Brief History of the Church

St Nicholas Church sits in the part of Great Wakering that is known locally as "New Town". It is likely that the present site of the church building was used for worship even before the present Norman building was constructed in around 1100A.D.  In Saxon times, probably c.400-500A.D. the area of Great Wakering was settled by the people of Waeccer and the area is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. There is a legend of the reinterment behind the High Altar at the Monastery of Wakering, (Monasterium Warnense) in the latter part of the 7th C of the murdered Saxon Princes Ethelbert and Ethelred, indicating that a place of worship has stood on the grounds of the church since then.  

The building lies only 18ft above sea level but this was enough to protect it from the 1953 devastating floods. There has been considerable modifications to the present building in the 13th, 15th and 19th centuries.