Wat Tyler Country Park sits within the South Essex Marshes which are steeped in history from the earliest periods – a landscape created over many centuries through the interaction of human communities and the natural environment.

The Park shares the historical significance of the surrounding marsh area but it has a significant history in its own right.

The features of its landscape such as grazing meadows, ancient hedgerows, blast mounds, tidal waterways, sea walls and field boundaries are evidence of the way people used the area. There are also structures such as pill boxes, roadways, MoD buildings that all provide an insight into the history of the Park.

Early settlement

As early as 3500BC people lived and worked on the land here. For centuries the Essex coast has had a thriving economy based on grazing, salt production, fishing and shellfish. Evidence of salt production can be traced back to the Bronze Age (2500 – 800BC).

The Bronze Age peoples were also the first to use the open saltmarsh to graze their animals. Grazing carried on for hundreds of years. This means that the area was never ploughed and much archaeological evidence remains undisturbed below the marshes.

Between the mid Roman and Norman period there was a time of intensive settlement around the marshes as evidenced by numerous archaeological finds and place names. The area within the Park around Pitsea Creek was principally used for sheep grazing. The land forming the Park today was originally part of the Pitsea Hall estate.

The sea

The land was originally subject to tidal flooding but this was altered by the distinguished Dutch engineer Cornelius Vandanker who raised sea defences in the 17th century. The area was used for fishing and the cultivation of oysters as evidenced by the remains of oyster pits at Timberman’s Creek on the edge of the Park as well as at many other sites across the marshes.

Explosives and defence

In the 19th century the British Explosives Syndicate established a factory in what is now the Country Park. The factory manufactured nitro glycerine based explosives and some buildings and earthworks remain as evidence of this important industry. The site has been identified as an important factory site representing technological innovation.

In 1920 the Nobel Explosives Company took over the site and whilst few of the original buildings remain, the protective blast barriers, in the form of large excavations or banks of earth, can still be found scattered throughout the Park.

During the Second World War the area of the Park was owned by the Ministry of Defence and buildings still survive now as evidence of a Naval Depot. More importantly the GHQ line, Britain’s most important defensive line, began in the area of the Country Park before running up through Basildon to Chelmsford and beyond. Evidence of the line can still be seen in the Park in the form of four pill boxes and anti tank ditches and blocks.

New and old

Basildon District Council took control of the Park in 1969. They chose to name it after Wat Tyler perhaps the most infamous leaders of the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381. This holds particular significance for the area as the Revolt was begun by the men of Fobbing, just a stone’s throw away from the Park itself.

In the 1980s the Park also became home to several significant buildings which needed to be relocated from elsewhere in the county. These included several cottages called Little Cooper’s Cottage (15th century), Blunt’s Cottage (16th century) and Holly Cottage (17th century). Although all the cottages are significant, both Little Cooper’s and Blunt’s cottages were grade II listed buildings in their original location. Little Cooper’s Cottage is believed to be the only example of its type in the country.

The use of the South Essex Marshes in recent years for landfill sites has altered the landscape creating new habitats, and this will change once more as the landfill is returned back to nature.

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