The Rodings/ˈroʊdɪŋz/ are a group of eight villages in the upper part of theRiver Roding and the west ofEssex, England, the largest group in the country to bear a common name.[1] The Rodings do not lie within a single district in the county; they are arranged around thetripoint of the administrative areas ofChelmsford,Uttlesford andEpping Forest. An alternative arcane name, linked to the Middle English Essex dialect, wasThe Roothings.[2][3]
The Rodings, the remnants of a singleAnglo-Saxon community known as theHroðingas, were led byHroða; who sailed up theRiver Thames and along a tributary, to settle in the area in the sixth century.[1] This was one of the tribal areas that were absorbed into theKingdom of Essex.[4] TheRiver Roding and the villages derived their name fromHroða.[1] It has been suggested that the early territory of the Rodings may also have includedWillingale andShellow Bowells, and that White Roding, which was sometimes historically called Roding Magna ("Great Roding") was the centre of the estate.[5]
The villages are recorded in theDomesday Book of 1086 asRodinges in theHundred of Dunmow.[6] In the time ofEdward the Confessor, it was held by theAbbey of St Æthelthryth of Ely; however, after theNorman Conquest, part was taken byWilliam de Warenne.[6] Part was also held by thede Veres andde Mandevilles families, who became theEarls of Oxford andEarls of Essex.[1] By the 14th century, the boundaries and names of the villages had become fairly established.[1]Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding now form a single parish in the district ofEpping Forest.
In the second half of the 19th century The Rodings came part of theDunmow andOngarUnions –poor relief provision set up under thePoor Law Amendment Act 1834. The parishes were in therural deaneries of Roding and Ongar, theArchdeaconry of Essex, and theDiocese of St Albans. In 1914 the parishes came under theDiocese of Chelmsford. Roman remains have occasionally been found in the area. Crops grown at the time were chiefly wheat, barley and beans, on a heavy soil with a clay subsoil.[7]
Anelectoral ward in the same name exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 1,853.[8]
The area is typified by medieval thatched cottages, timber-framed manor houses and farmhouses. There is a mid-18th-centurypost mill windmill inAythorpe Roding, the only surviving windmill in the area. There are a number of churches dating from theNorman period; the oldest is St Margaret of Antioch inMargaret Roding, which has a Norman doorway and the tomb of a crusader.[1]
A single bus service, number 59, serves White Roding, Leaden Roding and Margaret Roding. It is operated byArriva Shires & Essex, running hourly in each direction toHarlow viaHatfield Heath andChelmsford viaRoxwell. The route is on the HertfordshireIntalink network.
In theChurch of EnglandDiocese of Chelmsford, Leaden,Abbess, White andBeauchamp Roding have formed theSouth Rodings parish since 2004.[11] High andAythorpe Roding arebeneficed toGreat Canfield and Margaret Roding toGood andHigh Easter, those 6 parishes are served by onepriest-in-charge.Berners Roding is now part of the Parish of Willingale, the Parish Church of unknown dedication (but thought to be All Saints) is redundant and is privately owned.[12]
Media related toThe Rodings at Wikimedia Commons
51°48′N00°18′E / 51.800°N 0.300°E /51.800; 0.300
