Halstead, Essex
St Andrew's Church and Halstead High Street
Halstead, Essex is located in Essex
Halstead, Essex
Halstead, Essex
Location within Essex
Population11,906 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTL816306
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHALSTEAD
Postcode districtCO9
Dialling code01787
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011[1] was estimated to be 12,161 in 2019.[3] The town lies near Colchester and Sudbury, in the Colne Valley.

History

Halstead is an ancient community that developed initially on the hill to the north of the River Colne. The name Halstead derives from the Old English gehæld / hald (refuge, shelter, healthy) and stede (site, place or farm), meaning "healthy farm" or "place of refuge".[4] After the Norman Conquest, in the Middle English of the 11th century, hald was written and spoken as halt, holt, or holð.[5] Halstead is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Haltesteda and thrice as Halsteda in the Hundred of Hinckford, where it was mainly held by many freemen as feu in 1066, at the time of King Edward.[6] In 1086, Halstead was one of largest 20% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and had four owners.[6] Most of the manor of Halstead had been granted by King William to William de Warenne as tenant-in-chief and lord of most of its wealth, and about one-third of the manor of Halstead was possessed by Richard, son of count Gilbert as tenant-in-chief.[6]

In the Rebellion of 1088, William de Warenne took the winning side of William Rufus and was named Earl of Surrey, while Richard supported Robert Curthose which led to retirement at a monastery and transfer of his portion of Halstead to his son Gilbert fitz Richard.

Area

The Jubilee Drinking Fountain (1888) designed by Leonard Shuffrey
Townsford Mill, now the antiques centre

The wide High Street is dominated by the 14th-century Church of St Andrew, which was extensively renovated in the Victorian period, but retains much older decoration, including tomb monuments from the 14th century and earlier.

The historic core of Halstead can be viewed on a walk up the market hill. There is a river walk running through the town from east to west. Just outside the town is Broaks Wood, a popular area for walking owned by the Forestry Commission. Halstead Public Gardens were established in 1900 and are noted for their floral displays. The Antiques Centre sells goods ranging from clothing to household items.

Mills

Townsford Mill spans the river at the bottom of the town houses. In 1818, Samuel Courtauld built two mills, Townsford at Halstead and another at Bocking. At the end of 1824, Halstead Mill was sold to Stephen Beuzeville. In 1825, Samuel installed a steam engine at Bocking Mill. An agreement dated 19 January 1825 was drawn up between Beuzeville and Samuel Courtauld and partners for the conversion of Halstead Mill for silk throwing.

Beuzeville was to provide the expertise, capital and silk; Courtauld was to erect the power looms and operate the mill in return for a share in the profits; Beuzeville was to take delivery of the yarn and manufacture the crêpe, on which he was a technical expert with 20 years' experience. The mill appears to have been in operation by the summer of 1825, with Joseph Ash as manager.

The introduction of new technology was important, but the mills remained heavily dependent on labour. The looms required supervision by an army of young female workers. Even in 1838, more than 92 per cent of the workforce was female.

In 1827 Stephen Beuzeville was declared bankrupt; a formal deed of sale dated 11 April 1828 was created between the commissioners in bankruptcy and Samuel Courtauld, whereby Halstead Mill (subject to charges of £300) was sold to Courtaulds for a cash payment of £1,500. Stephen and his father joined Courtaulds as employees.[7]

Amenities

Halstead has a library in a large open-plan building,[8] built in 1864–1866 as the corn exchange. It has also housed a technical school. Nearby Moyns Park, a Grade I listed Elizabethan country house, is where Ian Fleming put the finishing touches to his novel From Russia, with Love, according to the cover text of some recent editions.

The town history society holds regular monthly meetings.[9] There is a town museum attached to the town council offices featuring historical artefacts and objects of local interest. The Empire Theatre in Butler Road hosts occasional bingo nights. Halstead is home to Hume's Bakery, which opened in 1960 in the shop where it trades today.[10][11]

The Jubilee Drinking Fountain was designed by the architect and architectural designer, Leonard Shuffrey. The stone drinking fountain was presented to the town by George Courtauld, and commemorates the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.[12]

Notable people

In birth order:

Schools

Halstead's three primary schools are Holy Trinity,[16] St Andrew's and Richard de Clare. Its one secondary school is The Ramsey Academy (formerly Ramsey Secondary School), located to the north of the town centre. There are several other secondary schools within travelling distance; pupils commonly opt for Sible Hedingham, Braintree or Colchester. the independent Yellow House School at Sible Hedingham is an independent school for pupils with special needs. The two nearest further education colleges are at Braintree and the University of Essex at Colchester Campus.

