Shenfield is a suburb of Brentwood in the

Borough of Brentwood The Borough of Brentwood is a local government district with borough status in Essex, England. The borough is named after its main town of Brentwood, where the council is based; it includes several villages and the surrounding rural area. T ...

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. In 2020, it was estimated to have a population of 5,396.

History

The former village, by the church and Green Dragon

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, lies along the original

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

(now the A1023) which linked

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

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 ...

Nathaniel Ward Nathaniel Ward (1578 – October 1652) was a Puritan clergyman and pamphleteer in England and Massachusetts. Biography A son of John Ward, a noted Puritan minister, he was born in Haverhill, Suffolk, England. He studied law and graduated fr ...

, a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

clergyman and author, was made minister of the Shenfield church in 1648 and held that office until his death in 1652. In 1870–72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The '' Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–1872), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was ...

's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' described Shenfield like this: Shenfield is a former

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 ...

; in 1931, it had a population of 3501. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished. Most of the area, including Shenfield, was added to the

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

of Brentwood, whilst a smaller area was added to

Mountnessing Mountnessing is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, England. It is situated to the north-east of Brentwood and south-west of Ingatestone. A large proportion of the houses are situated on the Roman Road between ...

Geography

The original village centre is located north-east of the centre of Brentwood. Apart from some small industrial areas and a modest but busy shopping area. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St Mary's primary school is located nearby. The town of Hutton, to the east of Shenfield, is now largely part of the built-up area.

Sport and leisure

The town is host to the Shenfield Cricket Club, founded in 1921 and situated on the Courage Playing Fields. The land was granted by the

Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

brewing family for use by the cricket club. The club's badge is a cockerel, which echoes both the trade mark of the Courage brand and the weathervane on St Mary's church. The Courage Playing Fields also contain a children's playing area.There are additional playing fields on Alexander Lane, next to Shenfield High School.

Transport

Railway

Unit 345007 at Shenfield 7th July 2017 03

Shenfield railway station Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the suburb of Shenfield, Essex. As well as being a key interchange for medium- and long-distance services on the main line, it is also the western term ...

is situated on the following lines: *

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

- providing direct services to London Liverpool Street,

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 ...

, Braintree,

, Clacton and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. Services are 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 se ...

. * Shenfield to Southend Line - services operate between Liverpool Street,

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county (England), county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the orig ...

Southend Airport Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

and Southend Victoria. The Crouch Valley Line to

Southminster Southminster is a town and civil parish on the Dengie Peninsula in the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It lies about north of Burnham-on-Crouch and south-east of Maldon; it is approximately east-north-east of London. To the ...

can be accessed easily by changing at Wickford. Services are also operated by Greater Anglia. *

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

- Shenfield is the eastern terminus for the stopping service to

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, via Brentwood,

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Stratford and Liverpool Street. Trains run with an off-peak frequency of 8 trains per hour, of which two continue to

Heathrow Terminal 5 Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Until 2012, the terminal was used ...

. Services are operated by MTR Elizabeth line. Currently, fast train services reach Liverpool Street in 20 to 25 minutes. The slower Elizabeth line stopping services take 43 minutes to reach Liverpool Street. The excellent railway service contributes to Shenfield's significance in the

London commuter belt The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to work area, Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London' ...

. The station is located on the A129, at the eastern end of the high street.

Buses

Bus routes in Shenfield are operated primarily by

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 ...

. Routes include: * 9 Brentwood -

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

* 81 Warley - Hutton * 251 Warley -

* 339 Epping - Shenfield * 351 Warley -

Schools

There are two state secondary schools in the suburb: Shenfield High School and St Martin's School; the two state primary schools are Shenfield St Mary's Church of England school and Long Ridings.

Retail and shopping

The shopping area in Shenfield consists primarily of independent stores and bars, shops and a plethora of other stores including takeaways, small restaurants, cafes, banks and hair salons.

Community spaces

Shenfield has a library, which was at risk of closure. However this was averted and a new library is being built in its place with retail and residential facilities. Brentwood Community Hospital serves both Shenfield and the wider borough, and is on Crescent Drive. It was rebuilt in 2008 and is very modern. There is also the private Nuffield Health hospital on Shenfield Road, less than a minute away from the NHS hospital.

Development

Shenfield is set to house the borough's second largest residential development as part of its Local Development Plan (LDP), Officers Meadow with 825 homes. These will be built on land around Chelmsford Road near the A12 and the railway line. A new primary school, day nursery, and care home is planned, and there are hopes that retail and a health centre will also be provided. Opposite, new grounds for Hutton FC are being built. Several smaller residential developments have sprung up, on Crescent Drive, Shenfield Road and Chelmsford Road. 75 homes are also earmarked for land at the end of Bishop Walk, just off Priests Lane, not far from the town of Brentwood itself.

References

External links

Old Shenfield Photographs
{{Authority control Villages in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Brentwood (Essex town)