Little Waltham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

just north of

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 Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, in

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is adjacent to the village of Great Waltham. The Domesday Book refers to the two villages as Waltham, consisting of several manors. The site of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

village was excavated before upgrading the main road north between the current villages. The village straddles the River Chelmer. Its main street has a number of old houses near the bridge, notably a rare Essex example of a

Wealden hall house The Wealden hall house is a type of vernacular medieval timber-framed hall house traditional in the south east of England. Typically built for a yeoman, it is most common in Kent (hence "Wealden" for the once densely forested Weald) and the ...

, now divided into three cottages. A footpath leads south alongside the river to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of which is a nature reserve. The countryside is under continued threat from housing and road development.

Amenities

The parish church, St Mary the Virgin, is dedicated to St Martin of Tours, and has a Norman south door with a window above. Its East window features local landmarks shown at the foot of the cross. There is also a United Reformed Church in The Street. There is a pub in the centre of the village, The White Hart. The village has a doctor's surgery in Brook Hill, with a pharmacy on site. There are two main halls in the village, Tufnell Hall and the Memorial Hall. Tufnell Hall is home to the Little Waltham Sports and Social Club, which hosts the village football team ( Little Waltham Tigers ) as well as badminton. Tufnell Hall has a main hall which is available for hire for functions, plus a separate bar area open to members and visitors. The Memorial Hall is used by the Little Waltham Preschool and is also used as the polling station for elections. The United Reformed Church also has a smaller hall which is primarily used for church functions plus Hillside Playcare.

Sport

The village also has a cricket team; the ground is in the centre of the village opposite the White Hart pub and Tufnell Hall. A short-lived

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

track was opened in the spring of 1930 on the main Braintree-Chelmsford Road. The racing on Friday evenings was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The grass track held races over 550 yards races and had a covered stand with refreshments available on site. The four-acre site near Ash Tree Corner was put up for sale in February 1931; meetings after this were organised by the Waltham Greyhound and Whippet Club. Equipment from the track at New Writtle Street Stadium was installed here in March 1936.

Education

Most Primary School age children in Little Waltham attend either Little Waltham Church of England Primary School, with some attending Great Waltham Church of England Primary School nearby. High School age children typically attend Chelmer Valley High School in nearby Broomfield. There are also two preschools in Little Waltham for 2- to 5-year-olds; Little Waltham Preschool at the Memorial Hall, and Hillside at the U.R.C.

Notes

External links

Essex Walks - Little and Great Waltham
{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex