Battlesbridge is a village in Essex, England. It straddles the River Crouch which is tidal and navigable up to this point. It is approximately south-southeast of Chelmsford and north of Rayleigh. The north bank of the river is in the civil parish of Rettendon, while the south bank is in Rawreth. It is a suburb of the town of Wickford and falls under the postal codes used in Wickford.
Today it is home to a number of antiques centres, one of which is in a former mill.
Battlesbridge is a conservation area which was jointly designated by Chelmsford Borough Council (north side of the river) and Rochford District Council (south side of the river) in February 1992 and March 1992 respectively.
The village is served by Battlesbridge railway station on the Crouch Valley Line.
Classic Car and Motorbike shows are held here each year.
For some years, the Battlesbridge Rural Theatre staged outdoor shows with proceeds going to local charities.
History
There are several suggestions as to how Battlesbridge got its name, but none are definitive. Philip Benton, writing in the 1860s, suggested that it could have been linked to the Battle of Assandune, fought between the Saxons and the Danes, or possibly some other battle. There is a reference to Batailesbregge in 1351, in connection with the family of Reginald Battaille, and this seems to be the most likely explanation, although Newton suggests that it cannot be completely ruled out that it derives from Botuluesbrige, linking it to St Botolph, the seventh century patron saint of wayfarers.
There has been a bridge at Battlesbridge since at least 1372, and possibly a little earlier, since the Batailesbregge mentioned in 1351 suggests the presence of a bridge there. In 1571, the bridge was described as 'ruinous and in great decay' at the Quarter Sessions. A new timber bridge was constructed in 1769 and the roadway was managed by a Turnpike Trust between 1794 and 1820. Another new bridge was erected in 1845, but collapsed when a steam traction engine attempted to cross it. A replacement bridge was erected around 1872, at a cost of £3,500, to the designs of Henry Stock. This carried all traffic for over 100 years, until it was widened on the upstream side to accommodate two lanes of traffic. The road that it carries was once the A130 road, but was declassified when the Battlesbridge Bypass was built a little further to the west. The road over the bypass bridge has since been reclassified as the A1245, when it was superseded by the Mayrose Bridge, further upstream, which was built as part of a project to construct a replacement A130 road between Chelmsford and the A127 Southend Arterial Road. The bridge has a span of with two intermediate piers, and provides of headroom above normal high tide levels in the river.
Battlesbridge was a small port by the late medieval period, and continued to expand subsequently. By 1777, there were a number of farmstead scattered along the north bank of the river, while the area to the south was unenclosed marshland. A tide mill was built around 1771, although it is not known whether there was an earlier mill at the site. Marshes to the south of the river were protected from flooding around 1812, so that they could be used for grazing sheep, and the river had been embanked by 1876. The 1838 tithe maps show that cottages and shops had been built on the north bank, with many of the cottages having gardens. There were also kilns, a second mill on the south bank, and more cottages to the east. By the late 19th century, there were mills, farms, coal yards, lime kilns and maltings. Wharves on both sides of the river enabled boats to be loaded with flour and hay for animal bedding, with incoming cargoes of coal. Malt, lime and chalk were also traded, while the river provided good catches of fish.
Communication was improved by the opening of the Crouch Valley line by the Great Eastern Railway, with Battlesbridge railway station opening for passengers on 1 July 1889. Trains ran to to the west, where the line joined the Shenfield–Southend line, and to and to the east. The line was electrified in 1986.