Blackmore

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Blackmore
civil_parish = Blackmore, Hook End and Wyatts Green
population =
latitude= 51.6894
longitude= 0.3266
shire_district= Brentwood
shire_county= Essex
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= Brentwood & Ongar
post_town= INGATESTONE
postcode_district = CM4
postcode_area= CM
dial_code= 01277
os_grid_reference= TL603016

Blackmore is a village in Essex, England. It is located approximately 5 km (3 miles) east of Chipping Ongar and is 7 km (4 miles) north of Brentwood. The village is in the parish of Blackmore, Hook End and Wyatts Green in the borough of Brentwood and parliamentary constituency of Brentwood & Ongar.

History

The village was recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Phingaria' which was a Latinised form of its original Anglo-Saxon name, Fingreth, meaning 'the stream of teh people of Fin'. It is thought that the name Blackmore was introduced in the Middle Ages as a reference to 'Black Marsh' or 'Black Swamp'. [Brentwood Official Guide - 2001]

The Priory Church of St Laurence church marks the site of a former Augustinian Priory, dissolved during the reign of Henry VIII in 1525. The church is the original building (but without the chancel which was destroyed at the time of dissolution) and is now the parish church and features one of the last remaining all wooden steeples (currently inhabited by a community of bats) in England. The site still shows signs of the original moat. [Brentwood Guide]

Jericho Priory, on the site adjacent to the church and still within the moated area, was built in the 18th Century on the site of an earlier 16th Century building which was believed to be the country retreat of Henry VIII and where, in 1520, his 'natural son', Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, was born. [Brentwood Guide]

Other old buildings in the village include the 15th-16th Century Bull Inn, a traditional Essex timber-framed house, and Fingreth Hall, in the north of the parish, where Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Elizabethan era lived. [Brentwood Guide]

The Village in Recent Times

The village, which has its own primary school, is surrounded by countryside and has several pubs. Blackmore has been named Essex best kept village of the year, for 1982, 1984, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and Essex Village of the Year 1997. The village green has a small pond at its eastern end. To the east of the village itself is a cottage which was built in 1345.

It is close to the Chelmsford Road, part of the A414. The 261 bus route connects the village to Brentwood. The 32 bus route also goes through the village connecting it to Ongar and Chelmsford.

Notable residents

*Henry Fitzroy - birthplace of the illegitimate son of Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount.
* Sir Walter Mildmay - Chancellor of the Exchequer during Elizabethan times.
*William Hope Hodgson - birthplace of the author. - Actually born Blackmore End - a different Village in Essex, and no entry on Wikipedia.

External links

* [http://www.blackmoreplayers.co.uk Blackmore Amateur Dramatics/Theatre Group]
* [http://www.blackmorevillage.co.uk Blackmore Village Website]
* [http://www.blackmorescouts.co.uk 1st Blackmore Scout Group Website]

References