Great Totham 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 ...

Maldon district Maldon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. The council is based in Maldon, Essex, Maldon, and the district includes other notable settlements such as Burnham-on-Crouch,Heybridge, Essex, Heybridge, Wickh ...

, Essex, England, and midway between

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 ...

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. Colches ...

. The village includes the Island of Osea in the Blackwater estuary and is separated into two parts, north and south. The north side and the south side are about a mile and a half apart, distributed along the B1022. The parish contains the hamlet of Totham Hill.

History

According to the old maps, before the time of the enclosures, the outskirts of Great Totham North were part of Tiptree Heath, which was then a haunt of smugglers, attested in the name of a house in Mountains Road called Spirits Hall. The 'mountain' in question is Beacon Hill which at is one of the highest points in the count village of Great Totham is St Peter's Church which dates to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times. There is also the thatch-roofed Barn Chapel. This became a chapel in 1822 when an Isaac Foster donated the barn to be a place of worship for non-conformists., ''The Essex Village Book'' The ancient road to Colchester by Tiptree Heath led through the parish of Great Totham, which in the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

(1558–1603) was held of the Queen's manor of East Greenwich by William Beriff, an Alderman of Colchester, as her sub-tenant. Great Totham village school's centenary was in 1977, but by that time the Victorian building, now demolished, had been replaced by a larger modern school on a different site. Honeywood School, a Grade II listed building, is a church school which was founded by the Honywood family of

Marks Hall Marks Hall was a Jacobean country house some north of Coggeshall in Essex, England. Previously a timber manor house, the 17th-century brick building was demolished in 1950. History In 1163 the manor house and estate of Markshall were granted ...

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a small town in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. It has almost 300 listed buildings and a market whose charter was granted in 1256 by Henry III. ...

in the mid-19th century, which had inherited the manor of Great Totham. This is still in use as the church hall and meeting room. In the north of Great Totham there is a

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

dating to 1871. Recently refurbished, it is used for services and activities including a

pre-school playgroup A pre-school playgroup, or in everyday usage just a playgroup, is an organised group providing care and socialisation for children under five. The term is widely used in the United Kingdom. Playgroups are less formal than the preschool education o ...

. Nearby, and adjoining the small village green, is the Compasses public house which dates to the late 17th century. The Prince of Wales pub in Totham South was gutted by fire in 1990 with loss of historic features, but it has been rebuilt and reopened. Sign plaque

Trades and crafts at Great Totham either died out or have been brought up to date. There are no longer

walking stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

makers,

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

or saddlers. Old gravel pits have become recreation areas for fishing lakes. Great Totham has a village sign. A plaque, dated October 2002, attached to the village sign of the north area reads:

On 17 October 1952, two Gloster Meteors of No 72 Squadron,
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, crashed nearby killing both pilots. F/O Charles Muldownie from
Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
and P/O Ian Carmichael from
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. Two local people were injured and many were affected by the accident. Local people assisted at the time and this village green became the base for recovery operations by RAF personnel. This plaque is in memory of the pilots and for all those involved.

Governance

The population of the electoral ward was 3,660 at the 2011 Census. Elected representatives at different levels of government act for Great Totham and surrounding villages.Great Totham find your local MP
WriteToThem. Retrieved 10 May 2012 Two elected district councillors represent the parish on

Maldon District Council Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

. Great Totham is part of the Witham parliamentary constituency, and is represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Priti Patel Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the Me ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Community

St Peter's Church on Church Road was Grade II listed in 1959, and dates to the 13th century. The nearest NHS (

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

) hospitals are

Broomfield Hospital Broomfield Hospital is an acute district general hospital in Chelmsford, Essex. It is managed by the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital, originally known as Essex County Hospital, was designed as a hospital for the t ...

in ChelmsfordBroomfield Hospital

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in Essex, England. It runs three major hospitals across Essex, and a number of smaller community hospitals. One of the biggest NHS trusts in the country, it serves a popul ...

Retrieved 25 January 2022. and Colchester General Hospital in Colchester.Colchester General
, Colchester Hospital University NHS Website. Retrieved 10 May 2012 Great Totham Primary School is in Walden House Road, Great Totham. The school is divided into 14 classes, two per year group. The school's motto is "Enjoy, Respect, Achieve".
Great Totham Primary, accessed 24 May 2012 In its

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspection in October 2007, the school received an overall rating of Grade 2, 'Good'.Ofsted Report
Current Ofsted Report. Retrieved 24 May 2012 The closest National Rail service is in

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...

Hatfield Peverel Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets of ...

, operated by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio (transport company), Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Neder ...

, with destinations including

London Liverpool Street 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 ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, Clacton,

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

, Braintree and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

via the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

.Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia Website. Retrieved 10 May 2012 The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

line is the Central line at Newbury Park.
Transport for London Website. Retrieved 10 May 2012 The

South District of

Girlguiding Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a char ...

UK comprises two Rainbow packs for girls aged 5–7 years old, three Brownie packs for girls aged 7–10 years old, a Guide unit for girls aged 10–14 years old and a Ranger unit for girls aged over 14 that live in

Wickham Bishops Wickham Bishops is a village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England. It is located around three miles north of the town of Maldon and around two miles south-east of Witham, in whose post town it lies. The place name ''Wickham ...

, Great Totham and the surrounding villages.

Climate

In East Anglia, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F). The coolest time of the year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F) East Anglia's average annual rainfall is about 605 millimetres , with October to January being the wettest months.

References

External links

Great Totham Primary SchoolGreat Totham Cricket Club
{{authority control Maldon District Villages in Essex