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Daws Heath
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Daws Heath
Daws Heath is a hamlet in the Castle Point near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England.
Daws Heath extends from the north side of Hadleigh towards the A127 London-Southend arterial road, and from where it adjoins Thundersley at the west end of Daws Heath Road eastwards to Belfairs Park, Leigh-on-Sea in Southend borough. It is traversed by the Daws Heath Road and St Michael's Road.
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 artist Alan Sorrell was a resident of Daws Heath.
The woodlands of Daws Heath include the following named woods.
Pound Wood (OS Grid Reference TQ820887) lies to the north of Bramble Road and spans the parishes of Thundersley and Hadleigh. It is a 54.0 acre (21.85 hectare) coppice wood with standard Oaks, mainly Sessile but some Pedunculate. Coppice trees include Willow, Hornbeam and Chestnut. Other species include Holly, Birch, Wild Service, Woodrushes, Wood spurge and Bluebells. Two small streams run in a south-west to north-east direction. The wood was purchased by Essex Wildlife Trust in 1993.
Rag Wood (TQ806887) is a small, 3.7 acre (1.50 hectare), privately owned wood located to the north-east of West Wood and south-west of Valerie Wells Wood. It comprises mainly Oak with some Chestnut and Hornbeam. It is a secondary wood, perhaps of the early 19th century.
Starvelarks Wood is divided into two contiguous woods by a track running north to south. Starvelarks Wood East (TQ810892) is an 8.03 acres (3.25 hectare) wood, and Starvelarks Wood West (TQ811891) is 10.6 acres (4.29 hectare). Both woods are mainly Chestnut coppice with some Ash and Birch, unusually for woods in the area there is very little Hornbeam. Both woods are thought to be 19th century plantations. Starvelarks wood is part of the Essex Wildlife Trust's Little Havens Nature Reserve.
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Daws Heath
Daws Heath is a hamlet in the Castle Point near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England.
Daws Heath extends from the north side of Hadleigh towards the A127 London-Southend arterial road, and from where it adjoins Thundersley at the west end of Daws Heath Road eastwards to Belfairs Park, Leigh-on-Sea in Southend borough. It is traversed by the Daws Heath Road and St Michael's Road.
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 artist Alan Sorrell was a resident of Daws Heath.
The woodlands of Daws Heath include the following named woods.
Pound Wood (OS Grid Reference TQ820887) lies to the north of Bramble Road and spans the parishes of Thundersley and Hadleigh. It is a 54.0 acre (21.85 hectare) coppice wood with standard Oaks, mainly Sessile but some Pedunculate. Coppice trees include Willow, Hornbeam and Chestnut. Other species include Holly, Birch, Wild Service, Woodrushes, Wood spurge and Bluebells. Two small streams run in a south-west to north-east direction. The wood was purchased by Essex Wildlife Trust in 1993.
Rag Wood (TQ806887) is a small, 3.7 acre (1.50 hectare), privately owned wood located to the north-east of West Wood and south-west of Valerie Wells Wood. It comprises mainly Oak with some Chestnut and Hornbeam. It is a secondary wood, perhaps of the early 19th century.
Starvelarks Wood is divided into two contiguous woods by a track running north to south. Starvelarks Wood East (TQ810892) is an 8.03 acres (3.25 hectare) wood, and Starvelarks Wood West (TQ811891) is 10.6 acres (4.29 hectare). Both woods are mainly Chestnut coppice with some Ash and Birch, unusually for woods in the area there is very little Hornbeam. Both woods are thought to be 19th century plantations. Starvelarks wood is part of the Essex Wildlife Trust's Little Havens Nature Reserve.
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