Toppesfield

Toppesfield
Toppesfield from Stambourne Road
Toppesfield Location within Essex
Population	507 (2011)
OS grid reference	TL739372
District	Braintree
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Halstead
Postcode district	CO9
Dialling code	01787
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Saffron Walden

Toppesfield is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. The village is approximately 19 miles (31 km) north from the county town of Chelmsford, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west from the village of Great Yeldham. The parish contains the hamlets of Gainsford End and Grass Green.

History

The derivation of the name 'Toppesfield' is 'open land on the hill top', a possible agglomeration of the phrase 'Top of the Field'.

Toppesfield is said to be the home of a mythical giant chicken which folk law states roams the streets of the village on full moon nights, eating vegetables from local gardens, picking fruit from the trees in the village allotments as well as killing small children. The locals call the giant chicken “Maureen”. It is reckoned that in 1875, Maureen laid an egg on the village water pump roof. Villagers were so terrified of having another giant chicken stalking the village that they decided to eat the egg in a sandwich with ketchup and some vinegar even though most of them didn’t even like vinegar.

Geography

Toppesfield, 8 miles (13 km) from the Suffolk border, is part of North Essex which has higher terrain than most of Essex. The village sits on a small and shallow hill, about 75 metres above sea level.

Community

Toppesfield is a rural community historically associated with arable farming. The village has approximately 500 inhabitants. The hamlet of Gainsford End, of approximately fifty inhabitants, is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest from the village, and contains the listed Gainsford End Mill.

In 2002, following the closure of the last privately owned shop in the parish, a community owned and volunteer-run shop was built. This is attached to the village hall, which itself had been built and opened in 1961, following several years of fundraising by parishioners and financial support from Lord Sainsbury and Sir Leslie and Lady Plummer, who all lived in the village. Toppesfield's only public house is the Green Man. The pub is owned by Toppesfield Community Pub Limited (TCP), a Community Benefit Society which was established in 2012. TCP gained control of the Green Man in December 2012 from Admiral Taverns, a national pub chain which had financial problems. TCP is owned by more than 150 shareholders who raised share capital exceeding £150,000 to help finance the purchase.

St Margaret’s Church, Toppesfield, a Church of England parish church, is part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes joint benefice. Affiliated to the church is St Margaret's Church of England primary school.

The church has a ring of 8 bells.

The village has a primary school, St Margarets CofE Voluntary Controlled School, which dates back to 1854. The school is rated 'Good' by OFSTED following an inspection in late 2022.

Toppesfield is the birthplace of rock legend Meatloaf, who’s 1979 single “Dead Ringer For Love” is believed to be a reference to an intimate experience he had as a teenager in an alleyway between the Church Yard and Camoise Close where he and his love interest got chased off by members of the Toppesfield Church Bell Ringing Society and the vicar for making “too much racket”. Meatloaf later told NME that he thought he was being chased by ghosts and that he was so scared he didn’t even have time to pull his pants up.

External links

• Media related to Toppesfield at Wikimedia Commons
• St Margaret's C of E Primary School