Before modern Basildon, Pitsea was a rural parish containing old manors, farms and scattered settlement. Cromwell Manor and Great Chalvedon Hall are two of the most important surviving buildings from that earlier landscape.
Cromwell Manor was historically known as Pitsea Hall. Historic England describes it as a sixteenth- to seventeenth-century timber-framed and plastered house, later altered in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was listed at Grade II in March 1950.
The history of the manor is older than the surviving house. In 1539 the manor of Pitsea Hall was granted to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's powerful minister. This historic connection is reflected in the modern name Cromwell Manor.
Great Chalvedon Hall, historically associated with the Chalvedon manor, is an early sixteenth-century timber-framed and plastered house. Its E-shaped plan, gables and substantial chimney stack are noted in the official Grade II listing.
Great Chalvedon Hall remained a residence into the twentieth century. Basildon District Council purchased it in 1977 and it was subsequently converted into a public house, opening in that role in September 1979. Its continued use helped preserve a building that predates the New Town by centuries.
Both properties survive, but they have modern uses. Cromwell Manor operates as a private wedding and events venue, so it should not be treated as a freely open museum. Great Chalvedon Hall has operated as a public house. Visitors should always check current access and opening arrangements before travelling.