URPoint Details
The name Benfleet goes back to Saxon times, and is derived from Beam-fleote which means an inlet or creek with woods close by. It has also been known as Little Benfleet or Benfleet Parva.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor, the manor of North Benfleet belonged to Earl Harold, later King Harold and at the time of the Domesday survey was owned by William the Conqueror. By the 13th century it was owned by the de Benflete family, and it was probably the time the church of All Saints was built.
- Type:
- Landmark