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Great Bentley is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Tendring district of North Essex, England, located seven miles east of Colchester. It is home to the second largest village green in the country, at a size of , behind Duncan Down and has won 'Village of the Year' several times. Great Bentley railway station provides the village with frequent rail services along the Sunshine Coast Line to London Liverpool Street, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze. Great Bentley is scattered round an extensive level or common, of , on the eastern side of the vale of a rivulet, seven miles (11 km) east-south-east of Colchester. The parish contains 2500 inhabitants, and 3,188 acres (13 km²) of fertile land, including hills and valleys, and extending southward to the Flag Creek, a tidal creek which connects with the Colne, near Brightlingsea. The population of the civil parish reduced to 2,253 at the census 2011.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ward/Civil Parish population 2011 )〕 Pubs in the area include The Plough Inn beside the village green and the Royal Fusilier in Aingers Green. The village has yet again retained the title for 'Best Kept Village in Essex', winning in both 2009 and 2010. Great Bentley is the second largest village in the Tendring district, with a population of 2,381. The village has road, rail and bus links. Contenders for the title of largest village green in England include West Auckland and Old Buckenham. Frampton on Severn has also been cited, but at it does not even match Great Bentley. ==History== The village is mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book and at that time it was situated amongst large wooded areas. The clearing of these woods began in 1135. In its early days the village was named Benetlea, then Much Bentley and later still Great Bentley. The first part of the name, Bent, is thought to refer to a type of grass, and the later part, lea, probably derives from the word ley, meaning land sown with grass, which suggests a direct reference to the green. Great Bentley did have a port at Flag Creek which was used to import and export goods. Queen Elizabeth I once visited Lord Darcy’s residence, St Osyth Priory. It is believed she may have arrived at Harwich accompanied by her courtiers and rode via Horsley Cross, Little Bentley then onto Great Bentley Green before finishing her journey to St Osyth. Great Bentley owes much of its growth to the coming of the railway in 1866, with the railway station being named Bentley Green before being changed to its present title of Great Bentley in 1877. Two new housing estates were built in the 1960s on either side of the Village Green. This was followed by a trading estate being developed close to the railway station, now known as the Plough Road Business Centre. At that time the village boasted five public houses, Post Office, a Garage, several small retail shops and businesses, a School and a Doctor’s surgery. All of these amenities remain to this day, except for three of the public houses which have since closed down. Also in the 1960s Great Bentley Parish Council, on behalf of the village, purchased the manorial rights of the of Common Land. Much of the purchase price was raised through voluntary donations from the residents and fund raising events. The land was then registered as village green to protect the green for the future from encroachment and erosion. The Village Green and nearby properties are a Conservation Area. The Parish Council, through the Common Land and Village Green Acts, ensures the protection of the Village Green. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Bentley」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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