In the middle of Bishop’s Stortford and Braintree, flanked by the rolling pastoral land of the Essex countryside, sits the historic market town of Great Dunmow, Essex. With traces of pre-Roman settlement in the town, this idyllic location’s history is vast and complex. With over 250 Grade I and II listed properties in the area, Great Dunmow’s fabric is weaved with historic architecture and design, which is felt intimately in the winding streets and parades of independent shops. Owing to this, the housing market in the area is typically expensive; with luxury listed properties on the market for over £2 million and contemporary luxury new builds at over £700,000!

Traces of Great Dunmow’s pre-Roman and Roman history have been found through recent building work and excavations in the area; where evidence of a Romano-British temple were uncovered. The first time Great Dunmow was recorded however, was in the Saxon era of AD 951, where it was written as ‘Dunemowe’, which was later recorded as ‘Dommawe’. By the 1086 Domesday Book, it was there recorded as ‘Dommawa’. The affluence of Great Dunnow really begins with King Henry III, who in 1253 granted the settlement of Great Dunmow the rights to a market charter; which allowed prosperity to flourish. In 1869 the Dunmow railway station opened, and the industrial period saw many households re-locating to the Great Dunmow locale, favouring the countryside and space over the over-crowded metropolitan hubs.

Whilst Great Dunmow was recorded in legal documents; such as charters and the Domesday, it has also been referenced in literature. Most notably, and most curiously, comes from Chaucer, within The Canterbury Tales’ section titled ‘The Wife of Bath’s’, dating from the 14th century. Chaucer references Great Dunmow, as ‘Dunmowe’, after referencing marriage and love, writing that ‘The bacon was not fetched for them’/’That some men have in Essex at Dunmowe’. This is a direct reference to a beloved albeit odd tradition in Great Dunmow, started in the early 1100s, of the ‘Flitch Trials’. This is a community event where married couples compete for the prize of a slab of bacon, if their love is to be deemed true. This event still takes place every four years in Great Dunmow, making the tradition over 900 years old!

Great Dunmow has seen an influx of individual’s relocating to this town over the past twenty years, owing to its unique combination of idyllic countryside and urban connectivity. That being said, the housing market in the area is often very expensive and on the luxury spectrum, with many properties listed at over £1 million. However, as described in the Uttlesford District Council’s drafted Local Plan, the council recognises the need for housing and infrastructural development in the area. As well as the development of a new secondary school in Great Dunmow, the council has allocated provisions for the construction of over 850 new dwellings in the town!