Oxlip in Pipers Meadow, Great Bardfield (geograph 3449524)

Great Bardfield is a large village in the Braintree 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 ...

, England. It is located approximately northwest of the town of Braintree, and approximately southeast of

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, ...

. The village came to national attention during the 1950s as home to the

Great Bardfield Artists {{Use British English, date=July 2015 The Great Bardfield Artists were a community of artists who lived in Great Bardfield, a village in north west Essex, England, during the middle years of the 20th century. The principal artists who lived t ...

History

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 disa ...

is said to have given Bardfield to

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of ...

as part of his divorce settlement and a number of buildings in the village are associated with Anne of Cleves, including the

Grade II-listed 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 ...

Great Lodge and its associated Grade I-listed barn, now named after her. The grounds include a Grade I-listed barn and a vineyard. Great Bardfield is home to the Bardfield Cage, a 19th-century village lock-up, and the Gibraltar Mill, a windmill which has been converted to a house. Great Bardfield played an important role in the history of the

oxlip ''Primula elatior'', the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of ...

(''

Primula elatior ''Primula elatior'', the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of ...

'') which, in the UK, is a rare plant only found where

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

meet. Originally it was thought that oxlips were cowslip-primrose hybrids but in 1842 Henry Doubleday and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

conducted tests on plants collected from Great Bardfield and concluded that this was not so. For a while the plant was known as the Bardfield Oxlip. The common cowslip-primrose hybrid is known as the

false oxlip False or falsehood may refer to: *False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic * Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement *false (Unix), a Unix command * ''False'' (album), a 1992 album by Gorefest *M ...

(''

Primula × polyantha ''Primula'' × ''polyantha'', the polyanthus primrose or false oxlip, is a naturally occurring hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is the result of crosses between ''Primula veris'' (common cowslip) and '' Primula vul ...

'').

Great Bardfield Artists

Bardfield was the home of many important twentieth-century English artists who hosted a series of important 'open house' exhibitions in the village during the 1950s. These exhibitions garnered national press attention and attracted thousands of visitors. The Great Bardfield Artists of the 1940s and 1950s were:

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in M ...

Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...

, George Chapman,

Stanley Clifford-Smith Stanley Clifford-Smith (1906–1968) was an English Expressionist painter and textile designer who was active as an artist in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Early life The son of a photographer, Clifford-Smith was born in Reddish, Stockport, Chesh ...

Audrey Cruddas Audrey Cruddas (1912–1979) was an English costume and scene designer, painter and potter. Biography Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Cruddas moved to England with her parents when she was an infant. After leaving school she studied art at ...

Walter Hoyle Walter Hoyle (1922–2000) was an English artist, known for his prints, watercolours and illustration. He was a central figure in the Great Bardfield group of artists and a close associate of Edward Bawden. He taught at the Central School, Londo ...

Michael Rothenstein William Michael Rothenstein (19 March 1908 – 6 July 1993) was a British printmaker, painter and art teacher. Early life Born in Hampstead, London, on 19 March 1908, he was the youngest of four children born to the celebrated artist, Sir W ...

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsca ...

(who lodged with Bawden at ''Brick House''),

Sheila Robinson Sheila Robinson may refer to: * Sheila Radley, a pseudonym of Sheila Robinson, British mystery novelist * Sheila Robinson (artist), a British artist * Sheila Robinson (publisher), a businesswoman and magazine founder {{Disambiguation} ...

and

Marianne Straub Marianne Straub OBE (23 September 1909 – 8 November 1994) was one of the leading commercial designers of textiles in Britain in the period from the 1940s to 1960s. She said her overriding aim was: "to design things which people could afford. .. ...

. Other artists linked to the art community include

Joan Glass Elizabeth Joan Glass (1915–2000), was an English textile designer and painter. Biography Youth Glass was born in Orpington, Kent. She was the oldest of three daughters born to John Pomeroy Glass and Edith Mary Muirhead. Her father, was a se ...

Duffy Ayers Betty Mona Desmond Ayers (née FitzGerald; 19 September 1915 – 10 November 2017), known as Duffy Ayers, was an English portrait painter. She was known for most of her life by the nickname "Duffy". Born in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, one o ...

, Laurence Scarfe and the political cartoonist David Low.

Other notable people

*The 14th-century judge in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, William of Bardfield, was born in the village in about 1258, the son of a local householder, Walter of Bardfield. *

William Bendlowes William Bendlowes (1516–1584) (also Benloe, Benlow, Benlowe) was an English serjeant-at-law and legal writer. He was a Member of the Parliament of England for Helston October 1553, West Looe April 1554, and Dunheved November 1554. Life He wa ...

(1516–1584),

Serjeant-at-Law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

*Early 20th-century Liberal candidate in several local constituencies, Ernest William Tanner. *Artist

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

spent part of his childhood in the village, and worked for a while as the local paperboy. *Alan Jordan, former Sheriff of Essex and the founder of Great Bardfield vineyard. *

Arthur Lindsay Sadler Arthur Lindsay Sadler (1882–1970) was Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney.Joyce AckroydSadler, Arthur Lindsay (1882–1970) '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 30 November 2020. Life and care ...

, Professor of Oriental Studies (1922–48) at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, spent his retirement in the village *Sir Christopher Sibthorpe (died 1632), judge in Ireland and religious

polemicist Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

, and his brother

Robert Sibthorp Robert Sibthorp(e) was an Anglican bishop in Ireland during the first half of the seventeenth century. He was born at Great Bardfield, Essex, one of the three sons of John Sibthorpe.Ball, F. Elrington (1926). The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921. L ...

Bishop of Limerick The Bishop of Limerick is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it still continues as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been uni ...

, were born in the village.

Village events

Each year there is a village garage sale. In 2022 it is on Saturday 10th September.

References

External links

Great Bardfield Primary SchoolGreat Bardfield Garage Sale

Gallery

Image:Great Bardfield church of St Mary the Virgin.jpg, The church of St. Mary the Virgin Image:Gibraltar Mill.jpg, Gibraltar Mill File:Brick House Great Bardfield 2.jpg, Brick House, Great Bardfield, home of

(1903–1989). {{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Braintree District