Tintin and the terrific tomb: Essex heritage listing is thrill for Hergé fans
Blistering barnacles! Thundering typhoons! Blue blistering barnacles in a thundering typhoon! Who knew there was a 300-year-old tomb in Essex that can be linked to Tintin’s boozy best friend Captain Haddock?
The little-known tomb of Mary Haddock, in a churchyard in Leigh-on-Sea, has been named as one of the quirkier places given listed status in 2024 by Historic England.
It has a fascinating Tintin link and is one of 17 “remarkable and unusual historic buildings and places” given protection and which, Historic England argues, collectively shine light on the diversity of England’s heritage.
Also on the 2024 list is a brutalist 1960s church above a Tesco Express, a pioneering former maternity ward and an electricity junction box.
The annual list is meant to be fun, but also a provocation. The heritage minister, Chris Bryant, said: “Like all ‘best of’ year lists worth reading, I implore you to pore over these 17 wonderful places and go and experience some of them for yourself in the new year.”
The Haddock tomb is one of three “exceptionally rare” 17th-century stone chest tombs in St Clement’s churchyard in Leigh-on-Sea. They were all given Grade II listing in 2024 and each has an unusual story to tell.
Built in 1688, the tomb of Mary Anna Haddock is well crafted and, heritage experts say, “notable as a single monument to a named woman in a period of gender inequality”.
It is the name that will thrill Tintin fans. Mary married into the Haddock family, known for prominent seafarers such as her son Adm Richard Haddock. It was he and the wider family who inspired Hergé’s Captain Haddock character in The Adventures of Tintin comics.
Captain Haddock, as all Tintin fans know, was the young reporter’s short-tempered, generally seething best friend and protector with a brilliantly wild turn of phrase and a weakness for whisky.
Also listed is the tomb next to it, that of Mary’s father, William Goodlad, a whaler, who achieved national significance developing British maritime routes. He charted the first British whaling expedition to Norway.
The third tomb, erected in 1609, belongs to Mary Ellis who is said to have lived to 119 years old. Its inscription says Ellis never married, describing her as “a virgin of virtuous courage and very promising hope”.
Historic England said a tomb dedicated to a single woman without husband or children, “stands as a remarkable challenge to 17th-century gender norms”.
The tomb is doubly interesting as it is known locally as the “cutlass stone” because of the slashes on top of it. It was used as a sharpening stone, perhaps by the sword-wielding press gangs who would force men into the Royal Navy during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The list also includes Broadmead Baptist church in Bristol, known locally as the “church above the shops”. If people do look up from the street, as they pass a Tesco Express with its large, lurid photographs of carrots, chickens and pastries, they will see a concrete modernist gem.
Built between 1967 and 1969, it was conceived as the “Baptist cathedral of the west” and was, Historic England said, “a striking example of postwar church architecture”.
Huddersfield in West Yorkshire is doubly represented on the list, first by the former maternity ward at Princess Royal community hospital.
The “bungalow maternity ward” with its well-ventilated single rooms dates from 1928 and shines light on what heritage experts say was a “pivotal moment in the development of public healthcare for women”.
Second is a blue iron electricity junction box in Huddersfield town centre. It is easily overlooked and has graffiti daubed on it but it should be celebrated, Historic England said, as a “remarkable preservation of Victorian engineering, offering a fascinating glimpse into the early development of electricity distribution and the infrastructure that powered Britain’s electrical revolution”.
In total there were 256 new entries to the national heritage list for England in 2024 and 392 amendments to current listings.
Historic England hopes it will also encourage people to add their own stories and pictures to its Missing Pieces project, helping to flesh out what makes places on the list so special.
Click below to see the latest East England headlines
