Aveley has given its name to the Aveley
Interglacial period around 200,000 years ago. Important evidence of the local flora and fauna of the period and some signs of occupation by
Neanderthal humans have been found there. In the
Domesday Book of 1086, the name has various spellings – Alvithelea, Alvileia and Alvilea. The name means the wood clearing of a woman named Ælfgȳth. A variation, in 1418, is Alvythele. Aveley was an
ancient parish in the
Hundred of Chafford in Essex. When elected parish and district councils were established under the
Local Government Act 1894, Aveley was given a parish council and included in the
Orsett Rural District. In 1929, Aveley and the neighbouring parishes of
South Ockendon and
West Thurrock were removed from Orsett Rural District to become the short-lived
Purfleet Urban District. As part of that reform, Aveley was reclassified as an
urban parish and so lost its parish council; the lowest elected tier of local government was Purfleet Urban District Council. The Purfleet Urban District was abolished just seven years later in 1936, becoming part of
Thurrock Urban District. The civil parish of Aveley was abolished on 1 April 1936, becoming part of a single parish of Thurrock covering the same area as the urban district. After the
Second World War the population grew rapidly as the area absorbed
London overspill.
The Aveley mammoth In 1964, amateur geologist John Hesketh found the remains of a late form of
steppe mammoth in a clay pit on Sandy Lane. The Natural History Museum excavated the site and uncovered the most complete mammoth skeleton found in the UK, along with a junior
straight-tusked elephant found beneath it. The animals were separated by 50,000 years and were originally thought to date back 100,000 and 125,000 years respectively, but recent dating techniques show they died 200,000 and 250,000 years ago. The skeletons were on display from 1970 to 1990 in the
Natural History Museum, before being stored in the museum's palaeontology department for a number of years. They are currently being exhibited in the 'From the Beginning' gallery. Other animal remains were also found at the Aveley site, including a 200,000 year-old jungle cat, a large lion, a brown bear, wolf, rhinoceros, moles, bats, and terrapins.
Notable people •
Paul Allen, English former professional footballer •
Martina Cole, the crime writer, was brought up in Aveley •
Alice Diehl (née Mangold), the novelist and concert pianist, was born in Aveley. •
Robert W. Gibson, English-American architect, born in Aveley in 1854. •
Kate Evelyn Luard, Royal Red Cross and bar was born in Aveley vicarage. •
John Newton, the author of
Amazing Grace, lived in Aveley, which was the home of his father's second wife. •
Alex Pritchard, professional footballer for
Tottenham Hotspur,
Brentford and
Sunderland lived and went to school in Aveley •
Alison Bettles, actress, lived and went to school in Aveley •
Mick Jackson, film director and television producer, was born in Aveley == Governance ==