Chelmsford Rural District was a local government district in

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded, but did not include, the town of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

;Vision of Britain �
Chelmsford RD

historic map
) which formed a municipal borough. It was formed as a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

in 1894, based on the Chelmsford

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

.Vision of Britain �
Chelmsford RSDhistoric map
) It included the parishes of: *

Boreham Boreham is a village and civil parish, in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. History Boreham is listed i ...

* Broomfield *

Buttsbury Buttsbury is a village and former civil parish (once ancient parish) in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England, a contraction of Botulph's Pirie, a major saint who died in 680. It is sometimes surmised that the name refers to a tree under w ...

Chignal St James Chignall St James is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Chignall, in the Chelmsford district in Essex, England. The village is situated 3½ miles northwest by west from the county town of Chelmsford. In 1881 the parish had ...

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

East Hanningfield East Hanningfield is a small village in south Essex, England. It is situated to the southeast of Chelmsford and to the northwest of South Woodham Ferrers, with a population of ? It is surrounded by the villages of Butts Green, Bicknacre, Woodha ...

Good Easter Good Easter is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is northwest from the city and county town of Chelmsford. The parish includes the hamlets of Farmbridge End at the south, and Tye Green, conjo ...

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,Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England, halfway between Chelmsford itself and Braintree. In 1931 the parish had a population of 728. History ...

Great Waltham Great Waltham — also known as Church End — is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford (borough), Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex. The parish contains the village of Ford End, and the hamlets of Broad's Green, Howe Street, L ...

* Highwood *

Ingatestone and Fryerning Ingatestone and Fryerning is a civil parish in the Brentwood borough of Essex, England. The parish includes the villages of Ingatestone and Fryerning, and covers an area of . History The civil parish was formed on 24 March 1889 by merging the ...

Little Baddow Little Baddow is a village to the east of Chelmsford, Essex. The name ''Baddow'' comes from an Old English word meaning 'bad water', and which was the original name of the River Chelmer. The village is positioned on one of the many elevated hills ...

Little Leighs Little Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district in the English county of Essex. In 1931 the parish had a population of 158. On 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and ...

Little Waltham Little Waltham is a village and civil parish just north of Chelmsford, in Essex, England. It is adjacent to the village of Great Waltham. The Domesday Book refers to the two villages as Waltham, consisting of several manors. The site of an Iron ...

Margaretting Margaretting is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England. The population of the village taken at the 2011 Census was 847. The village is located on the B1002 road approximately four miles from Chelmsfo ...

Mashbury Mashbury is a small village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the Nor ...

Pleshey Pleshey is a historic village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England, north-west of Chelmsford. The Normans built a motte and bailey in the late 11th century; the motte is one of the largest of its kind in ...

Rettendon Rettendon is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England, about south east of the city of Chelmsford. Situated near the River Crouch, the village was once owned by the Bishop of Ely. The A130 formerly passe ...

Roxwell Roxwell is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is approximately west from the centre of the county town of Chelmsford, and to the south of the A1060 road, on which are the parish hamlets of Boyto ...

Runwell Runwell is a village near Wickford and a civil parish on the A132 road, in the Chelmsford District, in the English county of Essex. The village is surrounded by neighbouring parishes such as Battlesbridge and Rettendon. Amenities Runwell ...

* Sandon *

South Hanningfield South Hanningfield is a small village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is located on the south bank of the Hanningfield Reservoir, around south-southeast of the city of Chelmsford, and around north of ...

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

Stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

West Hanningfield West Hanningfield is a small village and civil parish in south Essex, England. It is located approximately south-south-east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford and in the parliamentary constituency of ...

* Widford * Woodham Ferrers *

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 ravishi ...

During 1934 there were some changes to the district boundary. The municipal borough of Chelmsford expanded and gained from the rural district, including parts of the parishes of Broomfield, Springfield, Widford, and Writtle. At the same time were transferred from Buttsbury parish to form part of

Billericay Urban District Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

. Later that year, an area of , made up of

Mountnessing Mountnessing is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, England. It is situated to the north-east of Brentwood, south-west of Ingatestone. A large proportion of the houses are situated on the Roman Road (formerly ...

and parts of the parishes of

Downham Downham is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It borders the London Borough of Bromley, and is located north of Bromley and south of Catford. Downham was named in honour of Lord Downham, who was ...

Ramsden Bellhouse Ramsden Bellhouse is a village and civil parish in Essex in the east of England. It is in the Borough of Basildon and in the parliamentary constituency of Billericay. The River Crouch flows through Ramsden Bellhouse, flowing under Church Road. ...

Ramsden Crays Ramsden Crays is a civil parish in the Basildon district of Essex, England. It lies north of Basildon and west of Wickford. The parish includes the village of Crays Hill and is located north of the A127. The River Crouch runs through the parish. ...

and

Shenfield Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

, was gained from the abolished Billericay Rural District. Also at this time was gained from the parish of

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

Rochford Rural District Rochford Rural District was a rural district with an area of 146.01 square kilometres in the county of Essex, England. It was created in 1894, in 1897 the parish of Leigh was removed to create the Leigh-on-Sea Urban District. In 1926 the parish ...

. The district was abolished in 1974 and its former area was merged with the municipal borough of Chelmsford to form the current non-metropolitan district of Chelmsford, which inherited the borough charter. The parishes of

and

became part of the district of Brentwood. The former council offices in New London Road are now used as a

Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus ( cy, Canolfan byd Gwaith; gd, Ionad Obrach is Eile) is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom. From 2002 to 2011, Jobcentre Plus was an executive agency which reported directly to the Mini ...

References

Further reading