Great Baddow: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 51°43′08″N 0°30′25″E / 51.719°N 0.507°E / 51.719; 0.507
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
→‎Development: changing updated info
Tag: references removed
→‎History: Added grammar
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(34 intermediate revisions by 24 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Essex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{infobox UK place|
{{infobox UK place|
Line 8: Line 9:
|official_name=
|official_name=
|population = 14,650
|population = 14,650
|population_ref= (2011 Census)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123867&c=Great+Baddow&d=16&e=62&g=6423783&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1472902373104&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|accessdate=3 September 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
|population_ref= (2011 Census)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123867&c=Great+Baddow&d=16&e=62&g=6423783&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1472902373104&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=3 September 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|archive-date=19 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019134004/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123867&c=Great+Baddow&d=16&e=62&g=6423783&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1472902373104&enc=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|civil_parish = Great Baddow
|civil_parish = Great Baddow
|shire_district= [[Chelmsford (district)|Chelmsford]]
|shire_district= [[Chelmsford (district)|Chelmsford]]
Line 14: Line 15:
|region= East of England
|region= East of England
|constituency_westminster=
|constituency_westminster=
|post_town= Chelmsford|postcode_district = CM2
|post_town= CHELMSFORD|postcode_district = CM2
|postcode_area= CM |dial_code= 01245
|postcode_area= CM |dial_code= 01245
|os_grid_reference= TL731052
|os_grid_reference= TL731052
}}
}}


'''Great Baddow''' is an urban village and [[civil parish]] in the [[Chelmsford (borough)|Chelmsford borough]] of [[Essex]], England. It is close to the [[county town]], [[Chelmsford, England|Chelmsford]] and, with a population of over 13,000,<ref name=parishcouncil>[http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/ Great Baddow Parish Council], published 2005, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> is one of the largest villages in the country.
'''Great Baddow''' is an urban village and [[civil parish]] in the [[Chelmsford (borough)|Chelmsford borough]] of [[Essex]], England. It is close to the city of [[Chelmsford, England|Chelmsford]] and, with a population of over 13,000,<ref name=parishcouncil>[http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/ Great Baddow Parish Council], published 2005, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> is one of the largest villages in the country.


==History==
Great Baddow's name is believed to have been derived from the River Beadwan, now known as the [[River Chelmer]], which marks the northern boundary of the village. ''Beadwan'' is thought to be a Celtic word of uncertain meaning,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Great%20Baddow | work = Key to English Place-names | title = Great Baddow | publisher = [[English Place-Name Society]] | accessdate = 14 July 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081104/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Great%20Baddow | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | dead-url = yes | df = dmy-all }}</ref> possibly "birch stream" or a reference to the goddess [[Badbh]].<ref name=parishcouncil /> The centre of Great Baddow is now a [[Conservation Area (United Kingdom)|Conservation Area]] and contains over 30 [[listed building]]s.
Great Baddow's name is believed to have been derived from the River Beadwan, now known as the [[River Chelmer]], which marks the northern boundary of the village. ''Beadwan'' is thought to be a Celtic word of uncertain meaning,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Great%20Baddow | work = Key to English Place-names | title = Great Baddow | publisher = [[English Place-Name Society]] | access-date = 14 July 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081104/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Great%20Baddow | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref> possibly ''birch stream'' or a reference to the goddess [[Badbh]].<ref name=parishcouncil />


In the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] period, the [[Manorialism|manor]] of Great Baddow was held by the [[Earl of Mercia|Earls of Mercia]]<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06a.html Great Baddow] White's Directory 1848, published 1846, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> --> and in the 13th century by [[Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale]] whose widow launched a legal challenge over its ownership on his death in March 1295.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sayles | first=G.O. | title=Scripta Diversa | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | series=History series | year=1983 | isbn=978-0-8264-3850-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LBIzUN5D1wC&pg=PA24 | page=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Richardson | first=D. | last2=Everingham | first2=K.G. | title=Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Coloncial And Medieval Families | publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company | series=Royal Ancestry Series | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-8063-1759-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHZcIRMhSEMC&pg=PA733 | page=733}}</ref> After passing to the Crown, [[Henry VIII]] later granted it to [[Catherine of Aragon]].<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> During the reign of [[Edward VI]], it was held by the Paschals, before being sold to J.A. Houblon in 1736.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> -->
==Development==
During the early part of the 20th century, Great Baddow grew through [[ribbon development]] towards [[Chelmsford]] and [[Galleywood]]. In 1936, [[Marconi Company|Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company]] opened the Marconi Research Laboratory in Great Baddow (now [[Marconi Research Centre|BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories]]), bringing together their various radio, television and telephony research teams in a single location.<ref name=investessex>[http://www.investessex.co.uk/PDF/IE_Marconi.pdf Birthplace of Radio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425062759/http://www.investessex.co.uk/PDF/IE_Marconi.pdf |date=25 April 2012 }}, Invest Essex, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> As the electronics industry developed the campus expanded during the 1940s and 1950s to include research into radar, general physics, high voltage, vacuum physics and semiconductors.<ref name=investessex /> Great Baddow expanded considerably in the 1950s with the construction of Rothmans Estate, which provided housing for workers at Marconi's and [[English Electric Valve Company]] in Chelmsford.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stothard|first=Peter|authorlink=Peter Stothard|title=Essex Clay|journal=Granta|date=Winter 2009|url=http://www.granta.com/Archive/Granta-109-Work/Essex-Clay/3|accessdate=13 July 2013|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523113904/http://www.granta.com/Archive/Granta-109-Work/Essex-Clay/3|archivedate=23 May 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The village has continued to expand over subsequent years.


