Woodham Ferrers is a small village about 7.5 miles (12 km) southeast 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...

, located between South Woodham Ferrers

South Woodham Ferrers

South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is approximately from London and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 16,629. The town is located east of Fenn Creek, and near where it meets the River Crouch...

 and Bicknacre

Bicknacre

Bicknacre is a village in Essex, England. It is approximately north of South Woodham Ferrers and southeast of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford and in the parliamentary constituency of Maldon & East Chelmsford...

 in the county 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...

, 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...

. The village is often shortened to Woodham by those in the area. The village is sometimes erroneously referred to as North Woodham due to its geographical relationship with South Woodham Ferrers.

History

Originally a hermitage

Hermitage (religious retreat)

Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...

 during the reign of Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 the name Woodham was adopted in 1175 when it became a priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

, including 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) of forest stretching towards Danbury

Danbury, Essex

Danbury is a village in Essex, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross, London and has a population of 6,500. It is situated on a hill above sea level.-Origins:The village was built on the site of a megalithic hill fort noted for its oval shape....

.

There is a residence in the village that was once owned by the Bishop of York and was attacked during the Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...

 in 1381.

At the turn of the 16th century, the convent was used as a hospital until being returned to the church in 1540.

Due to the proximity of both the Marconi Company

Marconi Company

The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...

 and North Weald Airfield

North Weald Airfield

North Weald Airfield is an operational airfield, near the village of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Station RAF North Weald. It is the home of North Weald Airfield Museum...

, the village was in the flight path for a number of air-raids during World War II; however it was not a direct target itself.

The village was the centre of national media attention in July 2011 when some 4,000 gypsies

Gypsy

-Ethnic groups:* Romani people, a group widely dispersed throughout Europe* Dom people, an Indo-Aryan group** Lyuli, a Dom subgroup from Central Asia* Lom people, a group from East Anatolia and Armenia* Banjara, a group from India* Irish Travellers...

 arrived there for the Christian Light and Life Festival nearby. Local residents were angered by vandalism and litter which occurred after the gypsies arrived; local crime subsequently doubled and an extra 40 police officers were put on patrol to deal with it.

Education

The village is served by St. Mary's C of E

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 primary school, and William de Ferrers School

William de Ferrers School

William de Ferrers School is a secondary school in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex. It is a comprehensive school and has 1,847 pupils on roll, aged between 11 and 18.It is a specialist sports, maths and computing college.- Accommodation :...

 is its secondary school.

Religious sites

St Mary's Church, situated at the south end of the village, was 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...

in 1066.