Did you know that...
Purfleet name derives from the personal name Purta and it means ”stream that belongs to Purta”. In 1285, the name was recorded as Purteflyete. The medieval record Close Roll mentions the area as Pourteflet in 1312. In 1848, historian W. White recorded 704 residents in 199 houses. A pleasure fair took place on the 13th of July. The anti-aircraft gunners in Purfleet took down LZ 48 German zeppelin. It was for the first time when anti-aircraft weapons took down an airship. High House is the name of a complex that includes several historic buildings. One of them is among the most notable dove houses in the UK.
High House dates from the 16th century. The builder Cecily Long constructed it to divide the manor between her two daughters. The 1615 manor had a dining room and a garden with a sundial and statue. In 2010, the Royal Opera House organized an event at the High House. Bronze Age and Iron Age ditches were found on the site. The PDC World Darts Championship took place at the Circus Tavern for seven consecutive years starting with 1994. The 2007 final is considered the world’s best game of darts. Bram Stoker’s Dracula features this RM19 area. Count Dracula’s Carfax Abbey was located in Purfleet.
In the 18th century, this South East London area housed 60,000 barrels of gunpowder. Benjamin Franklin designed an anti-lighting system that protected the Royal Gunpowder Magazine. Out of five magazines, only one remains. It is now the Purfleet Garrison Heritage and Military Center. Painter William Turner depicted the magazines in an 1808 sketch. The Tate Britain museum collection hosts the drawings. The 1917 Unilever factory was supposedly the largest in the world at that time. Carpetright, the largest flooring company in the UK, is located here as well. The largest Scania office in Europe is also in Purfleet.
