Great Totham

History of the village

According to the old maps, before the time of the enclosures, the outskirts of Great Totham North were part of Tiptree Heath, which was then well known as a haunt of smugglers, this being celebrated in the name of a house in Mountains Road called Spirits Hall. The 'mountain' in question is Beacon Hill which at 83 metres is one of the highest points in the county and probably the original place of settlement, giving the name Totham. This possibly derived from the Saxon, meaning look out or hill top dwelling.

South of the village of Great Totham has St Peter's church which dates back to the Norman times. There is also the Barn Chapel, with its thatched roof. This became a chapel back in 1822 when Mr Isaac Foster donated the barn to be a place of worship for non-conformists.

Great Totham village school celebrated its centenary in 1977, but by that time the Victorian building, though still in existence, had been replaced by a larger modern school situated on a different site. There is also a Grade II listed building known as the Honeywood School, this is a church school which was founded by the Honeywood family of Marks Hall, Coggeshall in the mid 19th century, who had inherited the manor of Great Totham. This is still in use as the church hall.

In the North of Great Totham there is a United Reformed church dating back from 1871, This has been recently refurbished and used not only for services but for many other activities such as the pre-school playgroup. Just around the corner adjoining the small village green, is the Compasses public house which dates back to the late 17th century.

The Prince of Wales in Totham South was completely gutted by fire in 1990, so many historic features have been lost for ever, but it has been rebuilt and reopened, the first pint pulled by Ted Newton, who was born over 80 years ago.

Great Totham has changed a great deal over the centuries, some of the crafts and trades having died out or been brought up to date. There are no longer any walking-stick makers, brickworks or saddlers. The old gravel pits have also become recreation areas for fishing lakes.

Great Totham has a village sign. A plaque attached to the village sign of the north area reads:

On 17 October 1952, two Gloster Meteors of No 72 Squadron, Royal Air Force, crashed nearby killing both pilots. F/O Charles Muldownie from Rotherham and P/O Ian Carmichael from Devon. Two local people were injured and many were affected by the accident.

Local people assisted at the time and this village green became the base for recovery operations by RAF personnel. This plaque is in memory of the pilots and for all those involved.

St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church, situated on Church Road in Great Totham, is a Grade II listed building that was built back in the 13th century. The church became a listed building on 30 December 1959.

School

Great Totham Primary School is located in Walden House Road, Great Totham. The school is divided into 14 classes, two per year group. The School Motto is 'Enjoy, Respect, Achieve'. In its last Ofsted inspection in October 2007, the school received and overall score of "2" which is graded as "Good".

England cricketer Alastair Cook was a pupil at the school.

GirlGuiding in Great Totham

The Witham South District of GirlGuiding UK is made up of two Rainbow packs for girls aged 5–7 years old, three Brownie packs for girls aged 7–10 years old, a Guide unit for girls aged 10–14 years old and a Ranger unit for girls aged 14+ that live in Wickham Bishops, Great Totham and the surrounding villages.

Governance

There are several elected representatives at different levels of government which act for Great Totham and the surrounding villages. There are two Great Totham district councillors which represent the area at Maldon District Council. The current district councillors are David Sismey (Conservative) and Frank Delderfield (Conservative).

The current MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) are Vicky Ford (Conservative), Andrew Duff (Liberal Democrat), Stuart Agnew (UK Independence), Robert Sturdy (Conservative), Geoffrey Van Orden (Conservative), Richard Howitt (Labour) and David Campbell Bannerman (Conservative).

The current MP who represents the area (Witham) in the House of Commons is Priti Patel (Conservative).

The population of the ward mentioned above was 3,660 at the 2011 Census.

Public transport

Railway The closest National Rail service is located in Witham or Hatfield Peveral, and is operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. Destinations served from these stations include London Liverpool Street and Ipswich, Clacton, Harwich, Braintree and Norwich via the Great Eastern Main Line. The nearest London Underground line is the central line at Stratford International.

Healthcare

The nearest NHS(National Health Service) hospitals are Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford and Colchester General, Colchester.

Climate

In East Anglia, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F). The coolest time of the year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F) East Anglia's average annual rainfall is about 605 millimetres , with October to January being the wettest months.