Essex

Rural Community Council of Essex – Our History in Brief

NB. The organisation has changed its name several times in its history. The current initials RCCE are used throughout to avoid confusion.

The Essex Rural Community Council (the name was originally arranged differently) was formed on 30^th April 1929 at an inaugural meeting held at the Shire Hall in Chelmsford. The driving force behind its creation was Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, an architect, writer and disciple of John Ruskin. He had got involved in designing a village hall at Great Totham, where he lived. In doing so, he discovered the work of the early Rural Community Councils and resolved to create one for Essex.

Mackmurdo was appointed Honorary Secretary but was soon joined by Alan Gifford, as the first paid General Secretary on a salary of £300 p.a.  The organisation’s initial priorities included the provision of village halls, support for rural industries and the formation of Young Farmers Clubs.

There was a particular focus on village halls with RCCE supporting the development or renewal of 112 halls within its first decade. Seeing halls as a catalyst for the regeneration of village life, it promoted them as venues for music, drama and even wireless listening groups. In 1939, RCCE unveiled a new mobile cinema service which provided 200 shows at village halls in its first year before the war curtailed its activities.

RCCE proved adept at responding to crises. Within months of its formation, the world was enveloped by the ‘Great Depression’ and the scourge of mass unemployment. RCCE responded with measures that included a central allotment scheme that supplied seeds, fertilisers and tools to agricultural workers and others in need through 50 local distribution centres.

Similarly, with the coming of the Second World War, RCCE rallied energetically to the war effort, especially the need to produce more food. It supported over 400 local food production clubs and redirected its rural industries work to support war production. The building of village halls ceased during the war so when peace finally came in 1945 there was a vast backlog of schemes needing support. Reviewing the situation, General Secretary, Alan Gifford reflected that:

“…only if additional staff and financial support be forthcoming can the Council hope to keep a steady course through the flood of work so imminent.”

RCCE nevertheless continued to prove its durability. In the immediate post-war years it devoted much effort to the creation of two bodies, the Essex Association of Parish (now Local) Councils and the Essex Old People’s Welfare Committee. It ran them for many years before both eventually became fully independent, the latter being known today as Age UK Essex.

This began a trend and by the 1960s, RCCE was concentrating more on initiating and administering other organisations. The rural industries service was taken over by the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas (CoSIRA) and the name ‘Rural’ was removed from the title, although village halls remained an essential element of the work and the Best Kept Village Competition developed into something of a county institution.

 The early eighties saw the renamed Community Council of Essex running seven different organisations from its office in central Chelmsford. The Development Commission, its largest funder at the time, became alarmed and called for a change of direction. Chris Manning-Press, who took over as Director in 1983, duly restored ‘Rural’ to the title and RCCE returned to its roots becoming an early advocate for more affordable housing in villages. It also introduced new tools such as village appraisals, the precursor to parish and neighbourhood plans.

This process has accelerated since then when aided by sustained support from Essex County Council, RCCE has expanded rapidly. It has been able to provide specialist support in areas such as housing, community-led planning and village halls, as well as developing new services such as Village and then Community Agents. The confidence of the organisation was evident in 2006, when it opened new, purpose-built offices at Feering, between Chelmsford and Colchester. Although it has grown, RCCE remains very much a Rural Community Council. Essex may have changed beyond recognition since 1929 but over 70% of its land area remains rural and the principles and passion that drive the organisation today are still consistent with those that inspired Mackmurdo more than ninety years before

Essex Resources