Motorhome Parking and Tourist Information

Please ring to book if you can, especially if you want to eat

Motorhomes are welcome to park overnight free of charge when using the pub. We ask that motorhomes park towards the rear of the car park to allow access for others. The Pub is open at 12pm but during the week will close later in the afternoon. You are welcome to arrive at any time if the pub is closed. We open again at 6:30pm for food and drinks. Sometimes we will have events on that mean the car park is very congested or full, if this is the case please come in and see us and we will do our best to help.
When arriving on the A120 from the direction of Colchester/London we have a new roundabout close to the village. Please follow the roundabout to Little Bentley, you may have to ignore your Sat Nav instructions if they have not updated. We have no facilities for black water disposal, for grey water disposal speak to Liz or Will.
Unfortunately we can NOT accommodate caravans.
Britstops members welcome. Also find us on Campercontact, Searchforsites, park4night etc.






History of Little Bentley

Winner of the Essex Best Kept Village Award for a number of years - Little Bentley is a proud village with a lively community and a busy social event calendar.
Recently formed Little Bentley Park Polo Club is a wonderful addition to the village. Whether you are interested in taking part or just spectating you can follow the link to find out all you need to know.
With events such as the hugely successful Garden Show, held in the grounds of Little Bentley Manor along with local community events inc., Village Hall Draws, Quiz Nights, Antique and Collectors Fairs, Craft groups, Bowls and Open Gardens, the area really has a lot to offer and has been doing so since the village was formed in the late 17th Century.

The Original Bricklayers Arms

Visit Little Bentley

The local area offers a choice of Bed & Breakfast accommodation inc:

• Periwinkle Cottage B&B, Loretta Creese, Colchester Road, Wix
  Tel: 01255 870167. Click to visit website.
• Wayside Cottage B&B - Vicky E Smith, The Street, Tendring. 01255 830864. Click to visit website.
• Spring Hall Cottage - Holiday Let. Available all year. 800 mtrs from The Bricklayers Pub. Call for details - 07779 264679 or visit www.countrycottagesonline.co.uk.
  
  
  Other local attractions include the coastal towns of Clacton, Frinton and Walton, all just 10-15 minutes away;
  Colchester just 10 minutes away is the oldest recorded town in the UK and offers superb shopping, restaurants and of course Colchester Zoo.
  Also locally are Green Island Gardens and Beth Chatto Gardens .
  
  Little Bentley sits in the Parish of Tendring which is a local government district in North East Essex, England. It extends from the River Stour in the north, to the coast and the River Colne in the south, with the coast to the East and the town of Colchester to the west. Its council is based in Clacton-on-Sea. Places in the district include Frinton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Brightlingsea and Harwich.
  
  Sometimes referred to as the "Tendring Peninsula", the district was formed on April 1, 1974 as a merger of the borough of Harwich, with Brightlingsea, Clacton and Frinton and Walton urban districts, and Tendring Rural District. The name Tendring comes from the ancient Tendring Hundred which is named after the small Tendring village at the centre of the area. The Tendring Poor Law Union covered the same area as the present district.
  
  During the English civil war, the witch-finder general, Matthew Hopkins carried out many trials throughout this and the surrounding area especially in the towns of Manningtree and Mistley on the River Stour.
  
  Topology
  The highest part of the district is a low (35 metres) ridge running west to east only 3 km south of the River Stour. The greater part of the district is undulating land sloping very gently to the south which is traversed by a number of streams.
  
  Parishes
  The district is divided into the following parishes. "From" indicates older parishes which have now been merged.
  
  Alresford, Ardleigh
  Beaumont-cum-Moze, Great Bentley, Little Bentley, Bradfield, Brightlingsea, Great Bromley, Little Bromley
  Clacton-on-Sea (town council from Great Clacton and Little Holland), Little Clacton
  Elmstead
  Frating, Frinton and Walton (from Frinton, Great Holland, Kirby-le-Soken and Walton-on-the-Naze)
  Harwich (from Dovercourt and St Nicholas)
  Lawford
  Manningtree, Mistley
  Great Oakley, Little Oakley
  Ramsey and Parkeston
  St Osyth
  Tendring, Thorpe-le-Soken, Thorrington
  Weeley, Wix, Wrabness
  Soken
  In the extreme east of the district is an area formerly known as the Soken which was granted special privileges in Saxon times. It is remembered in the place names Kirby-le-Soken, Thorpe-le-Soken and Walton-le-Soken (an older name for Walton-on-the-Naze).

   

This is a Norman church with a fine 16th century tower that stands close to the road. There is evidence of Roman brick used in the chancel and inside there is a fine hammerbeam roof.


BENTLEY, (LITTLE) 8 miles East of Colchester, and 5 miles South by East of Manningtree, is a village and parish, containing 462 souls, and about 2000 acres of land, with a fertile soil, varying from heavy to a sandy loam, and giving rise to two sources of a rivulet, which, after a course of ten miles southward, falls into the sea. At the Domesday Survey, it belonged to Allen, Earl of Bretagne, and Richd. Fitzgislebert, lord of Clare; and it afterwards passed to the le Gros, Bouchier, Pyrton, Bayning, Peck, and other families. Mrs. Eliz. Bond, of London, is now lady of the manor; but a great part of the soil belongs to Col. T.A. Brandreth and several small owners.

The Church (Virgin Mary,) is an ancient well-proportioned structure, and has a leaded nave and north aisle, a tiled chancel, and a stone tower, containing five bells. It had formerly a chantry founded by Sir John le Gros, in 1386. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £13, and in 1831 at £ 687, is in the patronage of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and incumbency of the Rev. H.R.S. Smith, M.A., who has a neat white brick residence, and about 52A. of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1840 for £670 per annum. A large National School was erected in the churchyard, in 1848, in the early English style.

Local attractions:
There is a multitude of things to do and places to visit in and around Constable Country on the north Essex/south Suffolk border.

• Colchester Castle and Victorian park,
• Hollytress and natural History Museums.
• Award winning Colchester Zoo.
• Vintage steam train rides and railway museums.
• Indoor adventure fun at Go Bananas and Childrens Adventureland.
• Layer Marney Tower’s rare farm animals.
• Mistley Place Park. Mistley Quay Workshops.
• Colchester Leisure World.
• Scenic trips aboard the Stour Trusty Boat on Constable Country waters.
• Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum.
• Mercury Theatre, Headgate Theatre, and Lakesdie Theatre.
• Wilkins Tiptree Jam Museum.
• Beth Chatto Gardens.
• Fingringhoe Wick nature Reserve.
• High Woods Country Park.
• Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve for waders.
• Layer de la Haye.
• East Bergholt Place for plants, plant centre and gardens.
• Cycling along the Viewfinder Trail, the Wivenhoe Trail and the Painter’s Trail.
• Suffolk Heritage Coast, NT Sutton Hoo, Alton waters.
• Jimmy’s rare breed pig farm.
• Manningtree – England’s smallest town. Pretty villages to explore of Dedham, Flatford, East Bergholt, Wivenhoe, West Mersea, Kersey, Hadleigh and lavenham. Histroical Harwich.
• Tendring Peninsula seaside resorts, Frinton-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich and Dovercourt.

Good places to visit: It's a short drive from north Essex to numerous places of interest. Have a day out in Cambridge, go punting on the Cam. Take a trip into London by train.

Annual Events: Dunmow Flitch - a test for couples to find out how much they actually know about each other.

MOTORHOME PARKING

Overnight parking for motorhomes is available free of charge for pub customers