Ramsden Heath is a sought-after village with a very active community, situated roughly 2 miles north-east of Billericay.
Facilities include:
Three very good pubs - the White Horse (twice voted best family pub in East Anglia, the Nags Head (very popular traditional village pub) and the Fox and Hounds (ran by locals Sarah & Mark who have brought this country pub up the rankings to a great venue with the food there highly recommended).
A 'free church' - The Christian Growth Centre
Coffee shop - 'Pete's Place'
Hairdressers - Elite Hair Studio & barbers
Primary School - the Downham C of E Primary School, with the older children catching the School Bus to Mayflower High School in Billericay which has an Outstanding OFSTED report.
Modern air-conditioned modern Village Hall. Available for hire and consisting of a small hall, a large hall and a kitchen too.
Award winning sports fields and a pavilion which includes Football and Tennis Courts.
Many Ramsden Heath residents nip down to 'Hemmings' in the adjoining village of Ramsden Bellhouse, a well-stocked convenience store with an in-house Post Office providing the daily essentials.
Golf clubs are located in nearby Stock and Billericay.
There are plenty of local country walks and nearby is Hanningfield Reservoir and Nature Reserve for fishing, bird watching etc.
For horse lovers, there are local riding stables, clubs and livery yards, all with easy access to a comprehensive bridleway system.
The local Recreation Ground is well kept and maintained and has won awards for the facilities on offer including exercise equipment and a childrens playground.
FURTHER AMENITIES
The nearby High Street of Billericay (approx. 2.7 miles) offers a comprehensive range of amenities including a thriving High Street with a Waitrose Store, good secondary schools (both State & Private), numerous recreational facilities and a Mainline Railway Service to London Liverpool Street (fast train 35 minutes Monday- Friday).
Chelmsford City Centre with its new flagship John Lewis Store is just 10 miles away and boasts the renowned King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, and the well regarded New Hall Boarding School also for girls.
Several buses provide easy transport to Billericay, Wickford and Chelmsford.
A bit of history
Ramsden Bellhouse and Ramsden Heath are now two separate villages, but until the first part of the 20th Century they were one village, which stretched from Stock in the north to Nevendon in the south.
The village was centered around the crossroads, where today the war memorial stands, in front of the White Horse Pub.
Confusingly it was known back then as Ramsden Bellhouse with Ramsden Heath simply an area of heathland to the north of the village.
About 1910, Homesteads Ltd bought Ramsden Bellhouse Farm and built an estate centred around St. Mary's Church, about a mile from the old village, which became known as Ramsden Bellhouse, and gradually the old village became known Ramsden Heath.
Behind the White Horse, and surrounded by Park Lane, Church Road and Short Lane was Allens Farm, which was sold off when the Sons William & Frank Bird dcided to sell up in 1919. The 18 acres becoming of pasture becoming the Carsey Close, Brabner Gardens and Homelands Grove you see today.
The Allens Farm estate off Dowsetts Lane takes the name, with one of the turnings Birds Close and Lyndhurst, the old farmhouse now a cul-de-sac off the main road.
