CHELMSFORD, a market-town and parish in the
hundred of CHELMSFORD, county of ESSEX, of which it
is the chief town, 29 miles (N. E. by E.) from London,
on the road to Yarmouth, containing, with the hamlet of
Moulsham, 4994 inhabitants. This place, which is within
a short distance of the Ccesaromagus of the Romans, derives
its name from an ancient ford on the river Chelmer,
near the natural confluence of that river with the
Cann, into which its stream is previously diverted by an
artificial channel near the bridge. In the reign of
Edward the Confessor, and at the time of the Norman
survey, it was in the possession of the bishops of London;
and two buildings, still called Bishop's Hall and
Bishop's Mill, seem to indicate its having been either
permanently, or occasionally, their residence. In other
respects it was an inconsiderable place till the reign of
Henry I., when Maurice, Bishop of London, built a
stone bridge of three arches over the river Cann; and,
diverting the road, which previously passed through
Writtle, made Chelmsford the great thoroughfare to the
eastern parts of the county, and to Suffolk and Norfolk.
From this period the town increased in importance;
and its trade so much improved, that, in the reign
of Edward III., it sent four representatives to a grand
council at Westminster. A convent for Black, or Dominican,
friars was established at an early period, the
foundation of which has been erroneously attributed to
Malcolm, King of Scotland: in this convent, of which
only the site is visible, Thomas Langford, a friar, compiled
a Universal Chronicle, from the creation to his
own time: its revenue, at the dissolution, was £9.6- 5.
During the late war with France, two extensive ranges
of barracks, for four thousand men, were erected near
the town, both of which have been taken down; and
at a short distance from it, a line of embankments,
defended by star batteries, was raised to protect the
approaches to the metropolis from the eastern coast, of
which some traces are still remaining.
The town consists of one principal and three smaller
streets, well paved, and lighted with gas; the houses,
several of which, on both sides of the town, have gardens
extending to the river, are in general modern and
well built; and the inhabitants are amply supplied with
water from a spring at the distance of half a roue,
conveyed by pipes into a reservoir, over which is a handsome
dome, supported on six columns of the Doric
order. It has been much improved under the inspection
of commissioners appointed by act of parliament,
whose powers were extended by a subsequent act obtained
in 1822. A handsome iron bridge has been
recently constructed over the Chelmer; and an elegant
stone bridge, of one fine arch, was erected in 1787, over
the river Cann, connecting the town with the hamlet of
Moulsham, and replacing an ancient bridge erected by
Bishop Maurice, which, though calculated to endure
for ages, had become too narrow in the improved state
of the approaches to the town. The theatre, a neat
and commodious edifice, is opened occasionally: assemblies
and concerts take place periodically in the shirehall;
and races, which continue for three days, are
held, in the latter part of July, on Galleywood common,
about two miles from the town, where there is
an excellent two-mile course, of which one mile has
been recently improved at a considerable expense, and
on which a stand has been erected, capable of accommo-
dating two hundred persons. The trade consists principally
in corn, which is sent to London, and in the
traffic arising from the situation of the town as a great
public thoroughfare: there are several large corn-mills
on the banks of the Chelmer. A navigable canal to the
river Black-water, twelve miles distant, was constructed
in 1796, and has greatly contributed to increase the
trade. The market is on Friday, for corn, cattle, and
provisions: fairs are held on May 12th and November
12th, the latter principally for cattle.
The town is within the jurisdiction of the county
magistrates, who hold petty sessions for the division
every Tuesday and Friday; and constables and other
officers are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the
manor, who also holds a court baron occasionally.
The assizes and sessions for the county, and the election
of knights for the shire, are regularly held here.
The shire-hall is an elegant and commodious structure,
fronted with Portland stone, and having a rustic basement,
from which rise four handsome pillars of the
Ionic order, supporting a triangular pediment: the
tipper part of the front is ornamented with appropriate
figures, in basso relievo, of Wisdom, Justice, and Mercy;
in the lower department are the several court-rooms,
and an area for the use of the corn market; and in the
upper part is a spacious assembly-room, extending the
whole length of the building, over which are rooms for
the grand jury and witnesses, and other apartments.
