Rayne | |
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![]() Rayne Village Shield | |
Location within Essex | |
Population | 2,299 (2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | TL730228 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Braintree |
Postcode district | CM77 |
Dialling code | 01376 |
Police | Essex |
Fire | Essex |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Rayne is a village of about 2,300 residents in the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England.
It lies on the Roman road called Stane Street, about two miles (3 km) to the west of Braintree, which is the nearest town.
It used to be a more important settlement than Braintree in Norman times, although this has not been the case for a long time now.
Rayne has a playing field, a pub called The Swan, a village hall that overlooks the playing field, All Saints' church, a war memorial, a stream called Pod's Brook, and a small airfield. There are also the old manor house of Rayne Hall, and Old Hall; a previous Rectory. Rayne Hall was for a long time the home of the Capel family, who became Earls of Essex. In mediaeval times, the Church was known for healing miracles: it was said that infertile women visiting the church were later able to conceive. A number of the churchyard memorials are made of cast iron: these were manufactured at the former foundry in The Street at around the end of the nineteenth century using a common mould into which individual letters were inserted to spell out the details. [2]
The church building consists of the Tudor tower, built in 1510, a Nave (an 1840 construction, replacing a Norman building from 1199 and said to be unsafe) and a Sanctuary and Vestry, added in 1914. The earliest recorded Rector is Ralph de Fremingham, from 1260. [3]
Further west along the main road ("The Street"), there are: an Indian restaurant, another pub, the Welsh Princess, the site of the former Rayne Iron foundry (redeveloped for housing and offices in 2009), the Post Office stores, and what was a pub called The Cock, now renovated and operating as a bar and restaurant called 47 The Street. The road leads to the town of Great Dunmow.
Station Road leads down to the former Rayne railway station, which is now the Rayne Station Centre of the Flitch Way Country Park, a linear park stretching along the former trackbed of the railway. [4] This is also now National Cycle Network route No. 16.
Rayne, which is located about 40 miles (64 km) north-east of London, is twinned with Verberie which is about 40 miles (64 km) north-east of Paris in the French region of Picardy, which coincidentally is twinned with the County of Essex.
On 12 July 2006, Rayne was named Essex Village of the Year, in a competition organised annually by Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) and sponsored by Calor. Rayne also won first, the regional, and then national, Calor Village of the Year Competition 2006/7 in the ITC Category.
Witham is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelmsford and the town of Colchester, on the Roman road between the two. The River Brain runs through the town and joins the River Blackwater just outside.
Lane End is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is just south of the M40 from High Wycombe, about two miles (3 km) west of Booker. The village is twinned with Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron in France.
Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, 6 miles east of London Stansted Airport.
Coggeshall is a small town of 4,727 residents in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street, and intersected by the River Blackwater. The population increased to 4,727 at the 2011 Census. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade. Many local businesses, such as the White Hart Hotel and the Chapel Inn, have been established for hundreds of years. A market has been run every week on Market Hill since 1256, when a charter to do so was granted by Henry III.
Alrewas is a village and civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England.
Ingatestone, a populous village in Essex, England, had 5,365 inhabitants at the time of the 2011 census. This rose to 5,565 according to a 2019 estimate. Just north lies the village of Fryerning, the two forming a civil parish, Ingatestone and Fryerning. Ingatestone lies in the Metropolitan Green Belt, 20 miles north-east of London. Its built-up area lies straddles the A12 trunk road and the Great Eastern Main Railway Line. Today it is an affluent commuter village, seen as one of the UK's best places to live in 2020 by the Sunday Times.
West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood, Essex on the boundary with Thurrock. It is located 20 miles (32 km) east north-east of Charing Cross in London. The civil parish also includes East Horndon and Dunton Hills.
Little Hadham is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. At the census of 2001 it had a population of 1,081, increasing to 1,153 at the 2011 Census. It is located on the A120 road, which connects it to the nearby town of Bishop's Stortford. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bury Green, Church End, Cradle End, Green Street and Hadham Ford. Little Hadham, together with the neighbouring village of Much Hadham, are collectively known as The Hadhams.
Steeple Bumpstead is a village and civil parish 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Haverhill in Braintree district, Essex, England.
Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about 3 miles (4.8 km) east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree (B1256) for 3.2 km before turning right for the village. The centre of the old village, which has just 99 dwellings, is a further 0.6 km along the road. The Flitch Way, a linear country park along the route of the old Braintree to Bishop's Stortford railway, links Little Dunmow and the new settlement of Flitch Green. The new village, built on the site of a former sugar beet factory, is a self-contained community of 850 dwellings and is another kilometre along the road towards Felsted.
Northrepps is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) southeast of Cromer, 22.2 miles (35.7 km) north of Norwich and 137 miles (220 km) north of London. The village lies west of the A149 which runs between Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest railway station is at Cromer for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The village and parish of Northrepps had in the 2001 census a population of 839, increasing to 886 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the village falls within the district of North Norfolk.
Braintree is a town in Essex, England. The principal settlement of Braintree District, it is located 10 miles northeast of Chelmsford and 15 mi (24 km) west of Colchester. According to the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,634, while the urban area, which includes Great Notley, Rayne and High Garrett, had a population of 53,477.
Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the population of the town was estimated to be 54,885.
The Bishop's Stortford–Braintree branch line was an 18-mile-long (29 km) railway line connecting Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is BSB.
Rayne railway station was located in Rayne, Essex. The station was 15 miles 54 chains (25.23 km) from Bishop's Stortford on the Bishop's Stortford to Braintree branch line. The station closed in 1952.
Swerford is a village and civil parish on the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Chipping Norton. Swerford has two main neighbourhoods: Church End and East End. The area between them contains very few houses and is called Between Towns. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 132.
Little Waltham is a village and civil parish just north of Chelmsford. 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.
Bocking is an area of Braintree, Essex, England, which was a former village and civil parish. In 1934 it became part of the civil parish of Braintree and Bocking, which is now within Braintree District.
Messing is a village and former civil parish, 14 miles (23 km) north east of Chelmsford, now in the parish of Messing-cum-Inworth, in the Colchester district, in the county of Essex, England. The village has a population of around 300. In 1931 the parish had a population of 929.
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