Borough of Thurrock: Gateway, Docklands and the Thames Estuary Edge
Thurrock occupies the north bank of the Thames in south Essex, where London's influence fades into something more industrial and estuarine. The borough's identity is split between old Essex communities — Grays, the administrative centre; Stanford-le-Hope; Corringham; Tilbury — and the massive infrastructure projects that have transformed the landscape over the past four decades.
Lakeside (now intu Lakeside, though the brand name has changed hands) opened in 1990 on a former chalk quarry near the Dartford Crossing, bringing a shopping centre of 1.4 million square feet to what had been wasteland. It remains one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. To the east, DP World's London Gateway, opened in 2013, is one of the UK's largest container ports — a deep-water facility that can handle the largest ships in the world. Next to it, the London Gateway logistics park is one of the biggest in Europe.
Tilbury Docks, the older port facility downstream, was the landing point for the Empire Windrush in 1948, carrying passengers from Jamaica who would begin the transformation of post-war British society. The Tilbury Fort, an artillery fortification dating from the sixteenth century where Elizabeth I reportedly addressed troops before the Armada, is managed by English Heritage. Thurrock's population is around 175,000. The Dartford Crossing — the bridge southbound, the tunnel northbound — carries 150,000 vehicles daily and defines the western edge of the borough.
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Thurrock occupies the north bank of the Thames in south Essex, where London's influence fades into something more industrial and estuarine. The borough's identity is split between old Essex communities — Grays, the administrative centre; Stanford-le-Hope; Corringham; Tilbury — and the massive infrastructure projects that have transformed the landscape over the past four decades.
Lakeside (now intu Lakeside, though the brand name has changed hands) opened in 1990 on a former chalk quarry near the Dartford Crossing, bringing a shopping centre of 1.4 million square feet to what had been wasteland. It remains one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. To the east, DP World's London Gateway, opened in 2013, is one of the UK's largest container ports — a deep-water facility that can handle the largest ships in the world. Next to it, the London Gateway logistics park is one of the biggest in Europe.
Tilbury Docks, the older port facility downstream, was the landing point for the Empire Windrush in 1948, carrying passengers from Jamaica who would begin the transformation of post-war British society. The Tilbury Fort, an artillery fortification dating from the sixteenth century where Elizabeth I reportedly addressed troops before the Armada, is managed by English Heritage. Thurrock's population is around 175,000. The Dartford Crossing — the bridge southbound, the tunnel northbound — carries 150,000 vehicles daily and defines the western edge of the borough.
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