Thurrock (/ˈθʌrək/) is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Essex, England.

Thurrock is within the London commuter belt and is an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone.

The borough also includes Purfleet-on-Thames, South Ockendon, Stanford-le-Hope and Tilbury, as well as other villages and surrounding areas.

In 1381, villagers from Fobbing, Mucking and Stanford-le-Hope instigated the Peasants' Revolt when they were called to Brentwood to pay the poll tax.

Later, in 1588 Elizabeth I addressed her troops not far from the Tilbury blockhouse as the Spanish Armada sailed up the English Channel.

A number of former pits have been used to form the Chafford Gorges Nature Reserve, managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.

His body was gibbeted — left to hang in an iron cage over the Thames at Tilbury Point[5] — as a warning to future would-be pirates for twenty years.

Some sources give the location where his body was exhibited as Tilbury Ness, but this may be an alternative name for the same place.

There is some uncertainty as to whether his body was displayed at what is now called Coalhouse Point or at a site a few hundred yards up stream, close to the present Tilbury Docks.

Since the output of this factory constituted one third of the country's ration allocation, this led to a severe strain on the supply of margarine in the UK.

[12] By September 2021 plaques included: The borough has its origins in the Orsett Poor Law Union, which had been created in 1835 covering a group of 18 parishes in southern Essex.

[15][16] Poor Law Unions subsequently formed the basis for later local government structures, with the Orsett Rural Sanitary District created in 1872 covering the same area.

[21][22][23] The present-day borough of Thurrock was created in on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering almost the same area as the former Thurrock Urban District, which was abolished, with just a minor change on the border with Basildon to place the whole designated area for Basildon new town in that district.

[25] The reformed Thurrock district was given borough status at the same time, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

[26] Until 1998 Thurrock was a lower-tier district authority, with Essex County Council providing county-level services.

[31] There are seven conservation areas, 19 scheduled monuments, including the dovecote at High House Purfleet, and 239 listed buildings.

This includes many large and important industrial sites, including two large oil refineries, manufacturing industries, a container port, cruise liner terminal, distribution warehousing and one of Britain's largest refuse disposal sites at the appropriately named settlement of Mucking.

[34] This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Thurrock at current basic prices published[35] (pp.

[40] St Clement's Church and street scenes at West Thurrock were used in the making of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.

It has an art deco interior, designed by Sir Edwin Cooper and is a grade II listed building.

([42] Building of the Bata Shoes estate in East Tilbury was begun in 1933, and this is now a conservation area.JD Wetherspoon have since put the State Cinema building up for sale after announcing they would no longer be converting it to a public house January 2023 Chadwell St Mary has one of the few examples of a "Sunspan" house designed by the architect Wells Coates.

Although built in the 1950s, Woodside Primary School's architecture has been described as the slightly earlier "ocean liner" style of Art Deco.

The building features a number of bricked curves and circular windows, while the wrought-iron banisters on the stairs are deliberately set to lean out at an angle.

Museums and historic buildings include Coalhouse Fort at East Tilbury, Tilbury Fort in Tilbury, Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre, High House, Purfleet with its historic farm buildings, the Royal Opera House's Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop, The Backstage Centre and ACME artists' studios, Thurrock Museum and Walton Hall Farm Museum.

Next to Lakeside Shopping Centre is Arena Essex, a former motor sports complex, where speedway, banger and stock car racing took place.

A ferry for passengers on foot connects Tilbury with Gravesend on the southern bank of the River Thames.

[58] Thurrock is served by BBC London and ITV London with television signals are received from Crystal Palace TV transmitter,[59] BBC South East and ITV Meridian can also be received from Bluebell Hill TV transmitter.