Clatterford End, Toot Hill

Clatterford End

Clatterford End hamlet
Clatterford End
Clatterford End shown within Essex
Population 50 (2015 estimate)
OS grid reference TL525021
Civil parish
  • Stanford Rivers
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ONGAR
Postcode district CM5
Dialling code 01992
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament

Clatterford End is hamlet near the village of Toot Hill, in the Epping Forest District, in the English county of Essex. It is a small settlement with an estimate of 50 residents.

The hamlet lies on Toot Hill Road, or also referred to as Clatterford Road. This road leads to the Green Man in Toot Hill and meets Epping Road at the T-junction, and also leads to Greensted Road and Greensted Green.

It is located 2.7 miles south-west of Chipping Ongar and 6 miles east of Epping. It is in the civil parish, Stanford Rivers. The Parish stands at 1,749 hectares. Clatterford End also stands 1.5 miles away from Stanford Rivers.[1]

Toot Hill Road leading to Greensted. Some of the newer houses in Clatterford End.

The hamlet has no shops or facilities, apart from one post-box, but consists of a small cluster of houses in one area with a number of scattered farms to the east and west. The hamlet is surrounded by arable fields used by the several farms which surround the area.

It is situated near Toot Hill Country Show which has taken place each year since 1953, which occurs on the first Saturday in August. The hamlet also has panoramic views of the Essex countryside. Aside from these features, Clatterford End is near the location of a sighting of the 'Beast of Ongar', a legendary 'panther-like' creature the size of a big cat, spotted in a field between Clatterford End and Stanford Rivers.[2]

History

The oldest building in the hamlet is Coleman's Farm, a 19th century grade II listed structure. It includes a former milking parlour which has been redundant since 1978 and a converted timber barn, now a dwelling.[3]

Modern houses have since been built along the road.

Some farmlands near Coleman's Farm in Clatterford End.

The hamlet was essential in delivering agricultural produce to London, such as milk during the Second World War. The goods would be taken to Blake Hall Station (1.6 miles away) and then taken to the city. The agricultural history and nature of the hamlet made it ideal for this purpose.[4]

Geography

The land in the hamlet varies in height from about 74 ft. above sea-level to 81 ft.[5] The River Roding runs near and forms the eastern and southern boundaries of the parish. A stream flows east across the north of the parish to join the Roding at Wash Bridge. Several smaller streams join the river farther south. Clatterford End is surrounded by large open fields and arable farms.

It is located 2.7 miles south-west of Chipping Ongar and 6 miles east of Epping. It is in the civil parish of Stanford Rivers. It is close to neighbouring towns and villages such as Greensted Green, Greensted, Toot Hill, Bobbingworth, Bovinger, Stanford Rivers, Little End and Chipping Ongar.[6]

Politics and governance

Clatterford End is represented at Westminster by Alex Burghart, MP for Brentwood and Ongar. It is strongly Conservative with the Conservatives winning 52% of the vote in 2015's local elections.

Clatterford End is represented at the Essex County Council by Maggie McEwan, county councillor for Ongar and Rural. A district and county councillor. In 2017, at the county council elections she won 68.2% of the vote, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 12.6%. This result makes Ongar and Rural the second most Conservative supporting area in Essex, behind North Weald and Nazeing.

McEwen, born in Essex, has lived at Norton Heath, Ongar since 1974. She is a defender of environmental issues and protection of the countryside, having studied Organic horticulture at Otley Agricultural College. She first worked in the community as Governor then Chairman of High Ongar Primary school. Then, she was elected to Epping Forest District Council in 1996 and has served as Cabinet member and Leader of Council. She is married to Gerard McEwen (former Chairman of Essex County Council) and in 2013 Maggie was elected to take his place. She is a member of Fire & Rescue Authority and is vice-chairman of People & Families scrutiny committee and a member of the Local Highways Panel.[7]

