Moreton, Essex

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Moreton
Moreton shown within Essex
Population	366
District	Epping Forest
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ONGAR
Postcode district	CM5
Dialling code	01277
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
European Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Brentwood and Ongar
List of places: UK • England • Essex

Coordinates: 51°44′34″N 0°13′08″E / 51.7428, 0.2188

Moreton is a village in west Essex. Two thousand years ago it was the point at which a Roman style road , connecting Great Dunmow (Stane Street) to London, crossed the Cripsey Brook. Today the bridge that crosses the Cripsey is still a feature of Moreton, and though not two thousand years old, its construction nonetheless predates the advent of mass motorised transport. There being no weight limits on the village lanes in this corner of Essex, this narrow bridge has become somewhat degraded over recent decades, by the passage of large trucks and of other vehicles driven with insufficient precision between its parapets.

There is no modern road, at this point, following the route of the Roman road out of the village, but the old road's route can be followed at Tawney Common a few miles to the south west. Modern Moreton remains at the confluence of various minor roads, however, which link to Fyfield, to the east, Bobbingworth to the south, High Laver (burial place of John Locke) to the west and Matching to the north. Where the roads meet there remain several substantial village houses from the late Medieval / early modern period of English history, as well as two traditional English pubs, being The White Hart and The Nags Head.

Directly to the east of The Nags head, Moreton features a primary school, which retains its small Victorian era main building, but in recent decades has grown in size and in excellence, as schools in neighbouring villages have been closed down.

The surrounding area is agricultural, and there is also a flour milling business a short distance to the north of the village. That apart, commercial activity has largely abandoned the village, and today many residents must commute to Harlow or Chelmsford or to London.

For many years after petrol and diesel engined tractors became mainstream in England, Moreton retained a depot housing steam tractors (traction engines) but, sadly, historical traction engines are no longer a feature of Moreton.