The old county gaol, a spacious and handsome stone
building in the hamlet of Moulsham, was completed in
1777, at an expense of upwards of £18,000: it comprises
different departments for the classification of prisoners;
in the front is the gaoler's house, and within
the walls an infirmary and a chapel; the prisoners are
employed in various kinds of work, the profits of which
are applied toward the support of the establishment t it
is appropriated exclusively to the reception of persons
confined for debt, and of prisoners committed for trial.
Adjoining the gaol, and incorporated with it, is the
house of correction, now used only for convicted female
prisoners: it was built in 1806, at an expense of about
£7500. The new house of correction at Springfield
Hill, on the road to Colchester, is a very extensive and
Well arranged building of brick, ornamented with stone,
begun in October 1822, and completed in 1825, at an
expense of £55,739. 17. Of., and capable of containing
two hundred and fifty-four prisoners, of whom two
hundred-and eighteen may be confined in separate cells:
it-comprises seven distinct ranges of building, radiating
from a spacious area comprehending, with the site of
the buildings, nearly nine acres, in the centre of which
is the governor's house, including a neat chapel, and
commanding a view of fourteen yards, for the proper
classification of the prisoners; in eight of these yards
are tread-wheels, together furnishing labour for two hundred
and thirteen at one time; in two others are capstans,
and, in one, a windlass and machinery for raising
water: there are fourteen day-rooms, two of which are
used as workshops for shoemakers, eight store-rooms,
one of which is used as a work-room for tailors, an infirmary,
a lazaretto, a bath, and other requisite offices.
Two of the tread-wheels are attached to a mill which
grinds corn for the use of this prison, the county gaol,
and the house of correction at Barkins: the profits of
the tread-mill, from the 1st of July, 1828, to the 30th
of June, 1829, were £220. 13. 5.
The living is 'a rectory, in the jurisdiction of the
Commissary of Essex and Herts, rated in the king's
books at £31. 2. 6., and in the patronage of Lady St.
John Mildmay. The church is dedicated to St. Mary;
the body has been lately rebuilt, at an expense of
£15,000, the former having fallen down in 1800, from
the unskilfulness of some workmen, who, in digging a
vault, undermined two of the principal pillars: it is a
stately structure in the later style of English architecture,
with a square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles
and surmounted by a lofty spire. In this church
the archdeacon holds his court, and the wills and
records of grants of administration are deposited in an
office over the south porch. A collection of books, presented
by Dr. Plume, of Maldon, for the use of the clergy
resident in the neighbourhood, is kept in the chancel,
the east end of which is ornamented with a finely painted
window, representing the Incarnation, Crucifixion,
and Resurrection of our Saviour, and figures of the four
Evangelists. There are two places of worship for Independents,
and one each- for the Society of Friends and
Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school was
founded and endowed, in 1552, by Edward VI.: in addition
to the classics, a course of English instruction has
been introduced. This school, in common with those at
Maldon and Brentwood, has an exhibition of £6 per
annum to Caius College, Cambridge: the management
is vested in four hereditary trustees. The school-house
was rebuilt by R. Benyon, Esq., in 1782, on. the site of
a more ancient one erected by Sir John Tyrrell, Bart.
Philemon Holland, translator of Camden's Britannia, and
a native of Chelmsford; John Dee, a celebrated mathematician;
Sir William Mildmay, Bart., founder of
Emanuel College, Cambridge; and Dr. Plume, Archdeacon
of Rochester, received the rudiments of their education
in this establishment. A charity school, for the
maintenance, clothing, and instruction of fifty boys,
founded in 1713; and a similar school for twenty girls,
founded in 1714, are supported by subscription: there
are also a Lancasterian, a National, and an infant
school, for children of both sexes. Six almshouses in
the hamlet of Moulsham, founded by Sir Thomas and
Lady Mildmay, in 1565, were rebuilt by William Mildmay,
Esq., in 1758: four almshouses in Baddow-lane,
erected by the sale of a barn given by William Davis,
in 1520, for the use of the poor, have also been rebuilt,
and'two tenements added at the expense of the parish.