There is evidence of human habitation in the Kelvedon area stretching back to the
Mesolithic era. By the late
Iron Age, there was an extensive settlement in the area. A warrior burial dated to 75–72 BC has been excavated in the area, and described as a "nationally important" find. During the
Roman period, the settlement developed into a small
Roman town, located on the main road from
Londinium to
Camulodunum, called Canonium. Excavations on the site have discovered Roman round houses and coins. During the
Flavian period Canonium was home to a significant metalworking industry, while in the 3rd and 4th centuries the site was primarily given over to an inhumation cemetery. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the parish had a population of 45 households; ownership was split between two
manors, held by
Westminster Abbey and
Hugh de Montfort. The earliest surviving part of its parish church,
St Mary the Virgin Church probably dates to the early 12th century. The village's first school, Ayletts Foundation School, was founded by Thomas Aylett in Maldon Road, Kelvedon, in 1632 when he bequeathed the property along with £10 per annum to provide a salary for a master. The village is bounded to the north by the
River Blackwater where the adjacent village of
Feering starts. The River Blackwater was spanned by a
packhorse bridge, built around 1750, which was an essential part of the main road carrying traffic from Norfolk and Suffolk to London and this feature was significant in making Kelvedon an important staging post on the main route to London, as could be seen from the numerous inns and hostelries which served the area. The village also has a road bridge, built in c. 1839, after the previous bridge was washed away by flooding, and is now Grade II listed. Kelvedon expanded significantly in the Victorian era. The reason was the
Norwich to
London railway making it a place to live yet get to work as rail was the only fast method of transport. Victorian Kelvedon was set along one street, High Street. In the late 19th century, Kelvedon became famous for seed growing, and the firm of Kings Seeds, now part of Associated British Foods, became famous for the production of flower and vegetable seeds. Another large seed merchant, based nearby in the hamlet of Inworth, and trading worldwide was E W Deal & Sons (a founder member of Asmer Seeds based in Leicester) who were famous for developing the Kelvedon Wonder Pea and other varieties of flowers and vegetables. In the 1930s, with the advent of the automobile, High Street became the
A12, the main road through Essex.
Ribbon development saw houses sprawl along the road for miles. Ayletts Foundation School closed in 1944, though its building still stands and now houses the Kelvedon Library and Museum. It was replaced by the Kelvedon St Mary's School, a
Church of England primary school located on the corner of High Street and Easterford Road (now the Kelvedon and Feering Health Centre and a private residence). It was in turn replaced in 1977 by a new school located in Docwra Road, also called Kelvedon St Marys. This school converted to academy status in March 2013. The village suffered major congestion until a bypass was built in the 1960s diverting the A12 past the village. Suburbanization started to take place in the 1980s when a large development, called Riverside Park, was constructed adding hundreds of homes to the village envelope. The
Office for National Statistics now classes the neighbouring villages of Kelvedon and Feering as forming a single built up area, which it calls "Kelvedon and Feering". This built up area had a population of 4,870 at the 2021 census. ==Transport==