Coordinates: 51°44′10″N 0°28′47″E / 51.7361, 0.4798
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England.
It is 30 miles (48.5 km) northeast of Charing Cross London. Chelmsford is in the centre of Essex, and has been the county town since 1215. During the Peasants' Revolt, Chelmsford was made capital of England.
It is also the seat of the Borough of Chelmsford, which includes the new (ca. 1970s) settlement of South Woodham Ferrers on the banks of the River Crouch. The Borough Council celebrated its centenary in 1988 (it had been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1888 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1882), and the town had its 800th anniversary in 1999.
Chelmsford Cathedral is the second smallest cathedral in England (after Derby Cathedral). It was built in the 15th and early 16th centuries, when it was the parish church of the prosperous medieval town. The Diocese (established in 1914) covers all of Essex and much of East London.
John Dee — noted Elizabethan philosopher and scientist, and also responsible for the English translation of Euclid — was educated at the Chantry School (later re-founded as the Grammar School) in the sixteenth century. Chelmsford is also home to part of the Anglia Ruskin University and to the grammar schools of Chelmsford County High School and King Edward VI Grammar School, founded in 1551 by charter of King Edward VI on the site of an earlier educational foundation (although evidence suggests it could have been around as early as 1292).

Population
Chelmsford has two members of Parliament. Simon Burns has been the towns principle M.P. since 1987 (Chelmsford and later West Chelmsford) after the retirement of long standing Chelmsford M.P. Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley. Following boundary changes in 1997 he was joined by John Whittingdale in the new constituency of Maldon and East Chelmsford.

Politics
Unusually for a town of Chelmsford's size there is just one Railway Station. Chelmsford railway station is virtually in the centre of the town and around 10,000 commuters travel to London daily by rail making Chelmsford the busiest through railway station in England, (the busiest overall being Clapham Junction). A second station has been proposed for many years on the north eastern fringes of the town at Springfield, in order to serve the expanding housing developments there but nothing has ever come to fruition.
The A12 road from London, originally built by the Romans to connect London and Colchester, used to pass through the town, but is now diverted around the east. The £34.8m nine-mile (14 km) bypass opened in November 1986. The A414 is the main east-west route through the Borough, and the A130 and A131 run approximately north-south.
A new bus terminal in Duke Street opened in March 2007 which replaced an ageing 1930s Bus station. It incorporates shops and apartments and has a totally covered roof. This is mainly used by the First Essex Bus Company which has many routes around the town and beyond including the X30 Southend to Stansted Airport Flyer.
Chelmsford is around 25 minutes' drive from London Stansted Airport (via A130/A120), and London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London City, Luton and Southend airports are all within reach.

Transport
The Army & Navy roundabout is notorious for its traffic hold-ups, even though the north-south road at this point is no longer part of the A12. Prior to 1986, when the Chelmsford bypass was opened, the traffic chaos here was legendary. Things have little improved since. Traffic lights were tried to improve matters in the early 2000s: that scheme was abandoned after a short while. The recently built bus lane on the A1114 Great Baddow Bypass gives priority to traffic using it: traffic queues approaching the roundabout can now be over a mile long, during peak periods.
The junction is unusual for its flyover, where traffic goes one way into town (westerly) until 2.30 pm each day and one way (easterly) out of town after 2.30 pm. A two-way flyover has been mooted ever since the original was built in 1978: it is very unlikely to happen - the local council has stated that the cost would be prohibitive.
The roundabout is still called "The Army and Navy", even though the public house from which the junction got its name has been demolished.

The Army and Navy Roundabout
Chelmsford has a Park & Ride service that is based at nearby Sandon, just off the A12 at Junction 18. It runs from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday with five bus stops around the town (one near High Chelmer for shopping) and charges £2.00 per adult and free for OAP's or people under the age of 16. It currently has a capacity of 1,200 cars. Opened in March 2006 it has proved highly successful and is widely used.

Park and Ride
Essex County Council Highways & Transportation Department have considered the construction of a Bus Rapid Transit System to be built serving the Beaulieu Park/Springfield Area due to the increasing demand for Rapid Transit Plans in Ipswich, Colchester and Southend.

