Downham is a small village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

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 ...

, 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. It is located approximately south of the county 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 ...

. The village is in the borough of

and in the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh. However, the closest two towns are

Billericay 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 is ...

, west-southwest, and

Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the original town of Basil ...

, southeast. In 1931 the parish had a population of 833.

History

There is evidence of

Roman 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 letter ...

remains in the village suggesting it was originally of early

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

origin,Downham Village Website History
/ref> though it is not 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 manusc ...

of 1086. The parish church is dedicated to

St Margaret Saint Margaret, St. Margarets, or St. Margaret's may refer to: People In chronological order: * Saint Margaret the Virgin of Antioch (died 304) * Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045–1093) * Saint Margaret of England (died 1192) * Saint Margare ...

. The oldest section of the church is a 10ft by 11ft square redbrick tower from the late 15th or early 16th century. However, Christians have been recorded as worshipping on the site for over one thousand years. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the church was restored in the nineteenth century, using some material from an earlier 13th-century building, and the interior was refurbished in the 1970s after a fire in March 1977. An ancient

Field Maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

lies north of the church. The village is home to ''Downham Hall'', which was once the home of the De Beauvoir family, the building which currently stands is smaller than the original 17th-century mansion. On 1 October 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with South Hanningfield.

Geography

Downham has approximately 200 households. The village has an elevation of above sea level, and the parish has an area of . The village is close to

Hanningfield Reservoir Hanningfield Reservoir is a large pumped storage reservoir located between Billericay and Chelmsford in Essex. It has a surface area of and is owned and operated by Essex and Suffolk Water. The reservoir is part of a biological Site of Speci ...

, with its southwest bank being half a mile north from the village centre.

References

External links

Walking around Downham
{{authority control Villages in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex

History

Geography

See also

References

External links