Sturmer, Essex
Encyclopedia
Sturmer is a village
in the county
of Essex, England, United Kingdom
, close to the county border with Suffolk
.
The church of St Mary's was built in the eleventh century.
The village also gives its name to the Sturmer Pippin
apple which was bred in the orchards of the village.
Like most English villages Sturmer once had industry of its own including shops, maltings, farming, orchards for both apples and willow for basket making and cricket bats. Today, in common with many other villages, there is little of this local industry left. It is home to a golf course, a cement works, a garden centre and most of the village area is still covered with worked arable land
although it takes many fewer people to run an arable farm than it did in the 1800s.
The village was once host to a railway station and hotel on Water Lane but both are now private dwellings. The Stour Valley Railway
once connected Sturmer to Colchester, Cambridge, Sudbury and many other important towns but was eventually closed as part of the Beeching Axe
which shut many branch lines.
, a loyal warrior named Leofsunu or Leofsund says he is from Sturmer (lines 244-254).
Olympic gold medalist Godfrey Rampling
lived in Sturmer where his daughter the actress Charlotte Rampling
was born.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Essex, England, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, close to the county border with Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
The church of St Mary's was built in the eleventh century.
The village also gives its name to the Sturmer Pippin
Sturmer Pippin
-Origin:Parentage believed to be Ribston Pippin and Nonpareil.Sturmer Pippin is recorded as being presented to the Horticultural Society by Ezekiel Dillistone in 1827.. The apple takes its name from the village of Sturmer, Essex.-Description:Medium sized, bright green becoming greenish yellow...
apple which was bred in the orchards of the village.
Like most English villages Sturmer once had industry of its own including shops, maltings, farming, orchards for both apples and willow for basket making and cricket bats. Today, in common with many other villages, there is little of this local industry left. It is home to a golf course, a cement works, a garden centre and most of the village area is still covered with worked arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
although it takes many fewer people to run an arable farm than it did in the 1800s.
The village was once host to a railway station and hotel on Water Lane but both are now private dwellings. The Stour Valley Railway
Stour Valley Railway
The Stour Valley Railway is a partially closed railway line that ran between , near Cambridge and in Essex, England. The line opened in sections between 1849 and 1865...
once connected Sturmer to Colchester, Cambridge, Sudbury and many other important towns but was eventually closed as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
which shut many branch lines.
Notable residents
In the Old English poem The Battle of MaldonThe Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion...
, a loyal warrior named Leofsunu or Leofsund says he is from Sturmer (lines 244-254).
Olympic gold medalist Godfrey Rampling
Godfrey Rampling
Godfrey Lionel Rampling was an English athlete and army officer who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics...
lived in Sturmer where his daughter the actress Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling, OBE is an English actress. Her career spans four decades in English-language as well as French and Italian cinema.- Early life :...
was born.