Geology Site Account

Historical site only

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the present residential area of Thorpe Bay was the site of several brickworks. The largest of these included the site now occupied by Thorpedene Junior School (TQ 924 853) and shown on the 1923 Ordnance Survey map. The brick pits were exploiting the same large expanse of brickearth, or loess, that was being worked at North Shoebury (see separate site record) and similar fossils were most likely found. The public open space north of the railway at the junction of Maplin Way and Bishopsteignton (TQ 922 857) was also a brick pit.

In Southend Central Museum is a tooth of a straight-tusked elephant from Thorpe Bay which may have come from one of these pits but no conclusions can be drawn about the age of the specimen as precise details of the find are not available.