Fordham, Essex

Fordham
All Saints' Church
Fordham Location within Essex
Population	835 (2011 census)
Civil parish	Fordham
District	Colchester
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COLCHESTER
Postcode district	CO6
Dialling code	01206
UK Parliament	Harwich and North Essex

Fordham is a village and civil parish in the Colchester district of Essex, England, six miles north-west of Colchester. Its population was recorded as 835 in the 2011 Census[1] and estimated at 823 in 2019.[2] The parish includes the nearby hamlets of Fordham Heath and Hemp's Green.

Governance

Fordham is part of the Essex electoral ward of Fordham and Stour Valley. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 5,332.[3]

Natural features

Fordham is bounded to the south by the River Colne. An area of 500 acres (202 ha) in the parish was turned over to the Woodland Trust in 2001 for future woodland.[4]

Amenities and events

The village has a historic pub, The Three Horseshoes. A cafe and an antique showroom, The Shoulder of Mutton, stands on the main Colchester–Halstead Road, near the bridge over the Colne, which replaced the ford that gave the hamlet of Fordstreet its name.

Fordham offers primary education to about 100 pupils at All Saints Church of England Primary School.[4][5]

The village hosts an annual fair on the first Saturday of July and a vehicle show on the second Sunday of August.

Places of worship

All Saints' Church is a Grade I listed building, which dates mainly from about 1340.[6] It was formerly under the patronage of Earl de Grey.[7] The village also had a chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion in the 19th century.[8]

Notable people

In birth order:

• Roger Walden (died 1406) held Fordham as one of several church benefices. He was later briefly Archbishop of Canterbury, then Bishop of London.[9]
• John Owen (1616–1683), a Nonconformist, held the benefice of Fordham in 1642–1646 as a Calvinist, but was not then appointed as rector.[10]
• Thomas Twining (1735–1804), a noted classical scholar and a member of the Twinings tea-merchant family, held the curacy of the parish church from 1764 until his death.[11]
• Digger Kettle (1922–1999), a professional footballer who played 145 times for Colchester United, died in Fordham.[12]
• Tom Bradshaw (b. 1982), farmer and president of the NFU

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 29 September 2015.
2. [City Population site. https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/essex/E34000235__fordham_colchester_/. Retrieved 16 July 2021.]
3. "Fordham and Stour Valley ward population 2011". Retrieved 29 September 2011.
4. Village site Retrieved 5 June 2018. Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
5. Video of school. [1].
6. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS (1239789)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
7. "Folkingham - Fordham Pages 248-250 A Topographical Dictionary of England". British History Online. S Lewis, London 1848. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
8. A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
9. Pat Lewis: All Saints Church, Fordham, Essex. Notes on the Rectors, 2009 Retrieved 5 June 2018.; Fryde Handbook of British Chronology, p. 233.
10. Hugh Chisholm, ed., "Owen, John". Encyclopædia Britannica 20 (11th ed.) Cambridge University Press, 1911, pp. 392–393.
11. ODNB entry: Retrieved 26 June 2011. Subscription required.
12. "Soccer: Hero Digger was one of Colchester's greatest". Thurrock Gazette. 4 March 1999. Retrieved 17 February 2019.

Links

• A Late Antique Decorated Casket and Jewellery from the Roman Villa at Fordham, Essex