Hadleigh Castle

Hadleigh Farm is an educational working farm and cross-country cycling venue located in Hadleigh, within the borough of Castle Point, in the county of Essex. The men's and women's mountain biking events of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place at Hadleigh Farm on 11 and 12 August.

The Church of St James the Less, is a grade I listed church in Hadleigh, Essex.The church is of predominantly Norman construction with the chancel and nave dating to the 12th century.

Hadleigh is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Benfleet, in southeast Essex, England, on the A13 between Thundersley, Benfleet and Leigh-on-Sea with a population of 18,300. In 1951 the parish had a population of 5,209. It has a squared bypass to the north (the A127 'Southend Arterial Road').

The King John School, often abbreviated to King John, is a secondary academy school with a sixth form in South Benfleet, Essex, England. It is named after King John of England (1166–1216). The main school building was opened in 1949. As of November 2023, the school has an enrolment of 2052 students, operating over its recommended capacity of 2000 students.

Benfleet Urban District was an urban district in the county of Essex, England. It was created on 1 October 1929 from the parts of Rochford Rural District containing the civil parishes of Hadleigh, South Benfleet and Thundersley.Since 1 April 1974 it has formed an unparished area of the borough of Castle Point.

Great Wood and Dodd's Grove is a 36.8-hectare (91-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. It is also a Local Nature Reserve called Belfairs. Essex Wildlife Trust runs the Belfairs Woodland Centre and manages the site together with Southend-on-Sea City Council.This is a small remnant of the ancient Hadleigh Great Wood. It is coppiced oak woodland on sands, gravels and clay, and one of the largest areas of old woodland in the south of the county. Bramble and honeysuckle are the main ground plants. Other plants include the rare broad-leaved helleborine. The site has toilets, a café and trails.There is access from Poors Lane, which runs through the site.

Daws Heath contains a large area of woodland in eastern Thundersley, part of Castle Point near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. It is traversed by the Daws Heath Road and St Michael's Road. Daws Heath provides a semi-rural escape for local towns and villages and their residents as they walk, cycle or drive out of Castle Point, as Daws Heath Road has fields and woodland on both sides of the road with a small scattering of houses. Going down Daws Heath Road it is not uncommon to see rare-breed cattle, sheep and horses. Daws Heath is surrounded by Greenbelt and Woodland which are a buffer to stop the local villages merging by development. West Woods, nearly 80 acres (320,000 m2) of mixed woodland, was purchased from the Church of England in 2009, securing continued public access to these woods; public support in the Daws Heath area is very strong especially on green belt and woodland preservation. The area has established neighbourhood watch schemes, Church Groups and Greenbelt Protection Groups. Daws Heath contains The Deanes, (a secondary School), and is linked to a local Sixth Form College in Thundersley (SEEVIC), now part of USP College. Daws Heath extends from the north side of Hadleigh towards the A127 London-Southend arterial road, and from where it adjoins Thundersley proper at the west end of Daws Heath Road eastwards to Belfairs Park, Leigh-on-Sea in Southend borough. Ann's Mini Market is the heart of Daws Heath which brings the local community together. The Glazebrook Family is well known in Daws Heath and they are viewed as key members of the community. Although new to Daws Heath, the Merrison's have also played a large role within the community. In fact the two eldest sons from each family could be seen horse riding along Fairmead, Morfcroft and Daws Heath Road. Some even called them the four musketeers. Daws Heath was described in books as a "wild and lawless place: both travellers and local inhabitants had to endure thieves and highwaymen," (Thundersley - A Pictorial History by Terry Babbington) and "a hotbed of lawlessness right down to living memory." (Southend-on-Sea & District by J.W.Burrows, dated 1909). Burrows continued......"The settlement of this...district is attributed to some discharged soldiers who served in the Peninsular War. Upon the heath land they built themselves small huts, and by some means or another managed to obtain a precarious livelihood. Here possibly smuggled goods were concealed until a favourable opportunity enabled the owners to dispatch them to London or through the bye roads into the centre of England." Charcoal burning was an important industry here in the 16th century, supplying gunpowder factories. This probably included the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills which produced gunpowder from 1660. More recently the Essex Wildlife Trust has revived charcoal burning in Pound Wood. The Wildlife Trust has done much work in Pound Wood and Tile Wood/Starvelarks Wood (next to Little Haven Children's Hospice), making them more accessible to visitors. The nearest public house is The Woodman's Arms on the Rayleigh Road (A129) junction with Daws Heath Road. The artist Alan Sorrell was a resident of Daws Heath.

