Coordinates: 51°42′11″N 0°14′38″E / 51.703°N 0.244°E
| Chipping Ongar | |
 Chipping Ongar, High Street |
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  Chipping Ongar
Chipping Ongar shown within Essex |
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| Population | 6,069 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Epping Forest |
| Shire county | Essex |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ONGAR |
| Postcode district | CM5 |
| Dialling code | 01277 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Brentwood and Ongar |
| Website | Ongar Town Council |
| List of places: UK • England • Essex | |
Chipping Ongar is a small market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. It is located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) East of Epping, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) South-East of Harlow and 6 miles (9.7 km) North-West of Brentwood.
Contents |
Geography
Ongar is located at the convergence of several old roads, being between Chelmsford and Epping on an east-west axis and between Dunmow and Chigwell (beyond which is London) on a north-south axis. To the south-east lies Brentwood, on the old road to the former River Thames ferry crossing at Tilbury, though the building in the 1970s of the M11 and M25 motorways means that Ongar is no longer directly on a principal route for petrol tankers (and other less prominent vehicles) travelling from the current Dartford Crossing and the Thames Estuary oil refineries.
Chipping Ongar is just one part of the town of Ongar, but is the common name used for the whole town. The parts are, north-to-south: Shelley, Chipping Ongar, and Marden Ash, with Greensted out to the southwest.
The central part of Ongar High Street comprises a widened main street of the type found in many older English towns whose status as market towns is believed to have originated during the (little chronicled) Saxon period. The widened high street is used to permit some 'no charge' short term parking that benefits the local shops. The high street does however retain a very narrow stretch, with shops and houses either side very close to the road due to pavement that is barely adequate for two people to pass each other.
Much of the surrounding countryside is occupied by large mechanised farms devoted currently, for the most part, to arable agriculture. During the twentieth century the proximity of London encouraged dairy farming, but the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were characterised by the removal of hedges and an increase in average field sizes as cattle numbers diminished. The subsoil is of heavy clay, rendering the land too soggy in winter for sheep, and inviting a greater level of attention to ditching and drain maintenance than has been applied to the district's road network since 1974.
History
Ongar was an important market town in the Mediaeval era, at the centre of a hundred and once having a Norman castle. The Church of England parish church of Saint Martin dates from the 11th century and shows signs of Norman work. A small window in the chancel is believed[by whom?] to indicate the existence of an anchorite's cell in mediaeval times. The Gothic Revival architect C.C. Rolfe added the south aisle in 1884.[2]
Ongar's role in local government was downgraded in 1974 with the abolition of Epping and Ongar Rural District Council. By 1990 the area's baby boom generation had grown beyond secondary education and the town's secondary school (opened in 1936 with elegant neo-Georgian buildings fronting Fyfield Road, expanded greatly when it became a comprehensive in the 1960s) was closed despite vigorous local protest. Its buildings were demolished to make way for a new residential development. Secondary school age children from the area are bussed to school in surrounding towns, notably Brentwood and Shenfield. A sports centre and swimming pool, built in the 1970s to serve the comprehensive school, continue to serve the locality. Chipping Ongar Primary School, located on the Greensted Road at the southern edge of the town, and Shelley Primary School at the northern end of town remain. St. Andrew's Parish Church in Greensted is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Ongar. It is believed to be the oldest wooden church in the world.[by whom?]
Several of the small private-sector businesses that operated through to the closing decades of the twentieth century have closed down or relocated as the economic focus of the region has been redirected, especially since the opening of the M11 motorway in the 1970s, to larger towns in west Essex, especially Harlow and Brentwood. Local planning policies have focused increasingly on residential development, and Ongar, like very many of the smaller towns in the belt round London, can be viewed primarily as a dormitory town for commuters to London, Brentwood, Harlow and Chelmsford. However, the single track rail line that connected Ongar to Epping (and thereby to London) was closed down in 1994 (see below) and local area road development has not been a priority in recent decades. Ongar also retains a range of retail shops.
Transport
Bus
The main towns buses serve are Brentwood, Chelmsford, Harlow and Epping.
| Route Number | Route | Operational Details | Operator |
| 7/7B | Ivy Chimneys Spotted Dog / Epping Station  to Chelmsford Bus Station  via North Weald |
Mon-Fri, 5 return journeys | Regal Busways |
| 19 From 18/01/2010 | Ongar Two Brewers to Harlow Bus Station via North Weald | Mon-Sat every 30 minutes | SM Coaches |
| 32 | Ongar Two Brewers to Chelmsford Bus Station via Writtle |
Mon-Sat, 6 return journeys | Imperial Buses |
| 46 | Ongar Two Brewers to Moulsham Oaklands Park via Chelmsford | Mon-Sat, 5 return journeys | First Essex |
| 47 | Ongar Two Brewers to Harlow Bus Station via Matching Tye | Tuesdays and Thurs-Sat, 1 return journey | Excel Coaches |
| 55 | Ongar Two Brewers to Epping Station / Harlow Bus Station via North Weald |
Mon-Sat 3 return journeys | TWH Bus & Coach |
| 146 | Ongar Two Brewers to Hatfield Heath White Horse via Fyfield | Tuesday and Thursday, 1 return journey | Excel Coaches |
 |
Ongar Two Brewers to Harlow Bus Station (all journeys) / Old Harlow (peak hours only) via Epping | Mon-Sat every hour | Arriva Shires & Essex |
| 501 | Warley Eagle Way (Mon-Sat only) / Ongar Two Brewers (all journeys) to Harlow Bus Station (all journeys) / Old Harlow (Mon-Sat peaks hours) via Brentwood and Epping | Mon-Sat every hour, Sunday every 2 hours | Arriva Shires & Essex |
There are also school routes operated by N.I.B.S which are routes 434, 436, 437 operating to Shenfield schools and routes 471, 472, 473 operating to Brentwood schools.
Also see Essex Bus Routes.
Train
Since the closure of the Central Line between Epping and Ongar in 1994, there is no longer a daily commuter train service in the town. The Epping Ongar Railway operates the former Central Line track, from North Weald Station on Sundays every hour to Ongar Station.
The nearest London Underground service to the town is Epping which is served by the Central Line. The closest National Rail service is from Brentwood, which is served by the Shenfield Metro and is operated by National Express East Anglia.
In Popular Culture
On the Who's album, Live at Leeds, Keith Moon refers to Chipping Ongar in a bit of stage banter as part of the introduction to their so-called "mini-opera," A Quick One, While He's Away. Guitarist Pete Townshend is in the middle of explaining the storyline to the audience, involving a lonely wife and her lover, Ivor the Engine Driver: "So what happens is uh, they uh, fu, they fornicate."
Moon interrupts to ask, "What's that, Pete? I thought it was a little station outside Chipping Ongar!" and Townshend tells him, "No no no."
Moon, who was the band's drummer, replies, "That's the trouble always sitting here in the back," to which Townshend deadpans back to the audience, "He always gets off at the wrong stop."[citation needed]
Twinning
Sources
- Pearson, Lynn F.. Discovering Famous Graves. Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. p. 33.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1965). The Buildings of England: Essex. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
- Saint, Andrew (1970). "Three Oxford Architects". Oxonensia (Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society) XXXV: 53 ff. http://www.oahs.org.uk/oxo/vol%2035/Saint.doc. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
References
- ^ Epping Forest District Council: Parish Profile: Ongar
- ^ Saint, 1970
- ^ Pearson, page 33. N.b. contributor has not indicated whether of 1998 or 2004 edition.
External links
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