The name "Purfleet" was first documented in 1285 as Purteflyete and then as Pourteflet in the Close Roll for 1312. The origin of the name signifies "Purta's stream or tidal inlet."

In the 18th century, Purfleet Royal Gunpowder Magazine was established to store gunpowder with a protective garrison. The risk of explosions due to lightning strikes was a constant threat. Seeking a solution, Benjamin Franklin was consulted for advice on lightning protection. His design of pointed lightning conductors, supported by a Royal Society committee, successfully diverted lightning strikes away from the powder store. However, it was discovered that the metal drainpipes, rather than the conductors, were effective. Upon learning this, King George III demanded the replacement of the pointed conductors with blunt ones, leading to the resignation of the Royal Society's president.

J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) sketched Purfleet between 1805–08, focusing on the Powder Magazines. These sketches form part of the Tate Britain collection, known as the River and Margate Sketchbook. They were integrated into the Turner Bequest in 1856, preserving a significant aspect of Turner's work for generations to appreciate.

Among the well-preserved 18th-century structures in Purfleet are the versatile proofing house, now utilized for community endeavors, and the gatehouse clock tower. English Heritage lauds this tower as essential to one of the Ordnance Yards' most exceptional compositions, illustrating the Ordnance Board's commitment to architectural excellence in fortifications and barracks since the 17th century.

W. White, in his account of Essex from 1848, details Purfleet as home to 704 residents, with 199 residing in 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 [actually 1762 to 1765], and has room for the safe keeping of 60,000 barrels of gunpowder."

The area around Purfleet was originally owned by the Knights Hospitallers but became a Crown Estate during Tudor times. Henry VIII let the estate run down but his daughter Elizabeth restored the Mill on the Mardyke and the area prospered.

The Crown sold the land and it fell into private ownership in the 17th Century only to have to buy a significant area back to build the Gunpowder Magazines in the mid 18th Century.

By the 1780s however there was a new major landowner in the area, the Whitbread family. Samuel Whitbread utilized the proceeds from his prosperous brewery enterprise, which continues to operate today, to acquire the majority of the area and consolidated the manor in a way it had not been since the Crown owned it.

He established ferries across the Thames to Kent, and numerous docks and quays to facilitate the transportation of the substantial quantities of lime extracted by his companies and quarries from the chalk cliffs of Purfleet.

The chalk and lime industry significantly altered Purfleet's landscape, turning once prominent hills and cliffs into mere remnants of the past.

In 1859, The School Ship Society established a reform institution aboard the decommissioned HMS Cornwall, a Third Rate ship-of-the-line anchored at Purfleet on the lower Thames. Initially named TS Cornwall, the ship was relocated in 1868 to a Nautical School situated in South Shields, close to the mouth of the Tyne, where it was rechristened TS Wellesley.

The Purfleet school received a vessel constructed by the East India Company in Bombay, originally known as HMS Wellesley, this ship renamed TS Cornwall effectively swapping the identities of the two vessels.

The Cornwall was effectively a reform school. Up to 250 boys aged 11 to 14 who had been sentanced to at least three years detention could be housed on the ship. There they would be educated in nautical skills as well as tailoring, drawing and music among other skills.

Around the turn of the century there were a number of scandals around the ship, including two occassions where officers were stabbed by inmates and an outbreak of typhoid.

In 1915 sixteen boys and an officer drowned following a collision between a sailing cutter belonging to Cornwall and a steamer on the Thames in bad weather. Ten other boys survived the incident.

In 1928, Cornwall was moved downstream to Gravesend on the Thames and was sunk in 1940 after being targeted by aircraft, a rare fate for a ship-of-the-line.

Raised in 1948, some of her timbers were repurposed in the reconstruction of the Law Courts in London and her figurehead is preserved at Chatham Dockyard.

Between the years 1921 and 1936, Purfleet served as an urban district in Essex, encompassing the parishes of Aveley, West Thurrock, and South Ockendon. This district spanned an area of 8,900 acres (3,600 ha) and recorded a population of 8,511 in 1931. The parishes and urban district were dissolved in 1936, with their territory being incorporated into the Thurrock Urban District.

Highlighting its significance as a maritime center and storage hub, Purfleet was identified by the Ministry of Food as one of 14 critical A-bomb targets in 1955, serving as an entry point for tea imports.

Since 1917, Purfleet has hosted a Unilever factory, previously known as Van den Berghs & Jurgens, renowned for producing Stork, Flora, Bertolli, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! margarine - considered the world's largest facility of its kind.

The area is home to an Esso lubricants plant, a roll-on/roll-off ferry (RORO) terminal, and the headquarters of CarpetRight, the leading flooring company in the UK. Additionally, Purfleet accommodates Scania GB Ltd's most extensive European workshop and office.

