Uttlesford is a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Its council is based in the market town of

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Sta ...

Elmdon :''See also, Elmdon, West Midlands.'' Elmdon is a village in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, near the boundary with Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The hilly topography of the area differentiates it from countryside to the north, wh ...

Stebbing Stebbing is a small village in the Uttlesford district of northern Essex, England. The village is situated north of the ancient Roman road Stane Street. It is from the nearest railway station (), and from nearest airport (London Stansted). Th ...

Stansted Mountfitchet Stansted Mountfitchet is an English village and civil parish in Uttlesford district, Essex, near the Hertfordshire border, north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533, increasing to 6,011 at the 2011 census. The ...

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level ...

, Debden,

Little Chesterford Little Chesterford is a small village and civil parish in Uttlesford, Essex, in the East of England. Close to the Cambridgeshire border, it is built principally along a single sunken lane to the east of a chalk stream tributary of the River Cam o ...

and

Felstead Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

among other settlements.

History

Its name is derived from its location within the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Uttlesford,Open Domesday: Hundred of Uttlesford.
Accessed 6 January 2022. usually spelled ''Vdelesford'' Open Domesday: Saffron Walden.
Accessed 6 January 2022. or ''Wdelesford'' Open Domesday: Elsenham.
Accessed 6 January 2022. in the

Domesday Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

manuscript of 1086, possibly from ''Udel's

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

''. The River Uttle flows from Elmdon to meet the River Cam at Wendens Ambo. There was originally a ford at Wendens Ambo on the main road immediately to the West of The Old Forge, before a bridge was constructed to the East and the road moved to its current position. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...

, Dunmow Rural District and Saffron Walden Rural District. An earlier use of the name comes from the Uttlesford Orchestra, founded in 1956, which played in and around Saffron Walden.

Economy

Apart from considerable agriculture, retail and office premises in towns, Uttlesford District includes

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

, which is its largest employer. For more detailed analysis of strengths and specializations in the economy see individual settlements, for instance the article:

. In October 2008, the airport won a 40% increase in permitted flights under the flight cap which operates in relation to the airport, from the UK government. Aside from countryside hotels close to and

aircraft maintenance Aircraft maintenance is the performance of tasks required to ensure the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft part, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification, and the embodiment of modifications, compliance ...

vital to Stansted Airport, airlines have also used a small adjoining business park.

Titan Airways Titan Airways is a British charter airline founded in 1988 and based at London Stansted Airport. The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) and wet lease operations as well as ad-hoc passenger an ...

has its head office in the Enterprise House in the grounds in

. Several airlines, including

Buzz Buzz may refer to: People *Buzz (nickname), a list of people * J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters *Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie '' Rev ...

AirUK AirUK was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth (B&C)-owned ...

(later

KLM uk KLM uk was the brand name of a British airline subsidiary of KLM, which operated services within the UK and between the UK and the Netherlands using ATR-72, Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft. KLM uk had its headquarters in the Stansted Hous ...

), AB Airlines,

Go Fly Go Fly (styled and trading as Go) was the name of a British low-cost airline, founded by British Airways in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted Airport and destinations in Europe. The airline was purchased from BA in a management ...

had its head office at the Enterprise House. and Lloyd International Airways had their head offices on the property of Stansted Airport.

Housing

The district has the highest average house price of the 14 districts in the ceremonial county of Essex and of the 12 districts administered by Essex County Council. To Autumn 2012, Uttlesford had the 2nd highest quarterly increase in house prices after the

Borough of Basildon The Borough of Basildon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred on the town of Basildon. It was formed as the Basildon District on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon U ...

and 2nd highest annually after the

Borough of Chelmsford The City of Chelmsford () is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex. On 1 June 2012 Chelmsford was granted city status to mark the Diamond Jubi ...

, both exceeding 5%. As a whole the county has a wide range in house prices, with Uttlesford's average house price only 0.85% greater than in

Epping Forest District Epping Forest is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, t ...

and 203% greater than the lowest-ranked

Tendring Tendring is a village and civil parish in Essex. It gives its name to the Tendring District and before that the Tendring Hundred. Its name was given to the larger groupings because it was at the centre, not because it was larger than the other ...

district of

. House prices were among the top 10 local authorities for resilience in having returned to or exceeded 2007 levels in a 2011 statistical analysis by The Times.

Local government

Elections

On 2 May 2019, Residents for Uttlesford won a majority with 26 councillors, but in October 2019 three members of their group defected to the Green Party to create a new council group, leaving the ruling group with 23 councillors and reducing their majority from 13 to seven seats: The Conservatives held 31 seats in the 2011-2015 term. They retained control of the Council in the 2015 elections, but with a significantly reduced number of seats (-26%). They lost seats to

Residents for Uttlesford Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is a localist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was launched in 2014, and formed from a number of residents groups in the area. The party is based in the Uttlesford administrative district in Esse ...

, who then comprised the second largest party in the District. Between the 2015 and 2019 local elections, by-elections saw Residents for Uttlesford win two seats from the Liberal Democrats while the sole independent joined the Conservatives.

Energy policy

In May 2006, a report commissioned by

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

showed that housing in Uttlesford produced the highest average carbon emissions in the country at 8,092 kg of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

per dwelling. In response the council stated Uttlesford council has, however, introduced a

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

condition requiring certain

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

measures to be taken when homes are extended, and has a number of other initiatives. A 2010 study by the consultancy Altechnica indicated that all of Uttlesford's energy could come from renewable sources.

Transport

Rail

The

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, ...

passes through Uttlesford. There are stations at: *

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acr ...

Elsenham Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet. History Elsenham is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 as ''Alsenh ...

* Newport (Essex) * Audley End (for Saffron Walden) * Great Chesterford From all stations, there are regular services northbound towards

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, operated by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city ser ...

