Toppesfield
| Toppesfield | |
| Essex | |
|---|---|
 Toppesfield from Stambourne Road | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL739372 |
| Location: | 52°0’25"N, 0°31’55"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 507 (2011) |
| Postcode: | CO9 |
| Dialling code: | 01787 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Braintree |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Saffron Walden |
Toppesfield is a village and parish the Hinckford hundred of Essex. The village is a mile and a half west of the village of Great Yeldham and 19 miles north of the county town of Chelmsford. The parish contains the hamlets of Gainsford End and Grass Green.
History
The derivation of the name 'Toppesfield' is assumed to be an agglomeration of the phrase 'Top of the Field' meaning it is located on a rise.
Geography
Toppesfield, eight miles from the Suffolk border, is part of north Essex which has higher terrain than most of the county. The village sits on a small and shallow hill, its roads running downhill from the centre. Toppesfield church tower is visible from villages more than 10 miles away.
Community
Toppesfield is a rural community historically associated with arable farming. The village has approximately three-hundred inhabitants. The hamlet of Gainsford End, of approximately fifty inhabitants, is about a mile and a half south-west from the village, and contains the listed Gainsford End Mill.
Toppesfield's only public house is the Green Man. The pub is owned by Toppesfield Community Pub Limited (TCP), an Industrial & Provident Society which was established in 2012. TCP gained control of the Green Man in December 2012 from Admiral Taverns, a national pub chain which had financial problems. TCP is owned by more than 150 shareholders who raised share capital exceeding £150,000 to help finance the purchase.[1]
St Margaret's Church, Topplesfield, a Church of England parish church, is part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes joint benefice.[2] Affiliated to the church is St Margaret's Church-of-England primary school.
Toppesfield village hall is attached to a shop and post office. The hall holds a yearly flower show.
At the centre of the village is a village pump around which local events have been held.
References
- ↑ The Green Man pub bought by Toppesfield villagers, BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-20724492, retrieved 14 December 2012
- ↑ St Margaret’s Church, Topplesfield, Upper Colne Valley Parishes
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Toppesfield) |