Thaxted

 ( Towns In Essex ) 

Archeological research of the area by Oxford Archaeology in 2007 produced finds showing Bronze Age, late Iron Age, Roman Britain, late medieval and post-medieval occupation, including flint fragments, floor and roof tiles, pottery , ditch enclosures, graves, and skeletal remains.Stansbie, D.; Brady, K.; Biddulph, E.; Norton, A.; "A Roman cemetery at Sampford Road, Thaxted, Essex", Archeological Publication Report (January 2008), Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 1 August 2018 A further archeological excavation in the centre of the town by the Colchester Archeological Trust in 2015 found a large medieval ditch which may have been a part of the town's defences, 15th- to 16th-century artifacts, and fragments of animal bone waste, mainly from cattle. "Fascinating medieval finds from historic Thaxted", The Colchester Archeologist, 19 March 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2018

In the 1086 Domesday Book, the settlement, in the Hundred of Great Dunmow, consisted of 108 households with a population of 54 villagers, 34 smallholders, 16 slaves, and 4 freemen. The land supported 28.5 plough teams—being seven lord's teams and 21.5 men's teams—and contained two mills, meadow of , and woodland with 850 pigs. In 1066 there were four cobs, 36 cattle, an additional 128 pigs, 200 sheep, and 10 beehives. The sheep had increased to 320, and the beehives to 16, by 1086. In 1066 the lord was Wihtgar, son of Aelfric, who was lord or overlord of 27 other manors, chiefly in west Essex. After 1086 the lordship of Thaxted was given in part to Warner, and to Richard fitz Gilbert—son to Gilbert, Count of Brionne—who was also Tenant-in-chief to the king. During the Middle Ages, Thaxted prospered as a centre for the production of cutlery. This association is recalled by the town's well-known guildhall, by the which consists of two crossed swords, and in the name of the nearby hamlet of Cutlers Green. Why a town like Thaxted, lacking in natural resources required for the large-scale manufacturing metal products, should have developed this industry is unclear. Although it had been assumed that Thaxted's cutlers were finishing blades made elsewhere, excavations undertaken in 2015 in Orange Street found evidence to support the work of alongside cutlers/hafters.In the Middle Ages, the term "cutlery" did not refer to tableware, as it does today, but to the manufacture of blades, knives and swords. The manufacturing process involved the work of a blademith (who forged the metal blade), a hafter (who made the handle from wood or bone) and a cutler (who finished the sharpened and polished blade with its handle).

The cutlers seem to have been well-established by the beginning of the fourteenth century: in 1310, a cutler named Adam de Thakstede had prospered enough to purchase the freedom of the City of London and set up business in Cheapside. A manuscript in the Bodleian Library indicates that Thaxted was already widely identified with its cutlery by the 1320s."Cotels de Thaxsted" in MS. Douce 98, ff.195-6, Bodleian Library The 1381 Poll Tax returns indicate 79 cutlers established in Thaxted, alongside other related trades such as smiths and sheathers.

This artisanal development had an effect on the economic and social dynamics of the town, shifting from a feudal agricultural model, in which most people were dependent on and laboured for the lord of the manor, to an urban industrial model where many people were employed and more autonomous. The right to hold a market was granted in 1205. Sometime during the first half of the fourteenth century, certain town inhabitants acquired the status of burgesses ( burgenses) living within an area of the town known as the Ancient borough ( burgus), achieving some degree of freedom from obligations toward the manor.The farm, and the bridge over the Chelmer, at the bottom of Bolford Street still carry the name "The Borough" to this day. However, this independence "did not extend to any real measure of self-government". The exact date that Thaxted first acquired formal Ancient borough is unknown but the 1556 charter states that Thaxted "is an ancient borough and had from time immemorial a mayor and other officers and ministers and was endowed with diverse liberties". Royal documents from the end of the fifteenth century refer to the "manor and borough of Thaxted". It seems clear however that Thaxted did not achieve self-government as a fully-fledged borough until the granting of the 1556 charter.

