Stapleford Abbotts 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 ...

in the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

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 G ...

, approximately SW of Ongar, N of

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

and SSE of

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

. The whole parish is within the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

. The village covers and had a population of 959 in 2001, increasing to 1,008 at the 2011 Census.

History

The name of the parish arose because the principal manor was held by the

Abbey of Bury St Edmunds The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, England. It was ...

from before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

to the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

. A story is recorded in the abbey's registers that the lord of the manor was miraculously cured of a lingering illness in 1013 by the body of St Edmund as it passed back to Bury Abbey from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In gratitude for being cured, he gave the manor to the abbey, either then or some time later.''British History''
– Access to historic documents and research from the

University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...

and History of Parliament Trust. A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 223–28, ''Stapleford Abbots: Manors''. Accessed: 7 September 2007 After the dissolution of the monasteries the manor was in the hands of Sir Brian Tuke and was included when he sold Pyrgo to

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

in 1544 although Navestock and Stapleford were both subsequently leased to George and Walter Cely, relatives of John Cely who had previously been Paler of the Park of

Havering Palace Havering Palace was an old royal residence in England. Between its building before 1066 until its abandonment in 1686 it was in the village of Havering-atte-Bower (in the London Borough of Havering, before 1965 in Essex). By 1816 no walls remain ...

Havering-atte-Bower Havering-atte-Bower is a village and outlying settlement of Greater London, England. It is located in the far north of the London Borough of Havering, on the border with Essex, and is northeast of Charing Cross. It was one of three former paris ...

. The population rose from 320 in 1801 to 507 in 1831, then fluctuated within that range until 1921 when it was 391. In the 20th century, there was a gradual increase in population due to new building in the area from the 1930s onwards. In 1951, the population was 731. Historically Stapleford Abbotts was included in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

of Ongar. It formed part of the

Ongar Rural District Ongar Rural District was a local government district in Essex, England from 1894 to 1955.
– Ongar RD I ...

Council from 1894 until that authority was absorbed into

Epping and Ongar Rural District Epping and Ongar Rural District was a rural district in the county of Essex, England from 1955 to 1974.http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10074174 Creation It was created in 1955 by the merger of the disbanded Ongar Rural Distri ...

Council in 1955. Since the local-government reorganisation of 1974, it has been part of Epping Forest District. The present civil parish retains largely the same boundaries as the parish of the mid-19th century.

Events

In September 1927, the village was the scene of the murder of Police Constable George Gutteridge, who was shot at the roadside by two car thieves, Frederick Browne and William Kennedy, who were later hanged for their crime. Gutteridge Lane is named in his memory.

Geography

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

is mostly rural and agricultural with a scattering of farms and cottages, much of it is

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

protected land. The northern boundary of the parish is formed by the

River Roding The River Roding () rises at Molehill Green, Essex, England, then flows south through Essex and London and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames. Course The river leaves Molehill Green and passes through or near a group of eight o ...

. The remainder of the parish is crossed by streams that feed into it or form the headwater of the

River Rom The River Rom, also known as the River Beam below its confluence with the Ravensbourne, is a tributary of the River Thames in England that flows through east London suburbs surrounding the metropolitan centre of Romford, part of it forming a sec ...

. The terrain is hilly and 28–90 m (92–295 ft) above sea level ( AOD) with most between 35 and 80 m (115 and 262 ft). The village itself is a straggle of mostly 20th-century housing stretching for about a mile along the elevated

to Ongar road from the boundary with

. The medieval church (largely rebuilt in the 19th century) is situated in a relatively isolated position a further mile away from what is now the village, reflecting the fact that it had no single nucleus until the 20th century.''British History''
A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 222–23, ''Stapleford Abbots: Introduction''. Date accessed: 7 September 2007 Apart from the village of Stapleford Abbotts, the parish includes the hamlets of Bournebridge, Nuper's Hatch and a small part of

Passingford Bridge Passingford Bridge is a bridge over the River Roding, and a surrounding hamlet, in the parish of Stapleford Abbotts in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is located just within the northeastern bounds of the M25 motorway and is surro ...

. Two places use the village's name outside of it: Stapleford Flight Centre which provides sightseeing flights and Stapleford Abbotts Golf Course (see below).

Localities

Bournebridge

Adjoining a farm on the main street to the south is the Bournebridge hamlet. The actual Bourne Bridge crosses the

Bourne Brook The Bourne Brook or Black Brook, as it is known in its upper reaches, is a tributary of the River Tame in Staffordshire, England. Course From its source near Aldridge (originally in Staffordshire, but now in the West Midlands county), where ...

, which later becomes the

. The one Grade II listed building in the hamlet is the Old The School House. Otherwise it consists of fewer than 20 homes and farms.

Nuper's Hatch

This hamlet ranges in altitude from 60 to 82 m (197 to 296 ft) compared to the village centre's 55 m (180 ft) average. It consists of at least 60 properties centred on Nuper's and Lyng's Farm, in particular the neighbourhood and linear development of Tysea Hill. On the Tysea Hill ridge is Stapleford Abbotts Golf Course, which is across an almost straight north–south divide in the

Borough of Brentwood The Borough of Brentwood is a local government district and borough in Essex in the East of England. History and geography The borough is named after its main town of Brentwood. There are still large areas of woodland including Shenfield C ...

. Six other farms adjoin the main road here, using a hilly

terrain Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

. Curtismill Green itself is in the parish, along with a few cottages, including the grade II listed Honeysuckle Cottage.Honeysuckle Cottage – Grade II listing However, most of the hamlet is in

Navestock Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is located approximately northwest of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of t ...

Transport

Buses are limited in the area, served by the single Route 375. Route 575 also passes through the area, but offers only one return journey per day. The nearest railway station is at

. There are frequent mainline services from its station to

and

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 ...

. Both routes 375 and 575 can be used to reach the station.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{Epping Forest Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Epping Forest District