The Jolly Cricketers public house was built in 1927 and
stood at 127 Arterial Road, Nevendon, on the London bound carriageway of the A127.
It replaced an earlier public
house of the same name that previously stood in Nevendon Road and was probably built to take advantage of the then new
A127 London - Southend Road. The first publican was Mr William Walter Mumford, who took charge until 1936. He was
replaced by Percy F. Calcutt who took over from 22nd October, 1936 and remained in charge for 39 years through
to 11th March, 1975. In the 1980s the pub was managed by Joe and Maureen Bignall who opened 'The Wine Bar' within the
premises on 1st August 1984. In the 1970s the A127 Nevendon
flyover was constructed leaving the public house no longer directly on
the A127 - the former London bound carriageway now becoming an exit slip road - and the
Nevendon Road exit was closed off. Years later around 1993 this section of Nevendon Road was
renamed Cricketers Way which it remains today. The pub was owned and run by east London brewery company
Taylor Walker & Co. until 1959 when Ind Coope acquired the business. In 1961 Ind Coope merged
with Ansells and Tetley Walker to become Allied Breweries. The Spirit Group had ownership to
December 2002 when they sold it to final owner Punch Taverns who closed the pub in 2003 and sold
it on 4th July, 2003 to construction company Miravale Holdings Ltd. for redevelopment. On Sunday 7th September,
2003, while still empty and awaiting demolition, there was a fire which
destroyed much of the inner structure. This event made the headline story in the local Evening
Echo newspaper. An unfortunate end for one of Basildon's few remaining pre-new town buildings. The building was then
promptly demolished during September 2003 and following a successful planning
application the site was then redeveloped for business use in a scheme comprising 11 office units,
car park and new access road to Cricketers Way. A distinctive feature of former Taylor Walker public houses was the
cannon which adorns many of their hanging signs. Despite having been taken over back in 1959 by Ind Coope the exterior
hanging sign appears not to have been replaced and survived right to the end. The grounds in which
it stood were extensive and included a garden outside drinking area and, from the 1960s, parking for 120 cars. | 
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