to suggest former vineyards were in operation near to the church. During the reign of Henry VIII the village rector served as a royal chaplain and even officiated his marriage to Anne Boleyn. As a rural settlement, farming has been a major aspect of village life. So after many years of reduced pay, the farmers formed unions and in 1914, partook in the first agricultural strike. Not only were workers unhappy over pay conditions, which at 13 shillings a week among the lowest paid in the country (just ahead of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire), but also the dismissal of workers who had joined the Helions Bumpstead National Agricultural & Rural Workers Union branch, which had formed one year previously. The strikers used the grounds of The Fox (a former pub) to organise protests and host concerts. In addition to the concerts villages organised processions of flags and banners, as well as torch glowings at night. During the strike 70 police officers were drafted in and resulted in 8 workers being sentenced to a month imprisonment in Cambridge, for refusing to pay fines. Initially the workers demanded 16 shillings and for reduced working hours with a half day on Saturday but settled for 15 shillings and £8 for harvest work, bringing the dispute to a close a day before the outbreak of World War I. Ashdon Halt was a stop (from 1911 to 1964) on the closed Saffron Walden Railway near Church End. The halt was only opened after a long campaign by the village. Elizabeth Everitt is commemorated both in the church and on the war memorial who died rescuing an American pilot in 1944. She was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal (then the highest civilian award now replaced with the George Cross). Present day Ashdon Primary School, a non-denominational, built in the Victorian Age, for 4–11 year olds is located in the village and has approximately 90 students and had Iain Dale, a Conservative Blogger. Following an initiative to boost student numbers in 2014, the school was still under capacity 4 years later. In 2013, Ashdon Forest School became the first fully outdoor pre-school to be assessed by Ofsted; it achieved a 2, or "Good" rating. In 2014, Hideout Leather, an Ashdon clothing manufacturer, was approached to design jackets for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. The village suffers from speeding, in 2018 over 1,000 vehicles were caught travelling at over