Southminster, Essex

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Southminster today is a village set in the centre of the Dengie Peninsula in east Essex, c.13km southeast of Maldon just under 4km north of Burnham-on-Crouch to the south that also sits on the River Crouch. The bedrock is the Thames Group of both clay and silts at between 10m and 30m OD.

The name of Southminster was first recorded in the early 11^th century as Suthmyster to mean ‘southern church’ and the Domesday Book lists the 30 hides in the village that were held by 14 knights of the Bishop of London. The village developed at a crossroads with St Leonards Church at its centre, originally built in the 12^th century and extended in a linear formation along the High Street.