A guild of cutlers was established during the reign of Edward III (1327–77), led by a warden. In November 1481, Edward IV, at the behest of his mother, Cecily, who held the manor, issued letters patent to license some residents of Thaxted "to found a fraternity or perpetual gild", empowered to regulate itself and own land. A deed of foundation of the "fraternity or perpetual guild of St. John the Baptist at Thaxted" dates from 1507. The famous Guildhall is supposed to have been built by the cutlers' guild. However, it seems there was, at one time, more than one guild in existence in the town – and more than one guild hall: there is some evidence for a guild or fraternity dedicated to the Holy Rood, and the Ordnance Survey map of 1876 shows the site of a guild hall in Vicarage Mead, off Newbiggen Street. An historical account of the town in 1831 states that the "mote hall" the was being used as a school and the "guild hall" was the town workhouse.

In 1556, the town took advantage of the fact that the lord of the manor was a minor to request incorporation of the borough, which was granted by Philip and Mary, allowing a town government consisting of a mayor, two bailiffs, twenty-four burgesses, a court, a recorder and two serjeants at law, amongst other officers. The Charter describes the borough as having fallen into "great ruin and decay by reason of great poverty and necessity"; the charter may have signalled an effort to revitalise the fortunes of the town and was reconfirmed by Elizabeth I and James I. However, despite efforts to encourage the development of the wool trade in the town with the creation of a guild of clothiers in 1583, Thaxted's fortunes did not return. The charter was extinguished in 1686 after the town was unable to challenge a quo warranto writ by James II.

Thaxted lies within the Thaxted and the Eastons Ward for Uttlesford which elects two representatives to serve on the district council. Thaxted lies within the Thaxted Division (or super ward) for Essex County Council, which also covers the surrounding villages of Ashdon, Debden, Little Dunmow, the Eastons, Felsted, Hempstead, the Sampfords, Stebbing and Wimbish, and elects one county councillor.

The Thaxted electoral ward had a recorded population of 5,291 at the 2021 census.

Thaxted acquired Ancient borough status sometime in the fifteenth century. It was incorporated by charter in 1556 as a borough and "body corporate and politic", governed by a common council of twenty-four "capital burgesses" including an elected mayor, and seated at the Guildhall The borough status lapsed in 1686, but Thaxted continues to be referred to as a "town" by its inhabitants.

In 2001, the population had risen again to 2,526. The 2011 census put the total population of Thaxted at 2,845. By the 2021 census, the figure had risen to 3,116 inhabitants.

Between 1916 and 1919, Thaxted hosted a Home Defence aircraft landing ground. The unit was equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 and BE12 variants fighters of No. 75 Squadron until the summer of 1918, and thereafter with Avro 504Ks and Bristol F2bs. The site was decommissioned at the end of the First World War in 1919. The landing ground was located north of Bardfield End Green.

Thaxted Guildhall is a Grade I listed timber-framed medieval moot hall in the main high street. It was built in the late 15th century, supposedly with funding from the significant cutlery industry, hence the assumption that it served the cutlers' guild.

John Webb's Windmill is a restored brick tower mill, built in 1810, standing to the south of the church. The view of the windmill from the Bullring, framed by the almshouses, is a classic Essex postcard view. The Almshouses consist of the thatched Chantry House and the tiled Almshouses building of 1714, the latter still in use providing accommodation for elderly people.

Horham Hall is a Grade I Listed building mansion to the south-east of the town of Thaxted. It was built in brick by Sir John Cutte between 1510 and 1515, on the site of a timber-framed late– moated manor house.

Clarence House is a Grade I listed Queen Anne townhouse in Watling Street, opposite the church. It was built in 1715 and retains many original features. Its garden wall is Grade I listed separately.

Dick Turpin's Cottage is one of a group of timber-framed terrace houses in picturesque Stoney Lane, but there is no evidence to support its association with the famous highwayman. It, along with Nos. 2 and 4 either side, are Grade I listed buildings.

