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George Cranwell
George was an agricultural labourer and lived at Ramblers Crawley End with his parents, older brother Ralph and younger sister Ivy. He served with the Essex Regiment and was killed in action on 23rd October 1916 aged 21 during the battles of the Somme. His body was never found. He is commemorated on Thiepval Memorial.…
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Eustace Hooper
Eustace Hooper was a Land Agent’s Clerk working for Matthew Gray at Chrishall Grange estate when he enrolled for military service in November of 1915. He was called forward for service in April of 1916 and commissioned the following March. He was killed at the battle of the Somme in January 1918. Eustace was single…
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Charles Healey
Charles Healey was a gamekeeper who had worked at Chrishall Grange. He was married to Laura and they had three children, Warren, Noreen and Mildred. He enlisted at Saffron Walden and was a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was posted as Killed in Action on 20th July 1917 aged 32 during the battles…
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Chishill Well and a local water diviner
While rummaging through a file of articles recently I found this fascinating article about the digging of Chishill well. We don’t know where the well was, or where Twelve Acres was for that matter. Someone must know?? We also don’t know the name of the water diviner in the article below. However we do have…
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And the village was burned
Is this the source of an intriguing and persistent folklore tale? Since I was very small, I have been brought up with the story that the old village of Chrishall was in the fields in front of the church going down towards the main Saffron Walden to Royston Road (known by us as “the bottom…
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Wenden Lofts Mill
Wenden Lofts’ Mill “Miss Nellie Smith who lived at Hamlet House, Pond Street, is shown on the photograph as a young girl on the steps of the Mill. Her family lived at Hope Farm and farmed the land round about. The Mill was taken down very soon after the First World War.” (Handwritten note on…
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Chrishall Windmill
For nearly three hundred years Chrishall had it’s own windmill*. It stood next to Mill House on Mill Causeway and was a post mill, probably very similar to Chishill Mill. The mill was made of wood and could be turned around a main central post so that the sails were into the wind. Walter Brand…
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A period of unrest leads to road improvements!
1830 Wheat 64s 3d per quarter. A changeable summer. Accounts of the harvest vary, some recording a good harvest and some estimating it as less than average. Blizzards in mid-January and severe frosts in February, March was fine, warm and excellent for sowing. July was very hot, but August and September were wet. Sheep-rot very…
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VE Day 75th Commemoration
Friday 8th May 2020 is the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe, where the country celebrated the end of part, at least, of the Second World War. (VJ day was to come later in the year.) Chrishall never seems backwards at coming forwards when a party is in the offing. The Church newsletters…
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The Royal Observer Corps
The following article was written by Joe Hagger who was one of the village cobblers or shoe-makers and lived in the cottage that faces the green next to The Red Cow. (This article is published as written and the language reflects the time at which Mr Hagger was writing.) The Royal Observer Corps Oct 3rd…
