Great Easton

Great Easton village is about 2 miles north of Great Dunmow, and the village of Little Easton is about 1 mile to the south. Great Easton parish contains the hamlets of Tilty, Gallows Green, Mill End Green and Duton Hill. The parish has a population of a few hundred people, measured at 1,035 in the 2011 census The village public house is, The Swan, located close to the church. A further parish public house is The Green Man at Mill End Green. The parish church is dedicated to Saint John and Saint Giles.

Great Easton dates from the 12th century. The village used to be known as 'Easton ad montem' or 'Easton atte munte' to distinguish it from Little Easton. The suffix denotes the mound close to the church in the grounds of Easton Hall. It is believed to be the remains of a motte and bailey castle, around which the village has grown since medieval times. The mound is 130 feet in diameter at the base and 43 feet at the summit, and is 21 feet high. It is surrounded by a dry ditch 45 feet wide and 5 feet deep. The mound may have been pre-Roman, Saxon or perhaps a Norman defensive motte. It was definitely in place in Norman times, as this the period in which the name 'Eystone ad montem' appears. Fifteenth- century houses make up most of the village today.

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