Mr. Morant derives the name of this place from the Saxon Dun, a hill, and Celd, pronounced Keld, a spring. But the learned Dr. Stukely derives it from the Celtic Celn, mysterious, or to conceal, from whence Celi, the name of God, according to which it signifies "God's hill." It is written in records, Kilwendun, Chellendana, Keluedon, Kellevedon, Kelvedon.

It was also anciently called Easterford, from a ford which used to be here, and which, relative to some other ford, lay in an easterly direction.

This parish is at the eastern extremity of the hundred; it joins Rivenhall westward, and Great Braxted on the south.

The town is pleasantly situated, partly on rising ground, and consists chiefly of one street nearly a mile in length; it is three miles and a half north-east from Witham, ten from Colchester, and forty-one from London. In 1821, this parish contained six hundred and seventy-seven females , and six hundred and fifty - one males ; total , one thousand three hundred and twenty - eight . There is an annual fair here on Easter Monday . In the vales , and part of the slopes , the soil is a good sandy loam ; but in the flatter parts , a strong loam on clay , and all summer fallowed ; around Felix Hall , various ; but generally of the above description , some fields admitting turnips , but very few with propriety ; the surface mould , nine or ten inches deep , and drains well by hollow cuts . * In the Saxon era, some of the lands in this parish belonged to the crown; some to Gudmund , a king's thane , and other portions to eleven freemen. At the survey , they were in possession of St. Peter's Abbey , and of Hugh de Montford , or his under tenant . There are four manors . Church Hall is so named from its vicinity to the church . It was holden under Edward the Confessor , by Angelric , one of his nobles , who gave it to Westminster Abbey , and the king confirmed the grant , by the name of Kilwendun , with all its appurtenances . It remained part of the endowment of Westminster Abbey till its suppression ; and when that abbey was converted into a bishopric , it was granted to the bishop; but when that bishopric was dissolved , it was given , by King Edward the Sixth , to the bishop of London and his successors , together with the rectory and advowson . Felix Hall , the seat of C. C. Western , Esq . M. P. is a handsome modern mansion , Felix Hall . on an eminence , enclosed in a park , and commanding an extensive and varied prospect over the Braxteds , and other neighbouring parishes . It is about a mile distant from Kelvedon , a little to the right of the road to London . The interior possesses great elegance , and the gardens are laid out with taste and judgment . Great alterations and improvements have been made by the present proprietor , particularly in the house . The front towards Kelvedon has been ornamented with an elegant tetrastyle portico ; the two bay windows , which originally rose no higher than the first story , have been enlarged , and raised to the top of the building , and the whole of this front has been covered with composition . Soon after the Conquest , this estate was in the possession of a family named Filiol , from the Latin filiolus , or the French filleul , a godson . And by a seal of a grant of William Filiol , to Coggeshall Abbey , on which is the representation of a font , with a king on one side of it , and a bishop on the other , holding a child as in the ceremony of baptism , it is reasonably supposed the family had a tradition of this surname having been given , at the time of baptism , to one of their ancestors , by one of the kings of England . The name occurs in the roll of Battle Abbey . Robert Filiol held lands in Leaden Roding about the time of King Stephen . Baldwin Filiol had possessions at Kelvedon , and several of the same family succeeded him , till , the male line of the family failing , these estates were conveyed to Sir John de Bohun , in 1345 , by marriage with Cicely , the daughter of Sir John Filiol . Sir John de Bohun was of Midhurst , in Sussex , and attended King Edward the Third at the battle of Cressy , and in other engagements . He died in 1367 ; and Cicely , his lady , in 1381 , was possessed of the manor of Filiol's Hall , in Kelvedon , which is the first time of its occurrence in records , under that name . Sir John de Bohun , son and heir of the former Sir John , held this manor , and had also other possessions here and at Toles- hunt Knights , Toleshunt Tregoz , & c . He died in 1432 , and his son Humphrey was the father of Sir John de Bohun , who died in 1499 , leaving two daughters : Mary , married to Sir David Owen , the natural son of Owen Tudor , grandfather to King Henry the Seventh ; and Ursula , the wife of Sir Robert Southwell . On the death of Mary , who had no children , Felix Hall came to Sir Robert , in right of his wife , who afterwards sold it to Thomas Lovel ; and in 1532 it was purchased of Richard Southwell , of Woodrising , in Norfolk , by Sir Thomas Audeley , and other commis- sioners of King Henry the Eighth ; and it was afterwards granted by the king to Sir Richard Long , one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber; he was of Shengay, in Cambridgeshire , and married Margaret Kitson , widow of Sir Thomas Kitson, of Hengrave . He died in 1547 , and Elizabeth , his eldest daughter , conveyed the estate , by marriage , to Sir William Russell , who sold it to Sir Thomas Cecil , a younger son of Thomas , earl of Exeter , of whom it was purchased in 1630 , by Anthony Abdy , Esq . The ancestor of this family was Richard Abdy , of Abdy , in Yorkshire , whose son , Robert , was the father of Robert whose son was Thomas Abdy , of Abdy , who married Cicely , daughter of William Tijas , Esq . , of Yorkshire , and left by her a second son , Roger , who died in 1595 , leaving , by Mary , daughter of Richard White , Esq . , of Hutton , two sons , Edmund and Anthony : Edmund married Judith , daughter of Sir Christopher Yelverton, judge of the Common Pleas , by whom he had Sir Christopher Abdy , who married the youngest daughter of Sir Herbert Crofts , of Suffolk . Anthony , the second son of Roger , was an alderman and sheriff of London , and the purchaser of Felix Hall in 1630 , as above stated ; he died in 1640 , and , besides other children , left , by Abigail , daughter of Sir Thomas Campbell , of London , three sons , created baronets , and a daughter , Alice : Sir Thomas Abdy was of Felix Hall , Sir Robert Abdy , of Albyns , and Sir John Abdy , of the More , in Salcot Verley . Alice , the eldest daughter , was married to Sir John Bramston , of Skreens . Eastorford . His Sir Thomas Abdy , of Felix Hall , was created a baronet in 1641 , being the first of the family who attained this honorary distinction : on his death, in 1685 , he was succeeded by his eldest son , Sir Anthony Abdy , who married Mary , the only daughter of Richard Millward , D. D. , rector of Great Braxted , and canon of Windsor . Sir Thomas dying in 1704 , his son, Sir Anthony Thomas Abdy , succeeded to his dignity and estate ; he had three wives , and on his death, in 1733 , left two daughters . next brother , Sir William Abdy , succeeded him in dignity , but the greater part of the estate , particularly Felix Hall , went to his daughters , of which Charlotte , the eldest , was married to John Williams , Esq . , second son of Sir John Williams , Knt . , of Tendering Hall , who rebuilt Felix Hall , and made it an elegant country seat , and afterwards , in 1761 , sold it to Daniel Matthews , Esq . The manor of Easterford , also called Kelvedon manor , has a pleasant mansion about a mile from the church , which is within the present bounds of Great Braxted parish ; in which the greater part of its demesnes lie , though some of the lands are in Kelvedon, whose present bounds go within fourscore rods of the house. These lands are believed to be those mentioned in Domesday as encroachments on the king's possessions. Formerly this manor belonged to a family surnamed De Kelvedon, and mentioned in records of the year 1346. Sir William Kelvedon , of Braxted , left Jane , his daughter and heiress , who was married to Sir John Lowdham , of Frense , in Norfolk , who died in 1355 , leaving a son , Sir Thomas , whose son , John , died in 1373. The last of this family who held Easterford was John Lowdham, Esq . , who, in 1423 , held this manor of the prior and convent of St. Botolph, in Colchester. Joanna was his only daughter and heiress , married to Thomas Heveningham , Esq . , and a second time married to Ralph Bleverhasset, Esq . , of Bleverhaysset , in Cumberland . He died in 1475 , and Joanna , his wife, in 1501 , at the age of ninety- In the record she is said to " hold this manor of Kelvedon Hall, in Brakested, of Robert Southwell , in right of his wife , as of the manor of Fillwell Hall . " The last of this family on record , who held this manor , was Samuel Bleverhasset , Esq . , in 1613. It afterwards went to the Carew family . seven . Hall . The manor of Ewell Hall was , soon after the Conquest , in the possession of Ewell a family surnamed De Ewell , supposed from a place called Ewell , in Surrey . The house is about half a mile from the church . After the family of Ewell , those of Fitz - Ralph , Doreward , and Sammes succeeded ; after which it became the property of Mr. John Cooper . Hall . The manor - house of Dorewards Hall is partly in Rivenhall , and partly in Kelve- Dorewards don , and the lands extend into both parishes. The river Pant , or Blackwater , runs through this parish ; and there is supposed to have been formerly a hamlet beside this river on the farm , called Bridgefoot . This estate formerly belonged to the Aylet family , and several of them lived here . John Aylet , Esq . sold this estate to Bezaliel Sherman , surgeon , of Kelvedon , whose second wife was the sister of Sir Anthony Abdy .

The church , dedicated to the Virgin Mary , is in a pleasant situation, a little to Church . the north of the town ; it is spacious , and consists of a nave , north and south aisles , and a chancel; the chancel has but one aisle . It has a square brick tower , with a spire , leaded , and five bells . The vicarage - house is north - west of the church , and has fifty - six acres of glebe Vicarage- land belonging to it . house. John Marler gave two houses , and one acre of meadow land , for the maintenance of two almshouses, and a public well ; and some lands in East Thorpe were given to purchase bread, which is distributed to the poor every Sunday during a great part of the year.

William Stukeley FRS FSA (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. He published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime. Born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, as the son of a lawyer, Stukeley worked in his father's law business before attending Saint Benet's College, Cambridge (now Corpus Christi College). In 1709, he began studying medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark, before working as a general practitioner in Boston, Lincolnshire.