Tendring (village)

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Map sources for Tendring (village) at grid reference TM144241

Tendring is the eponymous village and civil parish of the Tendring district of Essex - and before that of the Tendring Hundred. It gave its name to the larger groupings because it was at the centre, not because it was significantly larger than any of the other settlements.

1 LOCATION
2 DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
3 CONSERVATION AREA BOUNDARIES
4 THE HALL
5 THE CHURCH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
- 5.1 Nearby places
- 5.2 External links

[edit] LOCATION

Tendring village sits on level open countryside dissected just to the south of the village by the valley of the Holland Brook. Tendring straddles the B1035 connecting Manningtree with Thorpe-le-Soken. As with other villages in the area, the village appears from its road approaches as a dense belt of mature trees crowned by, in this case, the church spire. The finest view is on the approach from the south across the valley of the Holland Brook, from where the trees are continuous except for a glimpse of New Hall. The approach from the north, through Goose Green and past Tendring School, includes some modern development, as well as views of the substantial farm buildings associated with the Hall. The least satisfactory approach in visual terms is from the east, where the long village street is seen end on and there are fewer features of note before the village is reached.

[edit] DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Tendring gives its name to a series of scattered settlements in the centre of the District that bears its name. Many of these are the groupings around greens that are feature of the area: the centre of this extended family, however, is a relatively straight street until fairly recently only sparsely developed from the combination of hall and church at its western end. The occupation of this area is long-established, with a wealth of crop marks in the fields to the south and south east of the village, including a number of Bronze Age ring ditches. It has been suggested that The Street is part of an early route from Colchester to the landing site at Beaumont Quay. The Hall dates back at least to the 17th century, while the list description of the former Crown Inn nearby gives its original date as 15th or 16th century if not earlier. The church of St Edmund has a 13th century nave and chancel standing on earlier foundations, however: the nave has an unusual single hammerbeam truss at the west end. A delightful timber-framed porch of 14th century date sits below the west tower, given a distinctive spire unusual for the district and dating from 1876. Chapman and André's Essex map of 1777 shows these three buildings, New Hall, a vicarage (now the Grange) and the row of cottages to the east. Development since then will have slowly accelerated, with a significant level of infill housing since the last war.

[edit] CONSERVATION AREA BOUNDARIES

The area at its west end takes in the grounds of Tendring Hall and its outbuildings to the north. Proceeding eastwards, the Area includes developed curtilages on either side of The Street, making a northward extension to take in the whole garden area of The Grange. On the south side there is an extension to New Hall and its approaches, and the field to the east together with a southwards extension to the west of The Mill. The Area terminates on the north side of The Street at The Cottage, but continues on the south side to include the road frontage of the large southern field, which frontage has just been developed as two houses.

[edit] THE HALL

The approach to the village from the north east is heralded by three elements. The hedgerows on the east side the road increase in density and there is an enticing glimpse of Crown House through an arch in the mature trees. Finally, just beyond the rather open frontage of the modern Hall Farmhouse, is the formal entrance to the Hall, framed by mature chestnuts, and the drive to the Hall buildings. The Hall itself is a most attractive building, timber framed and faced in grey brick with attractive gables and prominent chimneys. It is set well back from the road in ornamental grounds. The drive to the Hall's outbuildings presents an interesting if incoherent group of buildings. To the north a view opens up over open countryside before Maud's Court is reached. The lane runs past the side elevation of the Hall, an interesting jumble of gables and roofs before ending in a group of nondescript farm buildings again framing views over open countryside.

[edit] THE CHURCH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

The church of St. Edmund King & Martyr presides over a loose grouping of mostly traditional buildings frame din mature trees. Foremost among these is Crown House, which still plays a crucial though now purely visual role in the village at this point. Its front facade fills the view on the approach from the north, while its western gable rises from the edge of the carriageway of the minor road approaching from the south, and forms the entrance to the village from this direction as well. Its long low façade in Suffolk Pink is held together by a substantial central chimney stack and a plain rendered cartouche in the centre of the façade. In front is a small forecourt with ornamental planting, and the eye is taken around the corner by a clipped conifer hedge. The entrance from the south is also framed by an outbuilding of Crown House and more mature planting associated with the cartilage of the Hall. The dominance of mature planting at this entrance to the village is supported by the screening of the Village Hall car park which fills the inside corner at this point.

Beyond the clipped hedge is a pair of cottages, one formerly a shop, with brick facades and dentilled eaves. They make a fine group with the church spire and the mature trees of the churchyard. Beyond a small graveled seating area on the north side of the road stands the Village Hall, converted from the former National School of 1842. Although only single storey, this building has presence in the street scene because of its forward position at the back edge of the pavement, its steeply pointed gables, and its facing of red brick with blue diaper work. It makes an important group with the Church, behind its substantial flint wall with attractively-molded copings. Much of the charm of the Church comes from the simplicity of its appearance. The nave and chancel are rendered with stone and brick buttresses contrasting with the rock-faced tower and ashlar steeple. The medieval timber porch is a delightful foil to these larger elements.

From the east of the Church, the bend in the road prevents longer views, and the centre of attention is the large tree in the grounds of Ilex Cottage, the former lodge to New Hall. The road is framed by mature hedges on both sides, the most distinctive being that fronting Church House, a 19th Century villa of two storeys, with elevations of cream painted brick under a hipped slate roof. On the north side of the road, there is a group of post-war houses of no great distinction. Churchfields and Rendlesham are the least attractive in this context, and the crazy paved bank forming the front boundary of Rendlesham is a negative feature in the street scene.

On the south side of the road, there is a pleasant view down the drive of New Hall between the original gothic gate piers. These are a little overgrown, but excessive tidiness here might not suit the character of the view. The end stop of the view initially is the farm buildings of New Hall, which are outside the Conservation Area, and a group of poplars in one of the two fenced paddocks either side of the drive as it approaches New Hall. There is a view westwards across open fields, part of the Area and the highest ground in the vicinity. This view takes in the back garden fences of properties along The Street, with their ornamental planting. New Hall itself, of substantial mid-19th Century building of red brick with shaped gables, is hidden from view behind a mature hedgerow screen. There are no other views out of the Area at this point.

The parish includes the settlements of Goose Green, Tendring Green and Tendring Heath. The church is dedicated to St Edmund.The Tendring Union Workhouse was located at Tendring Heath (1880 map and modern sources).