Description
Chelmsford, a municipal borough, a market-town, and head of a petty sessional division and county court district in Essex. The town stands on a pleasant site, near the centre of the county, at the confluence of the rivers Chelmer, Cann, and Wid, on the Roman road to Colchester, and on the G.E.R., 29 1/2 miles NE by E of London. It derives its name from an ancient ford on the Chelmer; it was supposed by Camden, but incorrectly, to have been the Canonium of the Romans ; it belonged from the time of Edward the Confessor till that of Henry VIII. to the Bishops of London; it got a bridge about the year 1100 to draw through it the great eastward thoroughfare which had previously passed through the village of Writtle ; it was constituted in 1199 a market-town ; it sent in the time of Edward III. four representatives to a grand council held at Westminster; and it is now the chief town of the county, the seat of the county council of Essex, and also the assize and quarter sessions town. It received a charter of incorporation in 1887, and is now governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, who also act as the urban sanitary authority.
The town comprises four principal streets, includes the populous hamlet of Moulsham, and presents a modern and agreeable appearance. A beautiful iron bridge spans the Chelmer, a handsome one-arched stone bridge in lieu of the ancient one crosses the Cann, and a viaduct of 18 brick arches, each 30 feet in span, takes the railway over the Cann. The Shire Hall, built in 1792, stands near the centre of the town, is an elegant edifice of Portland stone, has a rusticated basement supporting four Ionic columns ; here are held the meetings of the county council, the assizes, quarter sessions for the county, and the petty sessions for the division. The county jail stands at Springfield about a mile distant, and is on the radiating principle, with 361 certified cells for prisoners. A neatly-sculptured conduit of quadrangular form, about 15 feet high, stands adjacent to the Shire Hall, and is supplied from a spring about a mile distant. The Corn Exchange is a building in the Italian style, occupying a site in Tindal Square. It has a large hall with counting houses and committee rooms, and is licensed for dramatic and other entertainments. There are also an infirmary and dispensary, opened in 1883, with 25 beds, a museum, a gentleman's club, formed in 1884, and a literary institute. There is an endowed grammar school, founded in 1551, "which is in a flourishing condition, and there is a large industrial school for destitute boys, which was established in 1872. The charities amount to about £400 a year, and there are two almshouses for ten poor persons. The ancient parish church was of unknown date, but is recorded to have been repaired in 1424 ; it contained four guilds or chantries, and the greater portion of it fell suddenly to the ground on a night in January, 1800. The present church occupies its site, is modelled externally in imitation of its architecture, has at the west end a square flint pinnacled tower, was opened in September, 1803, and contains monuments of the Mild-mays, and a fine organ. It has been several times restored and improved. A small Dominican priory stood in Moulsham on a site still called the Friars, and a modern church is now in that suburb. There is a mission church at Rainsford End, which is conducted by the clergy of the parish church, and there are Roman Catholic, Baptist, Catholic Apostolic, two Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Unitarian chapels.
The town has a head post office, a station on the G.E.R., two banks, several good hotels, and publishes five newspapers. The market, which with regard to corn is one of the largest in the county, is held on Friday, and there is a large fat cattle show held about the middle of December. There is also an annual race meeting on Galleywood Common. The town is lighted by electricity. The waterworks are in the hands of the corporation. The industries are not very important, but include brewing, malting, ironfounding, engineering, electrical engineering, the manufacture of agricultural implements, and tanning. There are also some large corn mills, and some extensive nurseries. The Chelmer is navigable hither, and the borough is the starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Company's Canal. The living of the parish church is a rectory in the diocese of St Albans ; net yearly value, £347 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of St Albans. Moulsham is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1838, and the living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Albans ; gross value, £350. The area of the parish is 2309 acres; population, 11,008; the population of the ecclesiastical parish of Moulsham is 5403.
Chelmsford Parliamentary Division, or Mid Essex, was formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 58,304. The division includes the following: -Brentwood (except the parishes of Bainham and Wennington) -Basseldon, Benfleet North, Bowers Gifford, Brentwood Hamlet, Burstead Great, Burstead Little, Childerditch, Cranham, Doddinghurst, Downham, Dunton, Horndon East, HorndenWest, Hutton, In-grave, Laindon, Lee Chapel, Mountnessing, Nevendon, Pitsea, Ramsden Bellhouse, Ramsden Grays, Shenfield, South Weald, Upminster, Vange, Warley Great, Warley Little, Wickford; Chelmsford -Baddow Great, Baddow Little, Boreham, Broomfield, Buttsbury, Chelmsford, Chignal St James, Chignal Smealey, Danbury, Fryerning, Good Easter, Hanningfield East, Hanningfield South, Hanningfield West, Ingatestone, Leighs Great, Leighs Little, Margaretting, Mashbury, Rettendon, Roxwell, Runwell, Sandon, Springfield, Stock, Waltham Great, Waltham Little, Widford, Woodham Ferris, Writtle.
