Great Yeldham is a village in north

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, about from the Suffolk border. It is situated along the main A1017 road (formerly A604) between Braintree and Haverhill.

History

Great Yeldham contains the ''Great Oak'', an old preserved oak tree in the centre of the village, which is claimed to have been recorded in

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

Domesday Book 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. In 1967, Great Yeldham elected a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

councillor, June Cohen, to the surprise of many in the area.

Geography

The village is where the infant River Colne is joined by a stream from near

Stambourne __NOTOC__ Stambourne is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District in north 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 Cambridgesh ...

and another that has flowed via Toppesfield. The river flows through

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

on its 39-mile journey to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Great Yeldham was home to the Whitlock Bros., an agricultural equipment manufacturer. In 1972, Whitlock Bros. was taken over by Hymac and production subsequently moved to

Rhymney Rhymney (; ) is a town and a community (Wales), community in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...

in South Wales; the plant closed, resulting in many job losses. The land around Great Yeldham is used principally for arable farming and some livestock rearing. From the early 1950s until the mid-1980s, it was also known for Lark Hill Farm, its apple and strawberry farm.

Transport

Until 1962, it was served for passenger traffic by Yeldham railway station on the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway line between Chappel and Wakes Colne and . The line crossed Station Road at a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

, which has since been renamed ''Toppesfield Road''.

References

External links

St Andrew's Primary School website

Website for St Andrew’s Church, part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes
Villages in Essex Braintree District {{Essex-geo-stub