Rivenhall

A Roman villa existed at Rivenhall. Its site was subsequently used for an Anglo-Saxon hall and adjoining parish church.^[2][3] A timber church is known to have existed by the 10th century; it was rebuilt in stone in the late 10th century or early 11th century. The church, dedicated to St Mary and All Saints, is now a Grade I listed building.^[4]

Rivenhall had an airfield during the Second World War called RAF Rivenhall. It opened in 1943 and closed after the war in 1946.^[5]

There are three tiers of local government covering Rivenhall, at parish, district, and county level: Rivenhall Parish Council, Braintree District Council, and Essex County Council. The parish council meets at both Rivenhall Village Hall and at the Henry Dixon Hall at Rivenhall End.^[6]

Rivenhall was an ancient parish in the Witham hundred of Essex.^[7] The parish historically included Silver End, which was a small hamlet until the 1920s when a model village was built there around the Crittall Windows factory.^[8]

In 1933 Rivenhall parish was abolished and its area was absorbed into the urban district of Witham.^[9] Witham Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, when the area became part of the new Braintree district.^[10][11] The area of the pre-1974 urban district became unparished as a result of the 1974 reforms. Three new civil parishes covering the area of the old urban district were subsequently created in 1982: Witham, Rivenhall, and Silver End. The new parish created in 1982 is therefore smaller than the pre-1933 parish, with Silver End being a separate parish.^[12][13]

• http://www.rivenhallparishcouncil.net