Halstead Cemetery

Halstead is an ancient community that developed initially on the hill to the north of the River Colne. Archaeological evidence indicates that Halstead has been occupied since the early Bronze Age. The sites of Iron Age and Roman settlements, including a villa, were discovered in the vicinity of Greenstead Hall, where Saxon pottery was also found. A Romano-British villa also lies in a field to the south of the River Colne at Blue Bridge, indicating early settlement in the fertile river valley. The name Halstead derives from the Old English gehæld / hald (refuge, shelter, healthy) and stede (site, place or farm), meaning "healthy farm" or "place of refuge". After the Norman Conquest, in the…