Chelmsford () is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the
City of Chelmsford
The City of Chelmsford () is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex. On 1 June 2012 Chelmsford was granted city status to mark the Diamond Jub ...
district in the county 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 Grea ...
, England. It is the
county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
and
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
. It is located north-east of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
at
Charing Cross and south-west of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
. The population of the urban area was 111,511 in the 2011 Census,
while the wider district has 168,310.
The
demonym for a Chelmsford resident is "Chelmsfordian".
The main
conurbation of Chelmsford incorporates all or part of the former parishes of Broomfield, Newland Spring, Great Leighs, The Walthams,
Great Baddow
Great Baddow is an urban village and civil parish in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the city of Chelmsford, and, with a population of over 13,000,[Galleywood
Galleywood is a village surrounded by countryside in Essex; it is situated on the outskirts of the city of Chelmsford, about 30 miles from London. The A12 trunk road passes nearby, which connects to the M25 in London. Galleywood sits astride a ...]
, Howe Green, Margaretting, Pleshey, Stock, Roxwell, Danbury,
Bicknacre,
Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravis ...
,
Moulsham, Rettendon, The Hanningfields, The Chignals,
Widford and
Springfield, including Springfield Barnes, now known as
Chelmer Village
Chelmer Village is a housing, retail and industrial development in the east of Chelmsford, Essex. The development was started by Countryside Residential PLC in 1978, using a holistic approach to create a self-contained community on previously gr ...
.
The communities of
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Chelmsford () is a town in Massachusetts that was established in 1655. It is located northwest of Boston. The Chelmsford militia played a role in the American Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. ...
,
Chelmsford, Ontario
Rayside-Balfour (1996 census population 16,050) was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It is now part of the city of Greater Sudbury.
The town was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and took its name ...
and
Chelmsford, New Brunswick
Chelmsford is a community in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It is situated in Nelson, a parish of Northumberland County.
History
Notable people
See also
*List of communities in New Brunswick
This is a list of communities in New ...
are named after the city.
Chelmsford's population consists of a large number of
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and
Docklands commuters, attracted by the 30–35-minute railway journey into Central London via the
Great Eastern Main Line.
History
Early history
Before 1199, there were settlements nearby from ancient times. The remains of a
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
and a late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
settlement have been found in the Springfield suburb, and the town was occupied by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. A Roman fort was built in AD 60, and a civilian town grew up around it. The town was given the name of Caesaromagus (''Caesar's field'' or ''Caesar's marketplace''), although the reason for it being given the great honour of bearing the Imperial prefix is now unclear – possibly as a failed 'planned town' provincial capital to replace
Londinium or
Camulodunum
Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...
. The remains of a ''
mansio'', a combination post office, civic centre and hotel, lie beneath the streets of modern
Moulsham, and the ruins of an octagonal temple are located beneath the Odeon roundabout. The town disappeared for a while after the Romans left Britain.
An Anglo-Saxon burial was discovered at
Broomfield to the north of Chelmsford in the late 19th century and the finds are now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. The road 'Saxon Way' now marks the site.
The city's name is derived from ''Ceolmaer's
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
'' which was close to the site of the present High Street stone bridge. In the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086, the town was called ''Celmeresfort'' and by 1189 it had changed to ''Chelmsford''. Its position on the Londinium – Camulodonum
Roman road (the modern
A12) ensured the early prosperity of Chelmsford.
Royal charter
On 7 September 1199, following the commissioning of a bridge over the
River Can
The River Can is a river in Essex, England. Chelmsford is centred on the confluence of the Can and the River Chelmer. The Can enters Chelmsford from the west, joining the Chelmer to the east of the city. From the confluence, the Can becomes pa ...
by
Maurice, Bishop of London, King
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
granted to
William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
a
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...
for Chelmsford to hold a market, marking the origin of the modern town. An under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday, is still an important part of the city centre over 800 years later.
The town became the seat of the local assize during the early 13th century (though assizes were also held at
Brentwood) and by 1218 it was recognised as the county town of Essex, a position it has retained to the present day.
Royal connections
King
Robert I of Scotland, better known as
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...
(1274–1309), had close ties with the nearby village of
Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravis ...
and there is some evidence to suggest he was born at Montpeliers Farm in the village,
[Robert's ]absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pr ...
for Comyn's murder, in 1310, gives Robert as a layman of Carrick, indicating Carrick / Turnberry was either his primary residence, or place of birth. Lochmaben
Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...
has a claim, as a possession of the Bruce family, but is not supported by a medieval source. The contemporary claims of Essex / the Bruce estate at Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravis ...
Essex, during the coronation of Edward, have been discounted by G. W. S. Barrow
Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow (28 November 1924 – 14 December 2013) was a Scottish historian and academic.
The son of Charles Embleton Barrow and Marjorie née Stuart, Geoffrey Barrow was born on 28 November 1924, at Headingley near Leeds. ...
.[ Geoffrey le Baker's]
Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke
, ed. Edward Maunde Thompson (Oxford, 1889).[King Robert the Bruce By A. F. Murison]
.[Scottish Kings 1005–1625, by Sir Archibald H Dunbar, Bt., Edinburgh, 1899]
p. 127
, where Robert the Bruce's birthplace is given "at Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex, on the 11th July 1274". Baker, cited above, is mentioned with other authorities, but the story is disputed and possibly conflated with his father,
Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale.
