Chelmsford, England

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 London at Charing Cross and south-west of Colchester. The population of the urban area was 111,511 in the 2011 Census, while the wider district has 168,310.

The demonym for a Chelmsford resident is "Chelmsfordian".

The main conurbation of Chelmsford incorporates all or part of the former parishes of Broomfield, Newland Spring, Great Leighs, The Walthams, Great Baddow, Howe Green, Margaretting, Pleshey, Stock, Roxwell, Danbury, Bicknacre, Writtle, Moulsham, Rettendon, The Hanningfields, The Chignals, Widford and Springfield, including Springfield Barnes, now known as Chelmer Village.

The communities of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Chelmsford, Ontario and Chelmsford, New Brunswick are named after the city.

Chelmsford's population consists of a large number of City and Docklands commuters, attracted by the 30–35-minute railway journey into Central London via the Great Eastern Main Line.

History

Early history

Before 1199, there were settlements nearby from ancient times. The remains of a Neolithic and a late Bronze Age settlement have been found in the Springfield suburb, and the town was occupied by the Romans. A Roman fort was built in AD 60, and a civilian town grew up around it. The town was given the name of Caesaromagus (''Caesar's field'' or ''Caesar's marketplace''), although the reason for it being given the great honour of bearing the Imperial prefix is now unclear – possibly as a failed 'planned town' provincial capital to replace Londinium or Camulodunum. The remains of a '' mansio'', a combination post office, civic centre and hotel, lie beneath the streets of modern Moulsham, and the ruins of an octagonal temple are located beneath the Odeon roundabout. The town disappeared for a while after the Romans left Britain.

An Anglo-Saxon burial was discovered at Broomfield to the north of Chelmsford in the late 19th century and the finds are now in the British Museum. The road 'Saxon Way' now marks the site.

The city's name is derived from ''Ceolmaer's ford'' which was close to the site of the present High Street stone bridge. In the Domesday Book of 1086, the town was called ''Celmeresfort'' and by 1189 it had changed to ''Chelmsford''. Its position on the Londinium – Camulodonum Roman road (the modern A12) ensured the early prosperity of Chelmsford.

Royal charter

On 7 September 1199, following the commissioning of a bridge over the River Can by Maurice, Bishop of London, King John granted to William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise a royal charter for Chelmsford to hold a market, marking the origin of the modern town. An under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday, is still an important part of the city centre over 800 years later.

The town became the seat of the local assize during the early 13th century (though assizes were also held at Brentwood) and by 1218 it was recognised as the county town of Essex, a position it has retained to the present day.

Royal connections

King Robert I of Scotland, better known as Robert the Bruce (1274–1309), had close ties with the nearby village of Writtle and there is some evidence to suggest he was born at Montpeliers Farm in the village,Robert's absolution for Comyn's murder, in 1310, gives Robert as a layman of Carrick, indicating Carrick / Turnberry was either his primary residence, or place of birth. Lochmaben has a claim, as a possession of the Bruce family, but is not supported by a medieval source. The contemporary claims of Essex / the Bruce estate at Writtle Essex, during the coronation of Edward, have been discounted by G. W. S. Barrow. Geoffrey le Baker's
Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke
, ed. Edward Maunde Thompson (Oxford, 1889).King Robert the Bruce By A. F. Murison
.Scottish Kings 1005–1625, by Sir Archibald H Dunbar, Bt., Edinburgh, 1899
p. 127
, where Robert the Bruce's birthplace is given "at Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex, on the 11th July 1274". Baker, cited above, is mentioned with other authorities, but the story is disputed and possibly conflated with his father, Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale.

Chelmsford was significantly involved in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and King Richard II moved on to the town after quelling the rebellion in London. 'The Sleepers and The Shadows', written by Hilda Grieve in 1988 using original sources, states: "For nearly a week, from Monday 1st July to Saturday 6th July 381 Chelmsford became the seat of government ... The king probably lodged at his nearby manor house at Writtle. He was attended by his council, headed by the temporary Chancellor ... the new chief justice ... the royal chancery ... Their formidable task in Chelmsford was to draft, engross, date, seal and despatch by messengers riding to the farthest corners of the realm, the daily batches of commissions, mandates, letters, orders and proclamations issued by the government not only to speed the process of pacification of the kingdom, but to conduct much ordinary day-to-day business of the Crown and Government." Richard II famously revoked the charters which he had made in concession to the peasants on 2 July 1381, while in Chelmsford. It could be said that given this movement of government power, Chelmsford for a few days at least became the capital of England. Many of the ringleaders of the revolt were executed on the gallows at what is now Primrose Hill.

King Henry VIII purchased the Boleyn estate in 1516, and built Beaulieu Palace on the current site of New Hall School. This later became the residence of his then mistress, and later wife Anne. Soon after it became the residence of Henry's daughter, by his first marriage, Mary I.

Witchfinder General

In the 17th century many of the victims of Matthew Hopkins (the self-styled "Witchfinder General") spent their last days imprisoned in Chelmsford, before being tried at the Assizes and hanged for witchcraft.

Charles Dickens

In 1835, when visiting Essex and Suffolk to cover local elections, Charles Dickens visited Chelmsford. He was apparently so upset that he could not find a newspaper on a Sunday that he wrote in a letter to a friend that Chelmsford was "the dullest and most stupid place on earth".

Birthplace of radio

* In 1899 Guglielmo Marconi opened the first "wireless" or radio factory in the world at Hall Street in the Moulsham area of Chelmsford.
* In 1920 Marconi made the first official publicised sound broadcast in the United Kingdom, featuring Dame Nellie Melba at the New Street Works, the first purpose built radio factory in the world.
* In 1922, Marconi made the world's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment (call sign "2MT") began from the nearby village of Writtle.
Station 2MT led to the creation of its sister station in London "2LO", which subsequently led to the creation of the BBC
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