Historian Stephen Nunn takes a stroll through Steeple

Granted, I had done some research into Ramsey Island and Stansgate Abbey, located in a hamlet by the riverside, but apart from that, I knew little about the place.

So the other day I decided to stop and explore.

Its name is derived from the Old-English ‘stiepel’, meaning 'steep place'. A 19th Century guide describes it as being “a long village... at the foot of a gentle slope overlooking the marshes”.

Concentrating on the buildings along the main road, the first thing I noticed was the red-brick chapel, standing back on the right hand side of the bend.

It is now a private house, but the stone above the central, mock Gothic door tells us it was 'Erected 1877'. This simple building was once a place of worship for the ‘Peculiar People’ - a religious sect founded in 1838 and named after a reference in the King James Bible (1 Peter 2:9) “... ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…”.

They preached a puritanical form of Christianity which proved popular among agricultural folk, and chapels sprang up in this part of rural Essex, including in Steeple.

The Peculiars' chapel in Steeple (Image: Stephen Nunn)

At the next bend, where the Maldon Road becomes The Street, is 16th Century Grange Farmhouse, with its 18th Century barns. There is reference to 'Stepulgrange' in the 15th Century, when it belonged to Tilty Abbey (in Uttlesford).

Along from the farm on the left is a lovely 17th/18th Century (or earlier) squat, thatched cottage, with a brick chimney stack.

In the heart of the village is the parish church of St Lawrence and All Saints. Built in 1882 to the designs of architect Frederick Chancellor, it incorporates material from an earlier church that was located some 600 yards to the west. A few of the old stones date back to the 12th Century.

Beyond the church the rows of Essex weather-boarded buildings come thick and fast – starting with the late-17th Century pair, formerly the (original) Sun and Anchor beer house (as opposed to the later, now demolished, pub of the same name).

Next door is the Old Bakery (18th Century) and the Old Post Office, closely followed (on the opposite side) by early 19th Century Ash Cottage.

Then there is Pump House, its adjoining cottages (18th/19th century), and the rare Tylor & Sons cast iron wheel pump, now protected in its own house.

The Star is the last of five Steeple pubs. It has a list of landlords dating back to the 1830s, when the Willsmer family ran it, but the building is older than that – at least 18th century.

It closed in 1971, but then re-opened in 1990 as a traditional country pub, serving great food and real ale.

The next group of buildings (all 18th Century) include the Old Steeple Stores, Rosedene Cottages, Mizzens Cottage and its adjoining partner and Hipseys Cottage.

There is an old barn at Gate Farm, north-east of the Batt’s Road junction (Batt being a derivative of the Butte family – John Butte was living in the village in 1405).

Passing the Stansgate turning, before you know it, you are out of the village.

Most of those buildings are now 'listed', something that would have doubtless surprised the original occupants.

In 1848 there were 584 inhabitants, including Philip White at Grange Farm, John Hewett at the Sun and Anchor and George Dixey at the Star.

The Star pub at Steeple (Image: Stephen Nunn)

By 1894 that number had reduced to 460 (it’s still about that number today), the new church had been built (Rev Henry Legh, vicar), George Pudney was at the Star and Caleb Whiffin at the Sun and Anchor.

On the eve of the Great War the population had reduced further to 353. Rev Henry Baron was vicar, Fred Partridge farmed at the Grange, Hannah Pudney was at the Star and Christopher Whipps at the Sun and Anchor.

According to the now two war memorials in the church (one having been moved from the Congregational chapel), 13 sons of the village made the ultimate sacrifice.

By the time of the next conflict, the Partridges were still at the Grange, Robert Cant was the baker, the Smiths lived at Ash Cottage and the Pudneys continued at the Star (they had been there since 1876 and still own it today).

Two more names were added to the Roll of Honour - Flt/Lt Michael Wedgewood Benn DFC (son of Viscount Stansgate and brother to the late politician, Tony), killed in a flying accident on June 23, 1944, and Pte William Alfred Monk, son of Alfred and Elizabeth Monk of 1 Council Houses, killed at Tobruk on November 2, 1941, serving with the Essex Regiment.

On the home front Steeple had its share of air raids with 42 assorted bombs and no less than 1,284 incendiaries falling on the village.

Those historic buildings thankfully survived all of that and are still there today, just waiting for us to explore them if we care to stop.