Prince's Time Trail of Prittlewell

The ornate gates to the Park commemorate the opening of Priory Park in 1920. But imagine the scene, say 150 years ago, before the Park and Victoria Avenue. A small bridge then crossed Prittle Brook. The road, then called North Street, was little more than a muddy country lane to Rochford. The remains of a village pump can be seen on the south side of the Brook. A weather boarded cottage was on the north side beyond which were the enclosed grounds of the Priory, then a private house. A handful of cottages were on the right hand side - some still remain.

On the other side of the lane was Earls Hall, a medieval manor house and farm. To the south, the lane went up the hillside to the Parish church at the top. Scattered buildings along the lower part of the lane, including the village school, became more densely packed as the lane reached the Church at the heart of the village.