Steeple Bumpstead
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Steeple Bumpstead 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 ...
south of Haverhill in Braintree district,
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. The parish church does not have a steeple, although the Congregational Church has a small
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
one. It is believed that the steeple referred to was located on the A1017 close to what is now the Wixoe Pumping Station. Village features include a village hall, School (Steeple Bumpstead Primary school) and park.


Etymology

The name ''Bumpstead'', once referring to the whole area now known as Steeple and Helions Bumpstead, is first attested in a
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
of 1042—albeit only in a copy of the mid-twelfth century—as ''Bumsted'' and ''Bumsteda''; it next appears in the
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 the spellings ''Bumesteda'', ''Bummesteda'', and ''Bunsteda''). The first element of the name is agreed probably to have been the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
word ''bune'', in this context meaning 'reeds' (though it could also mean 'flax' or 'hemp')—either because the settlement was named for the presence of reeds themselves, or because it was named after a river called ''Bune'' that had itself been named for its reeds. This interpretation fits the presence of a river characterised by reeds running through Steeple Bumpstead. The second element is thought either to have originated as Old English ''stede'', meaning 'place', or ''hām-stede'', meaning 'homestead'. Thus the name once meant something like 'reed-place' or 'homestead on the River ''Bune'''.''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. ''Helions BUMPSTEAD''.Helion Bumpstead and Steeple Bumpstead
, ''Survey of English Place-Names''.
In time, two distinct centres developed, with the Helions part taking on the name ''Bumpstead Magna'' (Great) and the Steeple district ''Bumpstead Parva'' (Little).Roy Brazier, ''Portrait of Helions Bumpstead''. The name of Steeple Bumpstead arises from the presence there of a church tower, first apparent in the appearance of the forms ''Stepilbumstede'' and ''Stepelbumstede'' in the period 1260–92, the French form ''Bomstede alatour'' ('Bumpstead at the tower') in 1284, and ''Bunsted(e) atte Tour'' in 1285.


History

The
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
positioned themselves on the river. The town is notable for its
Lollard Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
connections. There has been a long history on non-conformist belief in the village which continues to this day in the
Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
. A Bumpstead man was burnt to death in the parish for his beliefs. Along the Blois Road, leading from Bumpstead to
Birdbrook Birdbrook is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately southeast of Haverhill, Suffolk and is 34 km (21 miles) north from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Braintree and in ...
, is a field that has been called the 'Bloody Pightle', and that is where he is believed to have been martyred. In 1527 John Tibauld and eight other village residents were seized and taken before the
Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...
, charged with meeting together in Bower Hall to pray and read a copy of the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
. Although the non-conformists in the village were encouraged by the powerful Bendyshe family that lived at Bower Hall, even their influence could not save Tibauld. He was burned at the stake. Having fallen into ruin after use as a 'concentration camp' in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Bower Hall was finally demolished in 1926 and the materials sold off. The great staircase found its way to the United States. The
Moot Hall A moot hall is a meeting or assembly building, traditionally to decide local issues. In Anglo-Saxon England, a low ring-shaped Earthworks (engineering), earthwork served as a moot hill or moot mound, where the elders of the Hundred (county subdiv ...
, also known as "the Old Schole", symbolises Steeple Bumpstead. Built in 1592 by the inhabitants on land rented from the Crown, in the 1830s when it was 'a school for farmers' sons' the villagers forcibly took possession of it, disputing the claim of George Gent of Moyns Park to have the right to appoint the headmaster. Eventually an
ecclesiastical court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...
upheld the villagers' claim.


Modern times

There are many facilities in Steeple Bumpstead for residents including a local village store, a post office, a petrol station, and a library in the aforementioned Moot Hall. There are two pubs, ''The Fox and Hounds'' and ''The Red Lion''. There are two churches, the Church of England parish church of St. Mary's and the Congregational Church, each offering various activities for all ages. St Mary's is a grade I listed building dating from the 11th century. Steeple Bumpstead has a primary school, Steeple Bumpstead Primary School. Steeple Bumpstead has a Scout Group: 1st Steeple Bumpstead Scouts which consists of a Beaver Colony, A Cub Pack and a Scout Troop. Steeple Bumpstead was also mentioned in the first pages of the 2007 novel ''
The Reavers ''The Reavers'' is a 2007 comic novel from George MacDonald Fraser set during the Elizabethan Era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Histo ...
'' by
George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...
. The village is referred to in Episode 5 of the first series of ''
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. Three series were produced from 1976 to 1979, based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the fi ...
'' broadcast on BBC1 (1976). Perrin tries to insult a colleague by saying that they are Lecturer in 'Applied Manure from The University of Steeple Bumpstead'.


Notable residents

Nurse
Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape ...
had ties with Steeple Bumpstead long before she became a nurse. During 1886, Edith was appointed governess to the four children of the Reverend Charles Powell, vicar of Steeple Bumpstead. The former vicarage, where a stone plaque commemorates her stay, is a private residence on the corner of Chapel Street and
Finchingfield Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district of North Essex, England, a primarily rural area. It is approximately from Thaxted, with the nearest larger towns being Saffron Walden and Braintree. Nearby villages include Great Bardfie ...
Road. There is a plaque about Edith Cavell in the 11th century village church and a road named after her. Colonel J. C. Humphrey, son of the village wheelwright, may have allegedly invented
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
, but this is myth as it was invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1829. He built and lived in the Iron House, North Street, which was demolished in the 1960s. At one time Humphreys Ltd of London claimed to be the 'largest works in the world' and held a Royal Warrant as 'supplier to His Majesty
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
'.


See also

*
The Hundred Parishes The Hundred Parishes is a cultural heritage initiative focused on an area in the East of England recognized for its high concentration of cultural and historical significance. Although without formal recognition or status, the concept has the ble ...


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Braintree District