History Society

SLHA  - Shalford Local History Association

Welcome to our Home Page

We are a small group of local people whose wish is to record things that happened in the past in our historic village (so named at some unknown date in Anglo-Saxon times, with evidence that there was earlier settlement here in Celtic and Romano-British times.) The name is recorded in the Domesday Book (1087.)

If you have similar interest and would like to join us, please make contact via Bill Askew:- [ecobill@btinternet.com]  There is no subscription.

Using the excellent resources available at Essex County Record Office in Chelmsford, we have transcribed a major part of historical documents relating to the parish, and such work has already led to publications (see below.)

It might save you petrol or a fare if you ask us to tell you what transcripts we hold, before setting out for Chelmsford. Contact (May to October) Margaret Sparks (01371 850 080) or (November to April) Bill Askew (see above.)

Memorial Inscriptions

We have completed a record of what's written on all visible gravestones in both sections of St Andrew's churchyard. We may be able to tell you where a distant relative is buried, if you like to contact us with the name(s) and an approximate date of burial or death.

Old photographs

Our member Margaret Sparks collects old photos of aspects of village life, people and places in Shalford. She is delighted to be offered further pictures. She would expect to return them after copying, unless the donor meant them as a gift. See her contact details above. [See Samples]

The first fruit of Margaret's project has been a selection of 100 old photographs published as Picture in Progress (see below under Publications for more details.) This selection illustrates the working lives and social activities of Shalforders in the past.

Our Display Cabinet

Until (if ever!) Shalford boasts a museum of its own, we make the best we can of a small cabinet on the wall inside the Village Hall.
It can accommodate a very limited display of old implements and artefacts of a small size, and we change the display once or twice a year.

We have a member licensed to use a metal detector and he often unearths something of interest. Permission for him to do searches on unexamined sites is always welcome. Contact Simon Galloway (01371 850 785.)

We are also glad to receive offers of artefacts or memorabilia, either as outright gifts, or on indefinite loan.

Chairman