Greensted
Village in Essex, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greensted is a small village in the civil parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It was formerly a separate civil parish, but was merged into Ongar in 1965. It remains an ecclesiastical parish under the name Greensted-juxta-Ongar. The small settlement of Greensted itself is on Greensted Road, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of Chipping Ongar; a little further west is Greensted Green. Greensted Church is reputedly one of the oldest surviving wooden churches in the world, dating back to Saxon times.
| Greensted | |
|---|---|
Greensted Church, said to be the oldest wooden church in the world | |
  Greensted Location within Essex | |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Ongar |
| Postcode district | CM5 |
| Dialling code | 01277 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Toponymy
The name Greensted is Old English and means "green place".[1] The spellings Greenstead and Greensted were historically used interchangeably; in the 19th century, government accounts used Greenstead,[2] but the Ordnance Survey used the spelling Greensted, which has come to be the modern spelling.[3]
Whereas the civil parish was just called Greensted,[3] the ecclesiastical parish is officially called Greensted-juxta-Ongar, juxta coming from the Latin iuxta meaning "alongside".[4]
History
Greensted was an ancient parish in the Ongar Hundred of Essex.[5] The main settlement in the parish was at Greensted Green to the west. The small settlement of Greensted itself was essentially a manorial complex comprising the medieval manor house of Greensted Hall,[6] the adjoining parish church, and a couple of other houses. The parish also included at its eastern end part of the town of Chipping Ongar.[7]
A church is known to have existed at Greensted from Saxon times. Archaeological excavations under the current church have found evidence of earlier timber buildings from the 6th and 7th centuries.[8] The body of Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, reputedly rested in the church in 1013 whilst being taken to its final burial place at Bury St Edmunds.[9]
The current church building, dedicated to St Andrew, is said to be the oldest surviving wooden church in the world.[8] It is unclear exactly when the current building was built; dendrochronology work in the early 1960s estimated the timbers of the nave were felled around the year 845, but further work in 1995 cast doubt on that dating and suggested a felling date a few years either side of 1053.[10][11] The church was featured on a British postage stamp issued in April 1972.[12]
The civil parish was abolished in 1965, becoming part of the parish of Ongar.[13] At the 1961 census (the last before the abolition of the civil parish), Greensted had a population of 711.[14] Most of that population lived in housing estates on the western edge of Chipping Ongar.[7]