According to information in the local [[Church of St Mary, Great Baddow|Church of St Mary]], the rebel leader [[Jack Straw (rebel leader)|Jack Straw]] led an ill-fated crowd (the ''men of Essex'') from the churchyard to [[London]], in one of the risings in the 1381 [[Peasants' Revolt]].
The Vineyards, located in the centre of the old village, was once a fine Georgian house set in attractive wooded grounds<ref name=vineyards2004>[http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/pdf/h/k/Vineyards_adopted_1.pdf Planning Brief, The Vineyards] [[Chelmsford Borough Council]] Town Planning Services, June 2004, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> which later became a hotel. It was demolished in the mid 1960s<ref name=thisisessex0211>[http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/New-row-site-mansion-50-years/story-12641358-detail/story.html THE issue on everyone's lips at the moment in Great Baddow – the demolition of Marrable House – was exactly the same this time 50 years ago.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403000418/http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/New-row-site-mansion-50-years/story-12641358-detail/story.html |date=3 April 2012 }} This is Essex, published 2011-02-17, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> prior to the advent of [[Listed building|conservation legislation]],<ref name="vineyards2004" /> to make way for the construction of the Vineyards shopping centre and later the Marrable House office block, both constructed with a 'scale, form, layout and architecture' that Chelmsford Council now considers to 'jar with its historic surroundings'.<ref name="vineyards2004" /> Despite this the shopping centre continues to thrive<ref name="vineyards2004" /> and, since refurbishment in the 2000s, the flats above are highly regarded and sought-after properties.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}} Marrable House, a six-storey office block was described at the time of its construction in late 1960's as 'one of the worst examples of town and country planning in the country'<ref>[http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk/news/localnews/8237102.Protestors_triumph_as_Vineyards_plan_rejected/ Protestors triumph as Vineyards plan rejected] Chelmsford Weekly News, published 2010-06-25, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> and subsequently once voted as one of England's ugliest buildings,<ref name=thisisessex0211 /><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/essex-chronicle-chelmsford-uk/mi_8117/is_20100624/plans-demolish-ugliest-building/ai_n54191990/ Plans to demolish 'ugliest building' in doubt] Essex Chronicle, published 2010-06-24, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> was demolished in the Spring of 2016,<ref>http://www.essexlive.news/concrete-muncher...marrable-house/.../story.html{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was replaced with a 53-flat development made up of one to two bedrooms in two buildings named Heron Gate. A corner of the grounds of the former Vineyards mansion were retained and form a green area to the west of the Vineyards development.<ref name="vineyards2004" /> A library was also opened on the western edge of the development in September 1981, replacing the former building in Bell Street.<ref>[http://greatbaddow.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-baddow-library-celebrates-20.html Great Baddow Library Celebrates 20 Years] published September 2011, accessed 2011-10-13</ref>


In 1731, Jasper Jeffrey founded Great Baddow Free School and, in 1830, two [[National school (England and Wales)|National Schools]] were built.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> By 1933, there were 7 daily schools, 2 daily and Sunday schools, and a further 2 boarding schools.<!-- ref blocked <ref>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06education.html Extract from the House of Commons papers, Volume 41. Abstract of Education Returns 1833] historyhouse.co.uk, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> -->
In 1967 a [[fire station]] was opened in Great Baddow to replace the former station which occupied a converted hut in Brewery Fields, [[Galleywood]], once part of the Galleywood race course complex.<!-- ref blocked http://ezinearticles.com/?Great-Baddow-Fire-Station---A-Brief-History&id=5157462 Great Baddow Fire Station], John Essex, accessed 2011-10-13 -->