Proposed Busway
Chelmsford has over 110 local authority licensed Hackney Carriage Taxis that mainly ply for hire at Chelmsford railway station taxi rank. There are other ranks within the town such as Market Road and Baddow Road. However The Baddow Road rank mainly operates at night for visitors to the Pubs and Clubs within that area and the Market Road rank is only used during the daytime. Licensed Hackney Carriages in the Borough of Chelmsford are easily identifiable as they are predominately 'black' in colour, have white Local Authority Licence plates on the front/rear and illuminated green 'for hire' signs inside the front windscreen and illuminated rooflights. Chelmsford Hackney Carriage Taxis can be flagged down by members of the public anywhere within the Borough.
Licenced Private Hire Taxis in Chelmsford are identifiable by their yellow local authority licence plates on the front/rear of the vehicles and lack of a illuminated rooflight. These vehicles are not permitted to ply for hire and must be pre-booked by telephone. They can be of any colour. All Licensed Taxis of either type in Chelmsford will have a large rectangular council sticker with its licence number on the front doors.

Licenced Taxis
Originally an agricultural and market town, Chelmsford has been an important centre for industry since the 19th century. Following the opening of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation in 1797, cheaper transportation and raw materials made milling and malting the main industries until the 1850s, when increasing prosperity created a local market for agricultural machinery.
Foundries and engineering works followed including Fell Christy at his Factory (In later years known as Christy Norris Ltd) on the corner of Kings Road and Broomfield Road opened 1858, closed 1985, Coleman and Moreton, Thomas Clarkson (Steam Omnibus manufacturer and Founder of the Eastern National Bus Company) and Eddington and Stevenson (makers of traction engines). The Company Christy Norris still survives, trading as Christy Turner Ltd based in Ipswich. A nearby road to the old Factory was named "Fell Christy" in his honour.
As well as the headquarters of Essex County and Chelmsford Borough Councils, the modern town is home to a range of national and international companies including M&G Group, e2v Technologies, BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte) and EBM Papst (UK) Ltd. The continuing importance of Chelmsford as an employment centre is demonstrated by the fact that the number of "in" commuters (mostly from other parts of Essex) almost exactly balances the number of workers commuting into London.
Several years ago Chelmsford was labelled a mere clone town; however new developments are proving the statement wrong, with new business opportunities around the town. Sizeable businesses are now based in the Chelmsford Business Park at Boreham housing companies such as the Anderson Group. The town also has a low unemployment rate and has one of the most educated workforces in the country.

Industry past and present

Main article: Marconi Company The Marconi Company
Chelmsford became home to the United Kingdom's first electrical engineering works established by Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton (1845–1940). Colonel R. E. Crompton as he was better known was a leading authority of electrical engineering and was a pioneer of electric street lighting and electric traction motors within the U.K. Crompton installed electric street lights around the town centre to celebrate the incorporation of the Borough of Chelmsford in 1888. Although this made Chelmsford one of the earliest towns to receive electric street lighting, the Council later decided to have it removed because gas was cheaper and the Council owned the gas works. Crompton also supplied the traction motors for the first electric trains on Southend Pier.
Crompton set up his original factory known as the 'Arc Works' in Queen Street in 1878. After a fire there in 1885 he built a huge new electrical engineering factory also called the 'Arc Works' in Writtle Road. The Firm was called Crompton and Co. and later became Crompton Parkinson. In 1969 Crompton Parkinson was downsized and operations moved elsewhere after a takeover by Hawker Siddeley and the site was taken over by the Marconi Company and became the base for the newly formed Marconi Radar Systems Ltd
The factory closed in the 1990s and apart from the frontage on Writtle Road was demolished. A housing development called 'The Village' now occupies the site with road names such as Rookes Cresent, Evelyn Place, Crompton Street and Parkinson Drive as tributes to the former occupier.

