The new plaque marks the Long Riding house where R.D. Wingfield wrote most of the Inspector Frost books. It is the borough's twelfth. Here are the other eleven.

Most of the Inspector Frost novels were written in a house in Long Riding, Basildon, and there is now a blue plaque on it saying so.

It went up on Wednesday 19 August and commemorates R.D. Wingfield, the author and radio dramatist who created Detective Inspector Jack Frost, later played by David Jason in ITV’s A Touch of Frost (Basildon Borough Council). Some of the books were written at a second Basildon address, in Honeypot Lane.

Rodney David Wingfield lived from 6 June 1928 to 31 July 2007. His Frost novels include Frost at Christmas, Hard Frost and Winter Frost.

The plaque was unveiled by his son, Phil Wingfield, and sponsored by the publisher Penguin Random House. The Mayor of Basildon, Cllr Sam Journet, said the borough’s “connection to one of Britain’s best-loved fictional detectives” was now recognised “in a lasting way”.

Where the borough’s other blue plaques are

The scheme is run by Basildon Borough Heritage Society, supported by the council, Creative Basildon and Essex Heritage Trust. The society’s own installations page lists eleven plaques already up, and Wingfield’s is not on it yet (Basildon Heritage). That makes his the twelfth.

The eleven, with what each marks:

  • Joan Sims, born at Station House, Laindon station, in May 1930, where her father was station master. She appeared in 24 Carry On films.
  • Joan Rosaire, the circus performer, at The Fold, 72 Laindon Road, Billericay, unveiled 9 July 2024.
  • Marion Wilberforce, at Nevendon Manor, where she lived for 40 years. Born 1902, she was one of the first eight women to join the Air Transport Auxiliary, flying Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters.
  • Hannah Lake, at Wickford library, unveiled 31 March 2023. She sailed for New England in 1635 aged 15; her descendants include two US presidents.
  • Sgt Frederick Charles Brewer, on the former Wickford police station building, where he served from 1937 to 1949.
  • Stan Hollands, the conservationist whose campaigning kept Willow Park, Marks Hill Wood, Hoppit Shaw and the Dunton Slopes from being built on. They are now Langdon nature reserve.
  • Elsie Lagsding, the suffragette and supporter of Emmeline Pankhurst.
  • Greg Smith, the film producer, raised in Laindon and a member of the Laindon Community Centre Youth Drama Club in the 1950s.
  • Ralph Morgan, the Basildon taxi driver and spokesman for the borough’s Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association.
  • Yvonne Williams (1944 to 2016), a founder and director of Gateway 97.8, at Laindon Community Centre where she taught tai chi.
  • The 1918 bomber crash, marking the spot where the first enemy bomber was brought down on British soil, on the night of 28 January 1918.

The society publishes a what3words location for each one and a Google map of the lot, so they can be found on foot.

Why the council is making a point of this

Cllr Danny Lawrence, cabinet member for culture, sport and youth, tied the unveiling to the borough’s bid for UK Town of Culture 2028. Basildon was shortlisted in July, one of 15 towns nationwide chosen from almost 400 applications (Basildon Borough Council).

Shortlisted places now have to write a full bid. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its guidance for that stage on 4 August, updated on 20 August (DCMS). The winner has not been announced.

What it means for you

The plaque is on a private house, so there is nothing to go inside and see. Long Riding is a residential street a short walk north of the town centre, and the plaque is visible from the pavement.

If you want to make a day of the rest of them:

  • The society’s installations page carries a what3words link for every plaque, which is the quickest way to find them.
  • Its Heritage Centre is at The Green Centre, Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea Hall Lane, SS16 4UH, open most Mondays and Wednesdays 10am to 1pm and Saturdays 10am to 4pm. It is closed on Monday 31 August for the bank holiday.
  • The centre also holds a digitised local newspaper archive covering the 1950s onwards, searchable by street, school, workplace or club.

Essex Libraries ran blue plaque and crime fiction displays in each borough library alongside the unveiling, with creative writing workshops at Vange, Fryerns, Wickford and Billericay libraries on 21 and 28 August. Those dates have passed.

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