Grays Market

Grays History

Grays Thurrock, usually known simply as Grays, is the main centre of the borough of Thurrock, lying beside the Thames 34 km. east of London. It was formerly a small port, with chalk quarries, brickworks, and a brewery. Those occupations declined after the First World War, but have been replaced by light engineering, plastics, and packaging. The ancient parish comprised 1,382, bounded north and west by Stifford and east by Little Thurrock. A local board, later urban district council, was formed for the parish in 1886. In 1936 Grays Thurrock urban district was merged in the new urban district of Thurrock, which in 1974 became the borough of Thurrock.

Local sites of interest include the Thameside Theatre, the Thurrock History Museum, Grays Beach and the now-disused State Cinema.

The Dell was of the earliest houses in Britain to be built of concrete. It was built on the instructions of Alfred Russel Wallace, who lived in the town from 1872 until 1876.

From the top of the Derby Road Bridge in Grays one can look down to Thurrock Yacht Club, Grays Beach children’s playground and the River Thames.

As well as Thurrock Yacht Club, Grays Beach is the site of the local landmark The Gull, a lightship built in 1860, which has lain on the foreshore for decades and is now in a serious state of dilapidation. The light from The Gull has now been removed, restored and installed on the foreshore of the yacht club.