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THE COLNE-STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION

The Association was set up in the early 1980s with the objective of protecting an area covering the countryside around the rivers Colne and Stour from Kedington in the North West and Hundon in the North, to Coggeshall in the South, and Wormingford in the South East, where custody of the Stour Valley passes to The Dedham Vale Society.

The Colne Stour area is rich in history with many exceptional buildings and villages such as Finchingfield, Clare, Cavendish, Coggeshall, Long Melford and Castle Hedingham.

It is also the area which was extensively painted by both Gainsborough and Constable. Indeed Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in the heart of the area and grew up there. Other painters of recent times include Cavendish Morton, Alfred Munnings, Cedric Morris, Arthur Lett-Haines, Lucien Freud, Maggi Hambling and many more.

Our aims are to protect the area for its heritage, outstanding beauty and the myriad of resources available for the visitor. To this end we try and support Parish Councils wherever we can when help is needed, ensuring that all development is sympathetic to the area and encourage councils to develop brownfield sites before building on good arable land. We also believe that developments should be in keeping with their surroundings. We accept that there is a need to build houses and we do not oppose all development per se.

We work closely with the Dedham Vale Society (DVS) and the Stour Valley Project which manages the river Stour from source to the sea at Cattawade. We also work closely with CPREssex and we are represented on their committee, as well as the DVS committee. www.dedhamvalesociety.org.uk  www.cpressex.org.uk

 

Map of the Colne & Stour Valleys

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Magazine Articles

Chairman’s Letter
Heritage Matters
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Behind the Lines: Alfred Munnings, War Artist
Category: Art, Culture
The Foragers Retreat – Michelin chef in Pebmarsh.
Category: Food, Nature
Some aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: History
Dam Good Job – Beavers back in Essex after 400 years.
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature
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Walks

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Further Education

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Links

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Latest from Colne Stour

News

CSCA Objection to Development at Colchester Road Bures – 5th April

Read the official CSCA response to this development written by Chairman Charles Aldous.

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2 planning applications for new homes in Earls Colne – decision early May.

Planning application for two new housing developments in Earls Colne are now in and a decision is expected in early May. There are many objections to these proposals…

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Events

Notable Achievements

Proposed development on Colchester Road, Bures.

CSCA worked with The Dedham Vale Society and The Stour Valley Project

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Pylons across the Stour at Lamarsh.

National Grid have agreed to underground the next line of Pylons which will cross what will become the extended AONB.

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Places of special interest

Finchingfield Guildhall

Set in the rolling countryside of North Essex less than an hour from London is the 15th century Guildhall Finchingfield. The Guildhall is an historic venue with its own interactive museum ideal for children, small shop, and library.

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Hedingham Castle

Hedingham Castle is a 900 year old Norman keep built by the de Veres in c1133, and contains some of the finest Norman interiors in Northern Europe.

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Bures Mill

Bures Mill has recently been restored and stands on the River Stour on the outskirts of the village.

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Gestingthorpe Roman Villa

Gestingthorpe Roman Villa lies mid way between Halstead and Sudbury, and the Rivers Colne and Stour.

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The Round Church, Maplestead

One of the gems of northern Essex is to be found along a small country lane in Little Maplestead, a few miles northwest of Halstead. Locally known as The Round Church, it sits nestled in a beautiful spot among several ancient yew trees on the crest of a small hill.

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Sparrow’s Farm, Great Henny

Sparrow’s Farm lies tucked away in the deep overgrown valley of the Loshes Brook, which is a tributary of the Stour. The farm adjoins the Loshes Meadow Nature Reserve and includes the original damp Loshes Meadow, where marsh, spotted and bee orchids grow.

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Hold Farm, Bures

Hold Farm is the earliest secular watermill in Britain and merits listing at grade II* or grade I. It is currently listed at grade II as a ‘former farmhouse, said to have been a flax mill’. Medieval and Tudor watermills are exceptionally rare, with fragmentary examples surviving at four or five monastic sites in the country

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St Stephens Chapel, Bures

St Stephen’s Chapel stands in a secluded spot on a hill half a mile east of Bures village. It was built in the second decade of the 13th century as a manorial chapel by Gilbert de Tawny, a local landowner.

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Arger Fen

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Old Bures Dragon

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Paycocke’s, Coggeshall

Paycocke’s House dates from the early years of the Tudors, those slightly less exciting times before Shakespeare, before Thomas Cromwell, and when there was only one wife.

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Melford Hall, Long Melford

Melford Hall, Long Melford is the home of the Hyde-Parker family but is owned by the National Trust.

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Marks Hall, Coggeshall

The Marks Hall estate just north of Coggeshall had belonged to the Honywood family for almost 300 years when it was bought by Thomas Phillips Price in 1897. The estate was famous for the splendour of its Jacobean House and gardens and in particular for the magnificence of the oak trees in its park.

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Kentwell Hall, Long Melford

Kentwell Hall, Long Melford is renowned for its Tudor recreations throughout the summer months.

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Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury

Gainsborough’s House is the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), one of the greatest painters in the history of British art.

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Daws Hall, Lamarsh

A delightful Georgian Country Residence, with a most attractive Tudor wing at the rear

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Coggeshall Grange Barn

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Coggeshall Abbey

The Abbey was founded by King Stephen and his wife Matilda in 1140. Originally it was a Savignac Abbey – a French order from Normandy.

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Chappel Viaduct, Earls Colne

The Chappel viaduct is 1066ft long, has 32 arches of 30ft span and its maximum height is 75ft.

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WEBSITE EDITOR

Emma Stewart-Smith

MAGAZINE EDITOR

Christy Simson

CHAIRMAN

Alexander Robson

HON TREASURER

Michael Goodbody

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