Writtle

Coordinates: 51°43′44″N 0°25′37″E / 51.729°N 0.427°E / 51.729; 0.427
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Writtle
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHELMSFORD
Postcode districtCM1
Dialling code01245
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°43′44″N 0°25′37″E / 51.729°N 0.427°E / 51.729; 0.427

The village and

land-based colleges and a partner institution of the University of Essex, the grounds of which once housed a Royal hunting lodge, later the possession of the De Brus and De Bohun
families.

The suggestion that Writtle is the birthplace of

Hylands Park. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 5,632,[3] decreasing to 5,383 at the 2011 Census.[1]

History

The Romans were present in Writtle[4] shortly after the Roman conquest by Claudius, but the presence of a metalled road,[5] numerous archaeological finds and the ease with which the river can be forded in Writtle are still not significant enough evidence to suggest that Writtle, rather than Chelmsford, was the site of the Roman town of Caesaromagus, as suggested by the Essex historian Philip Morant (et al).[6]

The place-name 'Writtle' is first attested in the

Anglo-Saxon charter of 692 where the river appears as Writolaburna. This name is thought to mean 'babbling burn or brook'.[7]

Named in the Little Domesday Book as a Royal

Writtle College
.

The estate and village were later a possession of

father
of the same name.

Another well known historic figure who lived in Writtle was Sir

King James I. He died in October 1613, aged 63, and was succeeded in the barony by his son William,[14] who later married Katherine Somerset. One person from Writtle who did help to bring about the English Reformation was Dr John Bastwick (1593–1654), a religious zealot who opposed Roman Catholic ceremonial in the years before the outbreak of the English Civil War.[15]

In August 1914 the 4th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment arrived in Writtle. The 4th Ox and Bucks Bn was part of the Territorial Force, or volunteer reserve, of the British Army. While in Writtle the men underwent physical and military training. On 14 October 1914 they paraded in the grounds of Hylands House in the presence of King George V. The Ox and Bucks left Writtle in April 1915.[16]

According to a contemporary newspaper report Writtle was hit by a V-2 rocket on Friday 12 January 1945. The V-2 fell about 200 yards south of the River Wid bridge in a field belonging to Skeggs Farm. The impact crater was 30 feet across by 20 feet deep. 19 properties were extensively damaged and a further 218 slightly damaged including All Saints' Church. No casualties were reported, although two families in Bridge Street were made homeless.[17]

Climate

Writtle has a mild variety of the British oceanic climate with warm summers at around 23 °C (73 °F) and mild winters with highs of 7 °C (45 °F) but with quite common minor frosts. Precipitation is relatively low by British standards at 591.8 millimetres (23.30 in) during the 1981–2010 average period.[18]

Climate data for Writtle, 32 m asl, 1981–2010
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3) 		7.7
(45.9) 		10.7
(51.3) 		13.6
(56.5) 		17.0
(62.6) 		20.2
(68.4) 		22.9
(73.2) 		22.7
(72.9) 		19.3
(66.7) 		15.0
(59.0) 		10.5
(50.9) 		7.7
(45.9) 		14.6
(58.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.5
(34.7) 		1.0
(33.8) 		2.7
(36.9) 		3.8
(38.8) 		6.8
(44.2) 		9.8
(49.6) 		12.0
(53.6) 		11.8
(53.2) 		9.7
(49.5) 		7.1
(44.8) 		3.9
(39.0) 		1.8
(35.2) 		6.0
(42.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 53.2
(2.09) 		39.2
(1.54) 		40.2
(1.58) 		41.6
(1.64) 		48.7
(1.92) 		49.9
(1.96) 		44.3
(1.74) 		51.7
(2.04) 		48.6
(1.91) 		64.1
(2.52) 		58.0
(2.28) 		52.3
(2.06) 		591.8
(23.30)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.0 78.1 112.4 165.7 196.6 198.2 209.9 204.0 147.4 113.9 68.7 47.4 1,598.2
Source: Met Office[19]


