The History of Hullbridge village.
For the very early times of Hullbridge we have to refer to the documented Archaeological surveys. Around 1900 Mr William Henry Rand of Rayleigh found some remains near Fenn Creek whilst out fishing. His finds generated interest for a more detailed survey. Further findings were made by F.N.Haward and A.Wright, all three sets of findings are currently held at Prittlewell Priory Museum, Southend. A proper field study was conducted by the Morant Club who presented its findings 17th Dec 1910 to the Essex Field Club. ( Morant Report link) The report was written by an eminent Essex pre historian Mr S Hazzeldine Warren and F.W.Reader they stated that Hullbridge has evidence of very early human occupation , Neolithic, although this specific era could run into the Bronze age The writer states "I do not think that the physical evidence demands a greater antiquity than some five thousand years from the present time (1910), while from other considerations a value of twice this amount is in the highest degree improbable. Indeed the lower value is perhaps in the excess of necessities of the case. If we said 5000 within a margin of 1500 on either side we should probably be fairly safe." I.e, 4600-1600BC.. The collection of the flints the survey found is held in Prittlewell Museum, Southend-on-Sea.
Around 1970 Steven W. Vincent and William H. George conducted another survey and privately published their findings in 1980 "Some Mesolithic Sites along the rivers Blackwater and Crouch in Essex".
This survey aroused considerable interest in the Essex County Council Archaeological department and the departments oficers John Hedges and David Buckley found the necessary funding to undertake a more detailed survey of the Hullbridge and Blackwater area. As a result T.J.Wilkinson and P.Murphy and K Mason published various interim reports during the 1980's culminating in 1995 with Messrs Wilkinson and Murphy publishing "The Archaeology of the Essex Coast, Volume 1: The Hullbridge Survey. 
The survey although named Hullbridge did in fact cover a wider area as shown by the following map which is used with the permission of Essex County Council and still remains under their copyright. Please click on image for an enlarged version of Surveyed area of Essex Coast.
For Hullbridge this survey had three main sites the most significant (Crouch site 4) was at Fenn Creek whilst sites 8 and 9 where just beyond Brandy Hole.
- Mesolithic c8000 6800BC
- Neolithic c
- Bronze and Iron Age
- Roman and later c43 AD -...
The report made conclusions on the Palaeogeography (the study of the geography in the past)of the Essex coastline around 7000-6500BC.
The above image is used with the permission of Essex County Council and still remains under their copyright. please click on image for an enlarged version.
Initially the North Sea basin was dry land and as a result of rapid melting ice sheets the sea level rose at rates of 2m per century causing rapid changes to the Essex coastline. Through samples collected from the sea floor it is believed that the North Sea was approx., 45m (147 ft) below today's level resulting in Hullbridge being 4m above sea level of that time, which would have reached as far in as Fambridge. Thus making Hullbridge an ideal to be place to be a inland settlement. Unfortunately later conditions of rising sea levels etc., made Hullbridge unsuitable for the preservation of bone and shell and these new conditions would most probably caused any permanent settlement to be abandoned and for it to be used as a temporary site as inhabitants became more mobile in accordance with the seasonal and geographical changes that were taking place.
By combining the geometry of the old land surface with geological survey cores and auguring the survey was able to ascertain that the original river bed ran straighter than current and is just North of site 4 making site 4 South of the original river. At the Mesolithic level the survey found traces of freshwater organisms and traces of woodland along with 374 worked flints, a product not indigenous to the area.
The survey found very little traces of Neolithic settlement at Hullbridge but believe the sites at this time were submerged.
In 1977 two skulls were found resting on a wooden platform by a student from the local Field Studies Centre.
The place these were found became Site 1 for this survey. These skulls were sent to the Natural History Museum, London and were dated by them to be Bronze age. The date was further verified by the survey when the investigated platform was found to be Bronze age.
At Site 2 the survey re-found the Salt workings first reported by Vincent and George and excavated the hearth. In and around the hearth they found Briquetage, this the name for a coarse ceramic material used to make evaporation vessels and supporting pillars used in extracting salt from seawater Click here for Hyperlink to Wikipedia description of Bronze Age salt making.
Nothing is listed in the survey for the three main sites of Hullbridge (Nos. 4, 8 and 9). The nearest River Crouch findings are at the mouth of the river and near Fambridge. The survey makes reference to the possible existence of two bridges connected by a small island at Fambridge and that the structure is similar to that seen with the revetments at Hullbridge.
Much is written about the Red Hills of the northern Essex coast and it is acknowledged that the survey does not enhance the substantial knowledge already documented, and that hills would have existed in the area but are most likely developed upon.
To read about salt making and the resulting red hills click here Essex Family HistoryHullbridge's importance as an archaeological sight continues to grow stronger with National Heritage taking particular interest Click here to view English Heritage page on Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment and Beyond - research and management of the Essex Coast amidst many interested organizations making field trips to the shoreline of the village is the Essex Rock and Mineral Society trip (5th Oct 2003) Click here for hyperlink to Essex Rock and Mineral Society Field trip report
Oliver Rackham in his book History of the Countryside believes that during the Iron Age there would have been strong administration by chiefs or the like. This is because of the semi-regular roads and field grids found in the Dengie and Rochford areas which align across the River Crouch and can be seen even today on ordinance Survey maps of these areas.
Linda Griffiths records from a presentation in c1983 by the Rochford Hundred History Societies history of Hullbridge "People settled at Hullbridge around 4000 years ago and are known as "The Beaker" people".. The Beaker people evidently landed at various times and places on the south and east coasts, whence they spread over most of the country, penetrating, and probably dominating, the Neolithic societies. Beaker people ranged extraordinarily widely over the Continent, but those who reached Britain seem to have come mainly from northwest Europe.