| Langham | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's church, Langham | |
  Langham Location within Essex | |
| Population | 1,036 (2011) [1] |
| OS grid reference | TM025315 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Colchester |
| Postcode district | CO4 |
| Dialling code | 01206 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Langham is a small village in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England.
There is little evidence of pre-Roman occupation of what is now Langham, but the Romans built a villa at the north end of the village close to the River Stour and the Roman Road from Colchester into Suffolk also ran to the east of the village, and so there was probably Roman activity in the area of the village.
The Anglo-Saxons later established a settlement which was possibly called Laingaham, the spelling in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Domesday Book shows a small agricultural community with the manor held by Walter Tirel, the man who was accused of shooting King William Rufus while hunting for deer in the New Forest.
Langham, like most of the villages along the Stour Valley, was primarily agricultural until the 20th century, with a few large farms and many small holdings. Like the other villages it enjoyed a period of prosperity due to the cloth trade, which started at the end of the 14th century and lasted until the 17th century. The church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the 12th century.
Up to the start of the 20th century Langham would have been a reasonably self-contained community and everyday items could have been bought at the village stores or from the variety of shops in Dedham. However, the Essex Great Road from London to Norwich via Colchester, later known as the A12, ran up its east side and after the growth of the coaching routes in the 18th century it would have been possible to go to Colchester, Ipswich or even London.
During World War II a large airbase (called RAF Boxted) was built on land to the south of the main village area. Although much of the airfield has since reverted to agriculture some features and memorials remain. [3]
Since 2004 [4] a small community shop, housed in the community centre, and staffed by volunteers, has acted as a community hub selling local produce and hosting a mobile post office. [5]
There are two schools in Langham.
Langham Primary School has roughly 90-100 pupils. [6]
Langham Oaks School [7] [8] The school's enrollment is 80 male pupils, [9] the majority of whom come from Essex and the school is an Academy delivering SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) provision. [10]
The school moved into a new purpose build school on the site in 2021 [11]
The School delivers a comprehensive curriculum which follows an Academic and Vocation curriculum (Including residential provision [12] ) to meet both the social and academic needs of the students. [13]
In the May 2022 Residential Inspection, OFSTED reported the school as Good. [14] The School forms part of the SEAX trust [15]
Sir Robert Balfour, 1st Baronet An MP & businessman, he lived at the Hall. His son's name is on the village war memorial. [16]
Charles Darling, 1st Baron Darling An MP and judge who lived at the Hall. He was made Baron Darling of Langham in the County of Essex in 1924.[ citation needed ]
George Dummer was a farm worker who lived at Munsons, Moor Road. Dummer bred the Discovery (apple).[ citation needed ]
John Middleton Murry Literary critic, writer, socialist, pacifist who co-founded The Adelphi where George Orwell gave a summer school lecture in 1936.[ citation needed ]
Mary Edith Pechey Pioneer women's doctor who lived at the Manse/Highfields, Dedham Road.[ citation needed ]
Max Plowman Journalist, poet, authority on William Blake, and leading pacifist who lived at Little Oaks. He co-founded The Adelphi and is buried in the village churchyard.[ citation needed ]
Frederic Raphael Screenwriter who lived at the Wick.[ citation needed ]
The River Stour is a major river in East Anglia, England. It is 47 miles (76 km) long and forms most of the county boundary between Suffolk to the north, and Essex to the south. It rises in eastern Cambridgeshire, passes to the east of Haverhill, through Cavendish, Sudbury, Bures, Nayland, Stratford St Mary and Dedham. It becomes tidal just before Manningtree in Essex and joins the North Sea at Harwich.
Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.
East Bergholt is a village in the Babergh District of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border.
Sturmer is a village in the county of Essex, England, 2 miles (3 km) SE of Haverhill and close to the county border with Suffolk. Its name was originally "Stour Mere", from the River Stour and is explicitly mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A Tudor illustration of the mere from the summer of 1571 exists in the National Archives. The mere still exists today to the east of the village. The village also gives its name to the Sturmer Pippin apple which was raised by Ezekiel Dillistone from 1831, and grown in the orchards of the village.
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.
Harwich and North Essex is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Bernard Jenkin of the Conservative Party since its creation in 2010.
Archbishop Temple Church of England High School is a voluntary aided Church of England secondary school, situated in the city of Preston in Lancashire, England. The Headteacher is Ivan Catlow. It has 782 pupils and 48 teachers.
North Colchester was a Borough Constituency in Essex, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Dedham is a village in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. It is near the River Stour, which is the border of Essex and Suffolk. The nearest town to Dedham is the small market town of Manningtree.
Philip Morant School and College is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located within the Prettygate suburb of Colchester, Essex. The school is named after Philip Morant, a local 18th-century historian and archaeologist who was chosen as the school's eponym a few months after its achieving technology college status in 1994. In November 2011 the school became an academy. After Sue Cowan's retirement, Roger Abo Henrikson became Headteacher for two academic years. During the school's 50th year, Rob James was appointed Acting Headteacher and is largely credited for returning the school to a 'good' OfSTED rating, which took place two terms after Catherine Hutley's appointment as Executive Headteacer. Philip Morant School joined the Sigma Trust in 2018, moving from the then defunct Thrive Partnership, which it co-founded.
St Andrew's Catholic School is a Christian secondary school and sixth form college in Grange Road, Ottways Lane, Leatherhead, close to the town of Epsom, Surrey, England. Originally a convent back in the 19th century, St Andrews School was transformed into a school in 1901; it consists of three main buildings: the central building dating back to the 1900s, a sixth form and performance arts building, finished in 2008, and the Earl building which accommodates History, Geography and Languages, finished in 2017. Named in memory of John Earl who served as Chair of Governors.
Barclay Primary School is a primary school located in Leyton, east London, England; Leyton is part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, but before 1965, was a Municipal Borough in Essex. The school provides education for some 1293 children aged up to 11, and operates a nursery school taking children from the age of 3; on entry to main-school reception classes, children are between 4 and 5 years old.
Harris Academy Merton is a secondary school and sixth form located in the London Borough of Merton district of Mitcham. When inspected by Ofsted in both 2012 and 2022, it was judged to be outstanding.
Thurstable School is a mixed secondary academy school, sports college and sixth form situated in the village of Tiptree, Essex, England. The school is about 8 miles south of Colchester.
The King John School, often abbreviated to King John, is a secondary academy school with a sixth form in South Benfleet, Essex, England. It is named after King John of England (1166–1216). The main school building was opened in 1949. As of November 2023, the school has an enrolment of 2052 students, operating over its recommended capacity of 2000 students.
Greensward Academy is a comprehensive school and academy for 11- to 18-year-olds, located in Hockley, Essex.
Honywood Community Science School is a secondary school in Coggeshall, Essex, England.
Ridgewood High School is a coeducational secondary school, a part of the Stour Vale Academy Trust situated in Wollaston, in the West Midlands county of England.
