Aveley
Parish facts:
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The name Aveley is of Saxon derivation and comes from Aelfgyth's Leah meaning the clearing in the forest belonging to Aelfgyth.
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In clay and gravel pits at Aveley a range of Pleistocene animals have been identified, including woolly mammoth, straight-tusked elephant, giant elk, bison, rhinoceros, wolf and wild cat, dating to around 200,000 years ago.
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In St. Michael's Church, Aveley is a fine Flemish brass to Radulphus de Knevynton, who died "the Thursday before the feast of St. Nicholas, the Bishop, in the year 1370 when the dominical letter was 'F'". His image can be seen on the Thurrock Coat of Arms.
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Capability Brown was employed by Thomas Barrett-Lennard, Lord Dacre to landscape the grounds around Belhus Mansion during the 1740s and 1750s. Some of the garden features including earthen mounds, the Shrubbery, the stench pole and the 'long pond' can still be seen today.