Great Leighs Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village in the City of Chelmsford district of Essex, England, halfway between Chelmsford itself and Braintree. It is part of the parish of Great and Little Leighs. Great Leighs is the location of arguably the oldest Inn in England. The Castle was called the St. Anne's Castle until its temporary closure for refurbishment at Easter 2015. It was on the junction of Main Road and Boreham Road. Another Pub, the Dog & Partridge, is at the other end of the village, on Main Road. The full history of The Castle has been lost. However,
Great Northern Derby (race) held at Ellerslie Racecourse for the first time. Just three horses took part, of which one was withdrawn before the start and another failed to complete the course, leaving Toi to finish the race and become the first Derby winner. In 1887 it was renamed the "ARC Great Northern Derby Principal race over 12F" The race kept the name Great Northern Derby regularly until 1973 when the Great Northern Derby was combined with the New Zealand Derby from Christchurch to form one race, called the New Zealand Derby, which was run at Ellerslie. Riccarton was instead given two 1600 m