. The Act abolished various historic relics such as aldermen . The office previously known as sheriff was retitled high sheriff. Many existing boroughs that were too small to constitute a district, but too large to constitute a civil parish , were given charter trustees . Most provisions of

3408-555: The exception of Clwyd (which was named after the River Clwyd ) the names of the counties were taken from ancient British kingdoms. Welsh names were also used for many of the Welsh districts. There were no metropolitan counties and, unlike in England, the Secretary of State could not create future metropolitan counties there under the Act. After much comment, the proposals were introduced as

3479-466: The former Benfleet Urban District Council. Since the last boundary changes in 2024, the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The national land use tables published by MHCLG show that in 2017, 56.6% of the borough was covered by green spaces including agriculture, forest and open land, water and outdoor recreation spaces. Close to one-fifth (18.2%)

3550-449: The gradual cultural anglicisation of some eastern parts of the county. By the late 19th century the area was often treated in legislation as one with Wales, using the terminology "Wales and Monmouthshire", although it remained legally part of England. Apart from the new Glamorgan authorities, all the names of the new Welsh counties were in the Welsh language , with no English equivalent. With

3621-400: The handover date. Elections to county councils were held on 12 April, for metropolitan and Welsh districts on 10 May, and for non-metropolitan district councils on 7 June. Elected county councils had been established in England and Wales for the first time in 1888, covering areas known as administrative counties. Some large towns, known as county boroughs , were politically independent from

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3692-457: The metropolitan and the non-metropolitan areas (the so-called " shire counties ") – for example, education and social services were the responsibility of the shire counties, but in metropolitan areas was given to the districts. The distribution of powers was slightly different in Wales than in England, with libraries being a county responsibility in England—but in Wales districts could opt to become library authorities themselves. One key principle

3763-440: The metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986, and both county and district councils have been replaced with unitary authorities in many areas since the 1990s. In Wales, too, the Act established a similar pattern of counties and districts , but these have since been entirely replaced with a system of unitary authorities . Elections were held to the new authorities in 1973, and they acted as "shadow authorities" until

3834-422: The new authorities could start exercising full powers on 1 April 1974. The White Paper made no commitments on regional or provincial government, since the Conservative government preferred to wait for the Crowther Commission to report. The proposals were substantially changed with the introduction of the Bill into Parliament in November 1971: The Bill as introduced also included two new major changes based on

3905-427: The passing of the Act, there were a total of 1,210 councils in England (excluding Greater London councils and the Isles of Scilly). This was made up of 1,086 rural and urban districts (including non-county boroughs), 79 county boroughs and 45 counties. The Act reduced the total number of councils outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly to 377 (45 counties and 332 districts). Most of the new districts were groups of

3976-464: The pattern of urban development had become clear. For example, in the area that was to become the seven boroughs of the metropolitan county of West Midlands , local government was split between three administrative counties ( Staffordshire , Warwickshire , and Worcestershire ), and eight county boroughs ( Birmingham , Coventry , Dudley , Solihull , Walsall , Warley , West Bromwich , and Wolverhampton ). Many county boundaries reflected traditions of

4047-404: The route of the original Roman road. Its construction in 1971 brought to light a number of artifacts dating back to the early settlements in the area. The name of the town originates from the time of the Saxon settlers in the 5th century, when the area was largely marshland. They named the area Beamfleote , meaning "tree stream", being the area where the creeks from the River Thames adjoined

4118-503: The same time. The district was named "Castle Point", combining references to landmarks in both of the former urban districts: Hadleigh Castle in Benfleet and Canvey Point at the eastern tip of Canvey Island. The district was granted borough status with effect from 1 February 1992, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Castle Point Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council . Canvey Island

4189-412: The seats on Canvey Island were won by another local party, the Canvey Island Independent Party . The two parties had been running the council as coalition since the 2022 election , when the council had been under no overall control . Despite holding all the council's seats between them following the 2024 election, the two parties agreed to continue to form a joint administration. The first election to

4260-406: The small county borough of Merthyr Tydfil would become a district. The proposed counties were as follows Implementation of reform in Wales was not immediate, pending decisions on the situation in England, and a new Secretary of State, George Thomas , announced changes to the proposals in November 1968. The large northern county of Gwynedd was to be split to form two counties (creating Gwynedd in

