Wickham Bishops

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Wickham Bishops
Beacon Hill Wickham Bishops.jpg
Beacon Hill lighting ceremony during Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee
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Wickham Bishops
Location within Essex
Population3,700 (2021) [1]
OS grid reference TL840120
Civil parish
  • Wickham Bishops
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WITHAM
Postcode district CM8
Dialling code 01621
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°46′35″N0°40′05″E / 51.7763°N 0.6681°E / 51.7763; 0.6681

Wickham Bishops is a village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England. It is located around three miles north of the town of Maldon and around two miles south-east of Witham, in whose post town it lies.

Contents

The place name Wickham Bishops is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Wicham, meaning 'dwelling place with a (dairy) farm'. Bishops refers to the fact that the land belonged to the Bishop of London. [2] Other references note the historic name of Wycham Episcopi. [3]

Governance

Wickham Bishops is part of the electoral ward called Wickham Bishops and Woodham. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 3,700. [4]

Churches

The Church of England parish church is St Bartholomew's. The church was built on the western side of the hill on which the village stands. The clock on its steeple was converted to an electronic mechanism in June 2008 (previously being wound by hand). St Bartholomew's is a Victorian replacement for the medieval St Peter's Church, which stands alone in the fields to the west near the River Blackwater, and beyond the disused railway line to Maldon.

The redundant Church of St Peter was probably built as a private chapel for the bishops of London who then owned the village. Since 1975 it has belonged to the Friends of Friendless Churches. [5]

St Bartholomew's Church, Wickham Bishops Stbartholomewschurchwickhambishops.jpg
St Bartholomew's Church, Wickham Bishops

Local amenities and organisations

Wickham Bishops has a village hall (reconstructed in 2005), playing fields, a library, tennis courts, a hairdresser, health food shop, estate agent, a One Stop local shop/off licence and two pubs: the Mitre and the Chequers.

There is a small library which is located in the old school building in School Road.

Wickham Bishops Drama Club

The village's drama club, named 'Wickham Bishops Drama Club', first performed in 1928 with a production of HMS Pinafore . Since then, the club continues to perform various productions throughout the year featuring both their adult group and Junior Workshop. The club rehearses twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays 8–10 pm, all year round currently producing 4 shows a year: the pantomime, the summer production, a spring play and an entry for the Gimson One Act Play Festival.

Girlguiding in Wickham Bishops

Witham South District of GirlGuiding UK covers the area of Wickham Bishops, Great Totham and the surrounding villages; it is made up of two Rainbow packs for girls aged 5–7 years old and a Brownie pack for girls aged 7–10.

Scouting in Wickham Bishops

1st Beacon Hill is a part of Maldon and East Essex Scouts and is made up of Beaver, Cubs and Scout packs for boys and girls who live in Wickham Bishops, Great Totham and the surrounding villages.

Transport

Wickham Bishops is located close to the A12 road.

The village once had a railway station of its own on the Witham–Maldon branch line, which opened in 1848 and closed in 1964. Nowadays, the nearest railway station is Witham on the Great Eastern Main Line.

The number 90 bus service runs between Maldon, Wickham Bishops and Witham generally every half an hour on weekdays.

Notable people

England cricket captain Alastair Cook lived in Wickham Bishops as a boy. [6]

Composer Nicola LeFanu was born in Wickham Bishops. [7]

Related Research Articles

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Witham is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelmsford and the City of Colchester, on the Roman road between the two. The River Brain runs through the town and joins the River Blackwater just outside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldon</span> Town in Essex, England

Maldon is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldon District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Maldon District is a local government district in Essex, England. The council is based in the town of Maldon, after which the district is named. The district also includes the town of Burnham-on-Crouch and numerous villages, including Heybridge, Wickham Bishops, Southminster, Tolleshunt D'Arcy and Tollesbury. The district covers the Dengie peninsula in the south, as well as the Thurstable Hundred area to the north of the Blackwater Estuary, a total area of 358.78 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiptree</span> Village in Essex, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braintree branch line</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatfield Peverel</span> Human settlement in England

Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, to which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets of Nounsley and Mowden. Hatfield means a 'heathery space in the forest'; Peverel refers to William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of 1066. Sited on high ground east of the River Ter, between Boreham and Witham on the A12, it is situated in the southern extremity of the Braintree District Council area. In 2020, the built-up area subdivision had an estimated population of 3,226. In 2011, the built-up area which includes Nounsley had a population of 3,950 and the parish had a population of 4,376.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tillingham</span> Human settlement in England

Tillingham is a small village and civil parish with 1,015 inhabitants in 2001, increasing to 1,058 at the 2011 Census, located 8 miles (13 km) from Burnham-on-Crouch and 3 miles (4.8 km) from Bradwell-on-Sea, in Maldon District and the ceremonial county of Essex in England. It is one of the villages that make up the ancient Dengie Hundred, which is bounded by the River Blackwater and River Crouch.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Totham</span> Human settlement in England

Little Totham is a village in Essex, England, with a population measured at 400 in the 2011 Census. The parish extends from the extensive common and heath-land of Tiptree down to the River Blackwater. The village lies about 6 miles 10 km) from Maldon and 5 miles (8 km) from Tiptree and lies on the back road between Goldhanger and the Maldon to Colchester road. It is part of Maldon District Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tolleshunt D'Arcy</span> Village in Essex, England

Tolleshunt D'Arcy is a village situated on the Blackwater estuary in the Maldon District of Essex, England. The village is 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Colchester, 19 miles (31 km) east of Chelmsford and 30 miles (48 km) north of Southend-on-Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tolleshunt Major</span> Village in Essex, England

Tolleshunt Major is a small village approximately five miles north east of Maldon, in the Maldon District of Essex, England. It forms part of the electoral ward of Tolleshunt D'Arcy and is situated on the northern bank of the River Blackwater.

The Witham to Maldon branch line is a closed railway line joining Maldon to the British railway network at Witham in Essex, England. It was opened in 1848 and was 5+3⁄4 miles (9 km) long. It was extended to Woodham Ferris to give direct access to Southend-on-Sea, but that extension was not commercially successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodham Walter</span> Human settlement in England

Woodham Walter is a village about three miles west of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.

Wickham Bishops railway station served the village of Wickham Bishops, Essex. It was opened in 1848 by the Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway (MWBR) on a branch line from Witham to Maldon East and Heybridge. The station was 2 miles 39 chains (4.00 km) from Witham station. The line and station closed to passenger services in 1964 though goods traffic continued for a further two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldon East and Heybridge railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Maldon East and Heybridge railway station served the town of Maldon and village of Heybridge in Essex, England. It was opened in 1848 by the Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway (MWBR) on a branch line from Witham to Maldon. It was originally named Maldon but was renamed Maldon East in 1889 and then Maldon East and Heybridge in 1907.

Langford is a village at the west end of the Dengie peninsula close to Maldon in the English county of Essex. It is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Totham</span> Village in Essex, England

Great Totham is a village and civil parish in Maldon district, Essex, England, and midway between Chelmsford and Colchester. The village includes the Island of Osea in the Blackwater estuary and is separated into two parts, north and south. The north side and the south side are about a mile and a half apart, distributed along the B1022. The parish contains the hamlet of Totham Hill.

References

  1. ↑ Census, 2021
  2. ↑ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p. 516.
  3. ↑ "Stephen Nunn on a lost landscape ... and a beheaded bishop!". Maldon and Burnham Standard. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward population 2011" . Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Morley, Rachel (July 2019) "No such thing as a lost cause"; The Countryman; July 2019. Skipton: Salesman; pp. 64-67
  6. ↑ Alastair Cook, Starting Out – My Story So Far, p.1.
  7. ↑ Fuller, Sophie (2001). LeFanu, Nicola | Grove Music. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.16261. ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0.

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