Great Baddow is recorded as having had a population of 1,445 in 1801, a figure that had risen to 2,022 in 1841.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> White's Directory of Essex 1848 reports Great Baddow as being 'one of the handsomest villages in Essex' having 'many scattered farms and neat houses', also noting that it had an annual pleasure fair on 14 May.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> -->
Great Baddow has four pubs &ndash; The White Horse, The Blue Lion, The Kings Head and The Star. Recently closed was The Beehive Pub. The former Baddow Brewery,<!-- NOT the Great Baddow Brewery --> previously owned by the Baddow Brewery Co Ltd,<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=B14880&tabType=HISTORY Baddow Brewery Co Ltd] [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]], accessed 2011-10-13</ref> built in 1868 and extended in 1878 by George Scamell, is now a Grade II building and houses local businesses.<ref>[http://breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/111/bh-111-015.html A Survey of the Brewery Heritage of Essex], Brewery History: 111, pp. 15-34, Tony Crosby, published 2003, accessed 2011-10-13</ref><ref>[http://greatbaddow.org.uk/history/baddow-brewery-old-brewery Great Baddow Village Website]</ref> Great Baddow is also home to the Pontlands Park Country Hotel and the Baddow Antique Centre.


[[William Calcraft]], the hangman and a [[Shoemaking|cobbler]] by trade, was born at Baddow in 1800.<ref>[[Arthur Griffiths (author)|Griffiths, Arthur George Frederick]] (1884), [https://archive.org/details/chroniclesnewga02grifgoog/page/410/mode/2up ''The Chronicles of Newgate''] vol. 2, pp. 411-415</ref>
==Schools==
The village is home to [[Great Baddow High School]], situated on Duffield Road. The school is a sports college and shows exceptional performances in this field. As well as the high school it is also home to Baddow Hall Infant and Junior Schools these schools are situated by the border of Great Baddow, Beehive Lane County Primary School, Larkrise Primary School, (formerly Rothmans Primary School), and Meadgate County Primary Schools.


Following the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]], responsibility for the poor of Great Baddow was removed from the parish and transferred to the Chelmsford Union on 10 August 1835.<ref>[http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?DocID=83053 Seax Catalogue: G/Ch Chelmsford Union] Essex Record Soffice, accessed 2011-10-13</ref>
==Geology==
Great Baddow lies to the south east to central Chelmsford, on higher ground that is thought to mark the edge of the main ice mass during the [[Anglian glaciation]].<ref name=bristow85>Geology of the county around Chelmsford, [[British Geological Survey]], CR Bristow, published HMSO 1985, {{ISBN|0-11-884335-4}}</ref> An outcrop of glacial sand and gravel 3&nbsp;km long and 0.8&nbsp;km wide is located beneath the village, which used to be extracted from several pits in the area, including Beehive Pit (now beneath Harbeard Tye), Baddow Hall Pit (now beneath Baden-Powell Close), to the south of the A1114 Princes Road (now in the grounds of Moulsham High School) and on what is now an area of open land off Waterson Vale.<ref name=bristow85 /><!--note: present day locations derived from locating the grid references given by Bristow on the detailed Ordance Survey maps--> Smaller pits were also located off the Galleywood Road (near what is now Hollywood Close)<ref name=bristow85 /> and off Pitt Chase. The area is overlain with [[Head (geology)|head]], while the lower levels of the sand and gravel are mixed with [[London Clay]].<ref name=bristow85 /> A [[Sarsen|Sarsen stone]] from the Beehive Pit used to stand outside The Beehive pub.<ref name=bristow85 />


The Post Office Directory of Essex 1851, which lists the principal residents and trade persons of the parish of Great Baddow, includes 24 [[farmer]]s, 8 beer retailers, 4 shoemakers, 3 [[blacksmith]], 2 [[dressmaker]]s and notes that the [[vicar]] is residing in the Vineyards.<!-- ref blocked <ref>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06c.html Great Baddow – Inhabitants in 1874] Post Office Directory of Essex 1874, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> -->
==History==
In [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] times the [[Manor]] of Great Baddow was held by the [[Earl of Mercia|Earls of Mercia]],<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06a.html Great Baddow] White's Directory 1848, published 1846, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> --> and in the 13th century by [[Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale]] whose widow launched a legal challenge over its ownership on his death in March 1295.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3LBIzUN5D1wC&pg=PA24&dq=baddow+and+bruce&sig=ioEpAXbmHg_LfEuTHhOswxVjKYY#PPA24,M1] Scripta Diversa, By George Osborne Sayles, 1982</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wHZcIRMhSEMC&pg=PA733&dq=bruce+and+Baddow&sig=_1iJsPKVqilBVmDkwuV2Afapp7o] Magna Carta Ancestry, By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham, 2005</ref> After passing to the Crown, [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] later granted it to [[Catherine of Aragon]].<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> During the reign of [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] it was held by the Paschals, before being sold to J.A. Houblon in 1736.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> -->


