Woodham Mortimer

Last updated

Woodham Mortimer
Essex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Woodham Mortimer
Location within Essex
Population641 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference TL815044
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Maldon
Postcode district CM9
Dialling code 01245 & 01621
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°42′32″N0°37′41″E / 51.709°N 0.628°E / 51.709; 0.628

Woodham Mortimer is a village on the Dengie peninsula about three miles west-south-west of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district. [2]

Contents

History

The discovery of a hoard of denarii dated to 41 CE [3] is some evidence of occupation in Roman times. However, the village first appears in written records as "Wudeham" in c. 975.[ citation needed ] The name, which means "village in the wood", [4] is derived from the old English words "wudu" (wood in modern English) [5] and "ham" (home, or homestead). [6] At the time of the Norman Conquest the parish belonged to Ralph Peverell and was known as Little Woodham. Henry II gave the parish to Robert de Mortimer, leading to the change in name. [7]

In the Domesday Book the population was recorded as 14 households with the local lord in 1066 being Siward Barn. [8]

During the First World War a new aerodrome was opened in nearby Stow Maries to provide air cover for the London area. 37 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps occupied the base from September 1916 taking over The Grange in Woodham Mortimer as its headquarters. [9] [10] The Grange was once the property of Beeleigh Abbey and is a Grade II listed building. [11]

Demographics

Approximately 45% of residents are classified using Experian's Mosaic system as type A4 (defined as 'financially secure couples, many close to retirement, living in sought after suburbs') [12] and are predominantly white, Christian, English speaking and British born. [13] As of 2009 the population was estimated at 641. [1]

Governance

Woodham Mortimer has a parish council [14] and is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district. [2] The district forms part of the Witham constituency for parliamentary elections. The local MP is Priti Patel. [15]

Geography

Woodham Mortimer has an average elevation of 51 metres (167 ft) above sea level and lies just south of the Danbury-Tiptree ridge that marks the furthest extent of the Anglian ice sheet during the last ice age approximately 450,000 years ago. [16] The geology of the area is rock, sand and gravels that were deposited by the retreating ice. [17] Gravel is commercially extracted from the Royal Oak Quarry with a proposed additional site at Tynedales Farm of 47.5 hectares (117 acres). [18] The National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University describes the main soil type as "slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils." [19]

Climate

Woodham Mortimer is considered by the Met Office to be part of the Eastern England region, however, for the purposes of historical climate data it is consolidated into the East Anglia region. Climate information for the period 1981 – 2010 is detailed below.

Climate data for East Anglia (1981–2010 averages)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Average high °F (°C)44.8
(7.1)		45.3
(7.4)		50.5
(10.3)		55.6
(13.1)		61.9
(16.6)		67.3
(19.6)		72.0
(22.2)		71.8
(22.1)		66.2
(19.0)		58.5
(14.7)		50.4
(10.2)		45.1
(7.3)		57.6
(14.2)
Average low °F (°C)34.5
(1.4)		34.0
(1.1)		37.0
(2.8)		39.6
(4.2)		44.8
(7.1)		50.0
(10.0)		54.0
(12.2)		53.8
(12.1)		50.2
(10.1)		45.1
(7.3)		39.2
(4.0)		35.1
(1.7)		43.2
(6.2)
Average rainfall inches (mm)2.09
(53.2)		1.56
(39.7)		1.71
(43.5)		1.76
(44.6)		1.92
(48.8)		2.08
(52.9)		2.03
(51.6)		2.20
(55.8)		2.09
(53.1)		2.56
(64.9)		2.42
(61.4)		2.14
(54.4)		24.6
(624)
Source: Met Office

[20]

Economy

There are two public houses, the Royal Oak on the A414 and the Hurdlemakers Arms on Post Office Road. Its name refers to the hurdles which used to be made from materials cut in the nearby woods. [21] There is a golf driving range with 9-hole pitch and putt that was opened in 1967 [22] on Burnham Road. In 2022 planning permission was granted to replace the driving range with a development of 18 houses. [23]

Crime

Woodham Mortimer is policed by Essex Police and is part of the Purleigh Neighbourhood Policing Team which covers a number of areas with a total population of 10,936. [24] In 2011, there were 516 reported crimes in the NPT. There is no local police station. [24]

Culture and facilities

Village hall

Next to the village hall is a 0.4 hectares (4,000 m2) playing field with swings and a small football pitch. [25]

