Great Yeldham

{{Short description|Village in Essex, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=May 2025}} {{More citations needed|date=August 2007}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | coordinates = {{coord|52.016215|0.562706|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Great Yeldham | population = 1,948 | 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 = | shire_district = Braintree | shire_county = Essex | region = East of England | constituency_westminster = Braintree | post_town = HALSTEAD | postcode_district = CO9 | postcode_area = CO | dial_code = 01787 | os_grid_reference = TL765385 | static_image = White Hart Plus Thirty Years - geograph.org.uk - 246972.jpg | static_image_width = 240px | static_image_caption = White Hart Hotel, Great Yeldham }}

'''Great Yeldham''' is a village and civil parish in north Essex, England, about {{convert|6|mi|0}} from the Suffolk border. It is situated along the main A1017 road (formerly A604) between Braintree and Haverhill. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,948.

==History== Great Yeldham contains the ''Great Oak'', an old preserved oak tree in the centre of the village, which is claimed to have been recorded in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086.

In 1967, Great Yeldham elected a Communist councillor, June Cohen, to the surprise of many in the area.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Geography== The village is where the infant River Colne is joined by a stream from near Stambourne and another that has flowed via Toppesfield. The river flows through Colchester on its 39-mile journey to the North Sea.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Great Yeldham was home to the Whitlock Bros., an agricultural equipment manufacturer. In 1972, Whitlock Bros. was taken over by Hymac and production subsequently moved to Rhymney in South Wales; the plant closed, resulting in many job losses.

The land around Great Yeldham is used principally for arable farming and some livestock rearing. From the early 1950s until the mid-1980s, it was also known for Lark Hill Farm, its apple and strawberry farm.

==Transport== Until 1962, it was served for passenger traffic by Yeldham railway station on the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway line between Chappel and Wakes Colne and {{rws|Haverhill|England}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/y/yeldham/index.shtml |last=Catford |first=Nick |title=Station name: Yeldham |website=Disused Stations |date=27 May 2017 |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref> The line crossed Station Road at a level crossing, which has since been renamed ''Toppesfield Road''.

==Listed buildings== {{main|Listed buildings in Great Yeldham}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Great Yeldham}} * [http://www.greatyeldhamschool.co.uk St Andrew's Primary School website] * [http://www.ucvp.org/churches/great-yeldham/ Website for St Andrew’s Church, part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes]

Category:Villages in Essex Category:Braintree District