Chelmsford

Chelmsford (perhaps the Roman Casaromagus; Anglo-Saxon Celmeresforde), the county town of Essex, and, since 1888, a municipal borough, at the confluence of the Chelmer and the Cann, 29 miles NE. of London. It has a corn exchange (1857), a shire hall (1792), a grammar-school, founded by Edward VI. in 1551, and a parish church, which, all but the tower and spire, was rebuilt between 1803 and 1878. There is a considerable trade in agricultural produce. On a small island in the Chelmer there has long been a ludicrous mock-election during the county elections. Pop. (1851) 6033; (1891) 11,008.