History

General

15th Century Hamlets

On all sides of the town, during the Middle Ages, were scattered farms, crofts, and hamlets. The main hamlet was Hatfield Heath, 3 km. south-west, recorded from 1442.

Others, recorded from the 15th century, were Brunesho (Broomshawbury) End, east of the town, Coldwell (later Collier) Street and Bush End to the north, Wood Row to the north-west, Manwood Green to the south, and Needham Green to the south-east.

Hatfield Priory

Hatfield priory had been founded c. 1135 and lay north of High Street, adjoining the parish church.

At the time of its dissolution in 1536 the community numbered about 30, including servants,with substantial buildings, and an interest in the market. Its destruction clearly diminished the town.

1295

The Broad Oak from which the suffix was taken was mentioned in 1295.

Hatfield Forst still contains the fenced remains of a very large oak known as the “Doodle Oak”, estimated as 850 years old, though it is believed to be a different tree to that which gave the parish its name.

Hatfield forest, is an Ancient woodland, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR).

1135

Hatfield priory had been founded c. 1135.

The name Hatfield Broad Oak was in use by 1136 or earlier.

Bronze Age

A Bronze Age hoard has been found at Matching Barns in the south, and other Bronze Age remains near Hatfield Park in the north of the parish.

In Hatfield forest there are traces of an ancient defensive enclosure called Portingbury Hills, comprising a mound about 30 m. square and 1.5 m. high, surrounded by a shallow ditch. Traces of a larger, circular entrenchment, near Portingbury Hills, were still visible in the early 18th century

Population

1971

Rising to 2637

1921

Falling slowly to 1,546

1851

Climbing to 2,034

1801

The population of the parish was 1,436, ranking 29th in the county.

1670

With 138 entries in the hearth tax return, Hatfield Broad Oak ranked only 28th in Essex.

1546-48

In 1546 it was said to have a population of over 1,000, and in 1548, to be ‘very great and populous’, with 500 communicants.

1523

With 148 assessed to the lay subsidy, Hatfield ranked about 14th in Essex both in taxpayers and payments. Its taxpayers outnumbered those in Witham, Dunmow, Braintree, and Chelmsford, and also paid more than any of the first three.

1327

When 86 Hatfield men were assessed to the lay subsidy, the township ranked sixth in Essex for the numbers of payers and seventh for total tax.

1086

In 1086 Hatfield Broad Oak was one of the largest settlements in Essex. Its recorded population of 115 ranked ninth in the county, while its assessed valuation of £85 ranked sixth. Only Colchester, Writtle, and Barking outranked Hatfield on both counts.

The Barringtons

The Barringtons, who acquired the conventual site and part of the priory lands, had been seated in Hatfield since the 12th century, and by the 18th century owned most of the parish. As their estate was built up farms became larger, and the smallholders, once numerous, were gradually squeezed out.

The dissolution of the priory, and the growth of the Barrington estate, both affected the topography of the parish in and after the 16th century. Part of the conventual buildings seem to have been converted into the Priory House, which was the Barringtons’ residence from c. 1613 to c. 1700.

In the mid 18th century a new Barrington Hall was built north of the priory site and enclosed in a park. The Barringtons’ consolidation of farms brought about changes in the pattern of settlement outside the town. Their control of the town probably did nothing to check its decline, and may even have hastened it. By the early 19th century the market place had been cleared of all buildings except the market house, and that was removed c. 1862. At least one other house in High Street, the former vicarage, was pulled down in the 18th century and its site thrown open. Other houses may have been demolished on the western side of the town.

The Medieval Town

It seems likely that the medieval town covered an area no wider than that of the present village, but more densely settled. The market place lay at the junction of High Street, running east and west, with Musbrook Street, now Cage End, running south.

High Street was called in medieval documents ‘the highway’, or ‘the highway through the market’. Musbrook Street was so called by 1386. In 1624 the market house stood detached at the north end of the market place. South of it was a terrace of shops, standing in front of the present houses on the west side of Cage End and separated from them by an alley called Butchers Lane.

Farther east, in High Street, a block of houses formerly projected into the middle of the road, almost enclosing the market on that side. In the early 14th century the market place was crowded with shops and stalls, and many artisans plied their trades in the neighbouring streets.

At the eastern end of High Street was Broad Street, mentioned c. 1280, leading south, and Bickmere Street or Lane (c. 1300), now Dunmow Road, leading north.

Leading west from the market place was Langbridge Street, mentioned in the 13th century, later called Mill Hill, and now Feathers Hill. Chipping Street (c. 1280) led south from Langbridge Street to Chipping field.Langbridge Street continued beyond the bridge as Hol Street, later Holsted Hill and Old Street Hill, leading to Hatfield Heath.

The Decline of Broad Oak

The population figures indicate that, relatively at least, Hatfield suffered a decline that was slow between the 14th and the 16th century, and more rapid in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is likely that the decline had three main causes: the growth of other towns in the district, the dissolution of the priory, and the growth of the Barrington estate. The first factor, which may have come into play as early as the 15th century, is indicated by the transfer of Hatfield fair to Thremhall Green, about 5 km. NNW., on Stane Street.

The move looks like an attempt to regain trade lost by Hatfield to the places on Stane Street: Bishop’s Stortford (Herts.) was only 10 km. away, while Dunmow (10 km.), Braintree (20 km.), and Coggeshall (30 km.) had all outstripped Hatfield in size by 1670.

A writer of c. 1768 commented on the decline of Hatfield: ‘the town, till very lately, made such a figure in maps that a company of soldiers have been frequently quartered here upon a march; who to their great surprise found only three alehouse in it, and those very mean ones. As this place is no great thoroughfare it hath, of course, very little trade.’