Nostalgic memories of Great Dunmow's local history

Share your own memories of Great Dunmow and read what others have said

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.

Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.

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Displaying all 6 Memories

My gt,gt grandfather Abijah Hoy was born in Great Dunmow in 1813 and was a farm worker all his working life. He died at an address in the High St in 1881 and on his death certificate his occupation was a "Cow Man". Most of the Hoy family lived in a row of very early 19thC cottages at Church End, just by the bridge over the River Chelmer. These basic 2up 2down cottages are now Grade 2 listed. Nearly all the family were ...see more
My 3rd great grandfather's name was Robert Monk,he was born in 1810 in Dunmow Essex..he had a son Thomas Monk (my 2nd great grandfather) who later married Eliza Morch and moved to Hackney.....
My family moved to Great Dunnmow 1959/1960 from West Yorkshire. We lived on the High Street in a large red brick house that used to be, then a hotel. We lived downstairs (then called Janet Taylor) and my cousins lived upstairs (Simpson). We went to the local primary school, which was a few minutes from Doctor's Pond. The pond froze up every winter, the ice would be several inches thick and deemed ...see more
My mother lived in Dunmow from 1932 until 1946 when she left to live in Edinburgh. My mother's name was Rosalind Frecknall and she and her family lived at The Close initially, then The Downs. Her father, Claud Frecknall, taught woodwork at the local school and was an air raid warden during the war. My mother remembers being in the cinema and when she came out she heard the planes overhead; often they were on their ...see more
My grandfather Cecil Welch, who was the local estate agent and auctioneer based at the Old Town Hall in the High Street, bought several old cottages next to the blacksmiths in Church End for his son John and wife Peggy, at the vast cost of £600. She came from Wiltshire and changed the name from Jackman's to Longleat. They had been living with their in-laws at Kasama on the Stortford Road and they needed their own home ...see more
I lived at this address from when I was about 11 years old, my mother (Charlotte (Lottie) married Charlie Childs around that time, he was the village baker and I have wonderful memories of him teaching me the business, and also eating his wonderful bread, especially the 'Huffers', a kind of roll, and of course the cottage loaves. After Charlie died the actual bakery was transformed into another ...see more