Two Emma Toc, Writtle

Writtle holds a distinguished place in the history of radio broadcasting. In the early 1920s it was the site of the experimental Marconi station 2MT ("Two Emma Toc"), from where Captain Peter Eckersley made the name of the village famous with his station announcement "this is Two Emma Toc, Writtle testing, Writtle testing".[20]

The prefabricated hut from which the broadcast was made (constructed for use during the

First World War, but never shipped to the war zone) was later relocated to King's Road primary school in Chelmsford, and has now been re-erected with replica equipment at the Sandford Mill museum, near Sandon. The Writtle transmission station was also the last independent outside the BBC, suspending transmission in January 1923.[20] Independent radio did not re-emerge in the UK till the 1960s.[citation needed
]

Writtle Church

Writtle village green and church, in snow, about 1935

The

Norman Conquest;[4]
the early-13th-century nave and chancel seem to be extensions of an 11th-century construction, which itself replaced a Saxon church.

During the medieval period, the church "changed hands" several times, revenues being received by the Prior of Bermondsey in the 12th century, and then by the Hospital of the Holy Ghost in Rome from the early 13th; the turbulent reign of Richard II saw the church being seized by the king, eventually coming under the control of William of Wykeham's New College, Oxford in 1399.[21]

The church has twice suffered arson attacks in recent history, the first in 1974, the second in 1991.[citation needed]

Writtle Forest

Writtle Forest was a

Forest Law applied - corresponded to the large ancient parish of Writtle, but the physical forest, the area of wood and commons was much smaller, and located in the still well wooded high ground in the south of the parish, stretching from College Wood to Edney Common. The Forest included hermitage called Bedemansburg, founded by King Stephen
in the 1100s, and a Deer Park which was in place some time before 1237.

The woods (such as Great and Little Stoneymoor Woods) and plains (Mill Green) that lay south of the Writtle parish boundary, resembled the Forest but were not part of it.[22]

Longmeads House

Longmeads House is a large Victorian building with grounds, and an important feature of the village. It was built by Robert Woodhouse in the 1880s and remained in the family until it was acquired by the Seabrooke family in 1930. The estate was acquired by Essex County Council in 1950 and had been the village's community centre until 2020, as it was sold to a development company in 2013 to become residential dwellings.

A new community centre named 'The Beryl Platt Centre' has been built in the garden of Longmeads House, which now takes the place of Longmeads House as the village's community centre. [23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  2. ^ Hope-Moncrieff, A.R. (1909). Essex. A&C Black Ltd.
  3. ^ "Census 2001: Parish Headcounts: Chelmsford". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b Cambridge University assessment of the Lordship Campus
  5. ^ Writtle College Masterplan – history of site>
  6. ^ Essex Villages: Writtle Archived 8 August 2007 at archive.today
  7. ^ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.539.
  8. ^ The Historic Lands of England, p 120, By Bernard Burke, Published Churton, Clayton & Co 1848
  9. ^ National Archives, SC 8/93/4605B
  10. ^ Essex Records Office – Deed – D/DP T1/1770
  11. ^ Essex Records Office – Deed – D/DBa T2/9
  12. ^ National Archives, SC 8/95/4727
  13. ^ National Archives, SC 8/104/5151
  14. ^ a b "John Petre, Baron Petre of Writtle | John Petre, 1st Baron P… | Flickr". 5 March 2008.
  15. ^ "Writtle Village in Essex".
  16. ^ John W. Trusler. 2008. Local Heroes, The Villigers of Writtle Who Gave Their Lives in The Great War.
  17. ^ Andrew J. Begent. 1999. Chelmsford at War, A chronicle of the country town of Essex during the Second World War. Second Edition. Ian Henry Publications. Page 62.
  18. ^ "Writtle climate information". Met Office. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  19. ^ "Writtle Climate Normals 1981–2010". Met Office. August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  20. ^ a b Rogers, Oliver (31 March 2010). "Marconi hut lessons teach pupils". BBC. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  21. ^ All Saints Parish Church Building History Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ISBN 978-1897604274
  23. ^ Sivyer, Elaine (November 2008). "A house away from home". Essex Life. Archant. p. 74. Retrieved 24 January 2009. (Registration required).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Writtle.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Writtle&oldid=1147733717"