Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) 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

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, S ...

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. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Green, Gransmore Green, Hartford End, Molehill Green, Milch Hill, Thistley Green, Watch House Green and Willows Green.

History

Felsted is recorded 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 as ''Felesteda'', ''Felstede'' and ''Phensteda'' 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 des ...

of Hinckford, where it was held by Earl Ælfgar as feu in the time of King Edward. In 1086, Felstead was part of the land of La Trinité of Caen, who held four hides. The fifth hide was no longer in this manor as King William gave three

virgate The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( la, virgāta was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equa ...

s to Roger God-save-the-ladies and the fourth to Geoffrey fitzSalomon. The village has links to Lord Riche who founded the public school, the

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

, in 1564, and is buried in Holy Cross Church. Lord Riche was an important benefactor of the Felsted Church. The school also has links to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

, who sent his sons there. The valley between Little Dunmow and Felsted was the location for the only sugar beet factory in Essex, which has been redeveloped for housing in a community called Flitch Green.

Geography

Felsted is south of the A120 and is near Braintree,

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Stans ...

and

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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 ...

. It lies on the north bank of the

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 ...

as it leaves Great Dunmow and turns south towards Chelmsford. * Latitude/Longitude in decimal degrees:51.85656 0.43327 * Latitude/Longitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds:51° 51' 24" North 0° 26' 60" East * Height above sea level:76 m, 249.34 ft, 2992.13 in

Community

Felsted is linked to

Little Dunmow Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree (B ...

by the Flitch Way Country Park, a former railway line. The village has a village store, a delicatessen, an antiques shop, a ladies' clothes shop, an estate agent, two public houses (the Chequers and the Swan), two restaurants, and a bed and breakfast guest house. The village is also home of Felsted Rovers Football Club who play their home matches at the rear of the Memorial Hall. The electoral ward of Felsted had a population of 5,525 at the 2011 census.

References

* John Drury, ''History of Felsted'' (privately published, 1999) * (Registration required.) *

External links

*
Felsted's History by Jules Wallis, Recorders of Uttlesford History
{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Uttlesford

History

Geography

Community

See also

References

External links