Hatfield Peverel is a large urban village and
civil parish in the centre of
Essex, England. Its population, including the hamlet of
Nounsley, is approximately 5,500 (in 2004).
Hatfield means a 'heathery space in the forest';
Peverel refers to
William Peverel, the Norman knight granted lands in the area by
William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion of 1066. Sited on high ground east of the
River Ter, between
Boreham and
Witham on the
A12, it is situated in the southern extremity of the
Braintree District Council area (to which it elects two members).