Fordham is a village and civil parish in the

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. Colc ...

district of the English 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 G ...

, six miles north-west of the town of

. Its population was recorded as 835 in the 2011 Census and estimated at 823 in 2019. The parish includes the nearby hamlets of

Fordham Heath Fordham Heath is a hamlet near the A1124 road, in the Colchester district, in the English county of Essex. It is near the large town of Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in ...

and Hemp's Green.

Governance

Fordham is part of the Essex electoral ward of Fordham and Stour Valley. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 5,332.

Natural features

Fordham is bounded to the south by the River Colne. An area of 500 acres (202 ha) in the parish was turned over to the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

in 2001 for future woodland.

Amenities and events

The village has a historic pub, ''The Three Horseshoes''. And a cafe and an antique showroom, ''The Shoulder of Mutton'', stands on the main Colchester–Halstead Road, near the bridge over the Colne, which replaced the ford that gave the hamlet of Fordstreet its name. Fordham offers primary education to about 100 pupils at All Saints Church of England Primary School.Village sit
Retrieved 5 June 2018.
The village hosts an annual fair on the first Saturday of July and a vehicle show on the second Sunday of August.

Places of worship

All Saints' Church is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, which dates mainly from about 1340. The village also had a chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion in the 19th century.

Notable people

In birth order: * Roger Walden (died 1406) held Fordham as one of several church

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 ...

s. He was later briefly Archbishop of Canterbury, then

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

. *

John Owen John Owen may refer to: Sports *John Owen (footballer) (1849–1921), English footballer and educator * John Owen (athlete) (1861–1924), American sprinter *Johnny Owen (1956–1980), Welsh boxer *John Owen (cricketer) (born 1971), English cricke ...

(1616–1683), a Nonconformist, held the benefice of Fordham in 1642–1646 as a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, but was not then appointed as rector. *

Thomas Twining Thomas Twining may refer to: *Thomas Twining (merchant) (1675–1741), English merchant and founder of the Twinings tea company *Thomas Twining (scholar) (1735–1804), English scholar and classicist, grandson of the above See also *Twining (surna ...

(1735–1804), a noted classical scholar and a member of the

Twinings Twinings () is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company ...

tea-merchant family, held the

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of the parish church from 1764 until his death. *

Digger Kettle Albert Henry "Digger" Kettle (3 June 1922 – 1 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Colchester United. Career Born in Colchester, Kettle served in the Royal Air Force in Rhodesia and Italy during World War II. After playing ...

(1922–1999), a professional footballer who played 145 times for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, died in Fordham.

References

{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Borough of Colchester