[[File:Chain home.jpg|thumb|upright|The former [[Chain Home]] [[radar]] transmitter tower, in the grounds of [[Marconi Research Centre|BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories]], Great Baddow &ndash; a prominent local landmark]]
According to information in the local church of St Mary, the rebel leader [[Jack Straw (rebel leader)|Jack Straw]] led an ill-fated crowd (the "men of Essex") from the churchyard to [[London]], in one of the risings in the 1381 [[Peasants' Revolt]].


The Great Baddow Mast &ndash; a former [[Chain Home]] [[radar]] transmitter tower, originally sited at RAF [[Canewdon]] &ndash; was moved to the outskirts of Great Baddow at around 1954 and is used by [[BAE Systems]] for equipment testing.<ref>[http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/Great%20Baddow%20Mast.pdf The Great Baddow Mast] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807111250/http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/Great%20Baddow%20Mast.pdf |date=7 August 2011 }}, [[Chelmsford Borough Council]] Planning and Building Control Services, published May 2009, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> The last remaining example of a Chain Home tower maintaining its platforms, it was made a listed building by [[Historic England]] in October 2019 and given a Grade II status.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1456445|title=Chain Home tower at Great Baddow, Great Baddow – 1456445 {{!}} Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-10-25}}</ref>
In 1731 Jasper Jeffrey founded Great Baddow Free School, and in 1830 two [[National school (England and Wales)|National Schools]] were built.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> By 1933 there were 7 daily schools, 2 daily and Sunday schools, and a further 2 boarding schools.<!-- ref blocked <ref>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06education.html Extract from the House of Commons papers, Volume 41. Abstract of Education Returns 1833] historyhouse.co.uk, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> -->


===Development===
Great Baddow is recorded as having had a population of 1,445 in 1801, a figure that had risen to 2,022 in 1841.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> --> White's Directory of Essex 1848 reports Great Baddow as being 'one of the handsomest villages in Essex' having 'many scattered farms and neat houses', also noting that it had an annual pleasure fair on 14 May.<!-- ref blocked <ref name=whites1848 /> -->
During the early part of the 20th century, Great Baddow grew through [[ribbon development]] towards [[Chelmsford]] and [[Galleywood]]. In 1936, [[Marconi Company|Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company]] opened the Marconi Research Laboratory in Great Baddow (now [[Marconi Research Centre|BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories]]), bringing together their various radio, television and telephony research teams in a single location.<ref name=investessex>[http://www.investessex.co.uk/PDF/IE_Marconi.pdf Birthplace of Radio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425062759/http://www.investessex.co.uk/PDF/IE_Marconi.pdf |date=25 April 2012 }}, Invest Essex, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> As the electronics industry developed, the campus expanded during the 1940s and 1950s to include research into radar, general physics, high voltage, vacuum physics and semiconductors.<ref name=investessex /> Great Baddow expanded considerably in the 1950s with the construction of Rothmans Estate, which provided housing for workers at Marconi's and [[English Electric Valve Company]] in Chelmsford.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stothard|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Stothard|title=Essex Clay|journal=Granta|date=Winter 2009|url=http://www.granta.com/Archive/Granta-109-Work/Essex-Clay/3|access-date=13 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523113904/http://www.granta.com/Archive/Granta-109-Work/Essex-Clay/3|archive-date=23 May 2013}}</ref> The village has continued to expand over subsequent years.


