Editing Witham (section)

==History==

===Early history===
Excavations by Essex County Council Field Archaeological unit at the recent Maltings Lane development discovered evidence of [[Neolithic]] occupation at Witham, including human remains and several trackways across ancient marsh. Excavations of the Witham Lodge (Ivy Chimneys) area of the town in the 1970s unveiled remains of a Roman temple as well as a pottery [[kiln]]. This would have been alongside the main [[Roman road]] from [[Colchester]] to London and used as a stopover point on the long journey. Another notable find during the excavation was a votive offering pool in the grounds of the temple, containing several artefacts that would have been offered to the gods.

In 913, according to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', [[Edward the Elder]] marched from [[Hertford]] to reconquer Essex, and encamped in Witham on his route to set up a base at [[Maldon, Essex|Maldon]]. Witham's position on the Roman road in relation to the major Viking army based at Colchester was the most likely reason for this, and it would have effectively cut Essex in two.

The place-name Witham is first attested in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' in 913 (mentioned above), where it appears as ''Witham''. It also appears as ''Witham'' in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. The name may mean 'village in a bend'.<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.527.</ref> Another suggestion is that the name is part [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] (probably from a cognate of Gwydd = "Woods" in modern Welsh) and "ham", a very common Saxon village designation.<ref>[http://www.gyford.com/domesday/ Domesday Witham – Introduction and Method]</ref>

The manor of Witham was given to the [[Knights Templar]] in 1148. To the north of the current town is [[Cressing Temple]] which was the earliest foundation of Templar lands in Britain, built over 700 years ago. The manor of Witham was held by the Church after the [[Trials of the Knights Templar|dissolution of the Templars]] in England in {{circa|1309}}.<ref>Malcolm Barber (2006), The Trial of the Templars, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press), p. 225</ref> The manor was sold to [[John Southcote (died 1585)|Sir John Southcott]] in {{circa|1575}}, he was a prominent Judge and Politician from [[Devon]]. His heirs held the manor for almost two centuries, until 1648 when the [[Southcott family]] had their lands destroyed for supporting the [[Cavalier|royalist cause]] in the [[English Civil War]].<ref>[https://www.withamtowntrail.com/copy-of-ch-11-old-mill-house-1 History of the Manor House Witham Place]</ref>

The town as it is now started life on "Chipping Hill", which is the location of St Nicolas's Church. As the years went by, the hamlet grew to become "Witham" and St Nicolas's Church of England Church (a unique spelling) serves a congregation of around 150 people each Sunday. During the latter half of the 18th century and the early 19th century, Admiral Sir [[William Luard]] was the town's most prominent citizen, a resident of Chipping Hill and a founder and patron of St Nicolas's Church. His funeral cortège through the town in 1910 was witnessed by thousands.

In the 18th century, Witham briefly enjoyed a period as an affluent [[spa town]] after the discovery of a mineral-bearing spa by a Dr Taverner. Witham was also a centre of the wool trade until the decline of the industry in the late 17th century.

===Witham rail crash===
{{Main|Witham rail crash}}
[[File:witham.jpg|thumb|Witham railway station, 1&nbsp;September 1905]]
[[Witham railway station]] was the scene of a serious accident 09:27 on 1 September 1905. The [[Liverpool Street railway station|London Liverpool Street]]-to-[[Cromer railway station|Cromer]] 14-coach express derailed whilst travelling at speed through the station. Ten passengers and a luggage porter were killed when several of the carriages somersaulted on to the platforms causing considerable damage to the rolling stock and the station. Seventy-one passengers were seriously injured.<ref>{{cite web |title=Event summary |series=Accident at Witham on 1st September 1905 |website=Railways Archive |place=U.K. |id=event&nbsp;72 |url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=72}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=P.G., Lt.Col. |last=von&nbsp;Donop |series=Accident returns |title=Extract for the accident at Witham on 1st September 1905 |date=1 November 1905 |publisher=Board of Trade |url=https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=2496 |via=Railways Archive, U.K.}}</ref> It remains to this day the worst loss of life in a railway accident in Essex.

In 2005, an opportunity to commemorate the centenary was missed and the incident is now largely forgotten. Ben Sainty, a signalman, whose quick action averted the next train hitting the wreckage, has a road named after him in the town, Ben Sainty Court.

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[File:Witham Public Library (geograph 5405138).jpg|thumb|Witham Public Library]]
The town expanded greatly in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the [[Greater London Council]] built three large [[council estates]] on the west and north sides of the town, and a smaller one to the south, for families from London to move to as part of the ''New Town and Expanded Town [[London overspill|overspill policy]]'' of that time. A famous one-time resident of the town was the author [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], whose statue stands opposite the town's library, which is a short distance from the author's house. The library stands on the site of the old Whitehall cinema, which closed in the late 1970s and which was itself a conversion of the White Hall country house.

Witham has grown in size after the development of the Maltings Lane estate to the south of the town between 2002 and 2003. This was followed, in 2012, by the moving of Chipping Hill Primary School from its old premises in Church Street to a new-build in Owers Road. The development of this area has continued, including the opening of an [[Aldi]] superstore in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Aldi-launch-appeal-rejection-planned-Witham-store/story-20780089-detail/story.html |title=Aldi launch appeal against rejection of planned Witham store in Maltings Lane &#124; Essex Chronicle |access-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906163243/http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Aldi-launch-appeal-rejection-planned-Witham-store/story-20780089-detail/story.html |archive-date=6 September 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Approved developments in this period include the reconstruction of both the [[New Rickstones Academy]] and the [[Maltings Academy]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/news/4541964.Witham__Planning_applications_in_for_new_schools/|title = Witham: Planning applications in for new schools| date=12 August 2009 }}</ref> completed in 2011; the [[Marston's]] pub and restaurant on Gershwin Boulevard, completed in 2013 with the adjacent Seymour House day nursery; the refurbishment and opening of a [[Morrisons]] store in the old premises of the Jack & Jenny pub in 2014; and the newly-built Witham Leisure Centre<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.witham-leisure-centre.co.uk/ |title=Welcome to the Witham Leisure Centre Community Information Website |access-date=6 September 2014 |archive-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906160852/http://www.witham-leisure-centre.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> on Spinks Lane, replacing Bramston Sports Centre, completed in 2014.