Ardleigh

The village of Ardleigh has a thriving community.  Ardleigh stands on the A137 roughly half way between Colchester and Manningtree where it is crossed by the B1029 between Dedham and Brightlingsea.

The local reservoir is a 49-hectare (120-acre) lake constructed in the valley of the Salary Brook. The lake is also used for recreational activities including sailing and angling.  The reservoir holds specimen carp to over 40lb, pike to over 25lb and a mix of match fish species.

The villages origins lie in the pre-Roman period. The largest Bronze Age urnfield in the country lies under a field less than half a mile from the village centre: discovered by Felix Erith in 1956 shows that Ardleigh was a flourishing community (1400BC – 800BC). Thirteen ring ditches have been excavated and by the Iron Age, the local Belgic tribes were settled near what is now the Headway Centre, Elm Park. In Roman times, pottery was being produced using clay found in Martells Pit whilst the road from the Hythe in Colchester to Mistley Quay, went through what is now Crockleford, a hamlet belonging to Ardleigh, to the south of Martells.

The four manors of Ardleigh as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 still exist: Moze Hall retains many of its late medieval features and Bovills of which is privately owned.  Picotts also known as Pigotts is now a small housing development.  Martells Hall, rebuilt as George Hall by its owner, Bobby George, former professional darts player.

There are over seventy listed buildings in Ardleigh, whilst at the centre is a conservation area. 16th and 17th Century cottages are a feature in the centre of the village. Spring Valley Mill – A Grade II* Listed Building in private ownership is an 18th Century timber framed weather boarded building formed the setting for Malcolm Saville’s Treasure at the Mill.  The mill still houses its Georgian water mill workings and the gravel pits, where the snout of a xiphoid whale, a quarter of a million years old was found in 1905.  Phoenix Steam Mill and Engine House, A Grade II* Listed Building

A half-timbered ancient house is located near the church that once stood as a coaching inn called the Kings Head.  During WWI it became the War Work Depot and had now been converted into two houses.  Some of the newer housing developments are built on historical sites on: the village smithy, several Iron Age ring ditches, the former Betts factory site at the Colchester edge of the village, near the WWII crash site of a Lancaster bomber plane.

There is mention of a Church in Ardleigh in King Stephen’s reign (1135-1141), when Roger de Ramis, Lord of the Manor of Pigotts gave the Church to the Abbey that was then in Colchester.  Evidence indicates that St Marys Church has been built a number of times. The tower and south porch, the oldest parts of the Church, date from 1460. The main body of the Church was rebuilt in 1760, the north aisle was rebuilt in 1841 and finally the whole Church excluding the tower and south porch, was rebuilt in 1882 when the murals in the chancel were painted by architect, William Butterfield – these works are the only example in East Anglia.

For local information and accommodation details contact:
Visitor Information Centre (located with Clacton Town Hall, CO15 1SE) on 01255 686633.