Press Archive

2005 Essex Village of the Year is Earls Colne

A mid-Essex village with a population of about 4,000 has hit the jackpot in this year’s Essex Village of the Year and Best Kept Village Competition

Earls Colne not only been awarded the prestigious Essex Village of the Year title, it has also won its Best Kept Village class for the first time and will receive a special award from Defra to acknowledge its efforts in “building community life”.

As Essex Village of the Year it will now go forward to represent the county in the prestigious national English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share in the £36,000 prize fund.

Earls Colne will be competing in the East England region of the competition against villages from Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The competition, sponsored by Calor, and organised annually by the Rural Community Council of Essex has thrown up a raft of new winners across the county as a whole including Great Dunmow, Hempstead, Messing, Foulness Island and Stondon Massey. Two, in fact, Great Dunmow and Stondon Massey are also first-time entries.

“There is a real variety of villages among this year’s winners. This demonstrates the positive side of village life and shows the pride, resilience and adaptability of people in rural Essex,” said RCC director, Nick Shuttleworth.

“The people in Earls Colne enjoy a comprehensive range of work opportunities with 1200 employed in the village itself, as well as a wide range of leisure and community facilities. There is extensive community involvement in new initiatives which have included not only converting the old foundry site into an attractive business neighbourhood, there is also a new village heritage museum and a new village green and open space area.”

He went on “Overall, the community has embraced change and provided some very positive benefits for the population.”

The Rural Community Council is a registered charity which supports community projects throughout rural Essex and acts as a voice for rural people on key issues.

Further information from Nick Shuttleworth on 01245 352046 or e-mail nick.shuttleworth@essexrcc.org.uk