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 authority ...

in the

City of Colchester The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status, in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. The city covers an area of and stretches from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Islan ...

district of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. The River Colne flows through the village. 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. 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 A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

. The

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

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

The Chappel

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

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 Rail transport, railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on t ...

. 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-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom of the Kingdom of East Anglia, East Angles, ...

s. The cost of construction was approximately £21,000 (approximately £2.2 million in 2016 money). The viaduct consists of 32

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

es 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 gradi ...

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 has b ...

in Sussex and Battersea Power Station. 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 to

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

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 throughout. ...

), which connects regularly with trains to and from London's

Liverpool Street Station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

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, 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 serv ...

and general store, village hall 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 ope ...

. 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 is bordered 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 ar ...

of the manor was, at that time, responsible for its upkeep.

Notable former residents

* Margery Allingham (1904 - 1966), author of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

- 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 sti ...

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