Chrishall Village History

The life and times of a North Essex Village
Select Page
crawley-end-chrishall-sheep-grazing
Cane Martenholme Pond
Drage & Kent Chrishall
tom harvey
church-road-cottages
chrishall women's institute 1995
Chrishall-Cricket-1949
previous arrow
next arrow
Slider

Welcome to this website about the community of Chrishall in Essex.

Chrishall is a small village on a hilltop in the very north west of Essex, close to the borders of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, in the East of England.   This website is particularly aimed at the local community and the genealogist who perhaps has never visited Chrishall and wishes to visualise the kind of community whence his or her ancestor came.

We would love to hear from you. Find out how to tell us your stories

If you would like to hear from us sign up for our newsletterhistory newsletter

Chrishall Remembers

Chrishall Remembers is the Archive’s Tribute to those from the village who served, and those who were lost, in World War 1.

Talk

On Wednesday 7th November we are holding a talk in the Village Hall at 8pm – At Home in Wartime.  Dr Deborah Thom of Robinson College, Cambridge, will give the Irene Cranwell Memorial Lecture on what it was like for those who were left at home when the men – and women – were called to The Front.

Tickets on the door: £3 / £2.50 for Archive Friends.  Refreshments and a raffle.

Display

On Sunday 11th November, 11am – 3pm, the Archive will be open for a special event: Keep the home fires burning, a display of a WWI village home.  Do call in to see the display and join us for a cup of tea, coffee, hot soup, and hot sausage rolls.

To download the posters for the talk and the Archive opening please click here.

Latest articles:

Two Ears of Barley

Two Ears of Barley

by | Jul 14, 2018 | Builden End, Village Folk | 2 Comments

I was recently loaned a lovely little book called Two Ears of Barley, written by Jack Wilkerson and published in 1969 and all about the history of Barley in Cambridgeshire.  Barley is only about three miles from Chrishall as the crow flies and there are...

read more

Or choose from the following

People

charles and mary ann flack high street

Census returns

Places

crawley end chrishall

Visit us

Topics

chrishall cricket team 1910

Support the Archive

Music in the Church

Before the Church had an organ, singing was accompanied by William Cranwell on clarinet, and two of his brothers, John on the bass viol and Clear on the viola or violin.
2017-05-15T16:36:24+00:00
Before the Church had an organ, singing was accompanied by William Cranwell on clarinet, and two of his brothers, John on the bass viol and Clear on the viola or violin.

Spooky Tales

m r james the story of a disapperance and an appearance

Spooky tales? It seems that Chrishall was the place that MR James based his ghost story "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance", according to several sources including this one. A copy can be purchased from Amazon if you are feeling brave!
2017-05-10T08:48:44+00:00
Spooky tales? It seems that Chrishall was the place that MR James based his ghost story "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance", according to several sources including this one. A copy can be purchased from Amazon if you are feeling brave!

Sorting the tythes

Memorandum Jary 5th 1721


I obtained an Order from the Justices of the Peace at ye Petty Sessions held this day at Newport that the occupior of the Mill in Chrishall shall pay yearly for Tythe eight shillings to the Vicar the Mill having payed Tythe before .... whether this be sufficient but 'twas all that could be Recovered by Me


Tho: Melvill. Vicar.

2017-05-27T16:21:47+00:00
Memorandum Jary 5th 1721 I obtained an Order from the Justices of the Peace at ye Petty Sessions held this day at Newport that the occupior of the Mill in Chrishall shall pay yearly for Tythe eight shillings to the Vicar the Mill having payed Tythe before .... whether this be sufficient but 'twas all that could be Recovered by Me Tho: Melvill. Vicar.

Bronze Age Hoard

Items from a Bronze Age Hoard that was found between Chrishall and Elmdon in the 18th century can be seen on the British Museum's website here.

 
2017-05-27T14:10:16+00:00
Items from a Bronze Age Hoard that was found between Chrishall and Elmdon in the 18th century can be seen on the British Museum's website here.  

Bonfires on Jigneys

We used to have huge bonfires on Jigneys for Bonfire Night.  Mr Crocker would provide tyres to burn! (1930's/40s. ER.)
2017-04-11T07:01:48+00:00
We used to have huge bonfires on Jigneys for Bonfire Night.  Mr Crocker would provide tyres to burn! (1930's/40s. ER.)

Counting the Acres

The number of Acres in the Parish of Chreshall taken from the Surveyors Papers and Accounts 1778
Arable inclosed 616
Meadow ground 167
Common-Field Arable 985
Pasture or Feeding ground 270
Total 2039

2017-05-27T16:23:27+00:00
The number of Acres in the Parish of Chreshall taken from the Surveyors Papers and Accounts 1778 Arable inclosed 616 Meadow ground 167 Common-Field Arable 985 Pasture or Feeding ground 270 Total 2039

On this day…

A daily extract from the Church Records

On this day
  • 1758 Thomas Giffins buried

The content, both written and photographic, is copyright of either the owners or authors (all rights acknowledged) and its use elsewhere is strictly prohibited without permission.

Support the Archive

There are many ways you could help us with the Archive that don’t have to involve financial support or even too much TIME! Curious?

Click here for more details on how you can be involved.

You are what makes this website what it is. If you have comments or photographs please click here and let us know. We can visit you or you can come to us. And we would love to scan any pictures you have so you can keep the originals.