West Horndon

West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It is located 20 miles east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London. West Horndon civil parish was abolished in 1934 and created again in 2003 with new boundaries following a petition by residents in 2002. With a population of 1,650 in 2021, it is a predominantly rural parish with some residential and light industrial development. The civil parish includes the village of East Horndon. Dunton Hills, also within the civil parish, is planned to be the location of a new 3,700 home garden village. The local council of the parish is West Horndon Parish Council.

Local government
West Horndon was an ancient parish in the Barnstable hundred of Essex. It was grouped into the Billericay poor law union and rural sanitary district. It became part of Billericay Rural District in 1894. In 1934 the parish was abolished when it became part of Brentwood Urban District.

The parish abolished in 1934 was an elongated area stretching north–south in common with neighbouring parishes. East Horndon was a separate parish to the east and the next parish to the west was Little Warley. The southern portion of the ancient parish of West Horndon is now in the unitary authority of Thurrock.

The civil parish formed in 2003, with significantly different boundaries, is perpendicular to the former parish, stretching east–west to incorporate territory formerly part of the parishes of Childerditch, Dunton, East Horndon, Little Warley and West Horndon. In each of these former parishes the inner part is now part of West Horndon and the northern and southern extremities (and eastern part for Dunton) are outside the parish.

Urban development
In 1930, three houses were given to farm workers. Only one remains at 18 Thorndon Avenue, which has been restored to its original condition. The rest of Thorndon Avenue was constructed during the 1950s. The population of West Horndon in 1931 was 147. The village began to grow with the 1938 establishment of Rotary Hoes, a manufacturer of trenching machinery. House-building continued in the 1950s for commuters to London as well as workers at Rotary Hoes. In 1975, Rotary Hoes left West Horndon for Lowestoft and closed shortly afterwards.

Governance
The local council of the parish is West Horndon Parish Council. The parish council had existed before, from 1894 to 1934. The civil parish was created anew in 2003 following a petition by residents in 2002. It forms part of the Herongate, Ingrave and West Horndon ward for elections to Brentwood Borough Council.

Geography
West Horndon is located 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London.

The parish includes the settlements of East Horndon, Dunton Hills and West Horndon. It is predominantly a rural parish with large sections of open land within the Metropolitan Green Belt. Within the main settlement of West Horndon village are some streets of suburban houses and a small area of light industrial use. To the southeast of the parish is the Dunton Hills golf course. Little Warley Hall Lane in the northwest is the other main area of activity with some houses and the Clearview sports centre. East Horndon is a scattered settlement to the northeast and is partially located north of the A127 Southend Arterial Road. The entire parish is within the post town of Brentwood in the CM postcode area.

The entire southern boundary with the unparished borough of Thurrock is the London, Tilbury and Southend railway line, with a small deviation to include all of West Horndon railway station. The western boundary with the unparished area of Great Warley is the Mardyke river, where the parish touches the eastern Greater London boundary at North Ockendon. The northern boundary is partially formed by the Southend Arterial Road, with some land to the northeast of it included in the parish. The eastern boundary is with the Borough of Basildon.

There are several streams running down from the hills into the Mar Dyke which drains the fens out to the Thames at Purfleet. It is the first area east of London to not be continuously built up. There are hills rising as high as 100 metres covered in trees, arable fields and fenland of London clay.

West Horndon village
The village is surrounded by open countryside and an industrial estate. Thorndon Avenue is a long straight road leading to the heart of the modern village of West Horndon. Halfway down is the junior school with playing fields at the back and opposite is the modern church of St Francis. At the centre of the village is a village hall which was built around 1961. On the other side of Station Road (which runs through the centre of the village) is a housing estate, consisting of meandering roads and cul-de-sacs, bordered at the rear by the railway line. Road names on this estate are named after places in Essex, namely Fyfield Close, Clavering Gardens, Witham Gardens, Dunmow Gardens and Chafford Gardens. More modern housing exists off both sides of Station Road towards the Industrial estate and railway station. The local school is West Horndon Primary School, and the village falls within the Brentwood County High catchment area.

Dunton Hills garden village
Dunton Hills was designated by the government as a garden village in January 2017. The new settlement was previously envisaged to span the Brentwood/Basildon boundary and the two councils worked together to develop proposals between November 2014 and February 2016 under the name Dunton Garden Suburb. A planning application was submitted to Brentwood Borough Council for 3,700 homes in the parish of West Horndon in August 2021. The plans were revised from the earlier cross-borough proposal with the development now more interconnected with the village of West Horndon rather than the new town of Basildon. Dunton Hills was removed from the Metropolitan Green Belt in the 2022 local plan and was allocated for development. In November 2023 the council gave planning permission for the new village. It will include three neighbourhoods called Dunton Fanns, Dunton Woods and Dunton Waters. The site contains a collection of former agricultural buildings, known as the Dunton Hills farmstead, including a Grade II listed farmhouse that will be incorporated into the new settlement.

Transport
West Horndon railway station is a station on the London, Tilbury and Southend main line from London to Southend. The Railway Hotel, behind the station, was once a coaching inn. North of the town and parallel to the railway is the A127 Southend Arterial Road. West Horndon is east of junction 29 of the M25 motorway.

The village is served by two bus routes which both terminate in Brentwood.