__NOTOC__ Wicken Bonhunt is a village and a

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 ...

of north-west

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 ...

, in the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

Uttlesford Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the market town of Saffron Walden. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include Great Dunmow, Elmdon, Stebbi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is on the B1038 (

Buntingford Buntingford is a market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It lies next to the River Rib and is located on the historic Roman road, Ermine Street. As a result of its location, it ...

) road and is midway between the larger villages of Newport and Clavering. The nearest town is

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

, approximately away.

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acros ...

is approximately away. The

has a population of approximately 839.

History

Originally, Wicken Bonhunt may have been two separate communities, and the name possibly derives from

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 ...

for dairy farm (''wic'', pl. ''wicum'') and huntsmen liable to be summoned (''bann-huntan''). Wicken Bonhunt is listed 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 manusc ...

'' as the manors of 'Wica' and 'Banhunta', with 23 households, nine villagers, 11 smallholders and three slaves. In 1238, it is referred to in subsidy rolls as 'Wykes Bonhunte'. Signs of this early settlement include the 10th- or 11th-century former Chapel of St Helen in the grounds of Bonhunt Farm close to an

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960s ...

flyover. It is believed to be one of the oldest surviving buildings in the east of England, and an annual service is held at the site. A middle

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 ...

settlement of some size was excavated in the fields close to the Chapel in the 1970s, during the construction of the M11, with signs of an early settlement having been spotted in 1967 by a local archeologist. Excavations found evidence of around 30 structures, including a long room, and artefacts retrieved from the site led archeologists to believe this could have been a royal manor. Parts of the Parish Church of St Margaret, including the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, are early 13th century, but there was extensive restoration and rebuilding in the 1850s in 14th-century style. It 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 Irel ...

. The interior includes a

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

that is thought to date from the 12th century. Other listed buildings in the village include the Grade II* 16th-century Brick House.

Amenities

Wicken Bonhunt's

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, formerly the Coach & Horses, reopened in 2012 as a Thai food pub serving real ales. Ananta-thaifoodpub

A former young people's residential study centre at Wicken House was sold to property developers in 2009, having closed a year earlier. In February 2012, a new village 'hub' community centre was opened at St Margaret's Church. The £200,000 project, assisted by grants from

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

, is designed as a new focal point for youth and community events following the closure of Wicken House.

References

External links

*
Wicken Bonhunt village websiteArchaeology collections and archives at Saffron Walden Museum
{{authority control Villages in Essex Uttlesford

History

Amenities

See also

References

External links