Latchingdon

St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Mundon, Essex, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.

Mundon is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in Maldon District in the county of Essex, England. It lies 3 miles south-east of Maldon. The manor of Munduna passed from the king's thegn Godwin to Eudo Dapifer at the Norman Conquest. The place-name 'Mundon' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Munduna. The name means 'Munda's hill'.Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries Mundon formed part of the estates of St John's Abbey, Colchester; it passed to Thomas Cromwell before being returned to the Duchy of Lancaster, which held the right of presentation to the vicarage until the 20th century.The 14th-century timber-framed Church of St. Mary, built within the remains of the moat of Mundon Hall, and likely on Saxon and Norman foundations, has been disused since the 1970s, but is currently in the care of Friends of Friendless Churches, supported by English Heritage. Following a long period of remedial work, the church re-opened to visitors in August 2009. The entire church was underpinned, and much structural work was carried out by Bakers of Danbury. The church was re-glazed, and now, internally, appears lighter than it has in recent years. It is a grade I listed building.Mundon Hall is now represented by an 18th-century farmhouse of rendered and whitewashed brick.The village was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.

Maylandsea, and the adjacent Mayland, are villages on the Dengie Peninsula in the English county of Essex. They are part of the Althorne ward of the Maldon district, and have a parish council that covers both villages.

Bridgemarsh Island is in the tidal part of the River Crouch in the English county of Essex, three miles upstream from Burnham-on-Crouch. The main river channel runs to the south between the island and Canewdon, and it is separated from the mainland to the north by Bridgemarsh and Althorne Creeks, channels of the estuary. Following a flood in 1736 Bridgemarsh Island was enclosed by a sea wall and a causeway was built giving access at low tide. Farming was supplemented by industry with the island used as a source of clay. This led to the construction of a brickworks of which the chimney (at grid reference TQ890967) survives. A tramway linked these works to a quay that was used by Thames barges. Shortsightedly, no serious effort was made to maintain the sea wall. The flood of 1953 caused the end of regular occupation of the island, which is now a haven for wildlife and salt marsh flowers. It is owned by the Bridgemarsh Island Trust.

Althorne railway station is on the Crouch Valley Line in the East of England, serving the village of Althorne, Essex. It is 40 miles 27 chains (64.92 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between North Fambridge to the west and Burnham-on-Crouch to the east. The station is managed by Greater Anglia who operate all services. The Engineer's Line Reference for line is WIS; the station's three-letter station code is ALN. The single platform, north of the running line, has an operational length for eight-coach trains. The line and station were opened on 1 June 1889 for goods and on 1 October 1889 for passenger services by the Great Eastern Railway. The facilities included a single platform with station buildings, a goods yard, and a 30-lever signal box south of the station. Two miles east of Althorne, Creeksea sidings (facing points in the "down" direction) received traffic to and from the Creeksea ferry from 1889 to 1947.Ownership passed to the London and North Eastern Railway following the Grouping of 1923, and then to the Eastern Region of British Railways upon nationalisation in 1948. When sectorisation was introduced, Althorne was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways. The goods yard closed on 19 December 1960, and the signal box on 21 January 1967. The level crossing to the east of the station was normally closed to road vehicles but was later converted to an automatic open crossing with lights. Electrification of the Wickford to Southminster line using 25 kV overhead line electrification (OLE) was completed on 12 May 1986.

Althorne is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast from the county town and city of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Maldon district and in the parliamentary constituency of Maldon & East Chelmsford. The village has its own Parish Council.The civil parish has a population of 1,159. Althorne is on the Dengie peninsula, about 5 km (3 miles) north-west of Burnham-on-Crouch. It is approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) north-west from the centre of Bridgemarsh Island in the River Crouch. The village of Althorne is connected to London, by the Southminster Branch Line, operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which links Wickford to London Liverpool Street Station. The railway station is Althorne railway station, though the station itself is cut adrift from the main village, only accessible from a long and steep track leading up to the edge of Althorne. There are no A roads close to the village – the main roads being the B1010 to Burnham and the B1018 road from Maldon to nearby Southminster.

The Crouch and Roach Estuaries are a 1729 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the mouth of the Crouch and Roach rivers in Essex. The Crouch part of the SSSI stretches from near Battlesbridge to Foulness Island, and the Roach from Rochford to the junction with the Crouch. Part of the site is in the Mid-Essex Coast Special Protection Area under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and a Ramsar wetland site of international importance. It is also part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation. An area of 65 hectares is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust as the Lion Creek and Lower Raypits nature reserve and 8 hectares at Woodham Fen, both of which are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. A small area is also a geological SSSI, The Cliff, Burnham-on-Crouch.The site has salt marsh, intertidal mud, grazing marsh and a fresh water reservoir. The salt marsh has scarce species including lax-flowered sea-lavender and one-flowered glasswort. Rough grass has dense populations of the nationally scarce Roesel's bush-cricket. The site is internationally important for wintering dark-bellied brent geese, and nationally important for black-tailed godwits, shelducks and shoveller ducks. There are Red Data Book species of invertebrates such as the ground lackey moth.

