| Little Leighs | |
|---|---|
 Church of St John the Evangelist | |
  Little Leighs Location withinEssex | |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHELMSFORD |
| 51°49′25″N0°29′33″E / 51.8235°N 0.4926°E /51.8235; 0.4926 | |
Little Leighs is a village in thecivil parish ofGreat and Little Leighs,[1] in theChelmsford district ofEssex, England. Little Leighs lies beside theRiver Ter, just south of the village ofGreat Leighs and west of theA131 road.
The name Leighs comes from theOld Englishleah meaning a clearing in a wood.[2]
InSaxon times there appears to have been a singlevill called Leighs. It was recorded in theDomesday Book of 1086 asLega in theChelmsford hundred of Essex. The vill was at that time split between two owners.[3][4]
No church or priest was mentioned at Leighs in the Domesday Book, but it subsequently came to be administered as two parishes, Great Leighs and Little Leighs. The church of St John the Evangelist at Little Leighs dates back to the early 12th century.[5]
In 1949 the parish was merged with neighbouring Great Leighs to form a new civil parish called "Great and Little Leighs".[6][7] At the 1931 census (the last before the abolition of the civil parish), Little Leighs had a population of 158.[8]
Towns, villages and hamlets of theCity of Chelmsford | ||
|---|---|---|
| Towns |  | |
| Villages and hamlets |
| |
