Chapel Road, Tiptree, circa 1905
It is only within the past 120 years that Tiptree has seen an unprecedented growth from a small hamlet of a few families to the current 10,000 population, which is rising with each year and new estate that is built within the confines of the village.
In ancient times, the area was left relatively untouched, possibly because of the hostile environment of the heathland, which took in much of the parish. Another reason may have been that the area was the border line between two major Iron Age tribes, known as the Trinovantes, who hailed from the north Essex area, and the Catuvellauni, who occupied much of the remainder of the modern county boundary.
The only other occupants known to have settled in the parish were the Saxons, after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Romans, themselves, preferred the major harbour towns of Colchester, once the capital of England, and the mid-Essex town of Maldon.
It is believed an Anglo-Saxon named Tippa had settled on the hill above the River Blackwater, where a large tree stood. The area soon became known as Tippa’s Tree, hence the name Tiptree.
Only Tiptree Heath was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a countrywide census of land use initiated by King John in the 13th century. It was a noted as a ‘large area of wasteland that spread out over 1,000 acres. The heath soon became an invaluable grazing land for animals owned by nearby villagers and it soon led to Henry VIII legislating for the kind of industry that could be carried out there, including timber work and grazing, in an attempt to safeguard its yield and potential.
It was also deemed one of eight areas in the county that yielded a very fine wool.
However, being so close to the secluded water inlets of Tollesbury, Salcott and Mersea, the area soon became a focal point for smugglers, who often hid their contraband within the overgrown heathland. Gipsies also made the heath their home and by the 18th century, it became a no-go area for the locals. Farmers who owned the land received ‘gifts’ for keeping quiet about the smuggling trade.
Rev Sabine Baring-Gould: "The villages of Virley and Salcott were the chief landing places and there, horses and donkeys were kept in large numbers for the conveyance of the spirits, wine, tobacco and silk to Tiptree Heath, the scene of Boadicea's great battle with the legions of Suetonius, which was the emporium of the trade. There, a constant fair or auction of contraband articles went on, and thence they were distributed to Maldon, Colchester, Chelmsford or even London. Tiptree Heath was a permanent camping ground of gipsies, and there squatters ran up rude hovels; these were engaged in the distribution of goods brought from the sea."
It was not until the intervention of the Royal Navy along the Essex coastline, supporting the revenue boats, that the use of the heath for such illegal reasons halted. Other uses of the heathland included the much reported Tiptree Races, held annually on July 25 since the 17th century, up until 1912.The 1800s is when Tiptree started to grow up. Despite being labelled as waste ground, one family took advantage of the potential of growing fruit on the heathland. AC Wilkin, born in 1835 and founder of Wilkin and Sons, had already experimented in new agricultural methods, renting some acres from his father’s farmland at Trewlands for small-time fruit growing in a move that would see him establish one of the biggest jam-making companies in the world. In the meantime, a certain John Melchi, who would later become Sheriff of the City of London, fuelled aspirations that would lead to the creation of an ecclesiastical parish of Tiptree. Up until then, the area of modern day Tiptree was within the Tolleshunt Knights parish. Melchi had bought a farmhouse on the heath as a base for his agricultural experiments and rebuilt it as Tiptree Hall.
The Britannia Fruit Preserving Company, as Wilkin and Sons was initially known as, started business in 1885. The first jam was made in the kitchens of Trewlands.
Tiptree had its own railway branch line in the early 1900s, the realisation of efforts for easier transportation of jam and produce to London. Stations existed at Tollesbury, Tiptree and a connection at Kelvedon to the mainline rail line to London. By 1911, there were 1,000 daily travellers on what was affectionally known as the Crab and Winkle line. However, falling passenger numbers and thefts of jam and produce from the freight carriages helped lead to its demise.
However, it had helped sow the seed for an infrastructure that soon grew up to the north of the jam factory. The main street - Church Road - soon became the commercial centre of the village, with the Co-Op and other family-run stores sprouting up.
The village's second-largest company, Tiptree Book Services, soon established in the centre, under different names during its time, before moving out in the 1990s. The land was bought up by Tesco, which also offered more housing growth for the village.
The population grew even more rapidly with the Grove Road estate, which took road names from the village's old retailers, such as Bassingham Court, after the toy shop near Robinsons; Wilkin Drive, after the famous jam firm; Warren Drive, after the Warren sisters Margaret and Edie, who also used to run a toy shop from Church Road.