Crompton's
The United Kingdom's first ball bearing factory was established at New Street in Chelmsford in 1898 by cousins Geoffrey and Charles Barrett and bankrolled by American ball bearing machine manufacturer Ernst Hoffmann to which the Company took its name. The Hoffmann Manufacturing Company soon achieved worldwide fame for their precision-made bearings boasting an accuracy better than 1/10,000 of an inch (2.5 micrometres) for all their products. Hoffmann bearings were later used in the first transatlantic flights. For many years it was Chelmsford's main employer with more employees than Marconi's. The firm became R.H.P. in 1969 (Ransome Hoffmann and Pollard). The factory that once employed thousands was closed and demolished in the 1980s and the company relocated to Newark on Trent where it still exists. The Rivermead Campus of the Anglia Ruskin University now occupies the site of the old factory at the junction of New Street and Rectory Lane.

Hoffmann Ball Bearings

Main article: Britvic Britvic Soft Drinks
Chelmsford is largely a commercial town which employs around 80,000 people. There are two medium sized shopping centres, High Chelmer and The Meadows. Chelmsford has two retail parks, Riverside and Chelmer Village. High Chelmer Shopping Centre is currently under redevelopment, the refurbished interior and the new Starbucks centrepiece should be finished shortly.
The High Street is full of independent and chain stores. As well as the leading High Street names, there is also a wide variety of specialist retailers, especially in Baddow Road and Moulsham Street which are located at the end of the pedestrianised High Street.
On January 6, 2005, Chelmsford was granted Fairtrade Town status.

Economy and shopping
A major new development almost completed in the West End of Chelmsford just off Duke Street called "53 Park Central" which contains a new Bus Station, shops and luxury apartments. The Bus Station and shops were opened in January 2007 while the rest of the develpoment will be ready in September 2007.
Another site near the large suburb of Springfield is in its planning stages. It will be a new neighbourhood which is supposed to be an urban village containing 3,500 homes. A controversial Northern Relief Road would be built.
The Public House "The Army and Navy" from which the notorious roundabout gets its name was demolished in March 2007. It will be replaced by a Budget Hotel, a Frankie and Benny's Restaurant and private flats although building work on this project has yet to start.
One of Chelmsford's tallest buildings, Melbourne Court in Melbourne Avenue is currently receiving an £8m investment for extensive refurbishment and to create a new Neighbourhood Centre due for completion in 2009.
Recently plans were revealed for "Waterside", a large development of shops, bars and restaurants on the banks of the River Chelmer, near the Army & Navy. If this development goes ahead a new bridge and central link road would be built.

Chelmsford redevelopment
Chelmsford has a vibrant nightlife scene with many Nightclubs, Pubs, Wine Bars and Restaurants in the town centre area, particularly in Duke Street and Moulsham Street. Its central Essex location and good public transport links make the town ideal for revellers to visit from surrounding areas.

Nightlife
There are many places of interest within the Borough of Chelmsford, including the 18-arch Victorian railway viaduct that spans the River Can in Central Park. One of three railway viaducts in the town that carry the Great Eastern Main Line. The Viaduct was constructed during 1842 by the Eastern Counties Railway Company and opened for passenger traffic on 29 March 1843.
Chelmsford Cathedral which is located directly behind The Shire Hall. Originally St Mary's Church, it became a Cathedral when the Diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914. It is the second smallest in England behind Derby Cathedral
Henry VIII's former Palace of Beaulieu is situated in nearby Boreham, now occupied by the New Hall School.
Other places to visit include the RHS Garden, Hyde Hall at nearby Rettendon, and there are numerous open spaces in the town, including Admirals and Central Parks.
In nearby Writtle, where Robert the Bruce is said to have married his second wife Elizabeth de Burgh in 1302. The village also has English Royal connections, with King John building a hunting lodge there in 1211. Much of the site now lies within the grounds of Writtle College, the internationally famous centre for horticulture and agriculture.
A few miles away is the attractive village of Pleshey, where stand the ruins of a once important castle mentioned in William Shakespeare's play Richard II. The entire circuit of the castle walls can still be traced in the village streets.

Places of interest
The Shire Hall is situated at the top of the High Street. Opened in July 1791 and built by local Architect and County Surveyor John Johnson it features a Portland Stone façade. One of the oldest and most prominent buildings in Chelmsford, it was built as a Court house, which it has remained to this day.

