Chelmsford, United Kingdom

The city's name is derived from Ceolmaer's ford. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was listed as Celmeresfort. The Domesday Book records that it was then owned by the Bishop of London and had four households, a mill, had three ploughing teams available to the bishop as lord of the manor, 30 acres (12 hectares) of meadow and enough woodland to support 300 pigs. It also gave its name to the wider Chelmsford hundred which covered surrounding villages.

In the year 1100, Maurice, Bishop of London, commissioned the construction of a bridge over the River Can. The bridge meant the traffic flowed through the area instead of Writtle, which grew in importance and size. By 1189 it had changed to Chelmsford.

On 7 September 1199, King John granted to William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise a market charter allowing Chelmsford to hold a market. An under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday, is still an important part of the city centre over 800 years later. Chelmsford's first parish church was built around the same time as the grant of the market charter. The church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was completely rebuilt during the 15th century.

The town became the seat of the county assizes during the early 13th century (though assizes were also held at Brentwood) and by 1218 it was recognised as the county town of Essex, a position it has retained to the present day.

King Robert I of Scotland, better known as Robert the Bruce (1274–1329), had close ties with the nearby village of Writtle and there is some evidence to suggest he was born at Montpeliers Farm in the village, but the story is disputed and possibly conflated with his father, Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale.

Chelmsford was significantly involved in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and King Richard II moved on to the town after quelling the rebellion in London. 'The Sleepers and The Shadows', written by Hilda Grieve in 1988 using original sources, states: "For nearly a week, from Monday 1st July to Saturday 6th July [1381], Chelmsford became the seat of government ... The king probably lodged at his nearby manor house at Writtle. He was attended by his council, headed by the temporary Chancellor ... the new chief justice ... the royal chancery ... Their formidable task in Chelmsford was to draft, engross, date, seal and despatch by messengers riding to the farthest corners of the realm, the daily batches of commissions, mandates, letters, orders and proclamations issued by the government not only to speed the process of pacification of the kingdom, but to conduct much ordinary day-to-day business of the Crown and Government." Richard II famously revoked the charters which he had made in concession to the peasants on 2 July 1381, while in Chelmsford. It could be said that given this movement of government power, Chelmsford for a few days at least became the capital of England. Many of the ringleaders of the revolt were executed on the gallows at what is now Primrose Hill.

King Henry VIII purchased the Boleyn estate in 1516, and built Beaulieu Palace on the current site of New Hall School. This later became the residence of his then mistress, and later wife Anne. Soon after it became the residence of Henry's daughter, by his first marriage, Mary I.

In the 17th century many of the victims of Matthew Hopkins (the self-styled "Witchfinder General") spent their last days imprisoned in Chelmsford, before being tried at the assizes and hanged for witchcraft.

In 1835, when visiting Essex and Suffolk to cover local elections, Charles Dickens visited Chelmsford. He was apparently so upset that he could not find a newspaper on a Sunday that he wrote in a letter to a friend that Chelmsford was "the dullest and most stupid place on earth".

In 1899 Guglielmo Marconi opened the first "wireless" or radio factory in the world at Hall Street in the Moulsham area of Chelmsford. In 1920 Marconi made the first official publicised sound broadcast in the United Kingdom, featuring Dame Nellie Melba at the New Street Works, the first purpose-built radio factory in the world. In 1922, Marconi made the world's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment (call sign "2MT") began from the nearby village of Writtle.

Station 2MT led to the creation of its sister station in London "2LO", which subsequently led to the creation of the BBC.

In 1914 Chelmsford's parish church was elevated in status to become Chelmsford Cathedral on the creation of the Diocese of Chelmsford, led by the Bishop of Chelmsford.