HALSTEAD WITH THE VILLAGES OF CASTLE & SIBLE HEDINGHAM, AND GREAT YELDHAM.

Pigot's Essex 1832-3 Trade Directory

HALSTEAD is a populous and flourishing market town, in the parish of its name, and hundred of Hinckford; 47 miles from London, 14 from Colchester, and 12 from Clare, in Suffolk. It is situated upon the river Colne, and on the slope of a gravelly eminence. Its name is Saxon, from the word hale - signifying in that language, as also in our own tongue, a healthy place; and its character of salubrity continues unimpaired to the present day. The manufacture of silk is now carried on here, which gives employment to a number of hands; and a ready market is found for the straw plat made in this town, by which many persons gain a livelihood. Here is a free grammar-school, founded by Mary Bamsey, in the year 1594, for 40 boys within the town of Halstead and eight miles round: the trust of this school is committed to the governors of Christ's Hospital; the endowment is £20 per annum, with a house for the residence of the master.

The church, which contains many curious monuments, and is dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient edifice, with a tower, surmounted by a wooden spire, the third that has been raised upon it; the second, as Prior had poetically foretold, shared the fate of its predecessor, and was destroyed by lightning. The living is a vicarage, in the gift of the Bishop of London; the Rev. W. Adams is the present vicar. Here are also two chapels for dissenters, and a friends' meeting-house. There are several elegant seats in the vicinity of Halstead; at one of which, 'Gosfield Hall,' the Royal Family of France resided for some time. The views in this part of the county are considered very fine; they are extensive, and embrace from the eminences rich and fertile scenery. Fairs, 6th May and 29th October, for cattle, &c.- The parish of Halstead contained, by the government returns for 1831, 4,637 inhabitants; being an increase, since the year 1801, of 1,257 persons.

CASTLE HEDINGHAM (so called from the castle near to which it is situated,) is a parish and village, and was once a market town; it is four miles from Halstead, in the same hundred as that town. The castle alluded to is supposed to have been erected early in the 12th century: it is in the purest style of Anglo-Norman architecture, and from the massive solidity of the walls, which are from 11 to 13 feet in thickness, has defied the encroachments of time; the hall of audience, and many other apartments, are still in a state to afford much speculation and pleasure to the curious researcher. - The church is a fine ancient edifice, having a large chancel; several of the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, are interred in this church, and there are some other monuments of persons of distinction in their time. The living is a lay rectory, in the gift of Lewis Majendie, Esq.; the Rev. H.D. Morgan is the present minister. There are many hop plantations in this neighbourhood, which improve the scenery, otherwise very pleasing. Fairs, 14th May and 25th July, for cattle. Population, by the later returns, 1,220.

SIBLE HEDINGHAM is a populous and genteel village and parish, in the same hundred as Castle Hedingham, about a mile and a half therefrom. The church is a pile of considerable antiquity and size, having three aisles and a chancel, with a fine-toned set of bells. The living is a rectory, in the gift of Thomas Warburton, Esq.; the present incumbent is the Rev. Henry Warburton. The hop plantations in the parish are also numerous. There is an annual fair held on Easter Tuesday, chiefly for toys and pedlery. Population, by the late census, 2,194.

GREAT YELDHAM is a small village and parish, in the same hundred as the Hedinghams, on the road from Cambridge to Colchester, two miles from Castel Hedingham. This is a neat and genteel little village, having a church of Gothic structure: the living is in the gift of Sir William Rush, Bart.; the Rev. Edward Clark is the present incumbent. The number of inhabitants, by the late returns, was 673.

POST OFFICE, Hedingham-lane, HALSTEAD, Lydia Anderson, Post Mistress. - Letters from LONDON arrive every morning at five, and are despatched every evenining at half-past eight. - Letters from CLARE and SUDBURY arrive every evening at ¼ past eight, and are despatched every morning at five.- Letters from HAVERHILL arrive every evening at seven, and are despatched every morning at six.

POST OFFICE, CASTLE HEDINGHAM, Jeffrey Carter, Post Master, and SIBLE HEDINGHAM, Joseph Curtis, Post Master. - Letters from LONDON arrive every morning at 7, and are despatched every evening at 5.

COACHES.

To LONDON, the Braintree & Halsteadfrom the Oak, every Monday morning at four, and every other morning (Sunday excepted) at six - the Day(from Norwich), the Phenomenon, & the Blue, call at the same Inn,, every alternate afternoon at three, and the Herald(from Diss), every afternoon at half-past one - the Times(from Norwich), calls at the Rose & Crown, every afternoon at a quarter-past two - The Old Burycalls at the Bell, Castle Hedingham, every day at noon - and the Sudbury coach, calls at the Bell and the White Hart alternately, every morning (Sunday excepted) at ten; all go thro' Braintree, Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Brentwood, &c.

To BURY, the Old Bury(from London), calls at the Bell, every afternoon (Sunday excepted) at three; goes through Sudbury and Long Melford.

To CAMBRIDGE, a coach (from Colchester), calls at the Three Crowns, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon; goes thro' Haverill & Linton.

To COLCHESTER, a coach (from Cambridge), calls at the Three Crowns, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon at two; goes through Earl's Colne and Fordham.

To DISS & SCOLE, the Herald(from London), calls a the Oak, every afternoon at half-past one; goes thro' Sudbury, Long Melford, Bury , Ixworth, &c.

To NORWICH, the Day(from London), and the Phenomenonand the Bluealternately, call at the Oak, every day at noon, and the Times, calls at the Rose and Crown, at the same time; all go through Sudbury, Long Melford, Bury, Ixworth, Bottesdale, Eye, Diss, &c.

To SUDBURY, a coach (from London), calls at the White Hart and the Bell alternately, every evening (Sunday excepted) at six; goes thro' Long Melford.

CARRIERS.

To LONDON, Sykes & Cook, from the Rose and Crown, every morning (Sunday excepted), and Thurgood, every Tuesday morning - Thomas Gunn, from the Ship, every Monday and Friday morning - and Dupont, from the Angel, & Parket, from the Bull, every Fri. morn.

To BURY, Sykes & Cook, call at the Rose & Crown, every morning (Monday excepted); go through Sudbury, &c.

To CAMBRIDGE, Clayden, calls at the King's Arms, every Sunday monring; goes through Haverill and Linton.

To CLARE, a Mail Cart, from the Post-office, every morning at a quarter-past five; goes through Sudbury, &c.

To COLCHESTER, Clayden, calls at King's Arms, every Friday morning; goes thro' Earl's Colne & Fore Street.

To WITHAM, a Mail Cart, from the Oak, every evening at half-past eight; goes through Braintree.