4331-408: The smaller having a population of 499,000 (as of 1968), while the AMC proposal would divide the same area into seven local authorities, ranging in population from 161,000 to 306,000. The incoming government's proposals for England were presented in a White Paper published in February 1971. The White Paper substantially trimmed the metropolitan areas, and proposed a two-tier structure for the rest of

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4402-407: The sports centre is the Castle Point Golf Course, an 18-hole par 71 public pay-and-play course with a 17-bay floodlit driving range. Runnymede Pool is situated behind the Council Offices in Kiln Road. It has a 25-metre pool and a learner pool and is home to Runnymede Swimming Club. Castle Point is twinned with three towns and counties: Hadleigh Castle is preserved as an ancient monument from

4473-457: The time despite considerable opposition, but the Conservative Party won the June 1970 general election on a manifesto that committed it to a two-tier structure. The new government made Peter Walker and Graham Page the ministers, and quickly dropped the Redcliffe-Maud report. They invited comments from interested parties regarding the previous government's proposals. The Association of Municipal Corporations, an advocacy group representing

4544-399: The west and Clwyd in the east) with various alterations to the districts. The Redcliffe-Maud report led to a reconsideration of the plans, especially with respect to Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, and a March 1970 White Paper proposed three unitary authorities for South Wales, based on Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. After the 1970 general election , the new Conservative government published

4615-763: The whole areas of former districts, although 64 rural districts were split between new districts, and there were eleven urban districts or boroughs which saw their territory split between new districts: Teesside County Borough , Whitley Bay Municipal Borough, Ashton-in-Makerfield Urban District, Billinge and Winstanley Urban District , Golborne Urban District, Lakes Urban District , Queensbury and Shelf Urban District , Ramsbottom Urban District , Seaton Valley Urban District , Thurrock Urban District , and Turton Urban District . A list of non-metropolitan districts can be found at List of English districts . The Local Government Boundary Commission originally proposed 278 non-metropolitan districts in April 1972 (still working with

4686-435: The wooded area to the north. The current spelling was adopted at the time the railway service was brought to the area and a railway station built for the town. Throughout the intervening period various documented versions of the names has been 'Benfleota', 'Beamflet', 'Bemflet', 'Bienflet' and 'Bemfleet'. The last was used on John Norden 's maps in the 17th century. In Saxon times the village became known as South Benfleet when

4757-456: Was able to secure its treatment as a single district despite not meeting the stated minimum population of 40,000 for districts. Several metropolitan boroughs fell under the 250,000 limit, including three of Tyne and Wear 's five boroughs ( North Tyneside , South Tyneside and Gateshead ), and the four metropolitan boroughs that had resulted from the splitting of the proposed Bury / Rochdale and Knowsley / St Helens boroughs. The background of

4828-407: Was accounted for by residential gardens. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, but despite adequate rainfall all year-round it is on average the driest part of the UK. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ). The median age of Castle Point's residents at the 2011 census was 45, compared to

4899-541: Was large and contained villages which do). The House of Lords reversed this amendment in September, with the government losing the division 81 to 65. In October, the government brought up this issue again, proposing an amendment to put the western part of Lymington borough in Dorset. The amendment was withdrawn. The government lost divisions in the House of Lords at Report Stage on the exclusion of Wilmslow and Poynton from Greater Manchester and their retention in Cheshire, and also on whether Rothwell should form part of

4970-503: Was that education authorities (non-metropolitan counties and metropolitan districts) were deemed to need a population base of 250,000 in order to be viable. Although called two-tier, the system was really three-tier, as it retained civil parish councils, although in Wales they were renamed community councils . Within districts some inconsistency prevailed. For example, in Welwyn Hatfield District in Hertfordshire, which comprised Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Old Welwyn, Hatfield retained

5041-480: Was used temporarily to house local residents during the widespread flooding of 1953 . At the junction of Saint Mary's Church and The Anchor pub is the site of the UK's first "overrunable" mini roundabout. In Roman times the reclaimed area which is now Canvey Island was joined to the mainland by a road providing access from Benfleet at low tides to Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and Londinium (London). The A130 road from Sadlers Farm roundabout to Canvey Island follows

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