Editing Lexden (section)

==History==
[[File:Jaqueline Court, Lexden - geograph.org.uk - 1502167.jpg|thumb|right|Jaqueline Court, a 17th-century house in Lexden Road.]]
The site on which Lexden now stands was crossed by the fortifications of [[Iron Age]] Colchester, the remains of the earthen ramparts can be seen at Bluebottle Grove, [[Lexden Park]] and alongside Straight Road.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.12127|title = English Heritage}}</ref> A number of burial mounds or [[tumuli]] remain, notably '''Lexden Tumulus''' in Fitzwalter Road which is reputed to be the burial place of [[Cunobelinus]] or [[Cymbeline]], the king of the [[Catuvellauni]]. The '''Lexden Medallion''' was found when the tumulus was excavated in 1924 and is now in the [[Colchester Castle]] Museum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/castle/castle_topten4.html |title=Castle Redevelopment - Colchester Castle RedevelopmentColchester & Ipswich Museums |accessdate=2010-03-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121224020334/http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/castle/castle_topten4.html |archivedate=24 December 2012 |df=dmy-all }}
</ref> Another tumulus is '''The Mount''' in Marlowe Way, in which some fragments of Roman pottery and tiles have been found.

The parish church was founded early in the 12th century and a number of houses of medieval origins survive in Lexden Road (the A1124).  Parts of The Sun Inn date from 1542<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.camulos.com/inns/inns5nto5s.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-03-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708113545/http://www.camulos.com/inns/inns5nto5s.pdf |archivedate=8 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> but it has recently become a private house.

In 1648, Lexden was the headquarters of Lord-General [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]] during the [[Siege of Colchester]], and his army camped on Lexden Heath. A Parliamentarian fort was built on Great Broom Heath (now called [[Hilly Fields, Colchester|Hilly Fields]]) which overlooks the town.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://lexdenhistory.org.uk/|title=Lexden history Group - Lexden history Group|date=12 December 2020}}</ref>

During the 18th century a number of large houses were built including Lexden Park on the corner of Church Road, and the Manor House was rebuilt.  The main road became a [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] in 1707 and a cottage used as a [[toll house]] survives. Lexden Heath was a large area of [[common land]] used for grazing, horse races and military camps; it was [[inclosure|inclosed]] by Act of Parliament in 1821. This enlarged the estate of the lord of the manor, the Reverend John Rawstorn Papillon, who was an acquaintance of [[Jane Austen]] and whose niece married Jane's brother Henry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.janeaustensoci.freeuk.com/pages/branches/cambridge_connections.htm |title=Jane Austen Society UK : Cambridge Group - Jane Austen Connections |access-date=19 March 2010 |archive-date=11 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711040042/http://www.janeaustensoci.freeuk.com/pages/branches/cambridge_connections.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Straight Road was created at this time to make a way across the new inclosures to the hamlet of '''Shrub End''', which became a separate parish in 1845.

The small and decrepit medieval church of St Leonard was demolished in 1820 and a new church was built slightly to the south, designed in the [[Early English Period|Early English]] style by M. G. Thompson. A larger chancel was added in 1892. A [[Methodist]] chapel was built in Straight Road in 1859 and a mission hall (now Lexden Evangelical Church) in 1885.

A National Day and Sunday School was built in Spring Lane in 1817 and enlarged several times until replaced by Lexden Council School (now Lexden Primary) in 1925. Lexden Park House became the Endsleigh private school in 1955 and then the Endsleigh Annex of the Colchester Institute until 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp391-401|title=Outlying parts of the Liberty: Lexden &#124; British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> The house itself was converted to apartments and the gardens became a local nature reserve.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wildessex.net/sites/Lexden%20Park.htm|title=Wild Essex site profile: Lexden Park}}</ref> The Avenue of Remembrance was built in 1933 to relieve traffic on the London Road and as a memorial to the fallen of Colchester in [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web| url= https://westbergholt-pc.gov.uk/avenue-of-remembrance/#:~:text=The%20Colchester%20Avenue%20of%20Remembrance,October%20talk%20at%20Orpen%20Hall. |title=Avenue of Remembrance}}</ref>

[[Charles Henry Harrod]], a businessman involved in retail trade who founded the highly successful Harrods store in London, was born in Lexden.

In 1891 the parish had a population of 3562.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10242988/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Lexden AP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=28 December 2021}}</ref> On 26 March 1897 the parish was abolished to form Colchester.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10242988|title=Relationships and changes Lexden AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=28 December 2021}}</ref> Lexden is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]].