This new and detailed history of Wickford traces the town's fortunes from its humble beginnings as a tiny farming hamlet beset by regular flooding and poverty, to the bustling commuter town it is today. The author studies factors such as population growth, changing economic activities and town development to shed light on the challenges the town has faced. These include agricultural depressions, cholera outbreaks, exploitation by land developers, heavy bombing during the Second World War and near absorption into the rapid urban spread of Basildon New Town.