Latchingdon

Latchingdon is a village situated in the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England, south of the city of Chelmsford. The parish was at one time called Latchingdon-cum-Snoreham, and Snoreham Hall still exists to the south of Latchingdon.

Latchingdon
The village sign at Latchingdon. The street in the background is Buchanan Way.
Latchingdon Location within Essex
Population	1,241 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TL885005
District	Maldon
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Chelmsford
Postcode district	CM3
Dialling code	01621
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Maldon and East Chelmsford
List of places UK England Essex 51.671278°N 0.726128°E / 51.671278; 0.726128

The place-name 'Latchingdon' is first attested in 1065 in a charter later published in the Diplomatarium anglicum edited by Benjamin Thorpe, where it appears as Laecedune. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lacenduna, Lachenduna and Lessenduna. The name may derive from an unrecorded Old English word *læcce from the verb læccan to catch, meaning a trap, and related to the modern word 'latch'. The name would then mean 'hill with a trap', presumably to catch animals.^[2]

Churches

The village's Christ Church, built in 1857, features an Essex bell-cote.

St Michael's Church was built in late 13th century, but its use was limited once Christ Church was built in the centre of the village due to its increasing population. St Michael’s was kept as a mortuary chapel until it was deconsecrated in the late 1950s. In 1968 it was named as the first of 100 Essex churches to be disposed of by the Church of England. In 1976 it was converted to a private house.

A Congregational Church was also built in the village, but it closed and is now also a private house.

Latchingdon and Snoreham Poor

Under the Poor Law of 1834, Latchingdon and Snoreham became part of the Maldon Union.

Parish Council

Latchingdon Parish Council meets monthly at Latchingdon village hall.