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Gosfield
Gosfield is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Halstead, its post town. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,453.
Places of note include the following:
Gosfield does not appear to have enjoyed either a long or distinguished history. It did not warrant its own entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 (an omission that does not necessarily mean that there was no settlement in the parish in the 11th century). In addition the listed building description for the parish church, the Church of St Catherine, suggests that the present structure is not earlier in date than the 15th century. Nevertheless, the village does have a history.
The parish certainly did witness human activity well before the 11th century AD. The Historic Environment Record (HER) for Essex records several cropmark features in the civil parish that are almost certainly prehistoric. These include a circular monument some 30 metres in diameter that may have been either a late Neolithic henge, or more likely, a Bronze Age round barrow. Without excavation it is not possible to say what exactly the cropmark indicates.
The HER also records that the Roman road that linked Colchester (Camulodunum) the capital of the Trinivantes, the original capital of the Roman province of Britannia, and the site of a legionary fortress, with Caistor St Edmonds (Venta Icenorum) the capital of the Iceni, runs through the village. Part of this Roman road is followed by the village's main road.
The HER also indicates that early medieval (the period between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest) metalwork has been discovered in the parish. This does not necessarily mean that Gosfield was a settlement during this period, only that the area was used in some capacity before the Norman Conquest. The majority of these finds may be associated with hunting. This ties in with the placename evidence, as the 'field' element of the name suggests that the settlement originated as an area of cultivated land within an area of woodland or heath.
The Victoria County History (VCH) entry for Hedingham Priory states that a charter of 1191 the Earl of Oxford granted a wood in Gosfield to the priory. This may be the earliest documentary mention of Gosfield. It suggests that Gosfield may have come into the possession of the De Vere family not long after the Norman Conquest. An Aubrey De Vere appears to have been one of William the Conqueror's supporters who accompanied him from France in 1066. His grandson, another Aubrey, was appointed as the first Earl of Oxford. The first Earl and his wife, Lucy, founded Hedingham Priory in the second half of the 12th century, and endowed it with a portion of their extensive holdings.
The VCH also tells us that Philip Morant, the clergyman who published a history of Essex in the mid 18th century, reported that at least one holding of arable land in Gosfield is mentioned among the priory's holdings in the 13th century. Morant also be says that the priory held a church at Gosfield, together with a vicarage, at that time. If Morant can be relied upon, which is far from certain as the document that Morant cites could not be traced by later historians, this suggests that Gosfield parish church may well have earlier origins than is suggested by the listed building description.
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Gosfield
Gosfield is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Halstead, its post town. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,453.
Places of note include the following:
Gosfield does not appear to have enjoyed either a long or distinguished history. It did not warrant its own entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 (an omission that does not necessarily mean that there was no settlement in the parish in the 11th century). In addition the listed building description for the parish church, the Church of St Catherine, suggests that the present structure is not earlier in date than the 15th century. Nevertheless, the village does have a history.
The parish certainly did witness human activity well before the 11th century AD. The Historic Environment Record (HER) for Essex records several cropmark features in the civil parish that are almost certainly prehistoric. These include a circular monument some 30 metres in diameter that may have been either a late Neolithic henge, or more likely, a Bronze Age round barrow. Without excavation it is not possible to say what exactly the cropmark indicates.
The HER also records that the Roman road that linked Colchester (Camulodunum) the capital of the Trinivantes, the original capital of the Roman province of Britannia, and the site of a legionary fortress, with Caistor St Edmonds (Venta Icenorum) the capital of the Iceni, runs through the village. Part of this Roman road is followed by the village's main road.
The HER also indicates that early medieval (the period between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest) metalwork has been discovered in the parish. This does not necessarily mean that Gosfield was a settlement during this period, only that the area was used in some capacity before the Norman Conquest. The majority of these finds may be associated with hunting. This ties in with the placename evidence, as the 'field' element of the name suggests that the settlement originated as an area of cultivated land within an area of woodland or heath.
The Victoria County History (VCH) entry for Hedingham Priory states that a charter of 1191 the Earl of Oxford granted a wood in Gosfield to the priory. This may be the earliest documentary mention of Gosfield. It suggests that Gosfield may have come into the possession of the De Vere family not long after the Norman Conquest. An Aubrey De Vere appears to have been one of William the Conqueror's supporters who accompanied him from France in 1066. His grandson, another Aubrey, was appointed as the first Earl of Oxford. The first Earl and his wife, Lucy, founded Hedingham Priory in the second half of the 12th century, and endowed it with a portion of their extensive holdings.
The VCH also tells us that Philip Morant, the clergyman who published a history of Essex in the mid 18th century, reported that at least one holding of arable land in Gosfield is mentioned among the priory's holdings in the 13th century. Morant also be says that the priory held a church at Gosfield, together with a vicarage, at that time. If Morant can be relied upon, which is far from certain as the document that Morant cites could not be traced by later historians, this suggests that Gosfield parish church may well have earlier origins than is suggested by the listed building description.