Essex trivia #6 Thurrock means "dung heap in a field"!

The word Thurrock does not have the most romantic of connotations: the council’s website reveals that in Saxon or Old English, ‘Turroc’ meant either ‘the bottom part of a boat where the bilge water lies’ or ‘a dung heap in a field’. 

All facts are from Pete May's new book The Joy of Essex (Robson Press).