Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for CASTLE-HEDINGHAM

CASTLE-HEDINGHAM, a village and a parish in Halstead district, Essex. The village stands on the river Colne, and on the Colne Valley railway, 4½ miles NW of Halstead; is a seat of petty sessions and a pollingplace; and has a post office under Halstead, a railway station, and an inn. Fairs are held on 14 May and 25 July. A grand castle was built on an adjacent eminence, in the early part of the 12th century, by Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford; was the death-place of Queen Maud; made a great figure in the wars in the time of King John; was the scene of a sumptuous entertainment to Henry VII.; suffered much demolition, in 1592, by Edward de Vere; and was reduced to ruin, in 1666, in the first Dutch war. Only the keep of it now stands; and this is pure Anglo-Norman, 62 feet wide, 55 feet broad, and about 100 feet high,-the walls, from 10 to 13 feet thick,-the height disposed in five storeys, pierced with loop-holes and narrow windows. A Benedictine nunnery and an hospital also were founded here by the De Veres,-the former in 1198, the later in 1250;-part of the nunnery is now a farm house. The parish comprises 2,429 acres. Real property, £6.027. Pop., 1,203. Houses, 300. The property is divided among a few. The manor passed from the De Veres to the Ashursts and the Houghtons; and belongs now to A. Majendie, Esq. The parish is notable for its produce of Essex hops. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £100. Patron, A. Majendie, Esq. The church dates from the time of King John; shows Norman traces; has a tower of 1616; and contains monuments of the De Veres and the Ashursts. There are a large Independent chapel and several alms-houses.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Castle Hedingham AP/CP       Halstead RegD/PLU       Essex AncC
Place: Castle Hedingham

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