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 ...
on the
Blackwater estuary
The Blackwater Estuary is the estuary of the River Blackwater between Maldon and West Mersea in Essex. It is a 5,538 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). An area of 4,395 hectares is also designated a Ramsar Wetland o ...
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 the seat of the
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 ...
and starting point of the
Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation
The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation is the canalisation of the Rivers Chelmer and Blackwater in Essex, in the east of England. The navigation runs for from Springfield Basin in Chelmsford to the sea lock at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. Ini ...
. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced in the area.
History
Early and medieval history
The place-name ''Maldon'' is first attested in 913 in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'', where it appears as ''Maeldun''. Maldon's name comes from ''mǣl'' meaning 'monument or cross' and ''dūn'' meaning 'hill', so translates as 'monument hill'. East Saxons settled the area in the 5th century and the area to the south is still known as the
Dengie Peninsula
__NOTOC__
Dengie is a peninsula in Essex, England, that once formed a hundred (subdivision), hundred of the same name (sometimes spelled Dengy).
The peninsula is formed by the River Crouch to the south, the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater to ...
after the Dæningas. It became a significant
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 ...
port with a hythe or quayside and
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
quarters. Evidence of imported pottery from this period has been found in
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
digs. From 958 there was a
royal mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
issuing coins for the late
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
and early
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 ...
kings.
It was one of the only two towns 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 ...
(
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 ...
was the other), and King
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æt ...
is thought to have lived here while combating the
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
settlers who had overrun North Essex and parts of
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
. A
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
raid was beaten off in 924, but in another raid in 991 the defenders were defeated in the
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 11 August 991 AD near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battl ...
and the Vikings received
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
but apparently did not attempt to sack the town. It became the subject of the celebrated
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
poem "
The Battle of Maldon
"The Battle of Maldon" is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which an Anglo-Saxon army failed to repulse a Viking raid. Only 325 lines of the poem are extant; both the beginnin ...
". The battle is commemorated by a window in St Mary's Church and by a statue on the quayside of the slain Saxon warrior
Byrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an Old Eng ...
.
According to 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 ...
there were 54 households and an estimated 180 townsmen in 1086. The town still had the mint and supplied a warhorse and warship for the king's service in return for its privileges of self-government. The town was awarded a charter by Henry II in 1171, stating the rights of the town as well as defining its borders and detailing its duty to provide a ship for the monarch "when necessary". The town's All Saints' Church, unique in England in having a triangular tower, dates from around this period. While the precise building date is unknown, the church existed by 1180, the date of the foundation of nearby
Beeleigh Abbey
Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon in Essex, England, was a monastery constructed in 1180 for the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, as known as the Norbertines or Premonstratensians. The order linked the change of the separate life of monks in t ...
. A Charter of
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...
of December 1189 confirms "certain grants to Beeleigh Abbey, including the Church of Blessed Peter in Maldon and the Church of All Saints' in the same town". St Mary's Church, on the Hythe Quay has a grade I listed Norman nave from 1130, though evidence exists of an earlier church on the site from at least a hundred years before. Meanwhile,
Maldon Moot Hall
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 ...
dates back to around 1420.
Renaissance and modern eras
There were strong urban traditions, with two members elected to the Commons and three guilds which hosted lavish religious plays until they were suppressed by
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
in 1576. Then, until 1630, professional actors were invited to perform plays, which were also stopped by Puritans. From 1570 to about 1800 a rival tradition of inviting prominent clergy to visit the town also existed. In 1629 a series of grain riots took place, led by the wife of a local butcher.
In the 17th century
Thomas Plume
Thomas Plume (1630 – 20 November 1704) was an English churchman and philanthropist, and founder of a library in Maldon, Essex which still exists. The Plume School in Maldon is named after him.
Family life
The Plume family settled in the county ...
started the Plume Library to house over 8,000 books and pamphlets printed between 1487 and his death in 1704; the collection has been added to at various times since 1704. The Plume Library is to be found at St Peter's Church. Only the original tower survives, the rest of the building having been rebuilt by Thomas Plume to house his library (on the first floor) and what was Maldon Grammar School (on the ground floor).
In the church of All Saints is a memorial window to
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, whose great-great grandfather,
Lawrence Washington Laurence or Lawrence Washington may refer to:
*Laurence Washington (MP for Maidstone) (1546–1619), Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone
*Lawrence Washington (1622–1662), MP for Malmesbury
*Lawrence Washington (1565–1616), Mayor of Northam ...
