Peldon is a village and civil parish in the Colchester borough of Essex, England. With Salcott, Virley, Great Wigborough and Little Wigborough, it forms part of the Winstred Hundred parish council. Nearby villages include Langenhoe. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and is a Grade I listed building. The population of the parish as of the 2011 census is 559. In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Peldon as: "Peldon, a parish and a sub-district in Lexden district, Essex. The parish lies near Mersea Island, 4½ miles S W of Wivenhoe r. station, and 5½ S by W of Colchester; and has a post-office under Colchester. Acres, 2,186. Real property, £3,591. Pop., 501. Houses, 106 The property is much subdivided." History During the Iron Age and Roman periods the marshes around Peldon were home to a thriving salt-production industry, and red hills created by this process can be found around the village. Peldon was originally around 2,200 acres of land, equating to approximately 8.9 square kilometres. The manor of Peldon (as opposed to the village) is said to have been established by William the Conqueror in 1086 and was passed on to Sir Thomas Darcy by King Henry VIII. The land was later owned by various local families. The place-name 'Peldon' is first attested in Anglo-Saxon charters of circa 950 and 995 AD, where it appears as Piltendone and Peltandune respectively. It appears as Peltenduna in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name may mean 'Pylta's hill', from a personal name otherwise unrecorded. The early charters show the village to have been of Saxon origin, and to have predated William the Conqueror by over a century at least. The Colchester earthquake of 22 April 1884 measured 5.1 magnitude on the Richter scale and badly damaged Peldon and much of the area around. The earthquake damaged around 1250 buildings including churches, houses and cottages, and it was reported at the time that every single building in Peldon was damaged in some way, including the local church, causing heavy financial ramifications for the local area. The Peldon Rose, the village's 15th-century inn, rumoured to have been connected by a smugglers' tunnel to nearby Ray Island, still exhibits earthquake damage. In 1984 a village festival was held at Kemps Farm, Peldon, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the earthquake. Peldon was also affected by