Great Leighs

Last updated

Great Leighs
St Anne's Castle, Great Leighs - geograph.org.uk - 1319504.jpg
Former St Anne's Castle, Great Leighs
Essex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Great Leighs
Location within Essex
OS grid reference TL725175
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Chelmsford
Postcode district CM3 1
Dialling code 01245
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°49′36″N0°30′21″E / 51.826628°N 0.505757°E / 51.826628; 0.505757

Great Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, [1] in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England, halfway between Chelmsford itself and Braintree. In 1931 the parish had a population of 728. [2]

Contents

History

Great Leighs is the location of arguably the oldest Inn in England. The Castle was called the St. Anne's Castle until its temporary closure for refurbishment at Easter 2015. It was on the junction of Main Road and Boreham Road. Another Pub, the Dog & Partridge, is at the other end of the village, on Main Road.

The full history of The Castle has been lost. However, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and claims to be the oldest licensed premises in England, as it served ale to the pilgrims travelling to Thomas Becket's tomb in the 12th Century. It has been an alehouse since the Middle Ages although at some point it was an hermitage.

The current state of the exterior is due to a fire over a hundred years ago which destroyed the original thatched roof, which was replaced with tiles. Inside, timbers date back hundreds of years. Down in the cellars are remains of tunnels, which reputedly linked the inn with the nearby Leez Priory, and Great Leigh's church.

At The Castle, various references can be read on the walls that tell more of the history. Local folklore also tells that the inn is haunted by the troubled spirit of a witch burned at the stake and buried beneath a stone at the nearby crossroads.

In December 2009, a £730,000 project to renovate the Village Hall was completed. It was aided by money associated with a new housing development within the village, extensive fund raising and help from funding potatoes and Essex County Council.

The incumbent priest during the First World War, Andrew Clark, kept a voluminous diary of the war detailing activities, opinions and rumours in the village and nearby. An edited version of the diary was published in 1985 under the title Echoes of the Great War.

In the 2014 BBC series Britain's Great War Jeremy Paxman visits St Mary's Church, Great Leighs, and he describes the early loss of Captain Alan Tritton and brothers Privates Richard (Dick) and Arthur Fitch. He speaks with their niece, Valerie Frost.

There is a spring by the side of the road at Cole Hill on Boreham Road, near Great Leighs Church. It once had a lion's head over the outlet. TL739157

Spring on Cole Hill Spring tl739157.jpg
Spring on Cole Hill

On 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and merged with Little Leighs to form "Great and Little Leighs", part also went to Little Waltham. [3]

Racecourse

In 2008, Great Leighs became home to the first new racecourse in 80 years, when the nearby Essex County Showground was converted into a state-of-the-art horse-racing venue. Great Leighs Racecourse held its first race meeting on 20 April 2008 and staged its first meeting fully open to the public from 28 to 29 May 2008. However, the course had its temporary licence revoked on 16 January 2009 and did not see racing again until 11 January 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelmsford</span> City in Essex, England

Chelmsford is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located 30 miles north-east of London at Charing Cross and 22 miles south-west of Colchester. The population of the urban area was 110,625 in the 2021 Census, while the wider district has 181,763.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury, Essex</span> Human settlement in England

Danbury is a village in the City of Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England. It is located 33.5 miles (53.9 km) northeast of Charing Cross, London and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is situated on a hill 367 feet (112 m) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Chelmsford</span> City and borough in Essex, England

The City of Chelmsford is a local government district with borough and city status in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex. As well as the settlement of Chelmsford itself, the district also includes the surrounding rural area and the town of South Woodham Ferrers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boreham</span> Village in Essex, England

Boreham is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately 3.7 miles (6.0 km) northeast of the county town of Chelmsford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Essex</span>

Essex is a county in the East of England which originated as the ancient Kingdom of Essex and one of the seven kingdoms, or heptarchy, that went on to form the Kingdom of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braintree (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1974

Braintree is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by James Cleverly, a member of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997–2010

West Chelmsford was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1997 to 2010 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Bentley</span> Human settlement in England

Great Bentley is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Tendring district of north Essex, England, located seven miles east of Colchester. The parish includes the hamlets of Aingers Green and South Heath. It is home to the second largest village green in the country, at a size of 43 acres (170,000 m2), behind Duncan Down and has won 'Essex Village of the Year' and 'Daily Telegraph/Calor Gas Village of the Year' awards. Great Bentley railway station provides the village with frequent rail services along the Sunshine Coast Line to London Liverpool Street, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford End</span> Human settlement in England

Ford End is a small village in the parish of Great Waltham halfway between Chelmsford and Great Dunmow in Essex, England, comprising over 150 houses. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 733. Circa 1870, it had a population of 775 as recorded in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Easton</span> Human settlement in England

Little Easton is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) east from the town of Bishop's Stortford, and 12 miles (19 km) north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. Little Easton parish is defined at the west by the River Roding, and the east by the River Chelmer. The village and civil parish of Great Easton lie one mile (1.6 km) to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galleywood</span> Small village in Essex, England

Galleywood is a village surrounded by countryside in Essex; it is situated on the outskirts of the city of Chelmsford, about 30 miles from London. The A12 trunk road passes nearby, which connects to the M25 in London. Galleywood sits astride a Roman road running south from Chelmsford towards Vange Creek; currently, the B1007 Stock Road and B1009 Beehive Lane run through it. Galleywood was a part of the Great Baddow parish, comprising two villages or hamlets: Galleywood and Galleyend, about a mile apart. Galleywood has a population of 5,700 and has a higher percentage of retired citizens than the national average. Galleywood Common is approximately 400 yards in width and one mile in length, consisting of open fields and woodland. It also has St. Michael's Church in the woodland, which is visible for many miles around.

Chelmsford Rural District was a local government district in Essex, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded, but did not include, the town of Chelmsford; which formed a municipal borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield, Essex</span> Human settlement in England

Springfield is a civil parish of the Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England, which is now a north-eastern suburb of the city of Chelmsford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Waltham</span> Human settlement in England

Little Waltham is a village and civil parish just north of Chelmsford, in Essex, England. It is adjacent to the village of Great Waltham. The Domesday Book refers to the two villages as Waltham, consisting of several manors. The site of an Iron Age village was excavated before upgrading the main road north between the current villages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Waltham</span> Human settlement in England

Great Waltham, also known as Church End, is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Leighs</span> Human settlement in England

Little Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district in the English county of Essex. In 1931 the parish had a population of 158. On 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and merged with Great Leighs to form "Great and Little Leighs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad's Green</span> Human settlement in England

Broads Green is a hamlet in the civil parish of Great Waltham and the Chelmsford district, of Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex</span> Ceremonial county in the East of England

Essex is a ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea, and the county town is Chelmsford.

References

  1. ↑ "Essexinfo.net - essexinfo Resources and Information".
  2. ↑ "Population statistics Great Leighs AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain . Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Chelmsford Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.