[3] The village, 9 km (5.6 mi) southeast of Colchester, lies above Alresford Creek, a tributary to the River Colne.

These include cropmark sites[5] and the discovery of a Bronze Age cinerary urn at Alresford Grange[6] in 1942 by school-girl Anne Pilkington in the remains of a barrow.

Coins from Faustona and Commodus (161-192 AD) as well as Samian-ware pottery shards are now preserved in Colchester Castle Museum.

[14] Roman bricks can be seen in the ruins of St Peter's and were also found in the foundations of Stable Cottage, Alresford Hall.

[15] At Marsh Farm pit five sherds of Late pre-Roman Iron Age/early Romano-British pottery and four struck flint flakes were recovered.

[16] A double-ditched Romano-British enclosure (60x80m) was found with second century samian pottery shards between the Quarters and Plumptons Farm.

[17] There were also several ring-ditches containing graves in land quarried at Broomfield Plantation overlooking Alresford Creek.

In 1088, Bishop Odo and Count Eustace III rebelled against the King, William II, were defeated at Rochester and forced into exile.

[34] The oldest existent building in Alresford is Brook Farm house dating from the late 15th or 16th century, about three-quarters of a mile East-North-East of the church, on the modern Thorrington Road.

In return, Porter was expected to give the poor every Sunday from Whitsun to Michaelmas the milk of two cows; 3s/4d on Good Friday and Christmas Day.

[47] At one stage the old hall was not water-tight, as recorded in a letter by his cousin Mary Martin in August 1778 ".. begs you will speak to Mr. Ennew and have the Old Building kept up as tight as possible till the new one is erected.."[48] Richard Woods designed improvements to the grounds and house, but these were not completed before Isaac Martin Rebow's death in 1781.

[50] Around this time, many of the brick farms, lodges and other buildings were under construction along Church Lane and Wivenhoe Road; including the Pointer Inn (deeds from 1780), Ship House (Indenture of 1786[51]) and Bay Tree Cottage[52] The main crops harvested in 1788 were peas, carrots, rye and wheat.

[55] Thomas Martin had begun renovating The Quarters, a cottage on the Sixpenny Creek, south of Alresford Hall.

He died in 1775, then his son-in-law in 1781 so his daughter Mary Martin Rebow completed it from the existing plans for the Chinese temple.

[46] Her son-in-law, Manor General Francis Slater Rebow returned from being a staff officer in the Peninsula Wars[56] and in 1816 commissioned John Constable to paint both the park of Wivenhoe House and The Quarters behind Alresford Hall.

Constable described the Quarters as "a beautiful little fishing hut , where the young Lady (who is the heroine of all these scenes) goes occasionally to angle".

In 1818, a Sunday school contained 30 boys and girls taught by the master, who was also the clerk of the parish, He was paid £4 pa. by subscription.

Most of the soil belongs to other proprietors, the largest of whom is W.W. Hawkins, Esq., of Alresford Hall, which stands on an eminence, and has lately been much enlarged.

Engineer in chief was Peter Bruff,[71] who then built the Clacton to Thorpe line and created Clacton-on-Sea as a holiday resort from 1871.

[72] On Saturday 12th August 2017, the steam locomotive "Tornado" journeyed between London and Walton-on-the-Naze to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the line carrying 2000 passengers.

[77] The bridge was normally left open two hours either side of high water unless a train was coming.

Otherwise two men had to row from the north side of the Creek where a boat-house and cottage in 1895 (since demolished) were located and manually move the bridge.

[76] The line being built on soft clay embankments and wooden trestles only three feet above the high tide level was prone to flooding.

Finally after the Great Storm of 31 January 1953 the line was closed for eleven months[78] In 1930, the LNER consulted about making the bridge fixed and the Colchester Planning sub-committee was asked to consider whether this would impede navigation.

There is also a Primitive Methodist Chapel a mile north of the Church on the Main Road (near to the current Alresford Garage).

This is also used by local groups, including bumps and babies, scramblers (for toddlers), Razmatazz (for 5 -11), Messy Church and Hang Out@The Hub (Y6 upwards).

[97] A major source of funding came from a village fete and sports day held at Alresford hall which raised £295.

Alresford Parish Council offices and meeting room together with sports changing facilities can be found in The Pavilion (a building attached to the rear of the Village Hall).

[100] During the 1930s, the Band often led Remembrance Parades in Colchester,[101] Copford,[102][103] Feering,[104] Fordham,[105] Frating,[106][107] Wivenhoe[108][109] and carnivals in Clacton[110][111][112] and Maldon.

[118] War time regulations were strictly enforced by the ARP Warden Mr Pilkington; leading to a fine of £2 in each of two cases of showing lights from buildings at night for one household in July 1940.