ONGAR HUNDRED 



BOBBINGWORTH 



Bobbingworth, commonly called Bovinger, is a 

 parish immediately to the north-west of Chipping 

 Ongar.' The middle element in the name of the parish 

 suggests early Saxon settlement.^ Bobbingworth now 

 has an area of 2,595 acres. ^ It was formerly 1,642 acres 

 but was increased in 1946 by the incorporation of the 

 detached part of High Ongar lying immediately to the 

 west of Bobbingworth and of the detached part of 

 Moreton (^ acre) lying to the north-east of Ashlyns (see 

 below).* In 1801 the population was 216. s By 1841 

 it had grown to 357; then it declined to 270 in 1901.* 

 In the first half of the 20th century it was a httle above 

 300 until the incorporation of the detached part of High 

 Ongar brought it to 483 in 1951.' 



The land rises from about 150 ft. above sea-level in 

 the east and 200 ft. in the north to 3 30 ft. in the extreme 

 south-west. A stream flowing into the Cripsey Brook 

 forms part of the northern boundary. Reynkyns Wood 

 lies on the western boundary. The road from Chipping 

 Ongar to Epping enters the parish by Ackingford Bridge 

 over the Cripsey Brook and runs north-west. About 

 200 yds. from Ackingford Bridge Pensons Lane, for- 

 merly called Finings or Pinions Lane, runs south-west- 

 ward to Greenstead. Nearly J mile farther along on the 

 north side of the Ongar-Epping road lies Waterend 

 Farm, a building probably of the 17th century but with 

 additions on three sides of late 1 8th-century or early 

 I gth-century date. Bilsdens* is J mile west of Waterend, 

 to the south of the road. About i mile from the bridge 

 the main road is joined by Blake Hall Lane which leads 

 north to the village of Bobbingworth. Blake Hall' 

 stands in a park to the east of the lane. The rectory'" is 

 near the north entrance to the park. About 100 yds. 

 farther north a small gate leads to a thatched and 

 weather-boarded tithe barn of the 17th or 1 8th century. 

 At this point the lane branches, one branch, known as 

 Gainthorps Road, running northwards towards More- 

 ton, and the other, known as Church Road, running 

 westwards past the church and school." The church is 

 on the south side of Church Road immediately to the 

 west of Gainthorps Road. A short lane divides the 

 church from the school on the west and leads south to 

 Bobbingworth Hall.'^ On the south-east side of the 

 churchyard is an incomplete moat, suggesting the pre- 

 sence of an earlier manor house. 



On the east side of Gainthorps Road, some 400 yds. 

 from the church, stands Gainthorps Cottage, a timber- 

 framed house recently converted from two tenements; 

 it dates from the i6th or early 17th century. A little 

 farther along this road are four pairs of council houses. 

 Opposite these houses a lane leads westward to New- 

 house, a timber-framed farm-house, of the i6th or early 

 17th century, built on a half-H plan. The wings origin- 

 ally projected to the north with a small staircase block 

 in the angle of the east wing." There are two pairs of 

 council houses on the lane leading to Newhouse Farm. 



Hobban's Farm is J mile west of the church, to the 

 north of Church Road. It is an 18th-century house, 

 similar in appearance to Bobbingworth Hall. Opposite 

 Hobbans, Church Road is joined by a road running 

 south to Lower Bobbingworth Green and Greenstead. 

 At the Green is Sayers Farm, a square red brick house 

 apparently rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century. 

 At Notts Corner, about 300 yds. west of Hobban's 

 Farm, Church Road is joined by a road which runs 

 north to Padler's End and by Mill Road which runs 

 south from Notts Corner to meet the Epping-Ongar 

 road at the hamlet of Bovinger Mill. Here the single- 

 story brick and roughcast buildings, including the pre- 

 sent post-ofBce, standing to the north of the site of the 

 old mill, formed the mill-house and an adjoining 

 bakery.'* 



About J mile north of Notts Corner on the east side 

 of the road to Padler's End stands Muggin's Farm, an 

 18th-century house. About J mile farther north a lane 

 leads west to Bobbingworth Lodge, a farm-house of the 

 17th century, much altered about 1920. A fine brick 

 chimney-stack with six octagonal shafts was damaged 

 by blast in 1944 and later rebuilt to its original design. 



Five pairs of council houses stand on the east side of 

 Moreton Bridge Road, in the north-east corner of the 

 parish, near Moreton Bridge. Ashlyns is in the north- 

 west, and Cold Harbour in the south-west, of the pre- 

 sent parish of Bobbingworth.'' Wardens Farm, to the 

 south of Bovinger Mill, is timber-framed and weather- 

 boarded and probably dates from the second half of the 

 1 7th century. It is built on a half-H shaped plan with 

 wings projecting to the north-west. The front was 

 faced with brickwork in the i8th century. Ashlyns, 

 Cold Harbour, and Wardens were all in High Ongar 

 parish until 1946. 



References in the sessions rolls to communications in 

 Bobbingworth chiefly relate to Ackingford Bridge.'* 



In 1582 and in 1600 Finings Lane, from Ackingford 

 Bridge to Greenstead Green, was said to be in decay, 

 the parish of Bobbingworth being responsible for its up- 

 keep." In 161 8 it was said that Bobbingworth and 

 Shelley shared the responsibility for the highway lead- 

 ing from Ongar via Shelley Bridge to Moreton.'' This 

 road evidently then, as now, lay partly in Bobbing- 

 worth, partly in Shelley, and partly on the boundary 

 between these two parishes. 



The London-Ongar railway, which was opened in 

 1865, runs across the south of Bobbingworth." Blake 

 Hall station on this line is situated about i mile south 

 of Lower Bobbingworth Green in the parish of Stanford 

 Rivers. 



Postal facilities were extended to Bobbingworth 

 when a receiving office was set up at Moreton in 1 846.^" 

 it had its own sub-post-office in 1874.^' According to 

 the county directories letters came through the Ongar 

 office. 



' O.S. 2\ in. Map, sheet 52/50. 



^ Chief Elements in Eng. Place-Names 

 (E.P.N.S. i (2)), 42. 



2 Inf. from Essex County Council, 



* Census Retns. 1931; County of Essex 

 {Rural Parishes) Confirm. Order l')46. 



5 V.C.H. Essex, ii, 350. 



<• Ibid. 



7 Census Retns. 1 9 1 1 f. j Inf. from Essex 



County Council. 



8 See below, Manor of Bilsdens. 



» See below, Manor of Blake Hall. 



'0 See below, Church. 



' ' See below, Schools. 



'2 See below, Manor of Bobbingworth. 



'3 Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 22. 



•♦ Inf. from Mrs. Burling at 1 1 Bovinger 

 Mill, opposite site of old mill. 



" For Ashlyns see High Ongar. 

 " See Chipping Ongar, p. 157. 

 " E.R.O., e/SR 8o/5«, 149/43. 

 ■8 E.R.O., (2/SBa 1/32. 

 " See Chipping Ongar, p. 158. 

 2" P.M.G. Mins. 1846, vol. 



87, p. 



" Ibid. 1874, vol. 132, min. 4759. 



ES. IV 