The paper industry was a prominent part of Purfleet's history, operating from 1887 to 2003. Initially known as Thames Board Mills, founded by Maurice Cartiaux, it specialized in making straw board from horse manure and straw. Over the years, it evolved into Thames Paper, a leading manufacturer of paper and board in the UK.

From a peak of 3,500 workers, by its closure, it employed 150 staff and 100 contractors as the industry declined due to economic factors, leading to the end of an era for paper production in Purfleet.

In 2020, after a two-year campaign, the town's name was officially changed back  to Purfleet-on-Thames in an attempt to improve its fortunes and attract more investment.

While Whitby in Yorkshire often highlights its associations with Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, surprisingly, Purfleet holds an even stronger claim as it is explicitly mentioned six times in the book as being the legendary vampire's English home.

Local Purfleet residents are well-acquainted with the Dracula myth surrounding 'Carfax,' a residence where Count Dracula reputedly stored soil from his Transylvanian Castle.

The house named 'Carfax' in Purfleet was actually built after the novel was published, in 1900, near the Thames Board Mills factory, and stood until it was demolished in the late 1980s.

'Purfleet House,' built in 1791 by Samuel Whitbread, is also suggested as Dracula's potential dwelling. This grand estate and gardens drew Victorian sightseers.

Even though the precise location of Dracula's residence in Purfleet remains shrouded in mystery, the historical importance of 'Carfax' and 'Purfleet House' continues to captivate both locals and tourists.

Purfleet House was constructed with a detached Chapel of Ease intended for the Whitbread family. In the book, Jonathan Harker's portrayal of the residence, including its proximity to an old chapel or church, aligns perfectly with its actual setup.

"It contains in all some 20 acres, quite surrounded by solid stone walls..... There are many trees on it, which makes it look gloomy, and there is a deep, dark looking lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water is clear and flows away in a fair sized stream."

Photographs dating back to the Victorian era reveal densely wooded regions within and surrounding 16th-century chalk quarries. Transitioning into the Edwardian era, these areas were replanted, leading to the growth of mature trees and shrubs amidst the steep cliff sides of the disused quarries. There are still remnants of stone walls in close proximity to Purfleet House's location.

The area also featured paths leading to beacon hill with views of the Thames valley, London, and Gravesend.

Chalk extraction in the region over centuries likely created a 'lake' as seen at the Lakeside Shopping Centre today. Additionally, the Mardyke stream, originating in the Bulphan fens, which flows into the Thames near the Royal Gunpowder Magazines, providing fresh water nearby.

The final part of the description remarks on other buildings nearby to 'Carfax', ".... There are few houses close at hand, one being a large house only recently added to and formed into a private lunatic asylum."

The best candidate for the Asylum is  'Ordnance House', the Board of Ordnances' store keeper's residence. This was set within the high brick security wall of the Garrison.

The story tells of the lunatic Renfield's escape, trying to gain access to the Chapel of Carfax House. Dr. Seward saw, "a white figure scale the high wall which separates our grounds from those of the deserted house". (Carfax).

This could easily describe the solid 10 feet high brick military boundaries around the gunpowder magazine.

So, there seem to be a number of buildings and landscapes which could relate to the most famous vampire's story, but why Purfleet? Did Bram Stoker ever visit the area?

It is largely forgotten now that Purfleet was something of a Victorian leisure attraction. Easy access by train from Fenchurch Street Station to Purfleet station, opened in 1856, allowed Londoners to experience the countryside and riverside pleasures at one resort.

Wingrove's Hotel at Purfleet, on the Thames waterfront, offered bathing facilities and a wide range of gastronomic offerings, especially whitebait suppers, entertainment and accommodation for overnight stays.

Nearby were scenic walks along paths cut through overgrown chalk quarries, with cliff faces and ledges leading up to Beacon Hill, with panoramic views up and down the Thames.

Here also was the Admiralty Experimental Light House.

Walking back down into the village a number of tea rooms offered refreshments to tourists, who arrived by train to Purfleet Station from Fenchurch Street, on Cycle Club outings or by ferry.

During Bram Stoker's tenure as Acting Manager at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, he and his fellow actors often ventured out on Sundays to socialize and explore different destinations outside London.

Although there is not any concrete proof that Stoker visited Purfleet, it seems probable that he did.

He also used a significant amount of published material, both factual and fictional, to construct his storylines.

The inclusion of train and ferry timetables in his novel Dracula lends credence to the timeline and accuracy of the day-to-day events depicted.

This suggests that Stoker may have indeed visited Purfleet, possibly acquiring timetables from the London Tilbury Southend Railway for travel between Fenchurch Street and Purfleet. He might have also consulted tourist guide books about South Essex and Purfleet.