St Clement's Church

Source: A church has occupied the site in West Thurrock since pre-conquest days. The first church close to the river would have been on the strip of gravel which the present day church stands. There was no sea wall or river bank as we know it today. In the early twelfth century the church existed with a circular tower serving as the nave. In the early thirteenth century the building was widened with north and south aisles built on either side of the rectangular chancel and by the late thirteenth century the building had been extended with a new chancel; the existing chancel became the nave, and north and south chapels were added. The chancel's eastern wall was later demolished and moved to…