BENFLEET (South), a parish in Rochford district, Essex; on the coast, including part of Canvey island, and on the London and Southend railway, at Benfleet station, 4 miles SSW of Rayleigh. It has a post office under Chelmsford. Acres, 3,361; of which 305 are water. Real property, £3,756. Pop., 573. Houses, 125. The property is much subdivided. A strong castle was built here by the famous Danish pirate, Hastings; and taken and destroyed by Alfred the Great. The waters on the coast were celebrated for oysters. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £285.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The church is a fine structure of the time of Henry VII.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))