Ashingdon is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about north of Rochford and is southeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village lies within Rochford District and the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh.
Ashingdon has a Parish Council. It is a rural parish, one of 14 parishes in Rochford District. The Parish is approximately north of Rochford, and continues to the bank of the tidal River Crouch; the Parish includes the villages of Ashingdon and South Fambridge. Parts of Ashingdon Parish are within the village community of Hockley, and the northeast part of Hawkwell Parish is within the Ashingdon village community; they face each other along the length of Ashingdon Road, a Roman Road that is still used to this day.
Ashingdon and South Fambridge have been in existence for more than one thousand years and both appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, along with the Manor of Beckney within Ashingdon Parish.
According to the 2001 census, updated in 2004, the parish had 1222 dwellings and a population of 3165, increasing to 3,634 at the 2011 census.
History
Battle of Ashingdon
Ashingdon, or, more correctly, the land to the east of the village, is the presumed site of the Battle of Ashingdon on 18 October 1016. Ashingdon Hill is the likely location of King Edmund Ironside's camp, and it faces the field of battle between Ashingdon and Canewdon. Canewdon Church sits atop another hill, and beside Canewdon village was probably the site of King Canute's camp. Early chronicles report of fierce fighting at "Hyde Wood", nearly halfway between the two villages. The parish church which lies on Ashingdon Hill, one of the parish's three hills, was built in 1020, 4 years after the battle, by the order of the king, 'Canute the Great' of Denmark. The grade II listed parish church of Saint Andrew's is also called "Ashingdon Minster". The first priest at Ashingdon was one of King Canute's personal priests, a young man named Stigand, who 46 years later was the Archbishop of Canterbury who crowned King Harold and officiated at the coronation of William The Conqueror (William I), both in 1066. The priest appears on the Bayeux Tapestry with the caption "STIGANT ARChIEPS." The church is now dedicated to Saint Andrew, but it is believed that it was dedicated earlier to Saint Michael, who was considered to be a military saint, and churches dedicated to him are frequently located on a hill. In 2006 Southend author, poet and historian, Ian Yearsley, wrote and published a commemorative epic poem about the battle, called The Battle of Ashingdon (1016).
Aviation
Ashingdon Parish was a centre of early aviation research from 1908. Britain's first aerodrome was officially opened in February 1909 and it was used for developing and flying early fixed wing aeroplanes. A few years later, early seaplanes were made there. The First World War stopped all of the aviation work until flying resumed in Ashingdon in 1919, possibly at Fambridge but also the aerodrome did move to Canewdon Road in Ashingdon, 2 miles away. The new company mainly used Avro 504 biplanes. In the early 1920s, Frank Neale started an aviation company there with a larger Avro 504 3 seater. Then in 1923, W.G. Pudney started The Essex Aviation Company flying several types of aircraft. All three firms used the Avro 504, a popular, easy and cheap to fly aircraft.
In the 1930s, the aerodrome may have moved further along Canewdon Road in Ashingdon. Some people say that it was moved by expanding into the larger adjacent field. Others say that it may have been at two separate locations in that road and others deny both suggestions and say that it was only ever at one place in Canewdon Road. The aerodrome was called Canute Aero Park, after King Canute the Great, as well as being called Ashingdon Aerodrome.