Bell Common

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Bell Common
Bell Common Cricket Ground - geograph.org.uk - 1213146.jpg
Bell Common Cricket Ground
Essex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bell Common
Location within Essex
OS grid reference TL4401
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°41′31″N0°05′56″E / 51.692°N 0.099°E / 51.692; 0.099

Bell Common is a hamlet [1] in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It lies south of the town of Epping and north of the Ambresbury Banks archaeological site.

Its former name, Beacon Common, is attributed to a story about an ancient beacon erected at Bell Common by locals to alert them in the event of invasion. [2]

Its green space is retained undeveloped due to the Epping Forest Act 1878 [3]

The settlement has a number of listed buildings, including The Black Cottage and 115-7 Bell Common. [4] [5] [6]

Tunnel

Inside the Bell Common Tunnel Bell Common Tunnel - geograph.org.uk - 53233.jpg
Inside the Bell Common Tunnel

The Bell Common Tunnel is a covered section of the M25 motorway in Bell Common. The tunnel was constructed between 1982 and 1984 using the cut and cover method. [7] The tunnel is 470 metres long. [8] It lies between junctions 26 and 27 on the M25. [9]

The construction of the roadway was protested by campaigns against the M25, including by members of the West Essex Rambler's Association [10] and the Upshire Village Preservation Society. [11] The public inquiry which followed was, per the Epping Forest Guardian, "at that time, the longest public inquiry in road planning history". [11] While the tunnel was under construction the local cricket club were forced to temporarily relocate. [12] The grounds and club were later reinstated. [13]

The tunnel began a £90.4m Highways Agency refurbishment in 2008 to replace various equipment and the ventilation system. [14] It was reopened in March 2010. [15]

A report for the California Department of Transportation by the Western Transportation Institute describes the Bell Common Tunnel as "designed to enable animal movements above a major Highway". [16] A report for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council also says the covered tunnel "assisted in mitigating the community, landscape and ecological severance caused by running the M25 through Epping Forest." [17]

References

  1. ↑ "Gazetteer of British Place Names". gazetteer.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Bell Common Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk. Epping Forest District Council. February 2010. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  3. ↑ Powell, W R, ed. (1966). "Epping: Introduction and manors". A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5. Vol. 5. London. Retrieved 5 February 2025– via British History Online.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ "THE BLACK COTTAGE, Epping - 1124162 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "115-117, BELL COMMON, Epping - 1236145 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  6. ↑ "BELL COMMON CONSERVATION AREA" (PDF). www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  7. ↑ Clayton, C. R. I., ed. (1993). Retaining Structures: Proceedings of the Conference Retaining Structures. Thomas Telford. p. 93. ISBN   9780727719324.
  8. ↑ Symons, I. F.; Tedd, P (December 1989). "Behaviour of a propped embedded retaining wall at Bell Common Tunnel in the longer term". Géotechnique . 39 (4): 701. doi:10.1680/geot.1989.39.4.701. ISSN   0016-8505 – via ICE Virtual Library.
  9. ↑ "M25 Bell Common tunnel, Essex". Transport Xtra. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  10. ↑ Dale, Johanna, ed. (2023). St Peter-on-the-Wall: Landscape and heritage on the Essex coast (PDF). London: UCL Press. p. 288. doi:10.14324/111.9781800084353. ISBN   978-1-80008-435-3.
  11. 1 2 Green, Georgina (24 September 2022). "Bell Common scene of Upshire M25 battle and Queen Boadicea's last stand". Epping Forest Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  12. ↑ Cunningham, Alice (17 November 2020). "What's above the M25 tunnels in Hertfordshire and Essex and how long have they been there?". Hertfordshire Mercury. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  13. ↑ Reynolds, Laura (13 October 2017). "There's A Cricket Pitch On Top Of The M25". Londonist. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  14. ↑ Klettner, Andrea (17 November 2008). "Work starts on £90m HA scheme". Construction News. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  15. ↑ "Bell Common Tunnel upgrade scheme opened". Tunnels & Tunnelling International. British Tunnelling Society. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  16. ↑ Langton, Tom; Clevenger, Tony; Brehme, Cheryl; Fisher, Robert (June 2017). Amphibian and Reptile Highway Crossings: State of the practice, gap analysis and decision support tool - A Literature Review (PDF). p. 22.
  17. ↑ "Green Infrastructure Study" (PDF). Solihull Council. Solihull Landscape Architecture and Ecology. January 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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