What is Prittlewell?
'''Prittlewell''' is part of the inner city of [[Southend-on-Sea]], [[Essex]], England. It was the original settlement, with Southend meaning the southern end of Prittlewell. ==History== ===Prehistoric=== People first settled by the [[Prittle Brook]] at least 10,000 years ago in the late [[Stone Age]]. ===Roman=== A [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] farmhouse or [[villa]], was built close to the brook in what is now Priory Park. Roman burial sites were found during road and rail construction in the 1920s and 1930s. ===Saxons and Vikings=== [[File:Prittlewell church door.JPG|left|thumb|Remains of Saxon archway in wall of St Mary's church, Prittlewell]] After the Roman era, it became part of the kingdom of the East [[Saxon]]s. During the [[5th century|5th]] and [[6th century|6th centuries]], the historic Saxon name of ''Prittleuuella'' came into being. An archway built of Roman tiles can still be seen in the north wall of St Mary's church. For many years it was thought the archway was part of a small [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] chapel built in the [[7th century]], possibly during the reign of King [[Sæberht of Essex]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stmarysprittlewell.co.uk/history/ |title=Our history |website=St Mary's Church, Prittlewell |language=en-GB |access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref> However, more recent research shows the arch was built in the [[10th century|10th]] or early [[11th century]], and is part of the first church to be built on the site.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Secker |first1=Daniel |title=The Late-Saxon and Early Romanesque Churches at St Mary, Prittlewell, Essex |journal=Medieval Archaeology |date=2016 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=115–37|doi=10.1080/00766097.2016.1147789 |s2cid=163660887 }}</ref> ====Royal Saxon tomb==== Road and rail works in 1923 and 1930 also found Anglo-Saxon [[burial]]s. Some of these must have been important people or warriors. The graves contained weapons, imported goods, jewellery and decorative beads, some of which were made out of [[Anglo-Saxon Glass|glass]]. In 2003 a large an