The Francis Frith Collection.
You are here: Home > Explore your past > England > Essex > Great Sampford
Massive Book Clearance - 50-70% off every Book online!

Great Sampford

Great Sampford photos (12 available)

Old photo of Great Sampford

Great Sampford maps (2 available)

Old map of Great Sampford

Great Sampford books (16 available)

Great Sampford memories

Be the first to add a memory of Great Sampford.

You can also read memories of nearby places in Essex below.

Essex memories

week ends

Fishing in whitleys farm pond with don martin eyes glued on the water for tench bubbles. catching one of two pounds and scared half to death of it getting off the hook [ granny knots] ..riding in trailers full of warm wheat.. birds nesting down the old farm and falling in the moat. getting shouted at for riding my bike on the cricket pitch. having my foot run over by the roller [same day] scrumping apples out of mrs cardys garden and falling in the stinging nettles when she came out. getting wood for bonfire night. fights.pic meadow pond a magical place [sadly filled in long ago] lots more, post later using accent of the place mite be funny ...read more here
A memory of Cornish Hall End contributed by jeremy underwood

A search in progress

Finchingfield, the Guildhall c1965

Finchingfield to me, in my younger days, was a place that Dad would take Mum and me to on a Sunday afternoon drive. Never to stop for very long but it is a place that leaves a snapshot in your memory.
Being an adopted child I did not realise at the time that Finchingfield would play a large part in a search that I have been on for nearly 15 years.
Little did I know until I applied for and recived my original birth cert that "Pond View Restaurant" in Finchingfield in 1952 was the last address of my "birth mother".
I have searched records and even visited Finchingfield but to no avail to find any reference to "Pond View" ...read more here
A memory of Finchingfield contributed by Christine Browne

In My Day

Finchingfield, the Guildhall c1965

In my days in the village I recall the upstairs room of the Guildhall having a snooker table where the men used to gather, this would be shortly after the war. Of more interest to me was the Library that was situated downstairs.  As a very small child I was able to borrow and read books of all kinds which stimulated a life-long interest and love of books.  The Guildhall had a gateway from the churchyard to the road right through the middle of the building (not quite apparent in this photo) and one day whilst walking through to my home (Church Hill Stores) I had my picture taken by a photographer who used it to produce a postcard. I wonder ...read more here
A memory of Finchingfield contributed by lesley alexander

Growing up in Finchingfield

Finchingfield, Old Cottages c1960

My family Ken and Joan Blake owned the Church Hill Stores (opposite the Church) from 1945 to the early 50's then we lived in the village until 1957. I have many memories of my time in Finchingfield and many faces and events come flooding back. This picture shows a row of cottages known to me as The Causeway where in my time there was an ice cream shop. The lane opposite - The Pikle -(spelling unknown) had high brick walls on both sides and as a child I used to stamp along in my wellingtons making a lovely echoing plonk. I can still hear the sound.
A memory of Finchingfield contributed by lesley alexander

Extracts From Great Sampford & Essex books

Great Sampford, Church Corner c1955

This row of cottages started life as one 15th-century house of the hall-and-wings type. It is now all one house again. St Michael`s Church is mainly early 14th- century. In 1759 a Thaxted curate wrote that `the church of Sampford does not look like a house of prayer, nor its vicar like a man of God`.
An extract from from"Dunmow, Thaxted and Finchingfield Photographic Memories".

Great Sampford, view from the Bridge  c1955

Behind us is the bridge across the young River Pant. As recently as the early 1900s, it could still only carry horses - not carts. In times of flood it was impassable, and even the horses had to go by another route, three miles out of their way. In 1909 it was rebuilt by the County Council. The shop in the picture is now a house called the Store House.
An extract from from"Dunmow, Thaxted and Finchingfield Photographic Memories".

Great Sampford, Moor End c1955

Like so many pubs, The White Horse has mutated into a house. The thatched cottage next door was once the home of the local carpenter, William Gray. He made coffins, amongst other things, and had his own standing ready in the kitchen. The house is still called Carpenters. A windmill used to stand across the road, behind the hedge.
An extract from from"Dunmow, Thaxted and Finchingfield Photographic Memories".

Saffron Walden, Friends School c1955

The Friends’ School, a Quaker boarding school, moved to Saffron Walden from Croydon in 1879. It was built on land given by George Stacey Gibson, and was designed by Edward Burgess. It is a fine building of red brick, and stands in a commanding position.
An extract from from"Saffron Walden Town and City Memories".

Saffron Walden, Hospital 1912

The Hospital opened in 1866 and was designed by William Beck. It was built on land given by the 5th Lord Braybrooke of Audley End House, and cost £5,504 to build.
An extract from from"Saffron Walden Town and City Memories".