The Vineyards, in the centre of the old village, was once a Georgian house set in wooded grounds<ref name=vineyards2004>[http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/pdf/h/k/Vineyards_adopted_1.pdf Planning Brief, The Vineyards] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403030256/http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/pdf/h/k/Vineyards_adopted_1.pdf |date=3 April 2012 }} [[Chelmsford Borough Council]] Town Planning Services, June 2004, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> which later became a hotel. It was demolished in the mid-1960s<ref name=thisisessex0211>[http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/New-row-site-mansion-50-years/story-12641358-detail/story.html THE issue on everyone's lips at the moment in Great Baddow – the demolition of Marrable House – was exactly the same this time 50 years ago.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403000418/http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/New-row-site-mansion-50-years/story-12641358-detail/story.html |date=3 April 2012 }} This is Essex, published 2011-02-17, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> before the advent of [[Listed building|conservation legislation]],<ref name="vineyards2004" /> to make way for the construction of the Vineyards shopping centre and later the Marrable House office block, both constructed with a 'scale, form, layout and architecture' that Chelmsford Council now considers to 'jar with its historic surroundings'.<ref name="vineyards2004" /> Despite this, the shopping centre continues to thrive<ref name="vineyards2004" /> and, since refurbishment in the 2000s, the flats above are highly regarded and sought-after properties.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}} Marrable House, a six-storey office block was described at the time of its construction in 1968 as "one of the worst examples of town and country planning in the country"<ref>[http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk/news/localnews/8237102.Protestors_triumph_as_Vineyards_plan_rejected/ Protestors triumph as Vineyards plan rejected] Chelmsford Weekly News, published 2010-06-25, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> and subsequently once voted as one of England's ugliest buildings,<ref name=thisisessex0211 /><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/essex-chronicle-chelmsford-uk/mi_8117/is_20100624/plans-demolish-ugliest-building/ai_n54191990/ Plans to demolish 'ugliest building' in doubt] Essex Chronicle, published 2010-06-24, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> was demolished in the Spring of 2016,<ref>http://www.essexlive.news/concrete-muncher...marrable-house/.../story.html{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was replaced with a 53-flat development, made up of one to two bedrooms in two buildings, named ''Heron Gate''; the development was completed in spring
Following the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]], responsibility for the poor of Great Baddow was removed from the parish and transferred to the [[Chelmsford Union]] on 10 August 1835.<ref>[http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?DocID=83053 Seax - Catalogue: G/Ch Chelmsford Union] Essex Record Soffice, accessed 2011-10-13</ref>
2018.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.weston-homes.com/heron-gate |title=Overview of Heron Gate in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex &#124; Weston Homes |access-date=12 April 2018 |archive-date=12 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412103637/http://www.weston-homes.com/heron-gate |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://greatbaddow.org.uk/baddow-blog/ugliest-building-demolished-in-place-of-new-flats|title=Marrable "Ugliest Building" House Demolished for Heron Gate Development|date=13 April 2016}}</ref> A corner of the grounds of the former Vineyards mansion were retained and form a green area to the west of the Vineyards development.<ref name="vineyards2004" /> A library was also opened on the western edge of the development in September 1981, replacing the former building in Bell Street.<ref>[http://greatbaddow.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-baddow-library-celebrates-20.html Great Baddow Library Celebrates 20 Years] published September 2011, accessed 2011-10-13</ref>


The Post Office Directory of Essex 1851, which lists the principal residents and trade persons of the parish of Great Baddow, includes 24 [[farmer]]s, 8 beer retailers, 4 shoemakers, 3 [[blacksmith]], 2 [[dressmaker]]s, and notes that the [[vicar]] is residing in the Vineyards.<!-- ref blocked <ref>[http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeG/essexg06c.html Great Baddow - Inhabitants in 1874] Post Office Directory of Essex 1874, accessed 2011-10-13</ref> -->
In 1967, a [[fire station]] was opened in Great Baddow to replace the former station which occupied a converted hut in Brewery Fields, [[Galleywood]]; it was once part of the Galleywood race course complex.<!-- ref blocked http://ezinearticles.com/?Great-Baddow-Fire-Station---A-Brief-History&id=5157462 Great Baddow Fire Station], John Essex, accessed 2011-10-13 -->


Great Baddow has three pubs: the ''White Horse'', ''Blue Lion'' and ''The Star''; ''The Beehive'' and ''King's Head'' pubs have closed in recent times. There is also a family-run brewery, the Chelmsford Brewing Company.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chelmsfordbrewco.co.uk/home | title=Welcome }}</ref> The former Baddow Brewery,<!-- NOT the Great Baddow Brewery --> previously owned by the Baddow Brewery Co Ltd,<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=B14880&tabType=HISTORY Baddow Brewery Co Ltd] [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]], accessed 2011-10-13</ref> built in 1868 and extended in 1878 by George Scamell, is now a Grade II building and houses local businesses.<ref>[http://breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/111/bh-111-015.html A Survey of the Brewery Heritage of Essex], Brewery History: 111, pp. 15-34, Tony Crosby, published 2003, accessed 2011-10-13</ref><ref>[http://greatbaddow.org.uk/history/baddow-brewery-old-brewery Great Baddow Village Website]</ref> Great Baddow is also home to the Pontlands Park Country Hotel and the Baddow Antique Centre.
[[File:Chain home.jpg|thumb|upright|The former [[Chain Home]] [[radar]] transmitter tower, in the grounds of [[Marconi Research Centre|BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories]], Great Baddow &ndash; a prominent local landmark.]]


