Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for PLESHEY

PLESHEY, a parish, with an ancient village, in Chelmsford district, Essex; on a small affluent of the river Chelmer, 5½ miles N N W of Chelmsford r. station. Post-town, Chelmsford. Acres, 726. Real property, £1, 365. Pop., 342. Houses, 80. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the duchy of Lancaster. The castle of the High Constables stoodhere; was built by William de Magnaville; was the residence of the Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Edward III.; and the place of his arrest, in 1397, by Richard II.; was the scene, in 1400, of the beheading of the Duke of Exeter by the populace; went into decaysoon after that event; was used as a quarry, about 1600, for building a lodge, which stood till 1767; and is nowrepresented by a mound, great earthworks, two moats, and a curious bridge. A Roman camp previously occupied the same ground; was about a mile in circuit; and has yielded some relics, and left some remains. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £125.* Patron, J. Tufnell, Esq. The church comprisesa nave of 1708, a chancel of 1748, and the transepts and tower of a quondam fine cruciform double-aisled church of late decorated date, which belonged to a college for 9priests, founded in 1393, by the Duke of Gloucester; and it contains mural monuments of the Tufnells, and fragments of several ancient marble tombs. Charities, £9.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish, with an ancient village"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Pleshy AP/CP       Chelmsford RegD/PLU       Essex AncC
Place: Pleshy

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.