On the south side of Town Street, the former Recorder's House – named because it was once the home of the first Recorder under the 1556 Charter, Serjeant Bendlowes – has carvings beneath the windows including the arms of Edward IV. It is Grade II* listed.

In 1913, while on a walking holiday, Holst discovered the town and remained associated with it for the rest of his life. Encouraged by the vicar, Conrad Noel, a medievalist and folk-dancing and church music enthusiast, Holst had the idea of organizing a Whitsun festival there, bringing singers and players from St Paul's Girls' School and Morley College in London to join with local people in a weekend of musical festivities. In 1916, once he had finished The Planets, he devoted time to writing and arranging music especially for Thaxted. The carols Bring us in good ale (dedicated to Conrad Noel), Lullay my liking, Of one that is so fair and bright and Terly, terlow were specifically written for Thaxted. His most outstanding achievement was This have I done for my true love (also dedicated to Noel), "an evocation of the medieval notion of dancing and religious worship being closely intertwined". Holst's daughter, Imogen Holst, a composer in her own right, also maintained links with the town.

Although the Whitsun Festival was discontinued in 1918, the idea was revived in 1980 and flourishes as the Thaxted Festival.

Thaxted is the name given to a hymn tune, a setting for "I Vow to Thee, My Country", which Holst composed, based on the theme of "Jupiter" in his orchestral The Planets suite. Holst wrote the Planets whilst living in a cottage in Monks Street outside Thaxted.

During the First World War, many active Morris men were killed, and the Morris was predominantly women. By the 1930s, men predominated again. In 1934, the year that Holst died, the Cambridge Morris Men invited five other teams (Letchworth, Thaxted, East Surrey, Greensleeves and Oxford) to join them in the formation of a national organisation. Five of the six teams met at Thaxted on 11 May 1934 to inaugurate Morris Ring.

The Ring, which has grown to around 180 sides, organises regular meetings. The annual Thaxted Morris Weekend, which takes place on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, welcomes sides from all over the United Kingdom and the world. The weekend consists of a series of dancing tours, in which teams dance in the villages surrounding Thaxted, before reconvening in the town. The final dance of the evening is always the evocative Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, performed by the host side from Thaxted, winding their way from the churchyard, down Stoney Lane and past the Guildhall, accompanied by a solitary fiddler. The Morris Weekend is a major tourist attraction pulling visitors to the town each year.

The town was used as the location for the 1952 British comedy film Time Gentlemen, Please! The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert, starred Eddie Byrne, and also featured Dora Bryan and Sid James.

Part of Passolini's The Canterbury Tales (I racconti di Canterbury) was filmed in Thaxted: the unrestored Windmill, with the church spire in the distance, formed the backdrop to the scene depicting the Summoner, the Devil and the Old Woman in The Friar's Tale, somewhat anachronistically since the tower mill is a nineteenth century structure of the Industrial Revolution that would have been unknown in Chaucerian times.

