Surrounding Villages and Towns Part 2
Mayland and Maylandsea Mundon, Purleigh and Southminster
Mayland and the neighbouring Maylandsea are villages located on the Dengie peninsula in Essex, England. They fall under the Althorne ward of the Maldon district and share a parish council that serves both villages. The local parish church is St Barnabas, which is part of the Diocese of Chelmsford. There are two public houses: the Horny Toad, positioned by the boat yard and marina, and Hardy's, which was recently refurbished and was formerly known as The General Lee until July 2010. Both the Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club and Harlow (Blackwater) Sailing Club are situated in the village. The local educational institution is Maylandsea County Primary School, located on Katonia Avenue. Additionally, there is a small local shop near the bakery and barber's. The Mayland Parish Council convenes monthly at the Henry Samuel Hall. The villages of Mayland and Maylandsea are situated in a region deemed at risk of flooding, prompting the Parish Council, in collaboration with Maldon District Council, to formulate a localized emergency plan that integrates with the broader emergency strategy for the entire district. Fossils, particularly lobster fragments, are frequently discovered in Maylandsea. Furthermore, there is a wreck of a P51B Mustang from World War II that crashed near Lawling.
The population of Mayland and Maylandsea was around 3,887 as of September 2025.
Mundon is a village and civil parish located on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. It is situated 3 miles south-east of Maldon. The manor of Munduna transitioned from the king's thegn Godwin to Eudo Dapifer during the Conquest. Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was part of the estates belonging to St Johns Abbey in Colchester; it was subsequently transferred to Thomas Cromwell before being returned to the Duchy of Lancaster, which maintained the right of presentation to the vicarage until the 20th century.
The 14th-century timber-framed Church of St. Mary, constructed within the remnants of the moat surrounding Mundon Hall, likely rests on Saxon and Norman foundations. Although it has been disused since the 1970s, it is currently preserved by Friends of Friendless Churches, with support from English Heritage. After an extensive period of restoration, the church reopened to visitors in August 2009. The entire structure underwent underpinning, and significant structural improvements were executed by Bakers of Danbury. The church was re-glazed, resulting in a brighter internal appearance than it has had in recent years. Mundon Hall is now represented by an 18th-century farmhouse made of rendered and whitewashed brick.
The population of Mundon was around 338 as of September 2025.
Surrounding Villages and Towns Part 2 continued
Mayland and Maylandsea Mundon, Purleigh and Southminster
Purleigh is a village located on the Dengie peninsula, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Maldon in the English county of Essex. This village falls under the Purleigh ward of the Maldon district. During the Domesday survey of 1086, the manor of Purleigh was owned by Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (d.1087). Previously held by the Grey and Capel families, the manor was acquired in the late 15th century by Hugh Denys (d.1511), who served as Groom of the Stool to King Henry VII (1485–1509). He passed away without heirs and left the manor to his younger half-nephew, John Denys of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire. The Denys family, having updated the spelling of their name to "Dennis", retained ownership of the manor until the early 18th century.
The population of Purleigh was around 1,296 as of September 2025.
Southminster is a town located on the Dengie peninsula within the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It is positioned approximately three miles north of Burnham-on-Crouch and ten miles south-east of Maldon. To the north lies the River Blackwater, which is tidal and has served as a gateway for trade in the region since Roman times. Saint Lawrence Bay, part of the Southminster area, is accessible by road. The railway station is located on a single-line branch from Wickford, which was electrified in the 1980s, offering a service every 45 minutes to Wickford, and during peak hours, it continues to Liverpool Street station in the City of London, thereby including the town in the London commuter belt. Southminster is a historic village situated in the heart of the Dengie peninsula, which once constituted a hundred of the same name. An annual major horse market was traditionally held in the village. The Southminster marshes were a popular site for hare coursing during the Victorian era. Pandole Wood features ancient earthworks that are believed to date back to the Iron Age. The landscape surrounding the town, as well as much of the peninsula, is marked by a pattern of strictly rectangular field boundaries and evidence of a measurement unit that has been applied to the entire scheme. The origins of this pattern have been suggested to be linked to Middle-Saxon or mid-Roman administrations. The late-Roman road leading to St. Peter's chapel intersects this pattern.
The population of Southminster was around 4,881 as of September 2025.
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