, is buried here. Unveiled by an American diplomat on 5 July 1928, the window displays Saint Nicholas with the ''
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
'',
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
and Saint Joan of Arc in the centre. At the top are the arms of the Washington family, and the arms of the USA, England, Scotland and Wales. At the bottom are depictions of George Washington, the landing of the
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
, the signing of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
and the
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
.
Also in Maldon are Maldon Baptist Church in Butt Lane, Maldon Methodist Church in the High Street, and Maldon United Reformed Church on Market Hill. Maldon Mosque is in Church Street.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Maldon was featured in the German invasion plan for Britain,
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...
. The plan called for the Germans to advance to a line between Maldon and the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
after they had landed in the southern coast of England.
Geography and geology
Maldon is a town of circa 15,000 people on the tidal
River Chelmer
The River Chelmer is a river that flows entirely through the county of Essex, England, running from the northwest of the county through Chelmsford to the River Blackwater near Maldon.
Course
The source of the river is in the parish of Debden i ...
by the
Blackwater Estuary
The Blackwater Estuary is the estuary of the River Blackwater between Maldon and West Mersea in Essex. It is a 5,538 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). An area of 4,395 hectares is also designated a Ramsar Wetland o ...
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 north-east of
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
, London, via the A13 road.
Essex is a county built on
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...
, overlain with pockets of
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
deposited by
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
action; the lowest land is made up of river alluvium and salt marsh. At Maldon, the railway cutting (now a road cutting) provided a reference section for geologists. There are three landslips on the north-facing river cliff of the Blackwater at Maldon. The middle slip is called the West Maldon Landslip, which was caused by repeated rotational slips of the bedrock London Clay, which is trying to reach a stable angle.
Hythe Quay at the confluence of the Chelmer and Blackwater, which flanks the northern edge of the town, was an important port and Cooks Yard remains significant for Thames barges. The River Blackwater, that was diverted into the
Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation
The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation is the canalisation of the Rivers Chelmer and Blackwater in Essex, in the east of England. The navigation runs for from Springfield Basin in Chelmsford to the sea lock at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. Ini ...
, re-emerges into the
Blackwater Estuary
The Blackwater Estuary is the estuary of the River Blackwater between Maldon and West Mersea in Essex. It is a 5,538 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). An area of 4,395 hectares is also designated a Ramsar Wetland o ...
, through locks at the
Heybridge Basin
Heybridge Basin is a village and civil parish about 1 mile from Maldon, in the Maldon district, in the county of Essex, England. In 2018 the built up area (which includes Osea Island) had an estimated population of 732. The parish was formerly ...
Maldon was previously served by two railway lines. Today, the nearest railway stations to Maldon are
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
North Fambridge
North Fambridge is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex.
North Fambridge is on the north bank of the River Crouch opposite South Fambridge and is served by North Fambridge railway station on the Cr ...
. Hatfield Peverel is the closest railway station to the north of the town, whilst North Fambridge is closest to southern parts of the town.
Maldon's first railway link was a branch line to Witham opened in 1846. Later, a second line linked Maldon with Woodham Ferrers on the Crouch Valley line between
Southminster
Southminster is a town and electoral ward on the Dengie Peninsula in the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It lies about north of Burnham-on-Crouch and south-east of Maldon; it is approximately east-north-east of London. To the ...
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 ...
. Whilst Wickford is itself on the line between
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 ...
and
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
(thus providing Maldon with another route into
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 ...
), a short-lived spur line at Wickford also gave direct access towards Southend.
Edward Arthur Fitch, writing in about 1895, states that from London's Liverpool Street station to Maldon East via
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 ...
there were eight trains on weekdays and three on Sundays and that, via Wickford, there were five trains on weekdays and none on Sundays. The fastest train took 85 minutes via Witham and 82 minutes via Wickford.Fitch, Edward Arthur: ''Maldon and the River Blackwater''. Gowers 1895.
Maldon West railway station
Maldon West railway station served the town of Maldon, Essex. It was opened on 1 October 1889 by the Great Eastern Railway on a branch line from Woodham Ferrers to Maldon. It was closed in 1916 during World War I but reopened as a halt in 1919 ...
was opened in 1889 by the
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
. The line between Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers closed to passengers in 1939, the Maldon and Witham line closed in 1966.
Industry
Maldon Sea Salt has been produced in the town since 1882 by the Maldon Crystal Salt Company; it is also the location of the first Tesco store to be designated as a "supermarket" in the country, established in 1958.
