Most of the population live on the edge of the parish adjoining Tolleshunt Major and centred on the main road running through the village past The Swan public house and children's play area.

The present main road through the village was originally a track used by smugglers bringing liqueur, silks and other cloths from the River Blackwater to the plains where travellers would exchange them for money.

In Little Totham, on the edge of the River Blackwater and in the fields near Osea Island there is evidence of man dwelling there from as far back as the Bronze Age 6,000 years ago.

There has always been a history of itinerant workers both on the farms and in the smuggling trade and these have over the years rested, albeit temporarily, on the Totham plains.

In the mid- to late 19th and early 20th centuries more substantial farm workers' cottages were built around the "main" road and the village grew.

The current event is organised by David Oram[2] and his family, and the team from All Saints’ Church, all working with the parish council.