Two Tree Island is a small island lying north-east of Canvey Island and south-west of Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England. It covers 257 hectares (640 acres) and is connected to the mainland at Leigh by a single span bridge. The island was reclaimed from the Thames Estuary in the 18th century and used as pasture until 1910 when a sewage works was built on it. From 1936, the entire island was used as a landfill site; this was later reduced to a single small site on the island in 1974. It is now a nature reserve, run by Essex Wildlife Trust, and the eastern half is part of the Leigh National Nature Reserve. At the western end were two bird hides; overlooking a purpose-built scrape or lagoon where waders feed to the west and Benfleet Creek/Canvey Island Leigh Beck to the southwest. Both hides were destroyed by vandals in 2019; however, the lagoon and creek can still be viewed from where the hides stood and at other locations on the island's west side. There are two more bird hides on the east side, one over the scrape and one over the former landfill reservoir. During the breeding season both waders (including Avocets) and gulls nest here. A nest watch has been organised for some years following a serious case of Avocet egg stealing. As well as a nature reserve, Two Tree Island functions within the community. At the end of the island road on the south side, is a sloping concrete jetty, operated by the Port of London Authority, a boat storage area and two car parks. 6th Westliff and 2nd Chalkwell Bay Scout groups' water activity centre is located at the end of the car park. In the centre of the west side is an airfield, home of Southend Radio Flying Club and South Essex Model Aircraft Society, hosting various airshows throughout the year as well as regular flying practice and training. Though the island's history dates back to the 18th century its involvement with war is clear. At the end of the east side of the island stand two pillboxes, one stands on the island, the other on Leigh Marshes. At low tide the one to the east is discernible by walking out over a bank path built on the marsh and the one on the island can be viewed easily, though access inside is restricted due to cultivating plants and the structure is derelict. The pillboxes were part of a communication and signal system developed during the Great War. They can be reached from the north end car park with a 5-minute walk or from the south end car park with a 10-minute walk.

The Deanes (formerly The Deanes School) is a co-educational secondary school located in Thundersley in the English county of Essex.

Castle View School is a comprehensive school for ages 11–16, located on Canvey Island in Essex, England, sited on the old Furtherwick School site in the Centre of Canvey town centre. As of 2006, it has some 900 pupils and 200 staff. Castle View is named after the original site, in Meppel Avenue, Canvey Island, where there was a clear view of the remains of Hadleigh Castle. Castle View School's headteacher is Steve Durkin (appointed in 2016). Castle View School was moved to a new building located at Foksville Road in the centre of Canvey town in January 2012. Athlete Jessica Judd attended Castle View School; she is a 800 meter run female athlete. A small portion of the old Castle View School site, part of the Sheridan pitch, the playground and the "chestnut green" has been used to build a new vocational education centre.The entirety of the old building still stands, and has been used for police training. The school was reported in 2013 to have banned triangular shaped flapjacks for health and safety reasons. In a response to requests for comments on the reports, the Health and Safety Executive said of the decision "We often come across half-baked decisions taken in the name of health and safety, but this one takes the biscuit."The school converted to an academy status on 1 October 2014.

Pound Wood is a 22.3 nature reserve in Thundersley in Essex. It is owned and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.Much of this site is ancient woodland, with some old secondary woodland. Trees include sweet chestnut, aspen and the wild service tree. There are a number of dells and ponds.There is access from St Michael's Road, which separates the site from Tile Wood, another Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve.

Tile Wood is a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) nature reserve in Thundersley in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.The wood is ancient, having been mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon period. The main trees are sessile oak, hornbeam and sweet chestnut. Ground flora include wood sorrel, bluebells and wood-rush.There is access from St Michael's Road, and the site is adjacent to two other nature reserves managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, Little Haven and Pound Wood.