Little Maplestead 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 authorit ...

in the Braintree district 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.

Amenities

Little Maplestead once had a

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

establishment called Little Maplestead Preceptory. The round

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, dedicated to

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, is one of only four medieval round churches in England now surviving. The circular

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 ...

has an arcade of six bays. The church dates from around 1335 but was practically rebuilt 1849–55. It was built by the Knights Hospitallers. The church is a

Grade II* 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 Ir ...

. Some restoration took place in the 1850s, but the original design and composition of the rotunda that forms the nave remains, as do many of the earlier fittings. In March 2013 the church was granted £5,000 by the

National Churches Trust The National Churches Trust, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, is a British registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK". It carries out th ...

towards the repair of the gutters. A total of £42,000 had been raised for a restoration project at the church, which was started by supporters two years before, with a fund-raising target of £100,000. In 1836, William Wallen published ''The History and Antiquities of the Round Church at Little Maplestead, Essex''. On the first Sunday in June, the Order of St John in Essex hold an annual service, where Knights and other officials of The Order from the county process in their formal mantels (ceremonial cloaks).

Notable people

Little Maplestead is the home of X Factor 2010 winner

Matt Cardle Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English pop singer. He was born in Southampton and grew up in Halstead, Essex. Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and ...

, actress Barbara Hicks, and former World and European Bridge Champion David Price.

Location grid

References

Villages in Essex Braintree District {{Essex-geo-stub