The Pace local area guide to Chafford Hundred
As a Lettings Agency in Southend, our clients often ask us about local amenities in popular neighbourhoods. Therefore, we’ve put together the following information which we hope will give you a feel for the popular area of Chafford Hundred.
General Information
Chafford Hundred is located within the Borough of Thurrock, built north-west of Grays and south-east of South Ockendon. It is a 21st century settlement that was built on parts of the parishes of Stifford and West Thurrock. Covering an area of 600 acres with two-thirds of the site previously used as a chalk quarry, the rest was agricultural land. Since its inception the area has developed and grown, now with a population of approximately 15,500. There are a variety of housing types built there and it has become very popular with City workers due to its proximity and transport links to London.
Found along the River Thames estuary between Grays and Thurrock, Chafford Hundred is almost right on the doorstep of the popular Lakeside Shopping Centre, and also well within easy reach of London and Southend.
Chafford Hundred now has a youth park facility, GP surgery, Church, a gym and two main pubs. Plus with so much nearby, largely in the form of Lakeside, there’s plenty to do.
Keen health, fitness and athletics enthusiasts have a Bannatyne Health Club & Spa nearby, as well as Thurrock Harriers Athletics Club, with running track and field event facilities. The Chafford Hundred club has trained many top athletes and counts Olympians Sally Gunnel and Fatima Whitbread as former patrons. There’s also a local running club that meet up regularly too.
For golf enthusiasts, there’s the nearby Mardyke Valley Gold Club and for those that like the outdoors, Chafford Hundred has plenty of parks and recreational areas with Grays Chalk Quarry Nature Reserve and Chafford Gorges Nature Park offering 200 acres of green space and homes to many wildlife species. The Chafford Gorges visitor centre also overlooks the spectacular Warren Gorge.
From film go-ers, to shopping and dining lovers, what more can you ask for than Lakeside Shopping Centre – so close by with a vast array of shops, cafes, restaurants and cinema to choose from.
Transport
Chafford Hundred has its own railway station, “Chafford Hundred Lakeside”. London is only 20 miles away and easily accessible by train in a little over 30 minutes with a twice hourly service connecting commuters to London Fenchurch Street. There are also two trains per hour to Southend Central.
Train services are provided by C2C and current timetables can be found here;
http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/our-route/chafford-hundred-lakeside/
Chafford Hundred has good bus links with 33 and X80 serving the station and Grays and Lakeside, regularly connected. http://www.ensignbus.com/uploads/1/5/6/5/15657682/route33_leaflet_2013.pdf
Other local areas such as Tilbury, Romford, Hornchurch, Chelmsford, Brentwood can also be reached easily by bus. For timetable details, please visit;
https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/bus-timetables/thurrock-bus-timetables
Chafford Hundred is also lucky to have Southend Airport offering numerous routes within the UK and further afield into Europe. Airlines currently operating from Southend include Aer Lingus, EasyJet, FlyBe and Skyworks. Tour operators include First Choice and Thomson.
Located just off the A13 and near the M25 and the Dartford Crossing, the airport’s location makes arrival by car from any direction, very easy.
Education
Within Chafford Hundred, admissions to both primary and secondary schools are managed by Essex County Council. Families with young children choosing to live in Chafford Hundred have a good choice of state infant, junior schools and day nurseries within the area, including;
Busy Bees nursery – https://www.busybeeschildcare.co.uk/nursery/thurrock
· Warren Primary School – http://www.warrenps.co.uk
· Harris Primary Academy Chafford Hundred -http://www.harrisprimarychaffordhundred.org.uk
· Harris Primary Academy Mayflower – http://www.harrisprimarymayflower.org.uk
· Harris Academy Chafford Hundred for older children and Sixth Form Students http://www.harrischaffordhundred.org.uk
Healthcare
The Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital is the main hospital for the area and has an Accident & Emergency Department. The following link will take you to the ‘Find Us’ page.
http://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=744
For non-emergency care, The NHS website http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/GP/LocationSearch/4 offers a search facility which will return a comprehensive listing of all local GP surgeries and health centres.
However, the main surgery for Chafford Hundred is:
· Chafford Hundred Medical Centre – 01375 480000
Refuse and recycling
To find out which day your refuse and recycling will be collected in Chafford Hundred, please visit the Thurrock District Council website for full details;
https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling
Shopping Entertainment
Visitors and residents will find a great choice of pubs, restaurants and entertainments available, near to Chafford Hundred, along with a vast array of shops, at the Lakeside Shopping Centre retail parks on the outskirts.
With so much on the doorstep, it’s hard to imagine that you would ever get bored of living here!