Great Canfield
| Great Canfield | |
|---|---|
 Great Canfield civil parish, Uttlesford District 1945 | |
| Population | 414 (2011 Census) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District |
|
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Dunmow |
| Postcode district | CM |
| Dialling code | 01279 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
Great Canfield is a village and a civil parish in the Uttlesford District, in the English county of Essex. It is near the small town of Great Dunmow and about a mile to the west of High Roding.
History
In the years 1870-72, Great Canfield was described as
- CANFIELD (Great), a parish in Dunmow district, Essex; on the river Roding, 2 miles S of the Bishop-Stortford, Dunmow, and Braintree railway, and 3½ SW of Dunmow. It has a post office under Chelmsford. Acres, 2,472. Real property, £3,575. Pop., 468. Houses, 115. The property is subdivided. Canfield House is the seat of the Barnards. There are remains of a moated castle, built by the De Veres. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £140.* Patron, J. M. Wilson, Esq. The church is tolerable; and has two brasses of the 16th century.[1]
Great Canfield is a parish with deep roots in history in terms of it's historic grade listed buildings, historic landscapes and historic records dating back to the Domesday Book. One particular entry found in the Domesday book describes Great Canfield as having a "Value to the Lord in 1066 [of] £6"[2] and limited agricultural resources in the years 1066 to 1086 including "Meadow 51 acres. Woodland 160 pigs. 1 mill."[2] Great Canfield has historically always had a grounding in agricultural practices until recent years of increased industrialization and the re distribution of work labour into other sectors (see employment section). Among many other parishes found throughout England, Great Canfield is considered by many to be an important part of England's historic heritage. Great Canfield is apart of 'The Hundred Parishes Society' which includes membership of 104 parishes covering "450 square miles of northwest Essex, northeast Hertfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire".[3] The society is concerned primarily with the conservation of the 104 historic parishes found within these areas including Great Canfield; namely they are concerned with the "protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of The Hundred Parishes, especially its features of historic, architectural and wildlife interest"[3]
One such historical feature within Great Canfield that 'The Hundred Parishes Society' is focused on conserving from increased urbanization in surrounding areas is the Norman church building- 'St Mary's church':
St Mary's church is regarded as a classical Norman church building which is thought to have been constructed between the years 1100-1150. The church itself is described as being "in the shadow of an old Motte and Bailey and it was perhaps built on the site of an earlier church".[4]
Population
According to the 2011 census Great Canfield had a recorded population of 414.[5]
Recorded from past census statistics; historically the overall population of Great Canfield has seen only one major decline in population, from its peak population of 511 people in 1831 down to 271 people by 1901.[6] Census data shows a decline in population was consecutive with every recorded census between this time period (1841-1901). An increase in population within Great Canfield after the census of 1841 was not recorded until 1911, where the population rose from 271 people recorded in 1901 to 305 people by 1911- an increase of 34 people.[6] Since the census of 1921 Great Canfield has seen only regular increases in total population, the greatest being between the years 1921-1931 where there was a recorded increase of 86 people from 254 to 340. Since then the increases have been moderate with the 2011 census recording a total population of 414.[6]
Housing
Alongside the changing population levels of Great Canfield since 1801, so to have the housing levels changed- recently this is mostly in accordance with the level of population but during the 1800s this was not the case. For example between the years 1831-1881 Great Canfield recorded an overall increase in total housing from 93 houses to 104 houses.[7] The population rate within this time period had subsequently decreased. Within the 1900s the number of houses within Great Canfield had seen an increase, for example from the years 1921-1961 there was an increase in houses from 75 to 123 with consistent increases being reported at every census between this time period.[7] More recently with both the 2001 census and the 2011 census there have been increases in the total amount of houses within Great Canfield- the 2001 census registered a total of 133 houses[8] whilst the 2011 census registered 156.[5] This may be due to the pressure of increasing urban development within Great Canfield- "Great Canfield remains a rural village, albeit one under pressure from urban development. Particularly in the Hope End and Bacon End areas, actual and planned developments in Takeley and Little Canfield grow ever closer."[9] Such development remains widely rejected within the Great Canfield community. A recent proposal of major residential development within Great Canfield was the proposal to build another 211 homes on the land west of Canfield Road, the proposal was made on the 31st July 2014[10] -but was subsequently refused on the 5th November 2014 by Uttlesford District Council.[11]
