Hatfield Peverel 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 ...

at the centre 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. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from

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 ...

, the nearest large city, which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets of Nounsley and Mowden. ''Hatfield'' means a 'heathery space in the forest'; ''Peverel'' refers to William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

after the Norman invasion of 1066. Sited on high ground east of the

River Ter The River Ter is a river in Essex, England that houses various aquatic creatures. The river rises in Stebbing Green and flowing via Terling it joins the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation at near Rushes Lock. A small part of it, the River Ter SS ...

, between

Boreham Boreham is a village and civil parish, in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. History Boreham is listed i ...

and

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...

on the A12, it is situated in the southern extremity of the Braintree District Council area (to which it elects two members). In 2020, the built-up area subdivision had an estimated population of 3,226. In 2011, the built-up area which includes Nounsley had a population of 3,950 and the parish had a population of 4,376. Hatfield Peverel is the site of a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

founded by the Saxon Ingelrica, wife of Ranulph Peverel and reputed to be the mistress of William the Conqueror, to atone for her sins, and dissolved by Henry VIII.

Local amenities

The parish church, St Andrew's (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

) is the surviving fragment of the Norman priory church nave. There is also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Church and a Salvation Army (north-east London headquarters) congregation. The village has a junior school, St. Andrew's C of E, and an adjacent infant school; Scout and Guide organisations, with headquarters in Church Road; a post office; a library; and a doctors' surgery.

Economy

Hatfield Peverel was the site of an

Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...

factory which closed in July 2016; primarily, it used to produce dairy products. The factory was subsequently demolished and there are plans to build up to 177 houses on the former site. There are six public houses, a farm shop and other retail outlets. Main housing areas include Berwick Place, Crix, Hatfield Place, Hatfield Wick and The Priory.

Transport

Hatfield Peverel railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line. It is served by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

services from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

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 ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. The station is seen in the 1976 film '' Exposé'' starring Linda Hayden and

Fiona Richmond Fiona Richmond (born 2 March 1945) is an English former glamour model and actress. She became a British sex symbol in the 1970s for her appearances in numerous risqué plays, comedy revues, magazines and films. She has been described as one of ...

, along with views of the surrounding countryside. The village is served by

First Essex First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Eas ...

's route 71 bus service which runs between Chelmsford and Colchester.

Sport

Hatfield Peverel Football Club has been established since 1903; it was originally based at the Duke of Wellington public house, before moving to the Recreation Ground in 1936. The club are now based on the outskirts of the village at a former gravel pit at Wickham Bishops Road and fields men's, ladies' and junior teams. Hatfield Peverel Cricket Club has been established since 1885. The club is based at the Church Road Ground, the club offers a range of teams: HPCC 1 XI (Mid Essex Cricket League), Friendly Teams - The Famous ''Allstars'' T20 team and HPCC Sunday XI.

Agnes Waterhouse

Hatfield Peverel was the home of Agnes Waterhouse, the first woman to be executed for witchcraft in England. Known locally as Mother Waterhouse, and she confessed to witchcraft in 1566, and two other women were also accused of witchcraft at the same time: Elizabeth Francis and Joan Waterhouse (Agnes' daughter). Her trial took place in Chelmsford, where she was found guilty and executed for using witchcraft to disease and cause the death of William Fynne. Elizabeth admitted to having a familiar - a cat called Satan, who she fed drops of her blood and it helped to kill people, terminate pregnancies and stole cattle. She sold the cat to Agnes in exchange for cake, and both Agnes and Joan tested the cat's abilities. Joan is said to have had the cat turn into a toad, and when a child refused to give Joan food, Satan offered to help Joan in exchange for her soul, which she agreed to. The toad was said to have harassed the child and threatened her with death, and eventually the child asked Satan who its 'dame' was, and it answered Agnes Waterhouse, leading her to be accused of witchcraft by the child. Waterhouse was executed two days after the trial based on the evidence and word of the child.

References

External links

Hatfield Peverel Online

Hatfield Peverel
* http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/hatfieldpeverelfc * https://wheatsheaf.net {{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Braintree District