The centre of Great Baddow is now a [[Conservation Area (United Kingdom)|conservation area]] and contains over 30 [[listed building]]s.
The Great Baddow Mast &ndash; a former [[Chain Home]] [[radar]] transmitter tower, originally sited at RAF [[Canewdon]] &ndash; was moved to the outskirts of Great Baddow around 1954 and is used by [[BAE Systems]] for equipment testing.<ref>[http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/Great%20Baddow%20Mast.pdf The Great Baddow Mast] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807111250/http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/Great%20Baddow%20Mast.pdf |date=7 August 2011 }}, [[Chelmsford Borough Council]] Planning and Building Control Services, published May 2009, accessed 2011-10-13</ref>

==Geology==
Great Baddow lies to the south east to central Chelmsford, on higher ground that is thought to mark the edge of the main ice mass during the [[Anglian glaciation]].<ref name=bristow85>Geology of the county around Chelmsford, [[British Geological Survey]], CR Bristow, published HMSO 1985, {{ISBN|0-11-884335-4}}</ref> An outcrop of glacial sand and gravel 3&nbsp;km long and 0.8&nbsp;km wide is beneath the village, which used to be extracted from several pits in the area, including Beehive Pit (now beneath Harbeard Tye), Baddow Hall Pit (now beneath Baden-Powell Close), to the south of the A1114 Princes Road (now in the grounds of Moulsham High School) and on what is now an area of open land off Waterson Vale.<ref name=bristow85 /><!--note: present day locations derived from locating the grid references given by Bristow on the detailed Ordance Survey maps--> Smaller pits were also located off the Galleywood Road (near what is now Hollywood Close)<ref name=bristow85 /> and off Pitt Chase. The area is overlain with [[Head (geology)|head]], while the lower levels of the sand and gravel are mixed with [[London Clay]].<ref name=bristow85 /> A [[Sarsen|Sarsen stone]] from the Beehive Pit used to stand outside The Beehive pub.<ref name=bristow85 />

==Education==
The village secondary school is [[Great Baddow High School]], a sports and science college on Duffield Road. Primary schools include Baddow Hall Infant and Junior Schools at the border of Great Baddow, Beehive Lane County Primary School, Larkrise Primary School, (formerly Rothmans Primary School), and Meadgate County Primary Schools.


== Nearby villages include ==
== Nearby villages include ==
Line 63: Line 69:
* [[Moulsham]]
* [[Moulsham]]
* [[Chelmer Village]]
* [[Chelmer Village]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Great Baddow}}
{{Commons category|Great Baddow}}
* http://www.ingreatbaddow.co.uk/ Business and Community Life in Great Baddow. Replacing Great Baddow On-line, which goes offline on 30 January 2011.
* http://www.ingreatbaddow.co.uk/ Business and Community Life in Great Baddow. Replacing Great Baddow On-line, which goes offline on 30 January 2011.
*[http://greatbaddow.blogspot.com The Great Baddow Blog - News From Around Great Baddow]
*[http://greatbaddow.blogspot.com The Great Baddow Blog News From Around Great Baddow]
* [http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/ Great Baddow Parish Council]
* [http://www.greatbaddowparishcouncil.co.uk/ Great Baddow Parish Council]
* [http://www.greatbaddow.org.uk/ Website for the Great Baddow Team Ministry] - includes a [http://www.greatbaddow.org.uk/docs/Great%20Baddow%20Timeline.htm history] of the village
* [http://www.greatbaddow.org.uk/ Website for the Great Baddow Team Ministry] includes a [http://www.greatbaddow.org.uk/docs/Great%20Baddow%20Timeline.htm history] of the village
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314093818/http://www.greatbaddowonline.co.uk/ Great Baddow Online - Website for the village community]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314093818/http://www.greatbaddowonline.co.uk/ Great Baddow Online Website for the village community]
*[http://www.mainlymono.co.uk/greatbaddow/ Pictures of Great Baddow Pubs in the 1970s]
*[http://www.mainlymono.co.uk/greatbaddow/ Pictures of Great Baddow Pubs in the 1970s]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080820053802/http://www.thebeehivegtbaddow.co.uk/ The Beehive Public House]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080820053802/http://www.thebeehivegtbaddow.co.uk/ The Beehive Public House]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110904213545/http://www.baddowlife.org.uk/ Baddow Life - The Life of Great Baddow]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110904213545/http://www.baddowlife.org.uk/ Baddow Life The Life of Great Baddow]