• Robert Wydow or Wedow ( – 1505), an English poet, church musician, and religious figure, was born in Thaxted and was vicar of the town from 1481 to 1489. He attended Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, and is the first known recipient of a Bachelor of Music degree in England, awarded by Oxford University in 1478 or 1479. Wydow's contemporaries held him in high esteem as a poet and musician, describing him as "an excellent poet", and "easily the finest" of Latin authors of the time. However, only a few lines of his poetry survive and none of his music. The surviving brass in the Parish Church is reputed to be his likeness. Wedow Road, in the town, commemorates him.
• Sir John Cutte (d. 1520), Under-Treasurer to Henry VII and Henry VIII, built Horham Hall on the site of an earlier house. His grandson, Sir John Cutte (1545-1615), hosted Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 (nine days) and 1578 (six days).
• Sir John Alleyn or Allen (c.1470-1544), mercer in the City of London, was born in Thaxted. He served two terms as Lord Mayor of London, in 1525 and 1535. His immediate predecessor as Lord Mayor, Sir William Bailey, serving in 1524, was also from Thaxted.
• Samuel Purchas (1577–1626), English cleric and author, was born in the town. His works are an important source of information about the age of exploration. He graduated from St John's College, Cambridge, in 1600. His most famous work, (1625) is a massive compilation of accounts by Elizabethan and Jacobean travellers of their journeys around the world. Yet he noted with some irony that "I, which have written so much of travellers and travels, never travelled 200 miles from Thaxted in Essex where I was borne".
• Dick Turpin (1705–39), the famous highwayman, was born in nearby Hempstead and was reputed to have run a butcher's shop in Thaxted.
  Derek Barlow (1973). 9780900592645, Phillimore. ISBN 9780900592645
  Contemporary biographies claiming that he was born in Thaxted are erroneous; and there is no evidence to support a connection with the cottage in Stoney Lane that carries his name. never travelled further than 200 miles from Thaxted, the town of his birth, yet became famous for his works on global travel from the age of Discovery. He was a contemporary of Shakespeare.]]
• John Fell (1733–97), Classical scholar and author, lived in Thaxted from 1770 as minister of the Congregationalist chapel. He was friends with Rayner Heckford, a Saxon scholar, whose family owned Clarence House. Whilst in Thaxted, he tutored the young Richard "Conversation" Sharp (1759-1835), who went on to become a famous wit, literary figure and a Member of Parliament.
• Alfred Paget Humphry (1850-1916), barrister, is buried in Thaxted. He bought Horham Hall in 1905 and lived there until his death. He was a renowned champion rifle shooter and wrote First Hints at Rifle Shooting (1876).
• Conrad Noel (1869–1942), Christian socialist, was known as the town's 'Red Vicar', serving in the post from 1910 until his death. He played a key role in the Morris dance revival in the town. He enjoyed the patronage of Daisy, Countess of Warwick, of Easton Lodge.
• Launcelot Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945), Sinology and author, lived at Folly Mill, near Monk Street. He translated many works of Chinese literature.
• Gustav Holst (1874-1934), the British composer of The Planets, lived in The Manse (then called The Steps) in the High Street. His residency is marked by a blue plaque. His daughter, Imogen Holst, also lived in the town in her youth.
• Alec Butler Hunter (1899-1958), textile designer, lived at Market Cross, a fine medieval house next to the Guildhall, from 1944 until his death. He worked for Warner & Sons, the textile manufacturer in nearby Braintree, and was a President of the Society of Industrial Artists. He was an active supporter of Morris dancing revival and the first Squire of the Morris Ring. The Alec Hunter Academy in Braintree is named after him.
• George Binney (1900–72), Arctic explorer, lived at Horham Hall from 1946 to 1969.
• W. E. Shewell-Cooper (1900–82), gardener and pioneer of organic gardening, lived and worked at Prior's Hall, outside the town, from 1948 to 1960, where he ran a training college promoting organic horticulture.
• Alan Rawsthorne (1904-1971), English composer, and his wife Isabel Nicholas (1912-1992), English painter and scenery designer, are both buried in Thaxted churchyard. They lived in a cottage in the neighbouring village of Little Sampford.
• Isabel Alexander (1910-1996), artist and illustrator, lived in Thaxted between 1949-1964 while working at Saffron Walden Teacher Training College. Some of her works depict Thaxted and the surrounding landscape.
• Donald Hall (1928-2018), American poet and writer, spent a year in Thaxted between 1959 and 1960, during which time he wrote his collection of poems, A Roof of Tiger Lilies, and his short story collection, A String Too Short To Be Saved. His poem, An American in an Essex Village, describes a walk around the town at that time, including the church and the then derelict windmill whose "ruin appals only an eye which invents a landscape which needs it."
• Evelyn Anthony (Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Ward-Thomas) (1926-2018), novelist, lived at Horham Hall from 1968 to 1976 and again from 1982 to her death. Her most successful novel was The Tamarind Seed, which was made into a feature film.
• Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle and other novels, was raised in the town.
• Genista McIntosh, Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, the Labour life peer, lived in Thaxted from 2002 to 2015. She spoke in praise of Thaxted Parish Church in a debate in the House of Lords in 2014.