These vintage images show life in the village of Alresford.

This includes the ruins of the Anglican St Peter’s Church which dates back to the 1300s and was burnt down in 1971.

It was then replaced by St Andrew’s, in the style of an Essex barn.

Just a few miles from Colchester, in the mid 1800s it had a population of around 290 people with the largest property being Alresford Hall.

At the last census the population was nearer 2,000.

At the Norman survey it is recorded as having belonged to the Earl of Boulogne.

Our archive images show how it has changed, but also stayed the same, including a snapshot of a class at the village school.