Fordham is a village and civil parish in the

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. Colch ...

district of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county 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 ...

, six miles north-west of the town of

. Its population was recorded as 835 in the 2011 Census and estimated at 823 in 2019. The parish includes the nearby hamlets of Fordham Heath and Hemp's Green.

Governance

Fordham is part of the Essex electoral ward of Fordham and Stour Valley. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 5,332.

Natural features

Fordham is bounded to the south by the River Colne. An area of 500 acres (202 ha) in the parish was turned over to the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

in 2001 for future woodland.

Amenities and events

The village has a historic pub, ''The Three Horseshoes''. And a cafe and an antique showroom, ''The Shoulder of Mutton'', stands on the main Colchester–Halstead Road, near the bridge over the Colne, which replaced the ford that gave the hamlet of Fordstreet its name. Fordham offers primary education to about 100 pupils at All Saints Church of England Primary School.Village sit
Retrieved 5 June 2018.
The village hosts an annual fair on the first Saturday of July and a vehicle show on the second Sunday of August.

Places of worship

All Saints' Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania *All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aust ...

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 ...

, which dates mainly from about 1340. The village also had a chapel of the

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For many years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist ...

in the 19th century.

Notable people

In birth order: * Roger Walden (died 1406) held Fordham as one of several church benefices. He was later briefly Archbishop of Canterbury, then

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. * John Owen (1616–1683), a Nonconformist, held the benefice of Fordham in 1642–1646 as a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, but was not then appointed as rector. * Thomas Twining (1735–1804), a noted classical scholar and a member of the Twinings tea-merchant family, held the

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of the parish church from 1764 until his death. * Digger Kettle (1922–1999), a professional footballer who played 145 times for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, died in Fordham.

References

{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Borough of Colchester