About Ardleigh

Geographical Description

Ardleigh stands on a flat gravel plain in open countryside between Colchester and Manningtree.  The parish measures some 6 kilometres east to west and about 5.5 kilometres north to south.  It consists principally of agricultural land, but there is an obvious village centre, in the vicinity of St Mary's Church and the A137/B1029 crossroads.

To the west and south of the village centre, there is a valley system, which may no longer be very apparent to the casual passer-by.  Ardleigh reservoir fills a large part of one of these valleys and the only obvious sign of that valley's existence is at John de Bois Hill.  However, there is also a hilly, sunken lane leading down into the wooded area of Spring Valley, which is strikingly different in atmosphere from the essentially flat gravel plain on which most of Ardleigh lies.

Historic Background

Ardleigh has been a centre of human habitation for well over 3000 years.  The richest source of archaeological finds has been to the south-east of the village, in the area around Vince's farm.  These finds provide evidence of human activity and occupation in the early and late Bronze Age, the early and late Iron Age and the early Roman period.

When the Romans embarked on their local road-building programme they would have taken into account the position of existing settlements.  Ardleigh seems to have been on the main traffic routes at that time.  The main road between Colchester and Ipswich, the old A12, is a Roman road, bordering Ardleigh for nearly a mile.  But there was also another Roman road which can be traced from Hythe Quay in Colchester to Mistley Quay, in a straight line of eight miles.  It passed through Crockleford Hill and what are now Cherrytree Farm, Slough Farm, Ardleigh Park, Park Farm, Chancery Farm, Vinces Farm, Old Shields and Badley Hall, continuing through present-day Lawford, Lawford Grange and Mistley Hall Park.

The Dark Ages between the end of the fourth century and the Norman Conquest reveal little of Ardleigh's subsequent history, but the millennium following the Norman Conquest is extremely well documented.

Ardleigh Settlement Patterns

Early maps show the village concentrated at the crossroads with the church just north-east and most other buildings lying to the west, along the road towards Colchester.  This remained the case until well into the 20th century, despite the development of the railway line and associated buildings to the south of the village.

There has been considerable expansion of the village centre since the end of World War II, most notably in the form of:

  • extensive local authority housing to the south and west of the crossroads
  • the Ardleigh Court development next to the church, north and east of the crossroads
  • the Chapel Croft/Church View development between the crossroads and New Hall to the south and east of the crossroads
  • the Wheatlands development on the west side of Station Road
  • The Limes, a small development of housing on the south side of the Harwich Road to the east of the crossroads.

The parish of Ardleigh comprises in addition to the village centre, a number of hamlets, each with its own character:

  • Along the B1029 towards Dedham is Ardleigh Heath
  • Along the B1029 towards Great Bromley is Burnt Heath
  • Along the A137 towards Colchester, beyond the southern end of Dead Lane, is a line of housing on the northwest side reaching John de Bois Hill, where there is a string of properties on the other side of the road
  • Beyond John de Bois Hill is the hamlet of Fox Street
  • On the parish boundary along the Colchester-Great Bromley Road is the hamlet of Crockleford.

In addition to these readily identifiable hamlets, there are individual dwellings along most of the narrow lanes that run through the farm land surrounding the centre of Ardleigh. 

Ardleigh Today

Ardleigh has long been seen as a desirable location for house buyers.

  • It offers village living, yet retains easy access to local towns such as Colchester and Ipswich and easy access by train to London
  • It is not seen as a tourist attraction like Dedham, but it is on the very edge of the beautiful Stour valley
  • It has its commuting population, yet it retains its character as a working village.

Ardleigh houses a surprisingly large number of small and not so small businesses, related to a wide range of activities including farming and market gardening, engineering, the timber trade and leisure pursuits.  Some of the smaller businesses are based unobtrusively in redundant farm buildings.  There is a large enterprise to the south of the village which has been extracting sand and gravel for the past three generations.

There are three shops in the village centre, one of which is also the Village Post Office.  Also in the centre are a public house and a fish-and-chip shop - and food is also served by several of the public houses outside the centre of the village.