{{Chelmsford}}
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}


{{authority control}}
{{Chelmsford}}


[[Category:Villages in Essex]]
[[Category:Villages in Essex]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Essex]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Essex]]
[[Category:Chelmsford]]

Latest revision as of 08:18, 12 October 2023

Bell Street, Great Baddow
Great Baddow is located in Essex
Great Baddow
Great Baddow
Location within Essex
Population14,650 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTL731052
Civil parish
  • Great Baddow
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHELMSFORD
Postcode districtCM2
Dialling code01245
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°43′08″N 0°30′25″E / 51.719°N 0.507°E / 51.719; 0.507

Great Baddow is an urban village and civil parish in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the city of Chelmsford and, with a population of over 13,000,[2] is one of the largest villages in the country.

History[edit]

Great Baddow's name is believed to have been derived from the River Beadwan, now known as the River Chelmer, which marks the northern boundary of the village. Beadwan is thought to be a Celtic word of uncertain meaning,[3] possibly birch stream or a reference to the goddess Badbh.[2]

In the Saxon period, the manor of Great Baddow was held by the Earls of Mercia and in the 13th century by Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale whose widow launched a legal challenge over its ownership on his death in March 1295.[4][5] After passing to the Crown, Henry VIII later granted it to Catherine of Aragon. During the reign of Edward VI, it was held by the Paschals, before being sold to J.A. Houblon in 1736.

According to information in the local Church of St Mary, the rebel leader Jack Straw led an ill-fated crowd (the men of Essex) from the churchyard to London, in one of the risings in the 1381 Peasants' Revolt.

In 1731, Jasper Jeffrey founded Great Baddow Free School and, in 1830, two National Schools were built. By 1933, there were 7 daily schools, 2 daily and Sunday schools, and a further 2 boarding schools.

Great Baddow is recorded as having had a population of 1,445 in 1801, a figure that had risen to 2,022 in 1841. White's Directory of Essex 1848 reports Great Baddow as being 'one of the handsomest villages in Essex' having 'many scattered farms and neat houses', also noting that it had an annual pleasure fair on 14 May.

William Calcraft, the hangman and a cobbler by trade, was born at Baddow in 1800.[6]

Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, responsibility for the poor of Great Baddow was removed from the parish and transferred to the Chelmsford Union on 10 August 1835.[7]

The Post Office Directory of Essex 1851, which lists the principal residents and trade persons of the parish of Great Baddow, includes 24 farmers, 8 beer retailers, 4 shoemakers, 3 blacksmith, 2 dressmakers and notes that the vicar is residing in the Vineyards.

The former Chain Home radar transmitter tower, in the grounds of BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories, Great Baddow – a prominent local landmark

The Great Baddow Mast – a former Chain Home radar transmitter tower, originally sited at RAF Canewdon – was moved to the outskirts of Great Baddow at around 1954 and is used by BAE Systems for equipment testing.[8] The last remaining example of a Chain Home tower maintaining its platforms, it was made a listed building by Historic England in October 2019 and given a Grade II status.[9]

Development[edit]

During the early part of the 20th century, Great Baddow grew through ribbon development towards Chelmsford and Galleywood. In 1936, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company opened the Marconi Research Laboratory in Great Baddow (now BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories), bringing together their various radio, television and telephony research teams in a single location.[10] As the electronics industry developed, the campus expanded during the 1940s and 1950s to include research into radar, general physics, high voltage, vacuum physics and semiconductors.[10] Great Baddow expanded considerably in the 1950s with the construction of Rothmans Estate, which provided housing for workers at Marconi's and English Electric Valve Company in Chelmsford.[11] The village has continued to expand over subsequent years.

The Vineyards, in the centre of the old village, was once a Georgian house set in wooded grounds[12] which later became a hotel. It was demolished in the mid-1960s[13] before the advent of conservation legislation,[12] to make way for the construction of the Vineyards shopping centre and later the Marrable House office block, both constructed with a 'scale, form, layout and architecture' that Chelmsford Council now considers to 'jar with its historic surroundings'.[12] Despite this, the shopping centre continues to thrive[12] and, since refurbishment in the 2000s, the flats above are highly regarded and sought-after properties.[citation needed] Marrable House, a six-storey office block was described at the time of its construction in 1968 as "one of the worst examples of town and country planning in the country"[14] and subsequently once voted as one of England's ugliest buildings,[13][15] was demolished in the Spring of 2016,[16] and was replaced with a 53-flat development, made up of one to two bedrooms in two buildings, named Heron Gate; the development was completed in spring 2018.[17][18] A corner of the grounds of the former Vineyards mansion were retained and form a green area to the west of the Vineyards development.[12] A library was also opened on the western edge of the development in September 1981, replacing the former building in Bell Street.[19]

In 1967, a fire station was opened in Great Baddow to replace the former station which occupied a converted hut in Brewery Fields, Galleywood; it was once part of the Galleywood race course complex.

