Facts about Southminster
History
Southminster is in the centre of the Dengie peninsula, which once formed a hundred of the same name. A major horse market used to be held annually in the town. Southminster marshes were a favourite centre for hare coursing in Victorian times. Pandole Wood contains ancient earthworks believed to date from the Iron Age.
The landscape surrounding the town, and elsewhere on the peninsula, is characterized by a pattern of strictly rectangular field boundaries, with evidence of a unit of measurement having been applied to the scheme as a whole. Middle Saxon administrations have been suggested as its origin, although the road to the Roman sea fort at Bradwell-on-Sea also conforms to the pattern.
St Leonard’s Church
The medieval St Leonard’s Church dates mainly from the 15th century, although there are traces of much earlier work. It is a relatively large, “townish” church by Essex standards. The church also stands at an important road junction, contrasting with the familiar Essex pattern of a church and manor house complex on the same site. These features are consistent with John Blair’s formulation of an Anglo-Saxon minster, in contrast to a private oratory in its origins, and the place-name would perhaps suggest Cedd’s mission at the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall near Bradwell as its parent.
