Thorpe-le-Soken is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, located west of Walton-on-the-Naze

Walton-on-the-Naze

Walton-on-the-Naze is a small town in Essex, England, on the North Sea coast in the Tendring district. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of Harwich. It abuts Frinton-on-Sea to the south, and is part of the parish of Frinton and Walton. It is a resort town, with a permanent population of...

, Frinton-on-Sea

Frinton-on-Sea

Frinton-on-Sea is a small seaside town in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It is part of the Parish of Frinton and Walton.-History:...

 and north of Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring peninsula, in Essex, England and was founded in 1871. It is a seaside resort that attracted many tourists in the summer months between the 1950s and 1970s, but which like many other British sea-side resorts went into decline as a holiday...

.

History

Thorpe-le-Soken's history can be traced back to Saxon

Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...

 times.

The local church, St Michael's, was shown in series 2 episode 4 of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? where comedian Julian Clary traced a family member to the church.

Facilities

Thorpe-le-Soken has Rolph CofE Primary School in the High Street, and the Thorpe Campus of Tendring Technology College

Tendring Technology College

Tendring Technology College is a secondary school located in England, in Essex. The college has two campuses, the Thorpe Campus in Thorpe-le-Soken, and Frinton Campus situated in Frinton-on-Sea. This is the largest distance between two campuses of the same secondary school in the United Kingdom...

 (Years 7, 8 and 9) in Landermere Road. The village is served by Thorpe-le-Soken railway station

Thorpe-le-Soken railway station

Thorpe-le-Soken railway station serves the village of Thorpe-le-Soken in Essex, England. The station is 1 mile from the village centre.- History :...

. The village used to have a Post Office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, but this was closed in a round of government cuts. The village hosts several shops, pubs and eateries.

Notable residents

• Field Marshal
  Field Marshal
  Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
  
   Lord Byng of Vimy GCB GCMG MVO (1862–1935), an officer who served with distinction during World War I
  World War I
  World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
  
   and as Governor General of Canada
  Governor General of Canada
  The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
  
  , lived in Thorpe-le-Soken during his retirement and died at the demolished Thorpe Hall.
• Sir William Gull (1816 – 1890), Royal physician, and suggested as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper
  Jack the Ripper
  "Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
  
  murders, is buried in St Michael's churchyard.