Situated one mile north of Elmstead Market, in Elmstead sits St Anne & St Laurence Parish Church, a Grade 1 listed church. The village used to have the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, built in 1817. This Chapel was demolished in 1999 for a newer Chapel to be built in its place. This is now Trinity Methodist Church and is situated on Bromley Road, completed in 2000. In July 2020 it was announced the Methodist church would close. At time of writing, any future use of building yet to be decided
Transport
There are regular buses operating between Colchester and Clacton, including the X76 Monday to Saturday, operated byHedingham, and the 76 on Sundays, operated by First. A number of school services also connect the village to the Colne School and Norman Way in Colchester. The nearest train station is Alresford Station with frequent trains to Colchester, London Liverpool Street as well as Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the Naze.
Schools
The village hosts two schools, Elmstead Primary School and Nursery and Market Field School, the latter of which is a school for students who experience moderate learning difficulties. Elmstead Primary School was rated Good by Ofsted in 2014 whilst Market Field has been rated Outstanding in 2015. Market Field School underwent a complete rebuild after receiving funding. The new building was officially opened in March 2016 by Bernard Jenkins MP for Harwich and North Essex and Babs Wiggins, a retired teacher, who taught at Market Field School for nearly 40 years.
The Woodland Trust acquired 103.93 acres worth of land west of the village. The new woodland creation project has already seen thousands of trees planted and plans to provide a valuable resource for local people and its wildlife. The new woodlands will be a breeding ground for barn owls and buzzards with the opportunity of more wildlife entering the area. With the dramatic fall in water vole numbers in the local area, the Essex Environmental Trust granted the wood an extra £8,000 to maintain and renew its habitat in order to increase numbers.
Notable residents
Beth Chatto, plantswoman, garden designer and author best known for creating the Beth Chatto Gardens near Elmstead Market
James Noah Paxman, founder of the engineering works Davey Paxman & Co of Colchester in 1865, making steam engines, boilers, agricultural machinery and mill gearing. He was born in Elmstead Market where his father, James Paxman, had a forge and engineering works making traction engines. He served as Mayor of Colchester in 1887–1888 and 1897–1898.
