Galleywood is a village surrounded by countryside in Essex; it is situated on the outskirts of the city of Chelmsford, about 30 miles from London. The A12 trunk road passes nearby, which connects to the M25 in London. Galleywood sits astride a Roman road running south from Chelmsford towards Vange Creek; currently, the B1007 Stock Road and B1009 Beehive Lane run through it. Galleywood was a part of the Great Baddow parish, comprising two villages or hamlets: Galleywood and Galleyend, about a mile apart. Galleywood has a population of 5,757 and has a higher percentage of retired citizens than the national average. Galleywood Common is approximately 400 yards in width and one mile in length, consisting of open fields and woodland. It also has St. Michael's Church in the woodland, which is visible for many miles around. History Galleywood dates back to early medieval times and was recorded in 1250 as Gauelwode (Galleywood Common), a hamlet of Great Baddow, part of an ancient forest interspersed with open scrubland. In early-Victorian times the village was centred on The Eagle crossroads, The Street and Well Lane, education being provided by a school that doubled as a Chapel of Ease on Sundays and by a Methodist chapel built in Well Lane. Council housing was developed in the 1920s, with major building programmes during the early 1960s and through the 1970s. Private development was carried out concurrently and continued over the following three decades. The population has grown from under 800 in 1851 to around 1,000 in 1951 and to over 6,000 in 2004. From all approaches Galleywood is separated either by open farmland, wooded slopes or green areas, free from ribbon development, giving a true rural feel to visitors and residents alike. Within the village outskirts there are several surviving long established working farms, some with buildings dating back to the 14th century. The civil parish of Galleywood covers an area of 2200 acres and was established in 1987, with the transference of responsibility from Great Baddow to the newly created Galleywood Parish Council. Galleywood Common Galleywood Common comprises 175 acres and was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1993. The common and the adjacent woods form a habitat for a wide range of wildlife including grass-snakes, adders, lizards, slow-worms, squirrels, badgers, foxes, wood-peckers and a wide variety of butterflies and moths and the heathland woodland and pond insects. It is an ancient