Great Baddow has three pubs: the White Horse, Blue Lion and The Star; The Beehive and King's Head pubs have closed in recent times. There is also a family-run brewery, the Chelmsford Brewing Company.[20] The former Baddow Brewery, previously owned by the Baddow Brewery Co Ltd,[21] built in 1868 and extended in 1878 by George Scamell, is now a Grade II building and houses local businesses.[22][23] Great Baddow is also home to the Pontlands Park Country Hotel and the Baddow Antique Centre.

The centre of Great Baddow is now a conservation area and contains over 30 listed buildings.

Geology[edit]

Great Baddow lies to the south east to central Chelmsford, on higher ground that is thought to mark the edge of the main ice mass during the Anglian glaciation.[24] An outcrop of glacial sand and gravel 3 km long and 0.8 km wide is beneath the village, which used to be extracted from several pits in the area, including Beehive Pit (now beneath Harbeard Tye), Baddow Hall Pit (now beneath Baden-Powell Close), to the south of the A1114 Princes Road (now in the grounds of Moulsham High School) and on what is now an area of open land off Waterson Vale.[24] Smaller pits were also located off the Galleywood Road (near what is now Hollywood Close)[24] and off Pitt Chase. The area is overlain with head, while the lower levels of the sand and gravel are mixed with London Clay.[24] A Sarsen stone from the Beehive Pit used to stand outside The Beehive pub.[24]

Education[edit]

The village secondary school is Great Baddow High School, a sports and science college on Duffield Road. Primary schools include Baddow Hall Infant and Junior Schools at the border of Great Baddow, Beehive Lane County Primary School, Larkrise Primary School, (formerly Rothmans Primary School), and Meadgate County Primary Schools.

Nearby villages include[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b Great Baddow Parish Council, published 2005, accessed 2011-10-13
  3. ^ "Great Baddow". Key to English Place-names. English Place-Name Society. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. ^ Sayles, G.O. (1983). Scripta Diversa. History series. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8264-3850-8.
  5. ^ Richardson, D.; Everingham, K.G. (2005). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Coloncial And Medieval Families. Royal Ancestry Series. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 733. ISBN 978-0-8063-1759-5.
  6. ^ Griffiths, Arthur George Frederick (1884), The Chronicles of Newgate vol. 2, pp. 411-415
  7. ^ Seax – Catalogue: G/Ch Chelmsford Union Essex Record Soffice, accessed 2011-10-13
  8. ^ The Great Baddow Mast Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Chelmsford Borough Council Planning and Building Control Services, published May 2009, accessed 2011-10-13
  9. ^ "Chain Home tower at Great Baddow, Great Baddow – 1456445 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b Birthplace of Radio Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Invest Essex, accessed 2011-10-13
  11. ^ Stothard, Peter (Winter 2009). "Essex Clay". Granta. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e Planning Brief, The Vineyards Archived 3 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Chelmsford Borough Council Town Planning Services, June 2004, accessed 2011-10-13
  13. ^ a b THE issue on everyone's lips at the moment in Great Baddow – the demolition of Marrable House – was exactly the same this time 50 years ago. Archived 3 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine This is Essex, published 2011-02-17, accessed 2011-10-13
  14. ^ Protestors triumph as Vineyards plan rejected Chelmsford Weekly News, published 2010-06-25, accessed 2011-10-13
  15. ^ Plans to demolish 'ugliest building' in doubt Essex Chronicle, published 2010-06-24, accessed 2011-10-13
  16. ^ http://www.essexlive.news/concrete-muncher...marrable-house/.../story.html[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Overview of Heron Gate in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex | Weston Homes". Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Marrable "Ugliest Building" House Demolished for Heron Gate Development". 13 April 2016.
  19. ^ Great Baddow Library Celebrates 20 Years published September 2011, accessed 2011-10-13
  20. ^ "Welcome".
  21. ^ Baddow Brewery Co Ltd The National Archives, accessed 2011-10-13
  22. ^ A Survey of the Brewery Heritage of Essex, Brewery History: 111, pp. 15-34, Tony Crosby, published 2003, accessed 2011-10-13
  23. ^ Great Baddow Village Website
  24. ^ a b c d e Geology of the county around Chelmsford, British Geological Survey, CR Bristow, published HMSO 1985, ISBN 0-11-884335-4

External links[edit]