West Hanningfield is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in south 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...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located approximately 8 km (5 mi) south-southeast of the county town of 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...

. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford

Chelmsford (borough)

Chelmsford is a local government district and borough in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex.-History:...

 and in the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh

Rayleigh (UK Parliament constituency)

Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

.

It is located to the north of Hanningfield Reservoir

Hanningfield Reservoir

Hanningfield Reservoir is an artificial body of water in Essex, south of Chelmsford, and is owned by Essex and Suffolk Water. The reservoir was formed by flooding an area of South Hanningfield covering the ancient hamlet of Peasdown although contrary to popular belief, no buildings survive under...

. Surrounding villages include South Hanningfield, Stock, Rettendon and East Hanningfield. It is also close to the Chelmsford suburbs of Galleywood and Great Baddow.

The local public house is known as the Three Compasses. The village also contains a high class primary school, a village hall and a hairdresser.

There is a local legend that a peace maker was born here he was called Noah.