The first new recreation ground to open since Basildon became a New Town is Holy Cross at Church Road, Fryerns. Although initially created by the development corporation it soon came under the local council's control who then laid out football pitches and a cricket square. A sports pavilion was also built and opened in 1958.

Manor Infant and Junior School in Church Road, Fryerns opened. A swimming pool was later added in the 1960s and opened by GBR Commonwealth Games swimming medal winner Elizabeth "Liz" Long. In January 2002 the school was renamed Willows Primary School which it remains today.

19th February

Campbell's Motor Services, bus operators of Station Parade, Pitsea, acquired by Eastern National Omnibus Co. Campbell's had provided local services since the early 1920s from their headquarters at Primrose Villa, Station Parade. The building remained empty for many years, though recently during 2005/6 renovation work was carried out which included a retiled roof.

13th May

Tower Sports Ground on the site of the former German POW camp at Dry Street, Langdon Hills opened. Westley Cricket Club, who formed the previous year, leased the ground from South Essex Waterworks Company for their home fixtures after clearing the remains of the former POW camp. Trevor Bailey, the Essex and England all-rounder and future honorary Vice-President of the club officially opened the ground which the club then used for the next 14 seasons. The name of the ground relates to a landmark water tower located off High Road which stands nearby overlooking the ground. In 1969 before the season had begun the club were given notice to quit by April 1970 as the owners wished to sell the field. The club then moved in 1970 to Holy Cross in Fryerns and the field was later incorporated into the Langdon Hills Country Park.

23rd May

St. Andrew's Church in The Fremnells, Fryerns, opened. The service of Dedication was carried out by the 4th Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt. Rev. Falkner Allison, and attended by an estimated 600 people. The new dual-purpose church and hall was built at a cost of £15,000 and the first Church of England church to be built in Basildon. The previous year on 15th October Sir Humfrey Gale, Chairman of Basildon Development Corporation, laid the foundation stone in a special service and ceremony. Rev. John K. King was the priest-in-charge at the time of opening.

30th May

Basildon Development Corporation's proposed plans for the creation of the main town centre receive approval from the Rt. Hon. Duncan Sandys, M.P., Minister for Housing and Local Government. Work on the first block of shops comprising parts of Town Square and Market Pavement, Market Square and Fodderwick began in December 1956 with the first shop open for business in 1958.

27th June

Laindon general post office (G.P.O.) telephone exchange opened. The new single-storey exchange was built to the rear of the former exchange located within The Ferns, a detached house in High Road, Langdon Hills. Access to the exchange is from Vowler Road. It remained in use to around 1968 when a purpose built exchange opened at Northumberland Avenue, Laindon which is still in use today. Following closure the building, although empty and derelict, was finally demolished sometime around 1976 and replaced with a private residential property.

August

Shopping block at Kathleen Ferrier Crescent on the Pound Lane estate in Laindon completed. The three shops, odd numbered 81 - 85, were built to serve the new Basildon Urban District Council estate, begun under the previous Billericay administration a few years earlier. The small development included maisonette accommodation above each shop. Forbuoys newsagents at No. 81 and a Wavy Line supermarket at No. 83 are just two of the traders to have occupied a unit there.

September

Fryerns Grammar and Technical School in Pattiswick Square is the first all new secondary school to open in Basildon. Mr Cyril Baggs is appointed the first Headmaster. In September 1968 the school merged with nearby Craylands to become Fryerns Comprehensive. The school closed in 1999 having been renamed Fryerns Community School in 1994.

8th September

Langdon Hills Methodist Church in High Road opened by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. The new church, with increased seating and detached manse, is built to the rear of the former church which faces the High Road. The former church, which itself had been enlarged in the 1930s, opened in 1907 as Nightingale Mission and became a Wesleyan Methodist in 1919. This is now a church hall. A foundation stone was laid earlier in the year on January 7th.

October

Basildon Development Corporation introduce communal television aerials. 1,742 properties including flats are receiving the necessary cabling to enable the service. Up to 40 homes will share a single aerial. It was one of a number of options aimed at eliminating what the corporation called 'unsightly' television aerials affixed to its existing housing stock.

7th October

St. Basil the Great Roman Catholic Church in Luncies Road, Barstable East, opened. The Bishop of Brentwood, Bernard Patrick Wall performed the blessing. The previous year on 23rd July the foundation stone was laid by George Andrew Beck, the 3rd Bishop of Brentwood. The church, which becomes the fourth new one to open within the town, is designed in the modernist style with seating for 450. The architects were the respected team of David R. Burles and Alexander John Newton of Burles, Newton & Partners. A presbytery, convent and Roman Catholic school were also built on the 5 acre site.