Maldon's Hythe Quay is the residence of a number of
Thames sailing barge
A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narr ...
s, these are among the last cargo vessels in the world still operating under sail, albeit now used in the spheres of education and leisure. Some ten to fifteen of the surviving fleet count Maldon as their home port, and many others are regular visitors alongside at the Quay. An annual sailing barge race ends with a parade of sail and prize-giving at the quay. Cooks Yard, where barges were once built, is still working at the end of Maldon Quay.
Culture
The town holds the charitable
Maldon mud race
The Maldon Mud Race is an annual fun race held in spring (originally in the winter, now in late April or early May) at Promenade Park in Maldon, Essex, England, in which entrants compete to complete a dash, in thick mud, over the bed of the Riv ...
where competitors race across the Blackwater estuary at low tide, along the bank and back through the water. The race generated over £55,000 for charities in 2014. Maldon also hosts the international Maldon Festival, which takes place each year in late June and July.
The town holds an annual "Taxi Day" which sees mentally and physically disabled children from London driven to Maldon in London Black Cabs for a fun day of activities and a meal. The event dates back to 1952 when a London cab driver visited the Elizabeth Fry Special School (formerly Grange Road Special School) in Plaistow. He wanted to do something special for the young patients he saw there. He wrote to every one of Essex's seaside towns to arrange an outing and the only town that was willing to help was Maldon; thus, Taxi Day has remained a tradition ever since.
Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of
Cuijk
Cuijk (; dialect: ''Kuuk'') is a town in the northeastern part of the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the successor of a Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, 13 km (8 mi) south of Nijmegen. Cuijk, which had a po ...
. The charter between the two towns was signed in 1970 to cement the relationship.
Cultural references
Maldon and the surrounding area are the setting for a series of books by the prolific author S. L. Bensusan. Bensusan's stories recall a lost way of life among the towns and villages in the area, and along the local coastline and marshland. In Bensusan's books, Maldon is called Market Waldron.
Maldon has been the setting for numerous television productions, including ''
Lawless Heart
''Lawless Heart'' is a 2001 British film directed by Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter. It had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won the Prix CICAE / Arte. It also won Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards ...
'' (2001) starring
Bill Nighy
William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...
, and
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's '' The Murder Game'' (2003) where numerous Blackwater Estuary locations were used including Green's Flour Mill at the bottom of Market Hill and Steeple Marshes. An episode of the TV series ''
Lovejoy
''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...
'' featuring
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (20 ...
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' (1898); Maldon is the town from which the narrator's brother and two female companions manage to escape across the channel.
Maldon is a location mentioned in the "
Rose Garden
A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...
", a short ghost story by
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
, and published in ''
More Ghost Stories
''More Ghost Stories'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1911. Some later editions under the title ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' contain it and the earlier ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in one ...
'' (1911).
Maldon and its clock tower are featured in the young adult novel ''
Timekeeper
A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time.
Person
A timekeeper is a person who measures time with the assistance of a clock or a stopwatch. In addition, a timekeeper records time, time taken, or time remaining duri ...
'' by Tara Sim (2016).
Sport
Maldon has a
non-League football
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
club Maldon & Tiptree F.C. who play at the Wallace Binder Ground.
There are many developed youth football teams in Maldon, among them being Maldon Saints. The town has a vibrant cricket club, with several adult and colts' sides, who play at two grounds: The
Promenade Park
Promenade Park is the premier urban park in Maldon, Essex, England.
History
The park is Victorian and was opened in 1895 to provide the people of Maldon with a green space. The original park lodge has been converted into Maldon Museum. Maldo ...
, Maldon and the main ground at Drapers Farm, Heybridge. Recent improvements to the ground include a dual-lane enclosed all-weather net facility. Overseas players from Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka have coached cricket in local primary schools as part of the "ECB Chance to Shine" programme. Drapers Farm is also the home of Maldon Rugby Union Football Club which was founded in 1947 by Tommy Harries, who was the landlord of the King's Head public house in Maldon High Street. The inaugural meeting was on 28 August 1947 at the Blue Boar Hotel. Maldon RFC run several senior male sides and one female side as well as all youth age groups from under 7s to under 18s.
Blackwater Leisure Centre is the town's main leisure destination, located in the town's leisure quarter, adjacent to Madison Heights. With a 4 lane 25m swimming pool, 100+ station gym, group cycling studio, group exercise studio and sports hall with indoor courts.
Two short lived
greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...
tracks existed at Sealey Farm on the Fambridge Road (opening on 3 September 1932 and closing the same year) and around the former Spital Road football ground in 1931. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the
National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom.
History
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the r ...
) and they were known as a flapping tracks, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.
Notable people
Essex and England cricketer
Sir Alastair Cook
Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England cricket team, England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain (cricket), captain ...