Chelmsford was significantly involved in the
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...
of 1381, and King
Richard II moved on to the town after quelling the rebellion in London. 'The Sleepers and The Shadows', written by Hilda Grieve in 1988 using original sources, states: "For nearly a week, from Monday 1st July to Saturday 6th July
381
__NOTOC__
Year 381 ( CCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius (or, less frequently, year 1134 ...
Chelmsford became the seat of government ... The king probably lodged at his nearby manor house at Writtle. He was attended by his council, headed by the temporary Chancellor ... the new chief justice ... the royal chancery ... Their formidable task in Chelmsford was to draft, engross, date, seal and despatch by messengers riding to the farthest corners of the realm, the daily batches of commissions, mandates, letters, orders and proclamations issued by the government not only to speed the process of pacification of the kingdom, but to conduct much ordinary day-to-day business of the Crown and Government." Richard II famously revoked the charters which he had made in concession to the peasants on 2 July 1381, while in Chelmsford. It could be said that given this movement of government power, Chelmsford for a few days at least became the capital of England. Many of the ringleaders of the revolt were executed on the gallows at what is now
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of ...
.
King
Henry VIII purchased the Boleyn estate in 1516, and built
Beaulieu Palace on the current site of
New Hall School. This later became the residence of his then mistress, and later wife
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
. Soon after it became the residence of Henry's daughter, by his first marriage,
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
.
Witchfinder General
In the 17th century many of the victims of
Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
(the self-styled "Witchfinder General") spent their last days imprisoned in Chelmsford, before being tried at the Assizes and hanged for
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
.
Charles Dickens
In 1835, when visiting Essex and Suffolk to cover local elections,
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
visited Chelmsford. He was apparently so upset that he could not find a newspaper on a Sunday that he wrote in a letter to a friend that Chelmsford was "the dullest and most stupid place on earth".
Birthplace of radio
* In 1899
Guglielmo Marconi opened the first "wireless" or radio factory in the world at Hall Street in the
Moulsham area of Chelmsford.
* In 1920 Marconi made the first official publicised sound broadcast in the United Kingdom, featuring Dame
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...
at the
New Street Works, the first purpose built radio factory in the world.
* In 1922, Marconi made the world's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment (call sign "
2MT
2MT was the first British radio station to make regular entertainment broadcasts, and the "world's first regular wireless broadcast" for entertainment. Transmissions began on 14 February 1922 from an ex-Army hut next to the Marconi laboratories ...
") began from the nearby village of
Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravis ...
.
Station
2MT
2MT was the first British radio station to make regular entertainment broadcasts, and the "world's first regular wireless broadcast" for entertainment. Transmissions began on 14 February 1922 from an ex-Army hut next to the Marconi laboratories ...
led to the creation of its sister station in London "
2LO
2LO was the second radio station to regularly broadcast in the United Kingdom (the first was 2MT). It began broadcasting on 11 May 1922, for one hour a day from the seventh floor of Marconi House in London's Strand, opposite Somerset House.
H ...
", which subsequently led to the creation of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
In 1914 Chelmsford's church became a cathedral (see below) and the town got its own bishop.
During World War II Chelmsford, an important centre of light engineering war production, was attacked from the air on several occasions, both by aircraft of the
and by missile. The worst single loss of life took place on Tuesday 19 December 1944, when the 367th
rocket to hit England fell on Henry Road, a residential street near the Hoffmans ball bearing factory and the
factory in New Street. Both factories were key to the war effort. Thirty-nine people were killed and 138 injured, 47 seriously. Several dwellings in Henry Road were completely destroyed, and many badly damaged in nearby streets. A monument to the dead is located in the city cemetery on Writtle Road.
On 14 May 1943 Luftwaffe bombing raids hit Chelmsford leaving more than 50 people dead and leaving nearly 1,000 homeless. The bombs hit mainly the town centre,
, hosted a prisoner of war camp, and from 1944 until it was disbanded in 1945, was the headquarters of the
(SAS).
Since the 1980s defence-related industries in the city have declined, most notably the
with all of its factories either being closed or sold. The site on West Hanningfield Road was sold to
; the Waterhouse Lane site sold to E2V and the New Street site is undergoing major redevelopment for residential/mixed use.
The one-time largest employer in Chelmsford, RHP (the former Hoffman ball bearing manufacturer), closed its New Street/Rectory Lane site in 1989. Some of the factory was converted into luxury apartments and a health club although most of the site was demolished to make way for the Rivermead Campus of the
.
The city's location close to London and at the centre of Essex has helped it grow in importance as a financial, administrative and distribution centre.
The Channels Development, Beaulieu Park, The Village and Chancellor Park are some of the most recent large-scale housing developments built in the city. The local plan targets an additional 18,000 new homes by 2036, in developments largely to the north of the city.
In 2007, the
'' voted Chelmsford the 8th-best place to live in the UK.
officially granting city status to the City of Chelmsford were received on 6 June 2012. to mark the
.
The announcement to make Chelmsford a city had been made on 14 March 2012 by the
.
Chelmsford is at the geographic and political centre of Essex and has been the
since 1215. The headquarters of
and the headquarters of Chelmsford City Council at the Civic Centre, Duke Street.
The civic centre was designed by Cordingley & McIntyre as a public library and completed in April 1935.
The headquarters of
area of the city at Kingston Crescent.
Chelmsford formed part of the ancient Chelmsford hundred of Essex.
. In 1934 the borough was enlarged by gaining from
, including parts of the parishes of Broomfield, Springfield, Widford and Writtle.