Places of worship

The Anglican parish church is St Andrew's in Parsonage St. Holy Trinity Church, Halstead was declared redundant in April 1987 and is preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust.[17]

Halstead also has a Methodist church,[18] which opened as a Primitive Methodist chapel in 1874.[19] Halstead Baptist Church is in Hedingham Road[20] and Grace Baptist Church in Colchester Road,[21] as is the Catholic Church of St Francis of Assisi. The United Reformed Church of Halstead is in Kings Road.[22]

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the Sudbury TV transmitter. [23]

Local radio stations are BBC Essex on 103.5 FM, Heart East on 96.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio East (formerly Dream 100 FM) on 100.2 FM, Actual Radio an DAB station and Leisure FM, a community based radio station that broadcast on 107.4 FM. [24]

The town's local newspaper is the Halstead Gazette which publishes on Fridays. [25]

Sport

Halstead's main football club is Halstead Town F.C. It plays in the 9th tier of the English football league system, in the Essex senior league Premier Division.[26]

The town is home to Halstead Cricket Club, which fields three teams in the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship. For the 2011 season the club, with the help of club member and former Bangladesh bowling coach Ian Pont brought in Bangladeshi international cricketer Syed Rasel. Other players to have played both first-class cricket and for the club include former Essex and Leicestershire batsman Darren Robinson, international coach Richard Pybus and New Zealand double World Cup finalist Matt Henry.[27]

Since 2010 the town has a rugby club, Halstead Templars R.F.C.[28]

In 1921 the Courtauld Halstead Bowls Club was established at Courtauld Sports Ground. It marked its 100 years of Lawn Bowls in 2021, organising centenary matches with the England team, Essex team, North West Essex Bowling Association and several others. It competes annually in the North West Essex Bowling Association league, Sudbury Triples League, North Essex County Bowls Federation. Players compete in various Essex County competitions. The club has over 100 members and welcomes new ones.[29]

Civil parish

On 31 December 1894 the parish was abolished and split to form "Halstead Rural" and "Halstead Urban".[30] On 1 April 1974 Halstead Urban parish was renamed "Halstead" and Halstead Rural Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural.[31]

Arms

Coat of arms of Halstead Town Council
Notes
Originally granted to Halstead Urban District Council on 20 November 1964.
Crest
On a wreath of the colours in front of a saltire Azure on a mount Vert a garb Proper.
Escutcheon
Per chevron Vert and Azure in chief two weaver's shuttles erect Proper and in base a thunderbolt Or.
Motto
Consilio Et Prudentia (By Wisdom And Foresight).[32]

References

  1. 1 2 Office for National Statistics: Census 2001: Population Density, 2011 Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Home". Halstead Town Council.
  3. ↑ City Population site. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Corder-Birch, Adrian. "A brief history of the Essex town of Halstead". Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. ↑ hōld n.(2) Definition 7. Middle English Compendium. University of Michigan Library. Accessed 7 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Open Domesday: Halstead, Essex. Accessed 7 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Unlocking Essex Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Essex libraries Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. ↑ Halstead & District Local History Society Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Humes Bakery – Halstead – Essex | Essex Gourmet". www.essexgourmet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Hume's Bakery - Home". www.humesbakery.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Leonard Shuffrey Jubilee Drinking Fountain, Halstead". ArtUK. ArtUK. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Rose, Richard K. (23 September 2004). "Bourchier [Bousser], Robert, first Lord Bourchier (died 1349), administrator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2992. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 16 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  14. ↑ "Dame Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies | British actress". Encyclopedia Britannica. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "X Factor winner Matt Cardle lends his support to busking in the town". Gazette. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "Holy Trinity C of E (VC) Primary School – Halstead – Essex – UK".
  17. ↑ Holy Trinity Church, Halstead Online, archived from the original on 26 April 2011, retrieved 12 March 2011
  18. ↑ Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  20. ↑ Home page Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  21. ↑ Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  22. ↑ Halstead churches Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  23. ↑ "Freeview Light on the Burnham on Crouch (Essex, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "Leisure FM". Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "Halstead Gazette". British Papers. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  26. ↑ Club history Halstead Town FC
  27. ↑ Team site Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  28. ↑ Club site Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  29. ↑ "Courtauld Halstead Bowls Club – Bowling: All the cool kids are doing it".
  30. ↑ "Relationships and changes Halstead AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  31. ↑ "Braintree Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  32. ↑ "East of England". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
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