(born 1984) played for Maldon Cricket Club throughout his early years. Brought up in nearby
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 ...
, his brothers played for the club as well. Cook remains closely associated with the club, being an Honorary Life Member, while acting as a huge role model for the club's young players. Cook made his Essex debut in 2003, before making his international debut, aged 21, in 2006.
Singer/songwriter and TikTok star
Sam Ryder
Sam Ryder Robinson (born 25 June 1989) is a British singer, songwriter, producer, composer and social media personality. He rose to prominence in 2020, after posting music covers on TikTok, during the first UK lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
2022 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ...
with his song "Space Man", where he came 2nd with 466 points.
Private David Embleton (1853–1912) won a Victoria Cross, in his army name of Frederick Corbett, in the Ahmed ʻUrabi, Arabi Pasha Rebellion in Egypt on 5 August 1882. He was buried in an unmarked grave in London Road Cemetery, Maldon, but in 2004 the regimental association provided a memorial and in 2005 the Essex Society for Family History provided another. He served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. Although awarded the VC for standing by a wounded officer, he subsequently forfeited his VC after committing theft against another officer in 1884.
Edward Bright (1721–1750) was the "fat man of Maldon", a grocer who, at was reputed to be the fattest man in England. His coat could encompass seven men. After his death, etchings of a painting of him were much sought after. His chair resides in Maldon Moot Hall.
John Cook (musician), John Cook (1918–1984) was a prolific 20th century Anglo-American composer, organist and church musician.
John Arthur Kemp, John Kemp (1926–1987). John Kemp's work on the preservation of Thames sailing barges in the 1960s was critical to re-establishing Maldon as the foremost sailing barge port in the country. John Kemp was responsible for the creation of the East Coast Sail Trust, a schoolship scheme for young people using the sailing barges sailing barge Thalatta, Thalatta and Sir Alan Herbert, operated from Maldon. He was author of three books and chronicler of the Maldon and Essex coastal scenes and the unique character of the marshland folk, especially in the Maldon and Burnham Standard, Essex Chronicle and Essex County Standard newspapers.
Myra Sadd Brown (1872–1938), Suffragette, women's rights activist and internationalist was born in the town.
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, John Strutt (1842–1919) was a British mathematician who made extensive contributions to science. He was born in Langford Grove, Maldon, inherited the title Baron Rayleigh in 1873 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904, in part for discovering the inert gas argon.
Horatio Gates (1727–1806), the English general who fought for Britain in the French and Indian War and the rebel side in the War of American Independence, was born in Maldon.
Ethan Lawrence (born 28 September 1992) is an English actor, born in Maldon. He is known for playing the roles of Joe Poulter in the BBC series Bad Education and James in the Netflix black comedy series After Life.
Virginia Crosbie (born 8 December 1966) is a MP for Ynys Môn (UK Parliament constituency), Ynys Mon was born in Maldon before attending school in
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 ...
Twin towns
* Villeparisis, Île-de-France (region), Île-de-France, France
*
Cuijk
Cuijk (; dialect: ''Kuuk'') is a town in the northeastern part of the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the successor of a Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, 13 km (8 mi) south of Nijmegen. Cuijk, which had a po ...
, North Brabant, Netherlands
Gallery
File:Brythnoth statue Maldon.jpg,
Byrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an Old Eng ...
statue marking the
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 11 August 991 AD near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battl ...
in 991, in which Byrhtnoth died
File:Maldon High Street.jpg, High Street
File:Brent at Maldon 1.jpg, Tugboat ''Brent'' moored on the River Chelmer
File:Maldon Market Hill.jpg, Market Hill
File:Sailing barges at Maldon.jpg, Promenade view north, with St Mary's Church at left
Nearby places
*
Beeleigh Abbey
Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon in Essex, England, was a monastery constructed in 1180 for the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, as known as the Norbertines or Premonstratensians. The order linked the change of the separate life of monks in t ...
* Brightlingsea
* Burnham-on-Crouch
*
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 ...
* Danbury, Essex, Danbury
* Great Totham
* Hazeleigh
* Heybridge, Maldon, Heybridge
* Langford, Essex, Langford
* Little Totham
* Maylandsea
* Mundon
* North Fambridge
* South Woodham Ferrers
* Steeple, Essex, Steeple
* Tiptree
* Tollesbury
* Tolleshunt Major
* Tolleshunt Knights
* Tillingham
* Cold Norton
* Witham
* Woodham Mortimer
* Woodham Walter
See also
* Cooks Yard – barge building and repair yard on the River Chelmer at Maldon
* Plume School – secondary school in Maldon