Chignal St James

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Chignal St James
Essex
The village pump and telephone box at Chignall St. James - geograph.org.uk - 765041.jpg
Village pump and telephone box
Location
Location: 51°45’42"N, 0°25’3"E
Data
Post town: Chelmsford
Postcode: CM1
Dialling code: 01245
Local Government
Council: Chelmsford

Chignal St James is a village and ancient parish in the Chelmsford hundred of Essex. It is situated 3½ miles north-west by west of the county town of Chelmsford. Along with neighbouring Chignal Smealy it forms part of the civil parish of Chignall.

The spelling of the village name is open to discussion. Sometimes it is spelt as "Chignall St James" at other times, as "Chignal St James".

Businesses providing employment in the area include Ashdown Engineering, Gardening Express & Balance Life Magazine, and local farms.

The area once included a Roman villa, the site of which was discovered in the 1970s.[1][2] Originally the village was a settlement for farmers and their labour force that worked the land, but as mechanisation took over the farming population left. The village is now partly a commuter settlement, and partly resident to remaining agricultural workers and retired people.

The village has a public house, The Three Elms, thought to be over 500 years old.

Notable village landmarks include an old brick-built farm barn with a dove-cote thought to be the oldest and only example of its type in Essex, an old red brick school (now a dwelling), the former church, and the Old Rectory.

References

  1. SEAX - Essex Record Office - Reference: C/DZ 7/4
  2. BBC - Domesday Reloaded - Roman Villa at Chignal St James

Outside links

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