Littlebury

Littlebury is a small village in north-west Essex. It has a population of around 600 which includes the two hamlets of Littlebury Green and Catmere End. It lies around a mile and a half from the market town of Saffron Walden and fifteen miles south of Cambridge, the nearest city.

Situated in the Uttlesford district, the parish of Littlebury includes the hamlets of Catmere End, Chapel Green, and Littlebury Green which lie to the west and south-west of the church. It also includes parts of the estate of Audley End.

History
The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with Bronze Age tools having been found at Little Chesterford and Iron Age sherds to the east of the village. Ring Hill Fort to the west of Audley End is believed to date from the Iron Age, and there is significant evidence of Roman settlement.

The name Littlebury first appears in a 10th century will as lytlan byrig and in 1008 as Lithanberi.

The village is located on the medieval London to Newmarket road (now the B1383 and A11) as well as the River Cam. A Roman road crossed the parish at Littlebury Green, which is referred to as Streetly Green in some historic records.

The parish was owned by Ely Abbey from the ninth century, and was retained by the Crown following Dissolution. In 1601 it was sold to Thomas Sutton and in 1603 fell to the Earl of Suffolk. It passed between the Earls of Suffolk, owners of Audley End house, until in 1762 it was bequeathed to Lord Braybrooke.

The Cambridge to Liverpool Street line passes through the village and it formerly had its own station.

Church
The parish church of Holy Trinity was built on the site of a Roman camp. The first record of it dates from 1163 and the church was considerably altered between 1870 and 1874. It houses a beautiful stone font with decorated oak canopy.

St Peter's church at Littlebury Green was built in 1885. The village formerly supported a chapel, situated on Chapel Green, but no trace of it remains.

Village life
The village is home to The Queen's Head, a fourteenth century coaching inn. Littlebury is also the hometown of Joe Marley

Famous residents
The architect Henry Winstanley (1644-1703) was a resident of Littlebury. He was clerk of the King's works at Newmarket and Audley End under Charles II and built the first Eddystone lighthouse.

Other residents include Thomas Sutton, Master of the Ordnance in the North, and Joan Bradbury, widow of Thomas Bradbury who founded a school in the 17th century.