Little Waltham

Little Waltham^[1][2] is a village and civil parish just north of Chelmsford, in Essex, England. It is adjacent to the village of Great Waltham. The Domesday Book refers to the two villages as Waltham, consisting of several manors. The site of an Iron Age village was excavated before upgrading the main road north between the current villages.

Little Waltham
Village centre
Little Waltham Location within Essex
Population	1,285
OS grid reference	TL7012
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELMSFORD
Postcode district	CM3
Dialling code	01245
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	North West Essex
List of places UK England Essex 51.8000°N 0.4833°E / 51.8000; 0.4833

The village straddles the River Chelmer. Its main street has a number of old houses near the bridge, notably a rare Essex example of a Wealden hall house, now divided into three cottages. A footpath leads south alongside the river to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of which is a nature reserve.^[3] The countryside is under continued threat from housing and road development.^[4]

Amenities

The parish church, St Mary the Virgin, is dedicated to St Martin of Tours, and has a Norman south door with a window above.^[5] Its East window features local landmarks shown at the foot of the cross. There is also a United Reformed Church in The Street.

There is a pub in the centre of the village, The White Hart. The village has a doctor's surgery in Brook Hill, with a pharmacy on site.

There are two main halls in the village, Tufnell Hall and the Memorial Hall. Tufnell Hall is home to the Little Waltham Sports and Social Club, which hosts the village football team as well as badminton. Tufnell Hall has a main hall which is available for hire for functions, plus a separate bar area open to members and visitors. The Memorial Hall is used by the Little Waltham Preschool and is also used as the polling station for elections. The United Reformed Church also has a smaller hall which is primarily used for church functions plus Hillside Playcare.

Sport

The village currently has two football clubs, Waltham United and The Rodings & Waltham. The former, nicknamed "The Tigers" are a Sunday League Team who have two teams in the Chelmsford Sunday Leage Setup. The Rodings & Waltham team are a Saturday club who play their football in the Essex & Suffolk Border League. Both clubs play their home games at Little Waltham Sports and Social Club.

A short-lived greyhound racing track was opened in the spring of 1930 on the main Braintree-Chelmsford Road. The racing on Friday evenings was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.^[6] The grass track held races over 550 yards races and had a covered stand with refreshments available on site. The four-acre site near Ash Tree Corner was put up for sale in February 1931; meetings after this were organised by the Waltham Greyhound and Whippet Club. Equipment from the track at New Writtle Street Stadium was installed here in March 1936.^[7]

Education

Most Primary School age children in Little Waltham attend either Little Waltham Church of England Primary School, with some attending Great Waltham Church of England Primary School nearby. High School age children typically attend Chelmer Valley High School in nearby Broomfield. There are also two preschools in Little Waltham for 2- to 5-year-olds; Little Waltham Preschool at the Memorial Hall, and Hillside at the U.R.C.