![Historical Map of Peldon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Historical_Map_of_Peldon.png)
Peldon 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
Colchester borough 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. With
Salcott,
Virley,
Great Wigborough
Great Wigborough is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Wigborough in the Colchester borough of Essex, England.
The place-name 'Wigborough' first appears in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086, where it appears as ...
and
Little Wigborough, it forms part of the Winstred Hundred parish council. Nearby villages include
Langenhoe. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and 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 Irel ...
. The population of the parish as of the 2011 census is 559.
In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's ''
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' described Peldon as:
"Peldon, a parish and a sub-district in Lexden district, Essex. The parish lies near Mersea Island
Mersea Island is an island in Essex, England, in the Blackwater and Colne estuaries to the south-east of Colchester. Its name comes from the Old English word ''meresig'', meaning "island of the pool" and thus is tautological. The island is s ...
, 4½ miles S W of Wivenhoe r. station, and 5½ S by W of Colchester; and has a post-office under Colchester. Acres, 2,186. Real property, £3,591. Pop., 501. Houses, 106 The property is much subdivided."
History
![The Peldon Rose - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/The_Peldon_Rose_-_geograph.org.uk_-_37831.jpg)
During the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
and
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 lette ...
periods the marshes around Peldon were home to a thriving salt-production industry, and
red hills created by this process can be found around the village. Peldon was originally around 2,200 acres of land, equating to approximately 8.9 square kilometres. The
manor of Peldon (as opposed to the village) is said to have been established by
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
in 1086 and was passed on to Sir
Thomas Darcy by King
Henry VIII. The land was later owned by various local families.
The place-name 'Peldon' is first attested in
Anglo-Saxon charters of circa 950 and 995 AD, where it appears as ''Piltendone'' and ''Peltandune'' respectively. It appears as ''Peltenduna'' 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 manus ...
of 1086. The name may mean 'Pylta's hill', from a personal name otherwise unrecorded. The early charters show the village to have been of Saxon origin, and to have predated William the Conqueror by over a century at least.
The
Colchester earthquake of 22 April 1884 measured 5.1 magnitude on the
Richter scale
The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
and badly damaged Peldon and much of the area around. The earthquake damaged around 1250 buildings including churches, houses and cottages, and it was reported at the time that every single building in Peldon was damaged in some way, including the local church, causing heavy financial ramifications for the local area. The Peldon Rose, the village's 15th-century inn, rumoured to have been connected by a smugglers' tunnel to nearby
Ray Island
Ray Island, also known as the Ray, is a nature reserve west of Mersea Island in Essex. It is owned by the National Trust, who bought it in 1970. It was leased by the National Trust to the Essex Wildlife Trust managed the site. Following the cess ...
, still exhibits earthquake damage. In 1984 a village festival was held at Kemps Farm, Peldon, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the earthquake.
Peldon was also affected by the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. On 24 September 1916, German
Zeppelin L33 was damaged during a bombing attack on London, and crashed at New Hall Farm, Little Wigborough, only twenty yards from a nearby house. The occupants of the house, the Lewis family, ran for their lives as the airship hit the ground. The crew ran from the craft and, shortly after, it exploded. The crew of the aircraft thought that landing in the sea would be too dangerous, prompting the decision to turn inland.
Demographics
![Occupational structure in Peldon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Occupational_structure_in_Peldon.jpg)
According to the 2011 Census there was a population of 559, with 291 males and 268 females. Of these 559 residents, 282 are residents between the ages of 16 and 74 and are in employment. The main source of employment for the population of Peldon is the repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles, with 47 people working in this area of industry. The age structure of Peldon is primarily made up of people over the age of 45, with around 53% of the residents of Peldon being in this age bracket. Of the 422 residents of Peldon that are aged between 16 and 74, only three people are unemployed. This means that 419 residents in this age bracket are employed and economically active, or are economically inactive due to retirement or long-term illness.
The graph captioned "Occupational structure in 1881" shows the huge difference between male and female jobs. Men worked mainly in agriculture, which dominated the occupational structure as farming was the main occupation in many parishes in Britain at this time. However, a large proportion of women in Peldon were occupied in mainly dress making or unknown occupations.
Church
St Mary's Church in Peldon generally dates back to the 11th century, with Anglo Saxon origins. The nave originates from the 12th century, the tower the 14th century, and the roof from the 16th century. The church tower leans in a southwesterly direction, sometimes supposed to have been caused by the 1884 earthquake. However, the leaning tower was reportedly already leaning when the earthquake occurred; it was noted in the 1880 novel ''Mehalah, a Story of the Salt Marshes'' by
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
, the rector of
East Mersea
East Mersea is a scattered village and civil parish on Mersea Island in the English county of Essex.
It was historically referred to as ''Mersea'' in the Domesday book
St Edmund's Church
The Grade I listed parish Church of St Edmund King and M ...
. The leaning tower was most likely caused by
subsidence due to poor ground.
The church has undergone many changes throughout its existence, having been damaged during the 1884 earthquake and undergoing numerous refurbishments throughout the centuries. These refurbishments and improvements continue to this day, with charity work in Peldon taking place to raise money in order to repair and refurbish the church, a Grade I listed building. The registered charity The Friends of St Mary's Peldon raises funds for the church, and has raised over £45,000.
In the 1870s, the parish church was described as: "The church stands on an eminence, with commanding view; is later English, with a tower; and was restored in 1859, and then found to include remains of an 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 ...
church."
References
External links
Mersea Island Museum– contains additional history of Peldon
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Villages in Essex
Civil parishes in Essex
Borough of Colchester