The Shire Hall

Main article: Hylands Park Hylands House and Park
In 1199 the Bishop of London was granted a Royal Charter for the town to hold a market, marking the origin of the modern town. An under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday, is still an important part of the town centre over 800 years later. The town's name derives from 'Ceolmaer's ford', which was close to the site of the present bridge. Before 1199, there were settlements nearby from ancient times. A Neolithic and a late Bronze Age settlement have been found in the Springfield suburb, and the town was occupied by the Romans. A Roman fort was built in 60 AD, and a civilian town grew up around it. The town was given the name of Caesaromagus (the market place of Caesar), although the reason for it being given the great honour of bearing the imperial prefix are now unclear — possibly as a failed 'planned town' provincial capital to replace Londinium or Camulodunum. The remains of a mansio, a combination post office, civic centre and hotel, lie beneath the streets of modern Moulsham, and the ruins of an octagonal temple are located beneath the Odeon roundabout.
An important Anglo-Saxon burial was discovered at Broomfield, to the north of Chelmsford, and the finds are now in the British Museum.
The town became the seat of the local assize during the early 13th century (though assizes were also held at Brentwood) and by 1218 was recognised as the county town of Essex, a position it has retained to the present day.
Chelmsford was significantly involved in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and Richard II moved on to the town after quelling the rebellion in London. Many of the ringleaders were executed on the gallows at what is now Primrose Hill.
In the 17th century many of the victims of Matthew Hopkins (the self-styled "Witchfinder General") spent their last days imprisoned in Chelmsford, before being tried at the Assizes and hanged for witchcraft.
During World War II Chelmsford, an important centre of light engineering war production, was attacked from the air on several occasions, both by aircraft of the Luftwaffe and by missile. The worst single loss of life took place on Tuesday December 19, 1944, when the 367th Vergeltungswaffe 2 or V2 rocket to hit England fell on a residential street (Henry Road) near the Hoffmans ball bearing factory and not far from the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company factory which may also have been the target. Thirty-nine people were killed and 138 injured, 47 seriously. Several dwellings in Henry Road were completely destroyed and many in nearby streets were badly damaged. A monument to the dead recently restored is in the Borough cemetery in Writtle Road.
Since the 1980s Chelmsford has suffered from a decline in its manufacturing and defence-related industries especially Marconi with several factories closing. However, the town's location close to London and at the centre of Essex has helped it grow in importance as an administrative and distribution centre.

History
From over 600,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene ice age, until the Anglian glaciation around 475,000 years ago, the early River Thames flowed through the area where Chelmsford now stands, from Harlow to Colchester, before crossing what is now the North Sea to become a tributary of the Rhine. Consequently gravel deposits are frequently found in the area and current and former gravel pits in the district are common.

Geology
Chelmsford has two rivers, the River Can and the River Chelmer. Although often confused to be the same river in the town centre, they are quite separate until they join together towards the east of the town to form the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation which heads out towards Maldon and tidal waters at the Heybridge Basin.
In the other direction the Chelmer comes from the north from its source near Thaxted while the Can comes from the West from Writtle where it separates from the River Wid.
Up to the 1960s these rivers were extremely prone to flooding the town centre area including two disastrous floods in 1888 and 1958 (which also badly affected nearby Wickford) causing widespread damage. Flood prevention schemes in the 1960s on both rivers have largely prevented any further incidents here although the natural flood plains to the North and East such as The 'Baddow Meads' and The 'Chelmer Valley' continue to see flooding on a regular basis especially after prolonged heavy rainfall.

River Can and River Chelmer

Climate
Being in the south east of England, the town enjoys a warmer climate than most of the United Kingdom and has some of the hottest summers in Britain; it is also one of the driest places in the country. Temperatures often reach 30°C in the summer. The hottest day on record in the town was on the U.K. wide temperature record breaking day of Sunday August 10, 2003 when 35.2°C (95.4°F) was recorded. Thunderstorms mostly occur during July and August however they can occur anytime of the year.

Summer
During the winter the temperature rarely stays below 0°C during the day and even with night-time winter temperatures, it's extremely rare to fall below -5°C hence air, hoar and ground frost is very common from November through to March. The coldest temperature recorded in recent times in Chelmsford is -13°C in January 1985. when around 18 to 24 inches fell.

