Chappel is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
Borough of Colchester, Essex which sits on the
River Colne. It is significant for its Victorian viaduct, which crosses the Colne valley.
Name and history
The present name of ''Chappel'' derives from the construction of a small chapel of ease, noted in 1285 AD as standing at the northern boundary of the parish of
Great Tey
Great Tey is a village and civil parish near the villages of Marks Tey and Little Tey in the Colchester borough of Essex, England, located approximately six miles west of Colchester.
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Location
Great Tey is situated near Marks Tey r ...
.
During the 16th century, because of concerns from Chappel residents about the distance to Great Tey's own church at festival time, this area was split from the parish
and become a separate entity known as ''Pontisbright'' (lit. "Britric's bridge") that would eventually become known as ''Chappel''.
In 1433, the vicar of Great Tey agreed that the inhabitants of Chappel could find and elect their own
chaplain. The
benefice itself was united with that of the neighbouring village of
Wakes Colne
Wakes Colne is a village in Essex, England which sits on the River Colne. It is situated next to the village of Chappel, with which it shares Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station.
Location
Wakes Colne is a scattered village on the north ...
in 1938.
The chapel itself, now the parish church of St Barnabas, is a grade I listed building.
Chappel Viaduct
![Chappel Viaduct and Green](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Chappel_Viaduct_and_Green.jpg)
The Chappel
viaduct was built between 1847 and 1849 for the Colchester and Stour extension of the
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the Lond ...
. Originally planned to be a timber structure, the viaduct was built of locally made brick because of the additional cost of maintaining a timber structure. Approximately 600 men were involved in the construction, most of whom were local
East Anglian
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
s. The cost of construction was approximately £21,000 (approximately £2.2 million in 2016 money).
The viaduct consists of 32
arches of span, with a total length of , and a maximum height of . The
piers Piers may refer to:
* Pier, a raised structure over a body of water
* Pier (architecture), an architectural support
* Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name)
* Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
consist of two shafts, separated by a opening, and joined at top and bottom by arches; each shaft contain a hollow void by maximum, partially filled with concrete to the level of the bottom arch. The running level of the viaduct has a
gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gr ...
of 1 in 120
The viaduct became a listed monument in 1967, and is thought to be one of the largest brick-built structures in England after
Ouse Valley Viaduct
The Ouse Valley Viaduct (or the Balcombe Viaduct) carries the London-Brighton Railway Line over the River Ouse in Sussex. It is located to the north of Haywards Heath and the south of Balcombe. Known for its ornate design, the structure ha ...
in Sussex and
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...
.
During the commemoration events to mark 50 years since the end of the Second World War, Chappel's beacon was transported by rail to a point on the viaduct where it could be seen from the playing field below, and lit after a ceremonial silence, the beginning and end of which were marked by the release of two maroons.
The first passenger train to Sudbury, carrying an official party from Colchester, ran on 2 July 1849.
The viaduct currently carries the
Marks Tey
Marks Tey is a large village and electoral ward in Essex, England; it is located six miles west of Colchester.
Facilities
Marks Tey is one of a group of villages called the Teys, also including Great Tey and Little Tey. Its main features includ ...
to
Sudbury branch railway (
Gainsborough Line
The Gainsborough line is the current marketing name of the Sudbury branch line, a railway branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in the east of England, that links in Essex with in Suffolk. It is in length and single-track throughou ...
), which connects regularly with trains to and from London's
Liverpool Street Station.
Amenities
The village has a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
dating from the 13th century, a
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
, a
United Reformed church
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
Origins and history
The United Reformed Church resulte ...
, a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
and general store,
village hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
and a railway station,
Chappel and Wakes Colne station, which houses the
East Anglian Railway Museum
The East Anglian Railway Museum is located at Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station in Essex, England, which is situated on the former Great Eastern Railway branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury. Services on the Sudbury Branch Line are ...
. It also has a children's play area which was upgraded in 2007-08 by Chappel Parish Council.
In celebration of the millennium, the Chappel Millennium Green was opened. The Millennium Green has two areas: a nature reserve with board walk and a mown grass area for general recreation isbordered by a gravel path. It has also hosted several events, including the burning of a beacon and Colne Valley Festival events.
Village sign
Chappel's village sign depicts a
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
crossing a river, symbolic of the old bridge, dating from 1140 AD, which crossed the river Colne and connected the two halves of the estate of
Crepping Manor. The
lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
of the manor was, at that time, responsible for its upkeep.
Notable former residents
*
Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh.
Alli ...
(1904 - 1966), author of
fiction - mainly crime and mystery novels.
*Al Barnes (born 1968), former guitarist in the seminal Black Metal Band
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
.
References
External links
Chappel Parish Council websiteFootball teamViews of the village and railwayChappel Beer Festival Information Page
{{authority control
Villages in Essex
Borough of Colchester