Felsted
Encyclopedia
- For the record label, see Felsted Records UKFelsted Records UKFelsted Records began as a subsidiary of the UK Decca Records in July 1954 with music mainly in the jazz and dance band genres with recordings leased from the French Blue Star, Riviera and Classique labels...
- For the Derby winner, see Felstead (horse)Felstead (horse)Felstead was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After failing to show any worthwhile form as a two-year-old he made exceptional improvement as a three-year-old to win the 1928 Epsom Derby at odds of 33/1 in record time. Soon after his win at Epsom, Felstead was injured in training and...
Felsted (sometimes spelt 'Felstead') is a village that lies in the north west of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in England, south of the A120
A120 road
The A120 is an important trunk road in southern England. It follows the course of Stane Street, a Roman road from Standon, Hertfordshire at its western terminus to Colchester...
and is located near Braintree
Braintree, Essex
Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous...
, Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow is an ancient market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England in which the great Shannon Gray, also known as Hazzah Potter, lives...
and Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
. It lies on the north bank of the River Chelmer
River Chelmer
The River Chelmer is a river that flows entirely through the county of Essex, England.The source of the river is near Debden Green, a village near Thaxted. The source of the River Can is also nearby. The River Chelmer flows past Thaxted, south through the district of Uttlesford around the...
as it leaves Great Dunmow and turns south towards Chelmsford.
Felsted is linked to Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree for 3.2 km before turning right for the village...
by the Flitch Way Country Park, a former railway line. The village has links to Lord Riche
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich
Sir Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich , was Lord Chancellor during the reign of King Edward VI of England. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated alms houses in Essex in 1564....
who founded the public school, The Felsted School
Felsted School
Felsted School, an English co-educational day and boarding independent school, situated in Felsted, Essex. It is in the British Public School tradition, and was founded in 1564 by Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich who, as Lord Chancellor and Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, acquired...
, in 1564, and is buried in Holy Cross Church. Lord Riche was an important benefactor of the Felsted church. The school also has links to Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, who sent his sons there. The valley between Little Dunmow and Felsted was the location for the only sugar beet factory in Essex, which has been redeveloped for housing in a community called Flitch Green
Flitch Green
Flitch Green is a civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It consists of a new housing development being built just outside the ancient village of Little Dunmow. Flitch Green is located near the A120 dual carrageway, the village of Felsted and the town of Great Dunmow, the last...
. The village has a village store, a deli, an antique shop, art an gallery, an estate agent, three pubs (The Chequers, The Swan and The Three Horseshoes), three restaurants (The Raj, The Boote House, and Joseph's) as well as bed and breakfast accommodation.
Felsted is recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as Felesteda, Felstede and Phensteda in the Hundred of Hinckford, where it was held by Earl Ælfgar
Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia
Ælfgar was son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia,by his well-known wife Godgifu . He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on the latter's death in 1057....
as five hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
in the time of King Edward
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
. In 1086, Felstead was part of the land of La Trinité of Caen, who held four hides. The fifth hide was no longer in this manor as King William gave three virgate
Virgate
The virgate or yardland was a unit of land area measurement used in medieval England, typically outside the Danelaw, and was held to be the amount of land that a team of two oxen could plough in a single annual season. It was equivalent to a quarter of a hide, so was nominally thirty acres...
s to Roger God-save-the-ladies and the fourth to Geoffrey fitzSalomon.
The winner of the 1928 Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
was Felstead
Felstead (horse)
Felstead was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After failing to show any worthwhile form as a two-year-old he made exceptional improvement as a three-year-old to win the 1928 Epsom Derby at odds of 33/1 in record time. Soon after his win at Epsom, Felstead was injured in training and...
, sired by Spion Kop
Spion Kop (horse)
Spion Kop was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1919 until 1921, Spion Kop ran fourteen times winning two races. After an undistinguished early career in which he lost his first six races, he improved as a three-year-old to win the Epsom...
, winner of the 1920 Derby.