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South Gunnels
Situated between Town Square and East Walk, South Gunnels was originally created as a
paved precinct linking Town Square with the eastern end of South Walk. The South Walk entry/exit being directly after the last shop
(No.20) through a short covered wide alley which still exists today*. In 1959/60
4 permanent shop units were constructed as part of Block I, a large block known as Waterloo House. These
were given numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7. A single unit to the rear of Waterloo House was named No. 9 and
in use, possibly until the 1990s, by Timpson as a footwear repair shop. In April 1969 Rentaplay Ltd. - playground
equipment manufacturers - based in Bentalls opened a Day Nursery for around 100 children incorporating an
adventure centre. A demountable style building was later constructed and in use as a temporary
rent office for corporation tenants until Church Walk House was opened in 1977. This was subsequently
used by Radio Basildon as an office and public address. A small childrens playground was also created which survived to
the late 1970s or early 1980s when phase II of Eastgate was built over the undeveloped portion of South Gunnels.
In 1960 a 206 space public car park
(designated car park 6 and accessed via Market Pavement) and service road were completed; part of
which ran alongside the western line of the pathway. That part of the service road along with the
car park were also built over during phase II of Eastgate, becoming Allders (later Debenhams) department
store when the project completed in 1985. An entrance/exit to Eastgate from South Gunnels was another
feature of the phase II Eastgate development. Note:
1) The short covered alley is still in use as a walkway to the service road directly to the rear
of the South Walk shops.
North Gunnels
North Gunnels, unlike South Gunnels, although given its name as early as 1961 but not seen on local area 'Barnet' street maps until 1968,
did not have any associated developments until 1971. It was in the previous decade in 1969 that work commenced on the construction of
a cinema, public house, Great Oaks House, a large supermarket and various other D.H.S.S. (Department of Health and Social Security) related buildings,
some of which would be given as being in North Gunnels. These buildings were officially known as Blocks P and Q. North Gunnels is also the name of
the service road to the rear of the Post Office's sorting office, accessed of Great Oaks. As a matter of interest the tower
block Brooke House, when completed in 1962, perhaps should have been considered as being in North Gunnels rather than its Town Square address,
given its opening foyer directly faced the East Square shop units and Freedom House (and since 2025 Vue cinema).
The first building completed was the cinema, which opened as an ABC in September 1971. A large
single unit built directly below the cinema then opened as a Tesco supermarket in November 1971
though this was given a Great Oaks address as was Great Oaks House following its completion
around 1972/3. Due to the amenities being built above ground level, and to make the area more
accessible, when the newly completed multistorey car park in Great Oaks opened in 1972 a direct
link was provided via two pedestrian bridges on level 6. Linking Great Oaks House with the cinema are two single
storey buildings. One saw use as an unemployment benefit office until the
mid 1980s when a temporary office opened on a vacant plot at the western end of Great Oaks
adjacent to the Broadmayne pedestrian subway. The other became a Jobcentre. Both services
were later moved to Regent House, The Gore. The public house originally opened as The Painted Wagon, later becomming the Jolly Wagonner before
another change of name to The Oasis. It was as the Oasis that the building ceased to be a public house following its closure around 2000. The building then remained
empty until 2016 when it became a diner, though that was short-lived and the building is once again empty as of 2026. In 1999 the cinema, by then part of the Robin's chain,
closed, seemingly for good. Later plans to develop the empty building into a 125 bed hotel failed
to materialise and in 2011 British Heart Foundation opened a charity furniture and electrical
store where the former third cinema and cafe used to be. It's address was Unit 1, North Gunnels. Another part of the building was converted
into six flats and given the address Robins House. Note:
1) The name Gunnel does have ties to the
area having been used in part as a local field name though whether its town centre use is derived
from this is unknown. Text researched and written by William Cox, 2012, with revisions 2026.
Copyright © 2012, 2026, B. Cox - Basildon History Online. All rights reserved. | 