Religious sites

St Margaret's Church, next to Woodham Mortimer Hall, by Robert Edwards St Margarets Woodham Mortimer.jpg
St Margaret's Church, next to Woodham Mortimer Hall, by Robert Edwards

The parish church is St Margaret's. The original church on the site may date from the 16th century, however, it was rebuilt in the 19th century leaving little evidence of the older church with only the south wall and east end remaining.[ citation needed ]

Evidence for the age of the church includes the 13th century font (although the base is newer) and the 17th century carvings on the pulpit.[ citation needed ] The church has a small window commemorating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.[ citation needed ] The graveyard includes the grave of Peter Chamberlen. [26]

Landmarks

Woodham Mortimer Hall by Trevor Harris Woodham mortimer hall.jpg
Woodham Mortimer Hall by Trevor Harris

Woodham Mortimer Hall is a 17th-century gabled house that Hugh and Peter Chamberlen lived in. There is a blue plaque fixed to the hall [26] noting them as pioneering obstetricians who invented the forceps. The hall passed out of the Chamberlen family in 1715 when the family home was sold. [27] The forceps were found in 1813 under a trap door in the loft of the hall and given to the Medical and Chirurgical Society which passed them to the Royal Society of Medicine in 1818. [27] [28] The find was described by R. Lee in Observations on the Discovery of the Original Obstetric Instruments of the Chamberlens (1862) as:

The [space] contained some boxes in which were two or three pairs of midwifery forceps, several coins, a medallion of Charles I, or II, a miniature of the Doctor damaged by time, a tooth wrapped in paper, written on, "My husband's last tooth"; some little antique plate; a pair of ladys long yellow kid gloves, in excellent preservation; a small testament date 1645. [27]

Memorial to William Alexander by Glyn Baker Woodham Mortimer Memorial.jpg
Memorial to William Alexander by Glyn Baker

There is a war memorial commemorating the nine people from the village who died during the World Wars. There is also a Grade II listed memorial erected in 1825 to William Alexander, who left his lands to the Worshipful Company of Coopers for the benefit of the poor. [29]

Woodham Mortimer Lodge is a Grade II listed building. [30]

Related Research Articles

<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">Maldon</span> Town in Essex, England

Maldon is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldon District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Maldon District is a local government district in Essex, England. The council is based in the town of Maldon, after which the district is named. The district also includes the town of Burnham-on-Crouch and numerous villages, including Heybridge, Wickham Bishops, Southminster, Tolleshunt D'Arcy and Tollesbury. The district covers the Dengie peninsula in the south, as well as the Thurstable Hundred area to the north of the Blackwater Estuary, a total area of 358.78 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Chelmsford</span> Local government district 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">Wickham Bishops</span> Human settlement in England

Wickham Bishops is a village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England. It is located around three miles north of the town of Maldon and around two miles south-east of Witham, in whose post town it lies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Chamberlen the younger</span>

Peter Chamberlen (1572–1626) was the younger of two brothers with the same forename, the sons of Guillaume (William) Chamberlen, a Huguenot surgeon who fled from Paris to England in 1569.

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

Tillingham is a small village and civil parish with 1,015 inhabitants in 2001, increasing to 1,058 at the 2011 Census, located 8 miles (13 km) from Burnham-on-Crouch and 3 miles (4.8 km) from Bradwell-on-Sea, in Maldon District and the ceremonial county of Essex in England. It is one of the villages that make up the ancient Dengie Hundred, which is bounded by the River Blackwater and River Crouch.

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

Dengie is a peninsula in Essex, England, that once formed a hundred of the same name . The peninsula is formed by the River Crouch to the south, the Blackwater to the north, both of which are tidal, and the North Sea to the east. The eastern part of the peninsula is marshy and forms the Dengie Marshes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Woodham Ferrers</span> Human settlement in England

South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford, in the English county of Essex. It is approximately 35 miles (56 km) east of London and 8 miles (13 km) south-east of the city of Chelmsford, and had a population of 16,453 at the 2011 Census, a decrease from 16,629 at the 2001 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldon (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom 1801-1983 & 2010 onwards

Maldon is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its recreation in 2010 by Sir John Whittingdale, a Conservative.

Hazeleigh is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. It lies 2.6 miles south-west of Maldon.