Winter
Chelmsford's official twin towns are:

— Backnang (Germany)
— Annonay (France)
— Chelmsford, Massachusetts (USA) Twin towns
Educational establishments in and around Chelmsford include:

Anglia Ruskin University
King Edward VI Grammar School, known locally as 'KEGS'
St John Payne Catholic Comprehensive School
Chelmsford County High School
Writtle College, an agricultural college
Great Baddow High School
Moulsham High School and humanities college
Hylands School Specialist Science and Sixth Form College
The Boswells School
Chelmer Valley High School
New Hall School, opened 1799.
Chelmsford County High School for Girls, consistently one of the top five schools in the U.K. for both GCSE and A-level results.
St Peters College, the former Rainsford High School.
The Sandon School Education
Chelmsford is home to two active radio stations:
Two other stations with an association with Chelmsford are:

Essex FM — On air since 12th September 1981 and owned by GCap Media, which moved to studios in Glebe Road in late 2004. It had previously been based in Southend.
BBC Essex — On air since 5th November 1986, its studios are based in New London Road.
Chelmsford Calling — A now defunct community radio station. Aimed at the older generation, it played a mix of jazz and comedy programmes. The station was under a Restricted Service Licence and ceased broadcasting on 11 February 2007 after just under two months on air.
Dream 107.7 FM recently moved to studios in Heybridge near Maldon, having vacated its Chelmsford premises in November 2006. This station was previously known as 107.7 Chelmer FM up to 2002. The station began broadcasting on 18th October 1998. It is the local station for mid-Essex. Tindle Radio have owned this station since 2002, where it was purchased from Mid Essex Radio Ltd. Radio stations

Essex Chronicle. Founded as the "Chelmsford Chronicle" in 1764, the weekly "Essex Chronicle" newspaper is said to be the longest in continuous publication in the country. Until the closure of the printing plant in 2002, the paper was also printed in the town. It is now printed on presses by the Northcliffe Group which now owns the paper.
Chelmsford Weekly News. Free to every home.
Chelmsford and Maldon Yellow Advertiser. Free to every home. Local newspapers

Sport in Chelmsford

Main article: Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club

Main article: Chelmsford City F.C. Chelmsford City F.C.

Main article: Chelmsford Hockey Club Chelmsford Hockey Club

Main article: Chelmsford Chieftains Famous People born in Chelmsford

The GHQ Line part of the British hardened field defences of World War II runs directly through Chelmsford with many pillboxes still in existence to the North and South of the town.
Hylands House doubled as the U.S. White House in the 2004 film Chasing Liberty.
Chelmsford Prison was used for interior and some exterior scenes of the film version of the TV show Porridge. Filming was allowed in the prison while it was being refurbished after the disastrous fire there in 1978.
Chelmsford Prison was also the site of a 1976 live album recording by the Sex Pistols.
Chelmsford is also the setting for MTV's alternative teen comedy mini-series the Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers.
Chelmsford two tallest buildings, Melbourne Court built in 1962 in Melbourne Avenue, locally known as Melbourne flats and the new development nearing completion the 13 floor "53 Park Central" in Duke Street share the same height. 43 metres or 141.04 feet, although the tallest structure by far in the Chelmsford area is the former Chain Home radar tower in the urban village Great Baddow which rises to 110 metres or 360ft. It is a local landmark visible throughout the town and surrounding area.
Chelmsford is home of Essex street diversions, East Anglia's largest festival of international street theatre and The 3 foot People Festival, the UK's only 4-day festival exclusively for under 5 year-olds.
Chelmsford is the home to Essex Police whose Headquarters are based just off Sandford Road.
Essex County Council have their Headquarters in Chelmsford at the County Hall in Duke Street. Chelmsford Trivia

Boreham
Broomfield
Chelmer Village
Danbury
East Hanningfield
Galleywood
Great Baddow
Hanningfield Reservoir
Hatfield Peverel
Little Baddow
Sandon
South Hanningfield
Springfield
Shenfield
Stock
West Hanningfield
Writtle See also

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)