Great Bardfield is a large village in the Braintree district of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It is approximately northwest of the town of Braintree, and approximately southeast of

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish 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. Th ...

. The village came to national attention during the 1950s as home to the

Great Bardfield Artists {{Use British English, date=July 2015 The Great Bardfield Artists were a community of artists who lived in Great Bardfield, a village in north west Essex, England, during the middle years of the 20th century. The principal artists who lived t ...

History

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

is said to have given Bardfield to

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (; 28 June or 22 September 1515 – 16 July 1557) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the Wives of Henry VIII, fourth wife of Henry VIII. Little is known about Anne before 1527, ...

as part of his divorce settlement and a number of buildings in the village are associated with Anne of Cleves, including the

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Great Lodge and its associated Grade I-listed barn, now named after her. The grounds include a Grade I-listed barn and a vineyard. Great Bardfield is home to the Bardfield Cage, a 19th-century village lock-up, and the Gibraltar Mill, a windmill which has been converted to a house. Great Bardfield played an important role in the history of the

oxlip ''Primula elatior'', the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts o ...

(''

Primula elatior ''Primula elatior'', the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of ...

'') which, in the UK, is a rare plant only found where

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

meet. Originally it was thought that oxlips were cowslip-primrose hybrids but in 1842 Henry Doubleday and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

conducted tests on plants collected from Great Bardfield and concluded that this was not so. For a while the plant was known as the Bardfield Oxlip. The common cowslip-primrose hybrid is known as the

false oxlip False or falsehood may refer to: *False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic *Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement *False statement, aka a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a state ...

(''

Primula × polyantha ''Primula'' × ''polyantha'', the polyanthus primrose or false oxlip, is a naturally occurring hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is the result of crosses between ''Primula veris'' (common cowslip) and ''Primula vulga ...

'').

Great Bardfield Artists

Bardfield was the home of many important twentieth-century English artists who hosted a series of important 'open house' exhibitions in the village during the 1950s. These exhibitions garnered national press attention and attracted thousands of visitors. The Great Bardfield Artists of the 1940s and 1950s were:

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "Aldo", he was a prolific, record-breaking striker. His tally of 329 Football League goals is the sixth-highest in the history of English football. ...

Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...

, George Chapman, Stanley Clifford-Smith,

Audrey Cruddas Audrey Cruddas (1912–1979) was an English costume and scene designer, painter and potter. Biography Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Cruddas moved to England with her parents when she was an infant. After leaving school she studied art at S ...

, Walter Hoyle,

Michael Rothenstein William Michael Rothenstein (19 March 1908 – 6 July 1993) was a British printmaker, painter and art teacher. Early life Born in Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located ma ...

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and othe ...

(who lodged with Bawden at ''Brick House''), Sheila Robinson and Marianne Straub. Other artists linked to the art community include Joan Glass,

Duffy Ayers Betty Mona Desmond Ayers (née FitzGerald; 19 September 1915 – 10 November 2017), known as Duffy Ayers, was an English portrait painter. She was known for most of her life by the nickname "Duffy". Born in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, one o ...

, Laurence Scarfe and the political cartoonist David Low.

Other notable people

*The 14th-century judge in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, William of Bardfield, was born in the village in around 1258, the son of a local householder, Walter of Bardfield. *

William Bendlowes William Bendlowes (1516–1584) (also Benloe, Benlow, Benlowe) was an English serjeant-at-law and legal writer. He was a Member of the Parliament of England for Helston October 1553, West Looe April 1554, and Dunheved November 1554. Life He ...

(1516–1584), Serjeant-at-Law to

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

*Early 20th-century Liberal candidate in several local constituencies, Ernest William Tanner. *Artist

Grayson Perry Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foib ...

spent part of his childhood in the village, and worked for a while as the local paperboy. *Alan Jordan, former Sheriff of Essex and the founder of Great Bardfield vineyard. *

Arthur Lindsay Sadler Arthur Lindsay Sadler (1882–1970) was Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney.Joyce AckroydSadler, Arthur Lindsay (1882–1970) ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 30 November 2020. Life and caree ...

, Professor of Oriental Studies (1922–48) at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, spent his retirement in the village *Sir Christopher Sibthorpe (died 1632), judge in Ireland and religious

polemicist Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

, and his brother Robert Sibthorp,

Bishop of Limerick The Bishop of Limerick is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church it still continues as a sepa ...

, were born in the village.

Village events

Each year there is a village garage sale.

References

External links

Great Bardfield Primary SchoolGreat Bardfield Garage Sale

Gallery

Image:Great Bardfield church of St Mary the Virgin.jpg, The church of St. Mary the Virgin Image:Gibraltar Mill.jpg, Gibraltar Mill File:Brick House Great Bardfield 2.jpg, Brick House, Great Bardfield, home of

(1903–1989). {{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Braintree District