Employment
Historically the measurement of employment within parishes such as Great Canfield has been extremely varied in terms of categorizing workers within different industries. For example the 1801 census primarily recorded levels of occupation by "those 'chiefly employed in agriculture', those 'chiefly employed in trade, manufacturers or handicraft', and others".[12] By the census of 1841 the recording of occupational data had moved on from simply categorizing workers into 4 broad areas of industry 'and others'; the census now "listed over 3000 different occupational titles".[12] This allowed for future census reports to categorize these 3000 or so job titles into more varied and accurate areas of industry. As a result by the census of 1881 the occupational data for parishes such as Great Canfield was considered more organised then previous census data:
By 1881 Great Canfield had a working population totaling around 167 people[13] - the majority of whom being within the agricultural industry employed by farmers and land owners to tend crops and perform labouring- this collectively accounted for around 47% of the entire working population of Great Canfield. The fact that the majority of workers were employed within the agricultural industry greatly reflects the social demographics of the occupants living in Great Canfield during the 1800s, the majority of people would have fallen under the 'labourers & servants' social status with little education and no professional trade. The second majority accounting for 30% of Great Canfield's occupational workforce recorded in 1881, falls under the title of 'unknown'- this does not entirely suggest unemployment but rather reflects the inconsistency of the census during this time period in terms of jobs that either do not fall under any title, or occupants not accurately recording their job title. However a percentage of those under the 'unknown' section would have fallen under the unemployed sector.
Contextually within the 1800s when looking at past census statistics it is accurate to state that the parish of Great Canfield was mostly made up of people employed within the agricultural industry, most of whom would have been on a low income. Today however when one looks at the occupational distribution of Great Canfield based on the last census held in 2011; the majority percentage of employment lies within the 'Managers, Directors and Senior Officials' sector with 21% of the entire working population being employed within this sector. The second majority of distribution in employment within Great Canfield as of the 2011 census is within the 'skilled trades occupations' sector- making up 17% of Great Canfield's working population. A major change from Great Canfield's contextual distribution of employment recorded in 1881 up until recent years is the percentage of employment found within the 'professional occupations' industry, the recorded distribution of employment within this sector in the year 1881 was only 2% of Great Canfields total working population, whilst the recorded distribution in the same 'professional occupations' industry recorded in 2011 stands at 15%- an increase of 13%. The type of sectors since the 1881 census has naturally changed over 130 years, as the emergence of technology has allowed new job titles and industries to be created and other industries to decrease such as Great Canfields agricultural industry.
Amenities
Great Canfield has a place of worship and a castle called Great Canfield Castle.
See also
External links
Media related to Great Canfield at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ^ Wilson, John Marius (1870). Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Edinburgh: A. Fullerton & Co. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Great Canfield Open Domesday; Place Great Canfield; Great Canfield entry one".
- ^ a b "Great Canfield The Hundred Parishes; Introduction; Great Canfield". Cite error: The named reference "TheHundredParishesSociety" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Great Canfield St Mary's Church; The Church Of England".
- ^ a b "Great Canfield (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ a b c "Great Canfield AP/CP through time; Population Statistics; Population Change".
- ^ a b "Great Canfield AP/CP through time; Housing Statistics; Total Houses".
- ^ "Great Canfield (Parish): Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics".
- ^ "Great Canfield Village Website; The History Of Great Canfield; Great Canfield Today".
- ^ "Uttlesford District Council; Planning; Summary".
- ^ "Uttlesford District Council; Planning; Important Dates".
- ^ a b "Great Canfield AP/CP; Industry".
- ^ "Great Canfield AP/CP through time; Occupational Statistics; Occupational Orders 1881".
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