The tiny Essex village with around 300 residents named the best in the entire county

Great Maplestead
-Credit: (Image: google street view)


An Essex village has been named the village of the year as the competition returned after years off. Great Maplestead has been named the best village in the county for this year.

The award handed out by the rural community council of Essex or the RCCE, gave Great Maplestead the award despite stiff competition from second placed Roxwell and third placed Tollesbury. Great Maplestead is a small rural village in the district of Braintree.

The award itself has returned for the first time since 2020 with the RCCE saying “Essex has a wonderful variety of villages, where local people are doing great things to sustain and strengthen community life, much of it through the efforts of volunteers”.

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The RCCE later went on to say in their official statement “The RCCE wants to celebrate and reward these efforts (those of local people and volunteers) especially given the challenges presented by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis”.

Great Maplestead with a population of only 300 people was one of the smallest villages to enter this year’s competition but having won the Essex village of the year competition the population of the rural village will now feel great pride and accomplishment in their achievement.

The village also has a great standing in history with one link to an American state. In the 17th century the local manor’s daughter married a man named John Winthrop who later went on to become one of the founding members of the US State of Massachusetts.