Hempstead 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Uttlesford Uttlesford is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the town of Saffron Walden. The district also includes the town of Great Dunmow and numerous villages, including Stansted Mountfitchet ...

district of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. The village is east from

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish 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. Th ...

and 6 miles (10 km) west from Haverhill. Hempstead is situated on the B1054 Saffron Walden to

Steeple Bumpstead Steeple Bumpstead is a village and civil parish south of Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill in Braintree (district), Braintree district, Essex, England. The parish church does not have a steeple, although the Congregational Church has a small Victor ...

road. The nearest village is

Great Sampford Great Sampford is a village and civil parish on the junction of the B1053 and B1051 roads in the Uttlesford district, in the north-west of the English county of Essex. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 586. The villag ...

, to the south. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 451. The village has one church, St. Andrew's, where

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...

, who discovered the circulation of blood in the human body, and Sir

Eliab Harvey Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military re ...

, Captain of the Temeraire at the battle of Trafalgar, are interred. The notorious highwayman

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

, was born in the village public house, where his father was landlord. He was baptised in the village church.

History

Hempstead is mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as 'Hampsteda' ('village place'). Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the land was held by the Saxon lord Withgar, however, it was passed by

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

to Richard fitz Gilbert who held the land per baroniam in return for the duty of providing soldiers on demand and attending the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

. At the time of the conquest, there were 22 villagers, 10 smallholders and 7 slaves residing in the area. The first Christian place of worship in the area is evidenced in a 1094 charter under

William II of England William II (; – 2 August 1100) was List of English monarchs, King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Duchy of Normandy, Normandy and influence in Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. He was less successfu ...

. Described as a chapel, it was mentioned again in 1229, when it was dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

. On the 8th of January 1365, St Andrew's Church was consecrated by

Simon Sudbury Simon Sudbury ( – 14 June 1381) was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor, Lord Chancellor of England. He met a violent death during the Peasan ...

. Throughout the 13th to the 19th century, it has been argued that Hempstead was largely an agricultural community. In 1678 a

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

was built, and it has been attested that the wool industry was an important source of income for many villagers. In the mid-19th century, a school was built and a steam mill came into use. In 1882, the church tower collapsed and was only restored to its former height in the mid 20th century.

References

External links

* Villages in Essex Uttlesford {{Essex-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links