Great Bentley

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Great Bentley
Shire county		Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Colchester
Postcode district	CO7
Dialling code	01206
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Harwich and North Essex
Website	greatbentleyparishcouncil.co.uk
List of places UK England Essex 51°51′08″N 1°03′53″E / 51.8521°N 1.0648°E / 51.8521; 1.0648

Great Bentley is a village,

.

Great Bentley is scattered round an extensive level or common, of 43 acres (170,000 m²), on the eastern side of the vale of a rivulet, seven miles (11 km) east-south-east of Colchester. The parish contains 2500 inhabitants, and 3,188 acres (12.90 km²) of fertile land, including hills and valleys, and extending southward to the Flag Creek, a tidal creek which connects with the Colne, near Brightlingsea. The population of the civil parish reduced to 2,253 at the census 2011.^[3]

Great Bentley is the second largest village in the Tendring district, with a population of 2,381. The village has road, rail and bus links.

Contenders for the title of largest village green in England include

].

History

The village is mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book and at that time it was situated amongst large wooded areas. The clearing of these woods began in 1135. In its early days the village was named Benetlea, then Much Bentley and later still Great Bentley. The first part of the name, Bent, is thought to refer to a type of grass, and the later part, lea, probably derives from the word ley, meaning land sown with grass, which suggests a direct reference to the green. Great Bentley did have a port at Flag Creek which was used to import and export goods.

In 1557 four Protestant "heretics" from the village, including a young woman named Rose Allen, were arrested and three were burned at the stake at Colchester Castle (the fourth died in prison). They are commemorated on a small monument alongside the Green. Their story appears in the famous Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Foxe calls the village "Much Bentley".

. It is believed she may have arrived at Harwich accompanied by her courtiers and rode via Horsley Cross, Little Bentley then on to Great Bentley Green before finishing her journey to St Osyth. Great Bentley owes much of its growth to the coming of the railway in 1866, with the railway station being named Bentley Green before being changed to its present title of Great Bentley in 1877.

Two new housing estates were built in the 1960s on either side of the Village Green. This was followed by a trading estate being developed close to the railway station, now known as the Plough Road Business Centre. At that time the village boasted five public houses, a post office, a garage, several small retail shops and businesses, a school and a doctor's surgery. All of these amenities remain to this day, except for the post office and three of the public houses. Also in the 1960s Great Bentley Parish Council, on behalf of the village, purchased the manorial rights of the 42.5 acres (172,000 m²) of Common Land. Much of the purchase price was raised through voluntary donations from the residents and fund raising events. The land was then registered as a village green to protect the Green for the future from encroachment and erosion. The Village Green and nearby properties are a Conservation Area. The Parish Council, through the Common Land and Village Green Acts, ensures the protection of the Village Green.

Great Bentley Primary School

Great Bentley School was built in 1896 and its front façade is a good example of a school built in the late

Great Bentley Football Club

Great Bentley Football Club was founded between 1895 and 1896, and its original headquarters were the Victory Inn public house (now a hair salon) in Great Bentley. The club now has its own clubhouse and dressing rooms built on the site of an old World War II

Colchester United

on the Village Green as part of the grand opening of the new dressing rooms and bar.

Village green

The

once stood within the walled gardens of the house, but this was also demolished in the late 19th century.

The green has long been used for various recreational and sporting events. In

Notable residents

• Lord Bassam, the Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords, grew up in the village and attended the local primary school.
• Burma
  , was born in the village.
• Maud de Ufford, Countess of Essex, who was arrested and later pardoned for conspiring against King Henry IV of England in 1404.
• Michael Steele, involved in the 1995 Rettendon murders, of which he and accomplice Jack Whomes were found guilty of murder in 1998 at the Old Bailey. The murders were used as the basis for the 2000 film Essex Boys, and 2007 film Rise of the Footsoldier. Both men have always protested their innocence.
• Dominic Barrett professional tenpin bowler and 2013 PBA World Champion now resides in the village

Public houses

Until the 1980s Great Bentley had five

. These were the Red Lion (now used as offices), the Victory Inn (now a hair salon), Dusty's Wine Bar (now the pharmacy), The Plough Inn and The Royal Fusilier at Aingers Green re-opened in August 2019. The Plough Inn is still in business today.

Transport

Road

• The A133 road runs through the north of the village and provides access to
  A120 and A12 to Chelmsford and London
  .
• The B1027 road links the village to Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea via St Osyth.
• The B1029 road links the village to Brightlingsea and Dedham.

Bus

Bus services to Colchester and neighbouring communities are provided by Arriva Colchester.^[7]

Rail

.

The

.

Saint Mary's Church

The church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to the 11th century, and was built by the Normans^{[citation needed]}. The tower was added some 200 years later, and has recently^[when?] undergone a £100,000 restoration project. The church itself is constructed from stone and flint, and still has its original door (the oldest surviving church door in the country), although it is no longer in use.

Aingers Green

Aingers Green is a hamlet to the south of the village of Great Bentley. In Plough Lane stands Tom Swallow Cottage, a Grade II listed 17th century building.^[8] Nikolaus Pevsner in his survey of Essex highlighted the Old School House from 1887 by E. Geldart and J.R. Vining.^[9] In 2010, an archaeological dig was conducted in St. Mary's Road as part of a housing development, which revealed that the land had been in use since the 13th century but not continuous occupation.^[10]

References

• Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership

External links

• Great Bentley Parish Council
• Great Bentley entry in Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex, London: Kelly, 1855

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Bentley.