Creekmouth

The Creekmouth Village as it was known, was built not far from the Thames and Roding riverbanks in the 1850s by John Bennett Lawes, primarily for workers at his factory, the Lawes Chemical and Fertiliser Company. The village consisted of two rows of small houses, approximately fifty in total, and had its own school, Mission Hall, shop and a public house called The Crooked Billet, which is mentioned in records going back to 1719. The village community was very isolated. Most people who lived here worked for the chemical factory, or on the river, on the barges or as Lightermen. The area was surrounded by marshes and fields full of grazing cows and horses. the current station is further east…