Census returns, family trees and local memories fill this section of our site.
Click on a photograph or article title to read more.
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...
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...
This is the start of our Christmas Articles published for 2018 and I thought it might be appropriate to start with a little light reading. So below is the Parish magazine for December 1898. This magazine covered the Chesterfords, Great Chishill, Chrishall, Debden,...
Time for a game - spot the difference. Above you can see an extract from the Chapman and Andre map of 1777 (reproduced with permission from Essex Record Office). The Chapman and Andre maps of this date are reputed to be the most accurate maps of the time, but I can...
(Picture above: the old brewhouse at Gents Farm, now Broad Green Farm). Forasmuch as nothing conduceth more to the peace and prosperity of a nation, and the protection of every single person therein, than that the public revenue thereof may be in some measure...
Jack was born at Chalky Lane in 1909 to Fred and Matilda Green. Both his mother and father were born in the village, his father at the old cottages that used to be to the left of the chapel. Jack started school at 5 but "didn't do any good at all". He would much...
Evacuee Norman Sherry tells us about his time in Chrishall during the Second World War (taken from an article sent to Mrs Cranwell in 2002). Norman arrived with a group of 14 children who were evacuees in the village. His memories are still very clear of the...
(Spenny Loveday interviewed by Stephen Foote) We recently caught up in the Red Cow and discussed the fortunes of the village cricket team over the years. Spenny joined the cricket team whilst still at Saffron Walden Technical and Modern school, having taken to the...
Chrishall Born and Bred Life-long resident Spencer (Spenny) Loveday shares some reminiscences about his life in the village in the years during and after the war, interviewed by Stephen Foote and first published in The Village Web. Born in Royston in 1942, Spenny grew...
This extract from Kellys directory of 1933 for Chrishall shows the first appearance of telephone numbers (T N) in the directory. (It is also interesting that Mr Crocker felt he could advertise "any make of car supplied"!) We know quite a bit about the people...
