Terling (pronounced Ter-ling) is a village and civil parish in the county of Essex, England, between Braintree to the north, Chelmsford to the south-west and Witham to the east. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 765.

History

A settlement at Terling dates back to Roman times. According to a Saxon document dated 627 AD, about seven hundred acres of land was occupied in the Terling and Fairstead area. In 886 Terling was part of the Witham Hundred and there are references to this in records of Terling and Fairstead until the nineteenth century.

Terling is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Tarlinga, giving the approximate population as one hundred and twenty five. Before the Norman Conquest the three manors of Terling were presented to the Abbot of Ely. During the thirteenth century successive Bishops of Norwich acquired land in the Parish, by 1238 known as Tarlinges, and the remains of the foundations of their palace exist to the west of All Saints’ Church. Henry VII later used the palace as a hunting lodge.

During the fourteenth century more people were encouraged to take up farming and names of the farmers who purchased holdings at this time are remembered to this day in place names such as Loyes, Scarletts and Porridge Pot.

Arable farming and sheep rearing were the basis of the village economy in the sixteenth century. Other local industries included tanning, weaving, malting and the milling of flour. Houses of the period were made of timber and clay and were thatched.

Although yet un-standardised, by 1718 the spelling Tarling(e) was most common

Since 2002 Terling has been the location of the Terling International Trifle Festival, held each year in September.

Terling was named as Essex Village of the Year in 2017.

The village

The village is split into two halves by the river Ter. P H Reaney suggests that the name of the river is a back-formation, taking its name from the settlement, rather than the other way round

Notable buildings

The manor house, Terling Place, was built between 1772 and 1777.

The Terling windmill, latterly converted to residential use, was featured in the 1937 film Oh, Mr Porter!.

The Anglican church dedicated to All Saints is located on the village green. The body of the church is medieval, restored in the 19th century, while the brick-built tower dates from 1732.

References

Further reading

  • History of Terling, White's Directory (1848)
  • Wrightson, Keith & Levine, David (1995). Poverty and Piety in an English Village: Terling, 1525–1700. Oxford University Press.
  • Terling & Fairstead website