including 199 from the barracks. "Purfleet is a village and military station...at the mouth of a rivulet, and at the west end of West Thurrock ... sometimes called a township ... and has a pleasure fair on the 13th of June. Near it are the extensive limeade chalk pits of W.H. Whitbread, the lord of the manor. The harbour is often full of shipping business and animation: and joining it is a large government powder magazine, consisting of five detached bomb-proof and well-protected store-houses, barracks for a company of artillery, a store keeper's mansion, and a good quay. The magazine was built in 1781, and has room for the safe keeping of 60,000 barrels of gunpowder." In March 1916, anti-aircraft gunners based at Purfleet shot down the German Zeppelin LZ 48 (also listed as L15) — the first airship to be destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery. In recognition of their achievement, the gunners received a prize from the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Christopher Wakefield. From 1921 to 1936, Purfleet formed an urban district of Essex, including the parishes of Aveley, West Thurrock and South Ockendon. It covered an area of and in 1931 had a population of 8,511. The parishes and urban district were abolished in 1936 and their former area was used to form part of Thurrock Urban District. Reflecting its importance as a seaport and storage depot, Purfleet was listed by the Ministry of Food as one of 14 sensitive A-bomb targets in 1955, including an entrepot for the import of tea. In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, first published in 1897, Count Dracula purchased the fictional house called "Carfax" in Purfleet, which was next to a lunatic asylum. In 2020, after a two-year campaign, the town's name was officially changed to Purfleet-on-Thames in an attempt to improve its fortunes and attract more investment. High House Production Park In 2006 Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation initiated a project to regenerate High House, Purfleet by renovating historic farm buildings dating from the 16th century and encouraging the development of some creative-industry buildings on the 14-acre site. The Royal Opera House's Bob and Tamar Manoukian scene-making facility for its operas and ballets opened on the High House site in December 2010, followed by a Costume Centre in 2015. Creative & Cultural Skills opened The Backstage Centre at the park in March 2013. The Backstage Centre now houses the national headquarters of