Stansted Mountfitchet is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 ...

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,

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 ...

, near the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

border, north of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533, increasing to 6,011 at the 2011 census. By the 2021 census it had increased to 8,621. The village is served by Stansted Mountfitchet railway station. Stansted Mountfitchet is situated in north-west Essex near the Hertfordshire border and 3 miles (5 km) north of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's third-busiest airport, Stan ...

is from the village. The village has three primary schools (Bentfield Primary School, St Mary's (C of E) Primary School and Magna Carta Primary Academy) and one high school which was renamed the

Forest Hall School Forest Hall School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England. In 2016 64% of students gained at least 5 GCSEs at A*-C including Maths and English. This figure had increased since ...

in September, 2013.

History

Stansted was a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

settlement (the name means 'stony place' in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

) that predates 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 ...

. In the 1086

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 ...

, Stansted was in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

. It was one of many villages and manors controlled by the powerful Robert Gernon

de Montfichet The de Montfitchet (de Montfichet, de Mountfitchet) family were of Normans, Norman origin, probably from the town of Montfiquet. Robert Gernon (Robert of the Moustache) received manorial lands in Essex in reward for his service prior to publicati ...

(from

Montfiquet Montfiquet () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 526 Communes of France, communes of the Calva ...

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

). His elder son was William de Montfichet. By 1290, Stansted began to be referred to as Stansted Mountfitchet to differentiate it from

Stansted, Kent Stansted (referred to in older texts as Stanstead) is a village and rural parish in the Tonbridge and Malling district of the county of Kent in the United Kingdom (not to be confused with Stansted Mountfitchet or London Stansted Airport, both ...

. A small remnant of his castle remains, around which a reconstruction of an early Norman castle has been built. Believed to have been fortified originally in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, and subsequently by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, construction of the Norman castle began in 1066. Lord Mountfitchet is also considered the 11th century builder of

Montfichet's Tower Montfichet's Tower (also known as Montfichet's Castle and/or spelt Mountfitchet's or Mountfiquit's) was a Norman fortress on Ludgate Hill in London, between where St Paul's Cathedral and City Thameslink railway station now stand. First documente ...

. St Mary the Virgin's Church, built in the 1120s, is a redundant church under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. The brick west tower was added in 1692. A

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist was built in 1889 nearer the centre of the village and is now the village church. Stansted Hall was built in 1871 by William Fuller Maitland (d. 1876).

Folklore

In a nineteenth-century account from Stanstead Mountfitchet, a shepherd cursed his task aloud, wishing the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

would set up his sheepfold for him. The Devil appeared, accepted the bargain, and began building it magically. The shepherd narrowly escaped being trapped inside.

Landmarks

Other village attractions include the House on the Hill Toy Museum, which its owners claim "is the largest toy museum in the World". Located next to Mountfitchet Castle and Norman Village of 1066, both attractions are owned by Alan Goldsmith. The museum opened in 1991 and holds over 80,000 toys, mostly from the 1950s to the 1990s. A working

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

built in 1787 is in the village, and is open to the public once a month. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

constructed an

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

near the village. After the war ended, it was subsequently taken over by the government and developed as a commercial airport. Today,

London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...

is accessible by road from Junction 8 of the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the A406 road, North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14 road (Great Britain), A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans ...

, near

and direct by train from London Liverpool Street.

Economy

In March 2013, Stansted Mountfitchet was named as the UK's fourth most internet-friendly town. The Google eTown Awards recognise the top places where businesses are most actively embracing the web and Stansted's high ranking reflects the increased use of the internet to spur economic growth. The results put Stansted in fourth place behind Richmond, in third, Edinburgh, in second, and Stratford upon Avon, which took the top spot.

Titan Airways Titan Airways Limited is a British charter airline based at London Stansted Airport. The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) and wet lease operations, as well as ad-hoc passenger and cargo char ...

has its head office in Enterprise House on the property of

. Several defunct airlines had their head offices on the Stansted property.

AirUK Air U.K. Limited, branded as AirUK, was a regional airline in the United Kingdom formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines.KLM uk) had its head office in Stansted House.

Buzz Buzz may refer to: People * Buzz (nickname), a list of people * J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters * Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie ...

had its head office in Endeavour House.

AB Airlines AB Airlines was an airline with its head office in the Enterprise House, Stansted Airport in Uttlesford, Essex.

had its head office in Enterprise House.

Lloyd International Airways Lloyd International Airways Ltd was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline formed in 1961 to operate worldwide charter flights. It commenced operations with a single Douglas DC-4 piston airliner from C ...

had its head office at Lloyd House.

Go Fly Go Fly (styled and trading as gogo) was the name of a British low-cost airline, founded by British Airways in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted Airport and destinations in Europe. The airline was purchased from BA in a manageme ...

had its head office at Enterprise House. Until it merged with Lastminute.com in 2006, Travelocity.co.uk had its headquarters in Stansted Mountfitchet and employed around 60 Essex and Hertfordshire locals. The office closed in the early part of 2006 and Travelocity.co.uk formally came under the umbrella of Lastminute.com, which has offices in London and Woking, Surrey.

Sport and leisure

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Stansted F.C. (winners of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

in 1983-84) play at the Hargrave Park sports ground in the village and there is also a cricket club based at the ground.

Notable people

* Actor

James Frain James Frain is an English actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama ''The Tudors'' (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama ''True Blood'' (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BB ...

was raised in Stansted Mountfitchet. *

Munroe Bergdorf Munroe Bergdorf (' Beaumont; born 11 September 1987) is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for ...

, model and activist. * Kate Johnson, novelist, was raised in Stansted Mountfitchet.

References

External links

Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council

{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Uttlesford