. At certain times, trains continue towards

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral ** Ely Rural District, a ...

and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

. CrossCountry also operates northbound trains from Stansted Airport and Audley End to Cambridge,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, Leicester and Birmingham New Street. From Stansted Airport, a southbound train is operated towards

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

, Harlow,

Tottenham Hale Tottenham Hale is a district of north London and part of the London Borough of Haringey, bounded by the River Lea and located to the south/south-east of Tottenham proper. From 1850 to 1965, it was part of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham, in ...

and

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

, operated by Greater Anglia under the ''

Stansted Express The Stansted Express is a direct train service linking London Liverpool Street to London Stansted Airport. It is a sub-brand of Greater Anglia, the current franchise operator of the East Anglia franchise. History In 1986, British Rail (BR) ...

'' brand. This train sometimes calls at Stansted Mountfitchet. Greater Anglia operates southbound trains from other stations in the district to Bishop's Stortford, Harlow, Tottenham Hale and Liverpool Street. A southbound hourly fast-train also calls at Audley End, with additional services at peak times towards London from this station.

Road

Roads in the district are managed by

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

, with some routes controlled by

Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all ...

. The

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960 ...

between London and Cambridge passes through the district, with junctions at Stansted Airport (junction 8) and Stump Cross, near Saffron Walden (9). This places the district in the M11 corridor for innovation. Northbound from Stump Cross, the A11 forms part of the northern boundary of the district, carrying traffic to Newmarket and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

. The A120 runs east-west through the district between Stansted Airport and Braintree, via Great Dunmow. This connects the district to

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

and

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton- ...

. Other roads in the district are B-class roads. This includes: * the B184 - from Stump Cross to

the Rodings The Rodings are a group of eight villages in the upper part of the River Roding and the west of Essex, England, the largest group in the country to bear a common name. (Registration required.) The Rodings do not lie within a single district in th ...

, via Saffron Walden, Thaxted and Great Dunmow * the B1383 - from Stump Cross to Bishop's Stortford, via Newport and Stansted Mountfitchet * the B1008 - from Great Dunmow to the A131 towards

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...

Air

is in the district. Stansted is the fourth-busiest UK airport, with flights to over 200 destinations.

Bus & Coach

There are several bus routes which cross the district and which connect the district to neighbouring destinations, including: *

* Braintree *

* Harlow * Haverhill *

The Rodings The Rodings are a group of eight villages in the upper part of the River Roding and the west of Essex, England, the largest group in the country to bear a common name. (Registration required.) The Rodings do not lie within a single district in th ...

Great Dunmow and Stansted Airport are on the

First Essex First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Ea ...

and

Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary ...

networks. First bus 42A calls operates from both destinations to Chelmsford, and X10 and X30 connect Stansted Airport to Chelmsford, Basildon and Southend-on-Sea. Arriva bus 133 connects Stansted and Great Dunmow to Colchester. Arriva Bus 510 links Stansted Mountfitchet and Stansted Airport to Bishop's Stortford and Harlow. Saffron Walden is on the Stagecoach Cambridge network, served by the Citi 7, although Megarider tickets are not valid in the district. Stansted Airport is served by

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

and Airport Bus Express coaches to destinations in London and across the UK.

Cycling

Several cycle routes cross the district, linking towns in the district to the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

National Cycle Route 11 National Cycle Route 11 is a bikeway in England on the UK's National Cycle Network, connecting Harlow in Essex to King's Lynn in Norfolk. Route Harlow to Cambridge Harlow , Bishop Stortford , Hinxton , Sawston , Cambridge Intersects wi ...

(NCR 11) crosses the district north-south, from

Ickleton Ickleton is a village and civil parish about south of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. The village is beside the River Cam, close to where a southern branch of the Icknield Way crossed the river. The eastern and southern boundaries of t ...

, running mostly on rural lanes. NCR 11 eventually links the district to the

River Stort The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon. The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's St ...

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...

(towards Harlow, NCR 1 and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

). Northbound, the route continues towards

and

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and ...

. A spur of the route leads into

, running for much of its length on a segregated cycle route.

National Cycle Route 16 National Cycle Route 16, part of the National Cycle Network, connects Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire to Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Route Bishop's Stortford to Shoeburyness Bishop Stortford , Little Dunmow , Braintree , Basildon , Sout ...

runs east-west between Stansted Mountfitchet and Braintree, via

town centre. The route runs for much of its length on segregated cycle track, and it runs unbroken through the district, mostly parallel to the A120.

50 runs north-south between

Takeley __NOTOC__ Takeley is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. History A number of theories have arisen over the origin of the village's name. One believes the village's name was a corruption from the "Teg-Ley" ...

and Quendon in Uttlesford. The route ultimately runs between Quendon and

Ulting Ulting is a small village and civil parish in the Maldon district, in the county of Essex, England. It shares its borders with Langford and Nounsley. It the location of Ulting Wick garden. History Ulting was the location of the first sugar be ...

(near

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced i ...

) running entirely on

country lane A country lane is a narrow road in the countryside. In North America and Australia, the term "lane" also may refer to rear access roads which act as a secondary vehicular network in cities and towns. Some towns and cities in the United Kingdo ...

In the media

In 2001, Uttlesford was voted as the best place to live in England, in a survey by the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

''. A range of factors, including housing costs, quality of schools and low crime contributed to the overall result. Uttlesford has also been polled as the healthiest place to live in the UK. Starting in 2001 with help from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) a group of grey seals were raised in boyton end because of the phocine distemper virus destroying almost 50% of the grey seal population between 1988-2002 they now have a population of around 150 seal
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parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

) to begin with the letter 'u'. The only other initial letter used by only one UK local authority is 'y' for City of York">York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...