Northey Island is an island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, Essex. It is linked to the south bank of the river by a causeway, covered for two hours either side of high tide. The island is approximately 1 mile (2 km) to the east of Maldon, Essex and 1 mile (2 km) to the west of Osea Island. The Battle of Maldon, 991 is believed to have taken place on the causeway and the south bank of the Blackwater near the island. At that time the causeway is thought to have been half as long as it is presently – 120 yards rather than 240 yards today.Significant land reclamation was carried out by the Dutch contractor Nicholas Van Cropenrough in the early 18th century; he enwalled marshland to significantly enlarge the island but the walls were breached by the sea and the land returned to marshland on 29 November 1897.In 1923 Northey was bought by the writer and campaigner Norman Angell; in 1933 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.The whole island and part of the bank near the causeway are now a national nature reserve. Northey is home to diverse birdlife and this is reflected in the place name 'Awl Creek' which perpetuates the traditional Essex dialect word for the Avocet.At one time Northey was home to more species than it is now. The island was one of the last southern strongholds of the raven, the last bird being taken from the Ladies grove in 1888.It is uninhabited apart from the warden. The island is owned by the National Trust and can be visited by arrangement with the warden. It is one of 43 (unbridged) tidal islands which can be walked to from the British mainland and one of six such tidal islands in Essex.

North Fambridge railway station is on the Crouch Valley Line in the East of England, serving the village of North Fambridge, Essex. It is 37 miles 27 chains (60.09 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between South Woodham Ferrers to the west and Althorne to the east. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is WIS; the station's three-letter station code is NFA. The southern (westbound) platform has an operational length for eight-coach trains while the northern (eastbound) platform can accommodate nine coaches.The line and station were opened for goods on 1 June 1889 and to passenger services on 1 October 1889 by the Great Eastern Railway. Facilities then included two platforms, both provided with buildings and linked by a footbridge; a goods yard including cattle pens; and a 30-lever signal box, reduced to 10 after 1966. The signal box was taken out of use on 1 December 1985 and demolished in February 1986. The original footbridge was replaced with a higher one prior to the electrification of the line in 1986. Electrification using 25 kV overhead line electrification (OLE) was completed on 12 May 1986. North Fambridge station is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving it. The typical off-peak service is of one westbound train every 40 minutes to Wickford and one eastbound train every 40 minutes to Southminster, with additional services at peak times. Some peak services continue to or from Shenfield and/or London Liverpool Street via the Great Eastern Main Line. As North Fambridge is at the midpoint of this single-track line, its double-track configuration provides a passing loop to allow two trains to run on the line at any one time. The station was originally called Fambridge (with the code FAM) but this was changed to North Fambridge on 20 May 2007.

The Battle of Maldon took place on 11 August 991 AD near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat. After the battle Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and the aldermen of the south-western provinces advised King Æthelred to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle. The result was a payment of Danegeld of 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver (approx £1.8M at 2022 prices). An account of the battle, embellished with many speeches attributed to the warriors and with other details, is related in an Old English poem which is usually named The Battle of Maldon. A modern embroidery created for the millennium celebration in 1991 and, in part, depicting the battle, can be seen at the Maeldune Centre in Maldon. One manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that a certain Olaf, possibly the Norwegian Olaf Tryggvason, led the Viking forces, these estimated to have been between 2,000 and 4,000 fighting men. A source from the 12th-century Liber Eliensis, written by the monks at Ely, suggests that Byrhtnoth had only a few men to command: "he was neither shaken by the small number of his men, nor fearful of the multitude of the enemy". Not all sources indicate such a disparity in numbers.

Blue House Farm is a 242.8-hectare (600-acre) nature reserve and farm in North Fambridge, on the north bank of the River Crouch between Burnham-on-Crouch and South Woodham Ferrers in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of the site is in of the Crouch and Roach Estuaries Site of Special Scientific Interest.This site has been grassland for the last 100 years, and it is grazed by cows and sheep. The site has ponds, creeks and ditches, and a 20 hectare field is flooded during the winter, providing feeding grounds for large numbers of wildfowl and wading birds, including around 2000 Brent geese. Other winter birds include lapwings, golden plovers and dunlins, while there are spring migrants such as green sandpipers and spotted redshanks, and breeding birds such as skylarks and meadow pipits. Mammals include water voles and hares, and many butterflies.There is access only to a footpath through the farm, which has three bird hides along it. The footpath runs from Blue House Farm Chase to a footpath along the river bank.

Maldon and East Chelmsford was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1997 to 2010 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.