Danbury, Essex

Danbury
St John the Baptist church
Danbury  Danbury shown within Essex
Population	6,500
OS grid reference	TL783050
District	Chelmsford
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Chelmsford
Postcode district	CM3
Dialling code	01245
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Maldon and East Chelmsford
List of places UK England Essex

Danbury is a village in the borough of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is located 33.5 miles (53.9 km) northeast of Charing Cross, London and has a population of 6,500. It is situated on a hill 367 feet (112 m) above sea level.

Origins

The village was built on the site of a Neolithic or early Iron Age hill fort noted for its oval shape, sometimes confused with the Megalithic enclosure at Danebury in Hampshire.

According to the official parish publication, Danbury Parish Plan 2003, first Iron Age settlers, then the Romans and finally the Dæningas tribe of Saxons occupied the Danbury area. They built a hill fort. It was known as Danengeberiam in the Domesday Book of 1086, a name meaning "stronghold of the family or followers of a man called Dene".

After the Norman Conquest, King William took the lands and settlement and granted it to Geoffrey de Mandeville who was made Earl of Essex.

Medieval to Georgian period

File:'The Griffin' inn, at the heart of Danbury village - geograph.org.uk - 732673.jpg

Griffin Inn where Walter Scott stayed in 1808

In medieval times Danbury developed from two manors, St Cleres/Herons and Runsell. Traces of both still exist. There was also a small part of a third, now extinct, manor of Gibcracks. The church of St John the Baptist is the oldest building in the village, dating from the 13th century, and is grade I listed. There is a local folk tale that the church's spire was damaged by the Devil in the guise of a monk in the year 1402. According to the legend, the Devil passed between the legs of a parishioner as he departed, and the man later died of a wasting disease.

The village has a long connection with the Sinclair family, known locally as St Clere. There are three wooden effigies in the church which date back to the thirteenth and fourteenth century One has been identified as being that of William St Clere. In 1968 it was taken to be exhibited at the Louvre in Paris.

In 1779 the tomb of a knight was disturbed, and the body therein was discovered to be perfectly preserved in what was described as "pickle", but this was contested by Joseph Strutt, MP for Maldon. Strutt also attempted to write a romance with a book called Queenhoo Hall. In 1808, Walter Scott was asked to complete the book by his publisher John Murray. Scott visited the village and stayed at the Griffin inn in order to attempt his first venture into romantic fiction. In 1985, the author and psychic-questing investigator Andrew Collins suggested that the body was that of a Knight Templar.

The church also contains some memorial slabs to the Mildmays. Sir Walter Mildmay was the founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and built Danbury Place in 1589. The original building has disappeared but another was built in 1832 in the Tudor Revival style, with red brick. It was acquired by the Church of England in 1845 and became the residence of the Bishop of Rochester. From then on it became known as Danbury Palace. The mansion sits within the historic landscape of Danbury Park, a former medieval deer park, with later additions dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The history of the park and garden was researched by Kate Felus in 2007.

Modern day

The village is at the centre of extensive areas of woodland and heath owned by the National Trust and other conservation organisations. Danbury Common, a Site of Special Scientific Interest lies due south of the village centre. The woodlands extend into the parish of Little Baddow. However the quietude of the surrounding countryside contrasts with the A414 road, a major trunk route running through the village centre linking it with Maldon to the east and Chelmsford to the west. Several bus services running from Chelmsford link Danbury with Maldon, Great Baddow, Little Baddow, South Woodham Ferrers, Sandon and other villages around Maldon. The village has a monthly publication called the Danbury Journal, it contains stories, articles and adverts for local businesses and is printed and published by Maypole Press & Publishing of South Woodham Ferrers.

Nearby places

• Bicknacre
• Great Baddow
• Little Baddow
• Maldon
• Sandon
• South Woodham Ferrers