Beaumont-cum-Moze

Beaumont has a vibrant community centred around its village hall and 9th century church.  Beaumont-cum-Moze is a civil parish in the Tendring district and includes the hamlets of Beaumont and Moze Cross and has a rich history dating back to Saxon times.  The place-name ‘Beaumont’ was originally Fulanpettæ in a Saxon charter of circa 995, and Fulepet in the Domesday Book of 1086, meaning ‘foul pit’. By 1175-80 it had become Bealmont, meaning ‘beautiful hill’.  Evidence of the place-name ‘Moze’ is referenced in the Domesday Book, where it appears as Mosa. This is from the Old English mos meaning ‘marsh’ or ‘moss’.

Today The village contains a disused trading Quay, intended for vessels using Walton Backwaters. A tablet records the fact that it was rebuilt in 1832 using stones from old London Bridge.  The nineteenth-century canal, Beaumont Cut, was constructed to serve the extensive coastal traffic between the agricultural hinterland of Essex and London.  Two vessels, the Thames barges Beaumont Belle and the Gleaner were initially based in the canal.  The remains of Thames Sailing barge Rose, built in 1880, can still be seen at Beaumont Quay.  Beaumont Quay features in the 1939 novel Secret Water by Arthur Ransome.

The eleventh-century parish Church of St. Leonard contains the grave of Viscount Byng of Vimy, Governor General of Canada.

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