Hatfield Peverel | |
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St. Andrew's church, Hatfield Peverel |
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Hatfield Peverel shown within Essex | |
Population | 4,376 (2011) |
OS grid reference | TL7911 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
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 | |
Hatfield Peverel is a large urban village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. The 2004 parish population, including the hamlet of Nounsley, was approximately 5,500. Hatfield means a 'heathery space in the forest'; Peverel refers to William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of 1066. Sited on high ground east of the River Ter, between Boreham and Witham on the A12, it is situated in the southern extremity of the Braintree District Council area (to which it elects two members).
Hatfield Peverel is 6 miles (10 km) northeast from Chelmsford, the nearest large town, to which it is connected by road and rail. Hatfield Peverel railway station is on the Abellio Greater Anglia East Anglia rail network. London is 45 minutes away by train, a journey to Colchester takes 30 minutes and provides access to and from Witham, London and Ipswich. The station is open seven days a week, though ticket office opening times vary. There is a notable railway viaduct across the River Ter just west of the station.
Hatfield Peverel is the site of a priory founded by the Saxon Ingelrica, wife of Ranulph Peverel and reputed to be the mistress of William the Conqueror, to atone for her sins, and dissolved by Henry VIII. The parish church, St Andrew's (Church of England) is the surviving fragment of the Norman priory church nave. There is also a Methodist Church and a Salvation Army (northeast London headquarters) congregation. The village has a Junior School (St Andrew's C of E) and an adjacent County Infant School, and Scout and Guide organisations with headquarters in Church Road, a Post Office, library, and doctors' surgery. Hatfield Peverel was the site of a Arla Foods factory which closed in July 2016, it used to produce dairy products, and other small business concerns. The factory which has subsequently been demolished and there are plans to build up to 177 houses on the former site. There are six public houses, a farm shop and other retail outlets. Major houses include Berwick Place, Crix, Hatfield Place, Hatfield Wick, and The Priory.