Ongar & Rural
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Maggie McEwen 2,336 68.2 +17.3
Liberal Democrat Brian Surtees 432 12.6 +6.2
Labour Co-op Liam Preston 316 9.2 -0.2
UKIP Lawrence Mendoza 282 8.2 -17.3
English Democrat Robin Tilbrook 58 1.7 -1.5
Majority 1,904 55.6 +30.1
Turnout 3,429 27.7 +3.4
Conservative hold Swing +5.5

The hamlet is governed locally by the Stanford Rivers Parish council. This is a group of 7 parish councillors who represent the areas of Toot Hill, Clatterford End, Little End and Stanford Rivers. The parish council are key in organising the Country Show, but also organise events such as 'speeding patrols' in which groups would wait in areas of the parish with speed guns to deter speeding vehicles. At Christmas, the parish council organise festive events such as 'Meet Santa', carols and mulled wine festivals. These are popular and attended by hundreds of people.[8]Clatterford End itself doesn't have a parish councillor exclusively for the hamlet.[9]

Party Councillor
Independent John S Glover (Chairman)
Independent Alan Buckley
Independent Jeanette Gatward
Independent Ted Saridja
Independent Robert Jackson
Independent Basil Hollington
Independent Matt Talon

Demography

The hamlet is one of the smallest in the area, and the smallest in the Stanford Rivers parish. It has an estimated population of 50, many of whom are farmers.

Transport

Bus

Currently, the road running through Clatterford End is too narrow and weak to support the weight of a bus. The nearest bus stop is in the village of Toot Hill, to the west. These buses operate from Ongar to Epping, Epping to Harlow or Ongar to Harlow.

Train

Blake Hall station after it was closed.

The nearest station to Clatterford End is Epping which is served by the Central line. The closest National Rail service is from Harlow Town, which is served by the West Anglia Main Line and is operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.

Previously, the nearest station was Blake Hall (which lies between North Weald and Ongar stations), opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 1 April 1865, serving principally as a goods yard carrying agricultural produce from the nearby farms into London. Steam locomotives operated by British Railways for the Underground ran a shuttle service from Epping to Ongar, stopping at Blake Hall, from 1949 until 1957, when the line was electrified and taken over by the Underground's Central line. On 18 April 1966 the goods yard was closed and Blake Hall became a dedicated passenger station. On 17 October 1966, Sunday services were withdrawn.

London Underground closed the station on 31st October 1981 due to a lack of custom. Some reports state that since the station was located a considerable distance from any substantial settlement, 17 passengers used it a day, making it the quietest on the entire London Underground network. Although the building remained, the platform was removed by LT when they heard that, despite the formal closure, some trains were still dropping off passengers. The platform has now been reinstated, though the building is now a privately owned house.[10]

Toot Hill Road towards Clatterford End. The first farm can be seen on the bend.

The Epping Ongar Railway now runs the line. The owner lives in the former station. Passengers on the heritage line can no longer alight at the station, but the train, on occasions stops outside the station to provide an experience of the original journey trains on the line would take. The line and surrounding area featured on a Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys in 2012. One can see the former station from the bridge next to the station-turned-house.[11]

Road

The local lanes are narrow and twisting and unsuited to vehicles larger than cars. In addition sections of Toot Hill Road (the road running through the hamlet) are designated as protected lanes. The road joins to Toot Hill opposite the Green Man pub and ends at a T-junction near Greensted. The road is surrounded by forestry, hedges and fields and is only suitable for one car at a time.[3]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/51.6975184,0.206106/51.711912,0.2037285/@51.7004168,0.1916128,2789m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ "Beast of Ongar sightings".
  3. 1 2 http://planpub.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/NorthgatePublicDocs/00051068.pdf
  4. ↑ "Blake Hall tube station". Wikipedia. 2017-01-24.
  5. ↑ "Elevation of Clatterford End".
  6. ↑ https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/51.6975184,0.206106/51.711912,0.2037285/@51.7004168,0.1916128,2789m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Essex Conservatives: Maggie McEwen".
  8. ↑ "Meet the Councillors of Stanford Rivers Parish".
  9. ↑ "Stanford Rivers Parish Council".
  10. ↑ "Along the branch: Blake Hall".
  11. ↑ "Michael Portillo visits the EOR".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.