Ramsden Bellhouse is very pleasant semi-rural village located between Billericay and Wickford, within the district of Basildon (for planning etc) and about 8 miles from Chelmsford City.
The River Crouch flows through the village, crossing Church Road underground.
There are two churches (Anglican and Baptist), 'Hemmings' - a wellstocked convenience store with an in-house Post Office providing the daily essentials, and a very well used Village Hall.
Just outside the village there is The Fox & Hounds pub which has recently been taken over and has had very good reviews.
The village has a thriving community which is administered by the Village Hall Management Committee. The village hall contains two halls and kitchen facilities and also houses the Preschool which has a good OFSTED report.
FURTHER AMENITIES
The nearby town 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 is just 10 miles away and boasts the renowned King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, and New Hall Convent School.
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 centred 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 Ramsden Heath.
