•  Little Dunmow, Essex

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Little Dunmow like this:

DUNMOW (Little), a parish in Dunmow district, Essex; on the left side of the river Chelmer, adjacent to the line of the Bishop-Stortford and Braintree railway, 2 miles ESE of Great Dunmow r. station, and 6½ W by S of Braintree. It has a post office under Chelmsford. Acres, 1, 715. Real property, £2, 738. ...

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Pop., 379. Houses, 79. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged anciently to the Baynards; passed to the Fitzwalters and others; and was then held by the tenure of giving a gammon of bacon to any married pair who chose to take oath that they had been true to each other, had not quarrelled, and had not wished themselves unmarried for a year and a day. This curious custom took root also at Wichnor in Staffordshire; was observed at Little Dunmow first in 1444; went into desuetude here in 1751 or 1763; and was commemorated at Great Dunmow, under the presidency of Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, in 1855. An Augustinian priory was founded at Little Dunmow, by Lady Ingar Baynard, in 1104; and some portions of it, with late Norman and decorated English features, and comprising a monument of the - foundress, monuments of the Fitzwalters, and an alabaster effigies of the time of Henry IV., are still standing. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £72. Patron, the Rev. W. Toke. The church is good.

Little Dunmow through time

Little Dunmow is now part of Uttlesford district. Click here for graphs and data of how Uttlesford has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Little Dunmow itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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