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Hatfield Peverel is a large urban village and civil parish in the centre of Essex, England. Its population, including the hamlet of Nounsley, is approximately 5,500 (an estimate made in 2004). Hatfield means a "heathery space in the forest"; Peverel refers to William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of 1066. Sited on high ground east of the River Ter, between Boreham and Witham on the A12, it is situated in the southern extremity of the Braintree District Council area. The parish was part of the Braintree Rural District from 1894 until 1974. However, it is only 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Chelmsford, the nearest large town, to which it is more directly connected by road and rail. Hatfield Peverel railway station is on the Greater Anglia East Anglia rail network. London is 35 minutes away by train, a journey to Colchester takes 30 minutes and provides access to and from Witham, London, Ipswich etc. Hatfield Peverel is the site of a priory founded by the Saxon Ingelrica, wife of Ranulph Peverel and reputed to be the mistress of William the Conqueror, to atone for her sins, and dissolved by Henry VIII. The parish church, St Andrew's (Church of England) is the surviving fragment of the Norman priory church nave. There is also a Methodist Church and a Salvation Army (northeast London headquarters) congregation. [edit] Research Tips
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