A Brief History of Sturmer, Essex

Sturmer is in the Braintree District Council area but because of historical links and the fine work of RUH we asked and were accepted as an affiliated group some years ago.

Working through the ages - Sturmer has a Bronze Age tumulus to the north, just by the Haverhill by-pass, which was probably used for a burial. Roman remains of coins and the signs of a villa have been found to the south of the village near Wixoe. Moving on we know of Leofsuna in the 10th century who went from Sturmer to the battle of Maldon where the Saxons were defeated by the Vikings. Another famous man from Sturmer was William Hicks who was at the battle of Trafalgar and was rector here for more than 40 years.

The oldest building is the church but Linnetts, the thatched cottage at the southern end of the village, is the oldest home built in the Middle Ages.

The village would have been mostly agricultural through the years with its own blacksmith etc. The Sturmer Pippin apple was developed at the Dillistone nurseries in the village during Victorian times. The railway arrived in the 1860s and more houses were built and the farms changed hands. Today the village is largely a dormitory for the workforce for Cambridge or further afield.

The history of the village has been recorded on a heritage trail and accompanying leaflet with the help of an HLF – All Our Stories Grant.

Linda Bevan
Sturmer Local History Group