Came across this reference to Dracula while visiting Purfleet. It's on a plaque by the site of St Stephen's Church. Possibly attracted by Essex Girls, Dracula arrived at Carfax House in Purfleet, built on a bye-road to London, according to Bram Stoker's
Dracula novel, written in 1897. He arrived with 50 boxes of earth, as you do. Carfax House was possibly based on Purfleet House, built by the brewer Samuel Whitbread. Essex seems to have quite a monopoly of horror, since Tilbury also gets a brief reference in Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein.
