Little Waltham

Little Waltham
Village centre
Village centre
Little Waltham
 Little Waltham shown within Essex
Population 1,285 
OS grid referenceTL7012
Shire countyEssex
RegionEast
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town CHELMSFORD
Postcode district CM3
Dialling code 01245
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK ParliamentSaffron Walden
List of places
UK
England
Essex

Coordinates: 51°48′00″N 0°29′00″E / 51.8000°N 0.4833°E / 51.8000; 0.4833

Little Waltham[1][2] is a village just north of Chelmsford. It is adjacent to the village of Great Waltham. The Domesday Book refers to the two villages as Waltham, consisting of several manors. The site of an Iron Age village was excavated before upgrading the main road north between the current villages.

The village straddles the River Chelmer. Its main street has a number of old houses near the bridge, notably a rare Essex example of a Wealden hall house, now divided into three cottages. A footpath leads south alongside the river to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of which is a nature reserve.[3] The countryside is under continued threat from housing and road development.[4]

The parish church, St Mary the Virgin, is dedicated to St Martin of Tours, and has a Norman south door with a window above.[5] Its East window features local landmarks shown at the foot of the cross. There is also a United Reformed Church in The Street.

There is a pub in the centre of the village, The White Hart. This has undergone extensive renovation in recent years to turn it from a traditional pub into a more modern "gastro-pub" serving quality food. It has good reviews and an overall 4/5 rating on trip advisor. The village also has a delicatessen and tea room, Cairnsworths.

The village has a doctor's surgery in Brook Hill, with a pharmacy on site.

There are two main halls in the village, Tufnell Hall and the Memorial Hall. Tufnell Hall is home to the Little Waltham Sports and Social Club, which hosts the village football team as well as badminton. Tufnell Hall has a main hall which is used by the Montessori Nursery School during term times (see Education) and is available for hire for functions, plus a separate bar area open to members and visitors. The Memorial Hall is used by the village playgroup and is also used as the polling station for elections. The United Reformed Church also has a smaller hall which is primarily used for church functions plus the Applepips nursery school.

The village also has a cricket team, the ground is in the centre of the village opposite the White Hart pub and Tufnell Hall.

Education

Most Primary School age children in Little Waltham attend either Little Waltham Church of England Primary School, with some attending Great Waltham Church of England Primary School nearby. High School age children typically attend Chelmer Valley High School in nearby Broomfield. There are also nursery schools in the village including: a Montessori Nursery School, Rainbow Little Waltham, for 2-5 year olds; Applepips at the URC; and the playgroup at the Memorial Hall.

Notes

  1. Parish Council
  2. Emergency Plan
  3. Little Waltham Meadows
  4. threat
  5. Ages In The Making a history of two Essex villages, R. Phillips and R. Bazett, 1973, 1974

Media related to Little Waltham at Wikimedia Commons


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.