Sewards End

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sewards End is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is about two miles east of Saffron Walden and is set in the beautiful rolling countryside of north west Essex. It became a civil parish on April 1, 2004. [1]

In common with many other rural villages of its size, Sewards End has seen many changes in recent decades. The 2nd half of the 20th century saw it moving away from its rural roots where a high percentage of the population either worked on the land or in local industry, to the role of dormitory village, the population frequently commuting to Cambridge or further afield to London via local road and rail links.

These changes have inevitably led to alterations in the social fabric of the community and they are evidenced by the closure of the village's two pubs (The Fox and the Green Dragon), its local shop, post office and garage as well as the folding of its once vibrant cricket club during the last 3 decades of the 20th century.

Villager's lifestyles have moved on and so have their social and economic ambitions. The positive aspects of those changes are reflected in the new parish council and a very well used and run village hall which is the centre of a resurgent village community determined to improve on its facilities.

The village itself dates back many centuries and proudly boasts many examples of splendid architecture across the ages including the beauty of buildings such as "Everards" and the magnificent folly that is "The Towers".

The ever increasing affluence of the area has also seen several examples of sympathetic and welcome restoration to local properties such as "Campions" and "Wheel Hall Cottage" and these buildings now complement the overall scene in this peaceful and beautiful hamlet.