Boreham

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Boreham
latitude= 51.7610
longitude= 0.5482
population =
shire_district= Chelmsford
civil_parish= Boreham
shire_county= Essex
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= West Chelmsford
post_town= CHELMSFORD
postcode_district = CM3
postcode_area= CM
dial_code= 01245
os_grid_reference= TL759099

Boreham is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately 6 km (3 miles) northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford and parliamentary constituency of West Chelmsford.

History

The parish of Boreham is ancient, and the village is mentioned in the "Domesday Book" as Borham [cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7568054&queryType=1&resultcount=6 |title= Image details (Boreham, Essex) |accessdate=2007-01-29 |format=HTML |work=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ] .

In the 1930s Boreham House and 3000 acres (12 km²) of land surrounding it was bought by car magnate Henry Ford. In addition to using the house as a school for training Ford tractor mechanics, the company's British chairman, Lord Perry, established Fordson Estates Limited there and founded the Henry Ford Institute of Agricultural Engineering, an agricultural college which continues to occupy the house. The house also served as the temporary home for the National College of Agricultural Engineering in 1962. This moved to Silsoe, Bedfordshire as Silsoe College later joining with Cranfield University. The Silsoe campus closed at the end of 2007 [cite web |url=http://www1.bluemoose.org.uk:8080/pmwiki.php?n=Timeline.Timeline|title= Silsoe College timeline |accessdate=2008-04-10 |format=HTML] .

Boreham remained relatively small until the mid-1970s when a programme of house and shop building increased its size significantly.

Geography and administration

In addition to being a village, Boreham is a civil parish which has a parish council [cite web |url=http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7090 |title=Parish Councils |accessdate=2007-01-28 |format=HTML |work=www.chelmsford.gov.uk ]

The village lies on a Roman road (now a modern trunk road, the A12) and has a well known Norman church and a public house (The Cock Inn) that dates from the 1400s. The surrounding countryside is gently hilly and is used to grow crops such as wheat, sugar beet and peas. It is north of the River Chelmer.

The Great Eastern Main Line line from Chelmsford to Colchester runs past the village, but the Boreham's local halt was removed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts. In the 1970s a bypass was built on the edge of the village, along the same route as the A12 and the nearby railway line.

Landmarks

Just outside the village is Boreham House, a stately home that was once a palace of Henry VIII and was later the estate of the Tyrell family and latterly the Hoare banking family. Benjamin Hoare commissioned architect Henry Flitcroft to build the current house in 1727; the early Georgian mansion is now a Grade II listed building.

Boreham airfield

A forest near the village was felled in 1943 to build a military airfield, and the three one-mile (1600 m) runways of RAF Boreham opened in 1944. It hosted elements of the US Army Air Forces 394th Medium Bomb Group (flying B-26 Marauder bombers)cite web |url=http://www.essex.police.uk/about/a_dp_47.php |title=Air Support Unit Location |accessdate=2007-01-29 |format=HTML |work=www.essex.police.uk ] and later the 315th Troop Carrier Group flying C-47s. After World War II the three runways were adapted into a roughly triangular motor racing circuit, which hosted competitive meetings between 1949 and 1952. It was bought by Ford in 1955 for use as a development test track. Ford Motorsport moved to Boreham in 1963, and although some of the track was removed for gravel quarrying in 1996 the remaining track surface continues to be used for testing. Essex Police Air Support Unit have been based at the airfield and in 1990 began using Boreham airfield as a control centre for its fleet of helicopters. In 1997 Essex Air Ambulance was also based at the site.

Notable residents

*Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex - is buried in the village.
*Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton - was given a residence in the village by Queen Mary I of England.

Trivia

*Local legend has it that highwayman Dick Turpin rode the A12 on his famous ride from London to York, although historians now believe the ride never occurred.
*A Ham class minesweeper, HMS Boreham, was named after the village.

References

External links

* [http://www.essexinfo.net/borehamparishcouncil/ Boreham Parish Council]
* [http://www.postcardworld.co.uk/cards/England/Essex/bore.jpgA 1912 postcard photo of Boreham House]
* [http://www.controltowers.co.uk/B/Boreham.htm Details of the Boreham airfield and test-track]
* [http://www.essex.police.uk/about/a_dp_47.php Essex Police page on Boreham airfield]