Bell Hill

Bell Hill has a long history, it has been a major road through the town for many centuries. It was the main route to Rochford in the distant past and more recently Southend before the Southend Arterial Road was built in the 1930s

Looking up Bell Hill

The photograph above shows the house lived in by the Layland family (the shopkeepers) on the left hand side. The house is purported to have been called Bellview or Bellevue. It was demolished to make way for the houses inĀ  Linkdale.

Looking up Bell Hill from the same place

The photograph above is taken from approximately the same location as the first photograph but before the house was built. Note the large tree on the left side of the road. You can also see the cottages at the top of the hill on the left which have been converted into a house and are still there.

Looking up the Hill with the Cottages shown much clearer

The cottages at the top of the hill can be seen much clearer in the photograph which is from the same era as the first photograph, note the kerb. It is interesting that in the first photo the road is called Billericay Hill and above it has become Mill Hill. What was the real name?

The Old Mill that stood on Bell Hill

This photograph was taken across the fields towards Bell Hill, the road is the other side of the Mill.

 

 

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  • I’m not sure about the caption to the view of the mill “from across the fields”. I think the road is behind the hedge and the camera was on what was the school’s agricultural science field.

    By Dave Twitchett (19/10/2019)
  • The second photo in the piece above shews the old Bell Inn from which the hill takes its name. Also seen is the old horse pond which was spring fed and the spring still trickled across the road when Bell House estate was built. The large tree on the left, well its stump anyway, was still there at the bottom of my garden when first I moved there in 1973.

    By Dave Twitchett (18/10/2019)

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