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Toppesfield

Coordinates: 52°00′25″N 0°31′55″E / 52.007°N 0.532°E / 52.007; 0.532
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Toppesfield
Toppesfield from Stambourne Road
Toppesfield is located in Essex
Toppesfield
Toppesfield
Location within Essex
Population507 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTL739372
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHalstead
Postcode districtCO9
Dialling code01787
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Essex
52°00′25″N 0°31′55″E / 52.007°N 0.532°E / 52.007; 0.532

Toppesfield is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. The village is approximately 19 miles (31 km) north from the county town of Chelmsford, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west from the village of Great Yeldham. The parish contains the hamlets of Gainsford End and Grass Green.


History

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The derivation of the name 'Toppesfield' is 'open land on the hill top',[2] a possible agglomeration of the phrase 'Top of the Field'.

Geography

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Toppesfield, 8 miles (13 km) from the Suffolk border, is part of North Essex which has higher terrain than most of Essex. The village sits on a small and shallow hill, about 75 metres above sea level.[3]

Community

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Toppesfield is a rural community historically associated with arable farming. The village has approximately 500 inhabitants. The hamlet of Gainsford End, of approximately fifty inhabitants, is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest from the village, and contains the listed Gainsford End Mill.[4]

In 2002, following the closure of the last privately owned shop in the parish, a community owned and volunteer-run shop was built. This is attached to the village hall, which itself had been built and opened in 1961, following several years of fundraising by parishioners and financial support from Lord Sainsbury and Sir Leslie and Lady Plummer, who all lived in the village. Toppesfield's only public house is the Green Man. The pub is owned by Toppesfield Community Pub Limited (TCP), a Community Benefit Society which was established in 2012. TCP gained control of the Green Man in December 2012 from Admiral Taverns, a national pub chain which had financial problems. TCP is owned by more than 150 shareholders who raised share capital exceeding £150,000 to help finance the purchase.[5]

St Margaret’s Church, Toppesfield, a Church of England parish church, is part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes joint benefice.[6] Affiliated to the church is St Margaret's Church of England primary school.[7]

The church has a ring of 8 bells.[8]

The village has a primary school, St Margarets CofE Voluntary Controlled School, which dates back to 1854. The school is rated 'Good' by OFSTED following an inspection in late 2022.

Toppesfield is the birthplace of rock legend Meatloaf, who’s 1979 single “Dead Ringer For Love” is believed to be a reference to an intimate experience he had as a teenager in that alleyway between the Church Yard and Camoise Close where he and his love interest got chased off by members of the Toppesfield Church Bell Ringing Society and the vicar for making “too much racket”. Meatloaf later told NME that he thought he was being chased by zombies and that he was so scared he didn’t even have time to pull his pants up.

References

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  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. ^ The Cambridge dictionary of English place-names : based on the collections of the English Place-Name Society. Watts, V. E. (Victor Ernest), Insley, John., Gelling, Margaret. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN 0521362091. OCLC 48265598.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "Toppesfield". Elevation Map. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Gainsford End Windmill (1317300)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  5. ^ The Green Man pub bought by Toppesfield villagers, BBC, retrieved 14 December 2012
  6. ^ St Margaret’s Church, Toppesfield, Upper Colne Valley Parishes
  7. ^ "St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, which dates back to 1854. The school is rated 'Good' by OFSTED following an inspection in late 2022. Toppesfield". Gov.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Tower details". dove.cccbr.org.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
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