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

Stow Maries is a village and civil parish in the English county of Essex. It is located on the western (inland) end of the Dengie peninsula and forms part of the Purleigh ward in the Maldon district.

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

Cold Norton is a village on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. It is located in rural countryside 10 miles to the east of Chelmsford, and lies just over a mile to the north of the River Crouch, which can be seen from the village's main hill. Nearby villages include Purleigh and North Fambridge. Administratively, Cold Norton forms part of the Purleigh ward in the district of Maldon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obstetrical forceps</span> Medical instrument used for the delivery of a baby

Obstetrical forceps are a medical instrument used in childbirth. Their use can serve as an alternative to the ventouse method.

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

North Fambridge is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex.

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

Woodham Walter is a village about three miles west of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.

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

Purleigh is a village on the Dengie peninsula about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Purleigh ward of the Maldon district.

Langford is a village at the west end of the Dengie peninsula close to Maldon in the English county of Essex. It is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Chamberlen the third</span>

Peter Chamberlen M.D. (1601–1683), known as Peter the Third, was an English physician. The obstetrical forceps as invention has been credited to the Chamberlen family: the earliest evidence of what was a family trade secret points to his having it in 1630. He continued the family tradition of trying to bring the profession of midwifery under their control. His writings blend ideas associated with the Fifth Monarchists and Levellers with social schemes of his own with a utopian flavour.

References

  1. 1 2 "Parish population 2011" . Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Maldon District Council" . Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  3. ↑ B. C. Burnham; L. J. F. Keppie; A. S. Esmonde Cleary; M. W. C. Hassall; R. S. O. Tomlin (1993). "Roman Britain in 1992". Britannia. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. 24: 302. doi:10.2307/526740. ISSN   0068-113X. JSTOR   526740. S2CID   163468029.
  4. ↑ Reaney, P.H. & Wilson, R.M. (1958). A Dictionary of English Surnames. Routledge. p. 3480. ISBN   0-415-05737-X . Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Jones, Graham & Langton, John. "Woodland Terms in Place Names". St John's College Research Centre, University of Oxford . Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Mills, A.D. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-852758-6.
  7. ↑ Directory of the County of Essex. White's. 1848.
  8. ↑ "Woodham Mortimer". Open Domesday. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Ivor Dallinger. "Stow Maries Aerodrome" . Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "37 Squadron RFC". The South East Echo. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  11. ↑ English Heritage. "Woodham Mortimer Grange Woodham Mortimer". British Listed Building. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Ward Profile – Wickham Bishops and Woodham" (PDF). Maldon District Council. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Getting to Know Your Parish:Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh" (PDF). The Church of England. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Parish and Town Councils". Maldon District Council. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Find Your MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Geology of Essex". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Geology of Essex". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  18. ↑ Adam Cornell (1 April 2009). "Asheldham pit closes". Maldon and Burnham Standard. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  19. ↑ "Land Information System". Cranfield University, National Soil Resources Institute. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  20. ↑ "Met Office Climate Averages 1981–2010". Met Office. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  21. ↑ Rothwell, David (September 2006). Dictionary of Pub Names. Wordsworth. p. 197. ISBN   1-84022-266-2.
  22. ↑ "Woodham Mortimer Golf Range" . Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  23. ↑ Charlie Ridler (8 October 2022). "Woodham Mortimer Golf Range turning into 18 homes". Maldon Standard. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  24. 1 2 "UK Crime Statistics for Purleigh, Essex". UK Crime Statistics. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  25. ↑ "Woodham Mortimer Parish Field". Maldon District Council. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  26. 1 2 "Chamberlen Essex Family History" . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  27. 1 2 3 Hibbard, Bryan M. (2000). The Obstetrician's Armamentarium: Historical Obstetric Instruments and their Inventors. p. 14.
  28. ↑ Christie, Damian (September 2004). "The Surgeon returns to Melbourne; Chamberlen's forceps find a home at the College" (PDF). O&G. Victoria, Australia: The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. 6 (3): 246–247. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  29. ↑ English Heritage. "Obelisk on Opposite Side of Road and Approximately 70 Metres South of Woodham Mortimer Hall, Woodham Mortimer". British Listed Building. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  30. ↑ English Heritage. "Woodham Mortimer Lodge, Woodham Mortimer". British Listed Building. Retrieved 24 October 2012.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Woodham Mortimer at Wikimedia Commons

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.