# Chignall

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chignall
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chignall.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chignall
> Source revision: 1321039781
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Civil parish in Essex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country= England
|official_name= Chignall
|coordinates= {{coord|51|45|54|N|0|25|22|E|display=inline,title}}
|population= 621
| population_ref    = (Parish, 2021)<ref name=2021census>{{cite web |title=2021 Census Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=31 March 2025}} (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)</ref>
|civil_parish= Chignall
|shire_district= [Chelmsford](/source/City_of_Chelmsford)
|shire_county= [Essex](/source/Essex)
|region= East of England
|constituency_westminster= [Chelmsford](/source/Chelmsford_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
|post_town= CHELMSFORD
|postcode_district= CM1
|postcode_area= CM
|dial_code= 01245
|os_grid_reference= 
| static_image         = St Nicholas, Chignal Smealey - geograph.org.uk - 3282210.jpg
| static_image_caption = Church of St Nicholas at [Chignall Smealy](/source/Chignall_Smealy)
}}

'''Chignall''' is a [civil parish](/source/civil_parish) in the [Chelmsford](/source/City_of_Chelmsford) district of [Essex](/source/Essex), England. The parish includes the two small villages of [Chignall St James](/source/Chignall_St_James) and [Chignall Smealy](/source/Chignall_Smealy) and surrounding rural areas. In the south-eastern tip of the parish it also includes some recent developments on the edge of the built up area of the city of [Chelmsford](/source/Chelmsford). At the [2021 census](/source/2021%E2%80%932022_United_Kingdom_censuses) the parish had a population of 621.

==Toponymy==
The meaning of Chignall is uncertain. The second syllable indicates "nook of land", indicating perhaps an area of dry land in a marsh, or an area otherwise separated from its parent territory. The first syllable may come from a personal name "Cicca", or alternatively it may come from "chicken".<ref>{{cite web |title=Chignall Smealey and St James |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Chignall%20Smealey%20and%20St.%20James |website=Key to English Place-Names |publisher=University of Nottingham |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref>

The legal name of the parish uses the spelling "Chignall", which is therefore used on [Ordnance Survey](/source/Ordnance_Survey) maps and by the [Office for National Statistics](/source/Office_for_National_Statistics). The Ordnance Survey also uses the spelling "Smealy" in that village's name.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/index.html |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref><ref name=2021census/> The [Royal Mail](/source/Royal_Mail) uses the spelling "Chignal" for official postal addresses in both villages, and also uses the spelling "Smealey".<ref>{{cite web |title=Find an address |url=https://www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode |publisher=Royal Mail |access-date=7 November 2025}} (See for example postcodes CM1 4TY or CM1 4TA.</ref> The parish council uses the spelling Chignal on its website.<ref name=pc>{{cite web |title=Chignal Parish |url=https://www.chignalparish.org.uk/details/parish-council/ |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref>

==History==
In [Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxon) times, Chignall appears to have been a single [vill](/source/vill). It was recorded in the [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 as ''Cingehala'' in the [Chelmsford hundred](/source/Hundreds_of_Essex) of Essex. The vill was at that time split between two owners.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Powell-Smith |first1=Anna |title=Chignall |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TL6610/chignall/ |website=Open Domesday |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Essex A-C|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/essex1.html#chignall|author=The Domesday Book online|accessdate=2016-05-14}}</ref>

A priest is mentioned in one of the Domesday entries for Chignall, implying it may have then been a parish. It is unclear where the church was at that time. The church of St James at Chignall St James dates back to at least the 13th century,<ref name=James>{{NHLE|desc=Former Church of St James|grade=II*|num=1122199}}</ref> and the church of St Nicholas at Chignall Smealy was built in the early 16th century.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Nicholas|grade=II*|num=1170018}}</ref> A third church dedicated to St Mary is known to have formerly existed at Chignall, which had been demolished by the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rodwell |first1=Warwick |last2=Rodwell |first2=Kirsty |title=Historic Churches: A wasting asset |date=1977 |publisher=The Council for British Archaeology |page=16 |url=https://colchesterheritage.co.uk/api/LibraryLinkWebServiceProxy/FetchResource/1497/full_1497.pdf |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref> The area came to be administered as the two parishes of Chignall St James and Chignall Smealy, with the latter sometimes called "Little Chignall".<ref name=Kelly>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Essex |date=1914 |page=133 |url=https://leicester.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/60723/rec/2 |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref>

Chignall St James and Chignall Smealy were merged into a new civil parish called Chignall in 1888, although they remained separate [ecclesiastical parish](/source/ecclesiastical_parish)es.<ref name=Kelly/><ref>{{cite web|title=Chignall|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol2/pp44-46|author=British History Online|accessdate=2016-05-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10236307|title=Relationships and changes Chignall CP through time|publisher=[A Vision of Britain](/source/A_Vision_of_Britain)|accessdate=8 October 2020}}</ref>

In ecclesiastical terms, Chignall St James, Chignall Smealy and the neighbouring parish of [Mashbury](/source/Mashbury) were united into a single [benefice](/source/benefice) in 1930.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33606|page=3036|date=16 May 1930}}</ref> They were later formally united into a single ecclesiastical parish called "The Chignals with Mashbury", which uses St Nicholas's Church at Chignall Smealy as its parish church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chignal Smealey: St Nicholas |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/6639/more-information/ |website=A Church near you |publisher=The Church of England |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref> St James's Church was declared redundant in 1981; it was converted into a house a few years later.<ref name=James/>

==Governance==
The parish council is based at the village hall on Mashbury Road in Chignall St James.<ref name=pc/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Civil parishes in Essex
Category:City of Chelmsford

{{Essex-geo-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chignall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chignall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chignall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.