| Woodham Mortimer | |
|---|---|
  Woodham Mortimer Location withinEssex | |
| Population | 641 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TL815044 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Maldon |
| Postcode district | CM9 |
| Dialling code | 01245 & 01621 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°42′32″N0°37′41″E / 51.709°N 0.628°E /51.709; 0.628 | |
Woodham Mortimer is a village on theDengie peninsula about three miles west-south-west ofMaldon in the English county ofEssex. The village is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of theMaldon district.[2]
The discovery of a hoard ofdenarii dated to 41CE[3] is some evidence of occupation in Roman times. However, the village first appears in written records as "Wudeham" in c. 975.[citation needed] The name, which means "village in the wood",[4] is derived from the old English words "wudu" (wood in modern English)[5] and "ham" (home, or homestead).[6] At the time of theNorman Conquest the parish belonged to Ralph Peverell and was known as Little Woodham.Henry II gave the parish to Robert de Mortimer, leading to the change in name.[7]
In theDomesday Book the population was recorded as 14 households with the local lord in 1066 being Siward Barn.[8]
Duringthe First World War a new aerodrome was opened in nearbyStow Maries to provide air cover for the London area. 37 Squadron,Royal Flying Corps occupied the base from September 1916 taking over The Grange in Woodham Mortimer as its headquarters.[9][10] The Grange was once the property ofBeeleigh Abbey and is a Grade IIlisted building.[11]
Approximately 45% of residents are classified using Experian'sMosaic system as type A4 (defined as 'financially secure couples, many close to retirement, living in sought after suburbs')[12] and are predominantly white, Christian, English speaking and British born.[13] As of 2009 the population was estimated at 641.[1]
Woodham Mortimer has aparish council[14] and is part of the Wickham Bishops and Woodham ward of the Maldon district.[2] The district forms part of theWitham constituency for parliamentary elections. The localMP isPriti Patel.[15]
Woodham Mortimer has an average elevation of 51 metres (167 ft) above sea level and lies just south of the Danbury-Tiptree ridge that marks the furthest extent of the Anglian ice sheet during the lastice age approximately 450,000 years ago.[16]The geology of the area is rock, sand and gravels that were deposited by the retreating ice.[17] Gravel is commercially extracted from the Royal Oak Quarry with a proposed additional site at Tynedales Farm of 47.5 hectares (117 acres).[18] The National Soil Resources Institute atCranfield University describes the main soil type as "slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils."[19]
Woodham Mortimer is considered by theMet Office to be part of the Eastern England region, however, for the purposes of historical climate data it is consolidated into the East Anglia region. Climate information for the period 1981 – 2010 is detailed below.
| Climate data for East Anglia (1981–2010 averages) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 44.8 (7.1) | 45.3 (7.4) | 50.5 (10.3) | 55.6 (13.1) | 61.9 (16.6) | 67.3 (19.6) | 72.0 (22.2) | 71.8 (22.1) | 66.2 (19.0) | 58.5 (14.7) | 50.4 (10.2) | 45.1 (7.3) | 57.6 (14.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 34.5 (1.4) | 34.0 (1.1) | 37.0 (2.8) | 39.6 (4.2) | 44.8 (7.1) | 50.0 (10.0) | 54.0 (12.2) | 53.8 (12.1) | 50.2 (10.1) | 45.1 (7.3) | 39.2 (4.0) | 35.1 (1.7) | 43.2 (6.2) |
| Average rainfall inches (mm) | 2.09 (53.2) | 1.56 (39.7) | 1.71 (43.5) | 1.76 (44.6) | 1.92 (48.8) | 2.08 (52.9) | 2.03 (51.6) | 2.20 (55.8) | 2.09 (53.1) | 2.56 (64.9) | 2.42 (61.4) | 2.14 (54.4) | 24.6 (624) |
| Source:Met Office | |||||||||||||
There are twopublic houses, the Royal Oak on theA414 and the Hurdlemakers Arms on Post Office Road. Its name refers to the hurdles which used to be made from materials cut in the nearby woods.[21] There is a golf driving range with 9-hole pitch and putt that was opened in 1967[22] on Burnham Road. In 2022 planning permission was granted to replace the driving range with a development of 18 houses.[23]
Woodham Mortimer is policed byEssex Police and is part of the PurleighNeighbourhood Policing Team which covers a number of areas with a total population of 10,936.[24] In 2011, there were 516 reported crimes in the NPT. There is no local police station.[24]
Next to the village hall is a 0.4 hectares (4,000 m2) playing field with swings and a small football pitch.[25]
The parish church is St Margaret's. The original church on the site may date from the 16th century, however, it was rebuilt in the 19th century leaving little evidence of the older church with only the south wall and east end remaining.[citation needed]
Evidence for the age of the church includes the 13th century font (although the base is newer) and the 17th century carvings on the pulpit.[citation needed] The church has a small window commemorating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.[citation needed] The graveyard includes the grave of Peter Chamberlen.[26]
Woodham Mortimer Hall is a 17th-century gabled house that Hugh andPeter Chamberlen lived in. There is ablue plaque fixed to the hall[26] noting them as pioneeringobstetricians who invented theforceps. The hall passed out of the Chamberlen family in 1715 when the family home was sold.[27] The forceps were found in 1813 under a trap door in theloft of the hall and given to the Medical and Chirurgical Society which passed them to theRoyal Society of Medicine in 1818.[27][28] The find was described by R. Lee inObservations on the Discovery of the Original Obstetric Instruments of the Chamberlens (1862) as:
The [space] contained some boxes in which were two or three pairs of midwifery forceps, several coins, a medallion of Charles I, or II, a miniature of the Doctor damaged by time, a tooth wrapped in paper, written on, "My husband's last tooth"; some little antique plate; a pair of ladys long yellow kid gloves, in excellent preservation; a small testament date 1645.[27]
There is awar memorial commemorating the nine people from the village who died during theWorld Wars. There is also a Grade II listed memorial erected in 1825 to William Alexander, who left his lands to theWorshipful Company of Coopers for the benefit of the poor.[29]
Woodham Mortimer Lodge is a Grade II listed building.[30]
Media related toWoodham Mortimer at Wikimedia Commons
