A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



century had led direct from the doorway to the road, 

 had been abandoned in favour of curved approaches to 

 north and south.*" In 1822 the house was remodelled 

 by George Basevi,*' but it is not clear how much work 

 was done at this time. The rooms facing the garden 

 with their two semicircular bays may be of this date 

 or a little earlier. A service wing to the north was also 

 built by 1822. About the middle of the 19th century 

 the house was greatly extended. ^^ A third story was 

 added to the central block and a new wing was built 

 on the south side. Early in the 20th century a fine late- 

 I7th-century staircase, which came originally from a 

 house on the south side of Pall Mall, was inserted in 

 the hall.'3 Between 1940 and 1948 Blake Hall was 

 requisitioned by the R.A.F. and during this time the 

 library and drawing room with the bedrooms above 

 were thrown together to form an operations room. 

 This wing has not yet been restored.*^ 



The manor of BILSDENS derived its name from 

 the family of Billesdon. In 1496 Joan, widow of Sir 

 Robert Billesdon and daughter and heir of John 

 Williams, died in possession of a messuage, 280 acres 

 of land and 20 acres of meadow in Bobbingworth and 

 other parishes. *5 This estate, which was then called 

 'Monkis alias Bobynford', was worth 100/. and was 

 held of one Brent.'* Joan's heir was her son Thomas 

 Billesdon.87 



After Joan's death her Bobbingworth estate may 

 have passed, with her Marshalls estate in North Weald 

 (q.v.), to Sir William Fitzwilliam. In 1581 William 

 Bourne died in possession of the Bobbingworth estate 

 which he apparently purchased from Richard, ist 

 Baron Rich, in 1566.** William bequeathed to his 

 wife Margaret 'household stuff, corn and cattle at 

 Gippes alias Billesdons'. '» In his will he also mentioned 

 his house there.'" 



Bourne's son Robert purchased the manor of Blake 

 Hall (see above) in 1 598 and the Billesdon estate, which 

 was described as a manor in 1675 and later, afterwards 

 descended with Blake Hall." It was occupied by a 

 tenant until 1828, after which it was farmed by the 

 owner himself'^ In 1840 Bilsdens farm consisted of 

 237 acres of which 136 were arable. '3 



The back part of Bilsdens house is timber-framed 

 and probably dates from the 1 5th or early i6th century. 

 It apparently consisted of a central hall with two cross- 

 wings. The hall has been much altered but in both 

 cross-wings the lower part of arch-braced roof trusses 

 are visible on the first floor. In the roof space at least 

 one king-post with four-way struts remains. This was 

 evidently the manor house of which William Bourne 

 died possessed in 1581. An estate map of Bilsdens 

 dated I76i''* has a rough drawing of the house from 

 which it appears to have been L-shaped and gabled. 

 The present front rooms were added late in the i8th 



•" Ibid.; Chapman and Andre, Map of 

 Essex, J777, sheet xii. 



" Drawings at Blake Hall in the posses- 

 sion of Major N. Capel Cure. 



" Drawings and photographs as above. 



" Inf. from Mrs. Capel Cure. This was 

 probably Schombcrg House, built in the 

 last decade of the 17th cent. 



•< Information from Mrs. Capel Cure. 



'• Ca!. Inij. f.m. Hen. Fll, i, pp. 541-2. 



" Ibid. 87 Ibid. 



" Sepulchral Mems. of Bohhingiuorth, ed. 

 F. A. Crisp, 31 ; Morant, Essex, i, 149. 



»9 Sepulchral Mems. of Bohhingivorth, 3 I. 



»o Ibid. 



«■ E.R.O., D/DAc Z4-25; D/DCc T 



century and these were faced with brickwork probably 

 about 100 years later. 



It seems that Hamon de Marcy held the advowson 



of Bobbingworth in the early 13 th cen- 

 CHURCH tury.'s After his death, which occurred 



before 1244, his widow Denise held it in 

 dower.'* In 1244 it was agreed that at the death of 

 Denise it should pass to Alice and John de Merk and 

 to the heirs of Alice who, by another agreement, be- 

 came overlords of the manor of Bobbingworth (see 

 above)." In about 1262 John de Merk was patron of 

 the living.'' In 1 280 Ralph de Merk, probably the son 

 of John, granted the advowson, with J acre of land, to 

 John de Lovetot for 30 marks." Lovetot still held the 

 advowson at his death in 1293, but by 1328 it was in 

 the possession of Henry Spigurnel, tenant in demesne 

 of the manor of Bobbingworth." In 1332 Thomas 

 Spigurnel granted the advowson as well as the manor 

 to Robert de Hakeney.^ In 1365 and 1368 John King 

 presented to the living.3 In 1389 Joan Morell was 

 holding a life interest in the advowson which from that 

 time descended with the manor of Bobbingworth until 

 1575.'* In 1575, when Sir Thomas Walsingham and 

 John Rochester divided Bobbingworth manor between 

 them, they agreed that the advowson should remain in 

 common and that they should present to the living in 

 turn. 5 In 1582 Thomas Barefoot presented pro hac 

 vice by concession of Sir Thomas Walsingham.* In 

 1 598 Sir Thomas Walsingham granted his rights in 

 the advowson to Robert Bourne, owner of Blake Hall 

 (see above) .7 Afterwards the owners of the manors of 

 Blake Hall and Bobbingworth had alternate rights of 

 presentation. They sometimes sold their single turns. 

 In 1669 John, 3rd Baron Digby, then life tenant of 

 Blake Hall, granted his next turn to John Robinson of 

 Stapleford Tawney.' In 1673 Robinson sold it to Sir 

 John Archer, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 

 who presented in 1678.' In 1692 James LordelJ pre- 

 sented Jacob Houblon.'o When Charles Houblon, 

 brother of Jacob, purchased the manor of Bobbing- 

 worth from John and Mary Poole in 1708 he also 

 purchased their right to half the advowson." At that 

 time Mary Poole held a life interest in it with remainder 

 to John Poole. '^ The advowson remained divided be- 

 tween the owners of the manors of Bobbingworth and 

 Blake Hall until 1834 when Capel Cure of Blake Hall 

 purchased the manor of Bobbingworth and the alter- 

 nate right of patronage annexed to it.'3 In 1838 Capel 

 Cure presented W. M. Oliver. ■■• Since that time the 

 living has remained in the gift of the Capel Cures.'' 



In about 1254 the rectory was valued at 5 marks.'* 

 In 1291 it was valued at £(> 13/. 4^2'." In 1428 the 

 church was still taxed on this valuation.'' In 1535 the 

 rectory was valued at ,^13 6;. 8d'." Its 'improved' 

 value was [^do in 1604, ^^81 in 1650, and ;^ioo in 



./.-3. 



" E.R.O.,D/DCcE6iD/CT38iD/DCc 

 T1/3. 



93 E.R.O., D/CT 38. 



9« E.R.O., T/M 211 (photostat). 



«5 Feet ofF. Essex, \, 148-9. 9' Ibid. 



97 Ibid. 98 ^.^.r. N.s. xviii, 19. 



99 Feet of F. Essex, ii, 28. 



' Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, pp. 131, 133, vii, 

 p. 124. » E.R.O., D/DB T96/6. 



3 Reg. Sudbury (Cant. & York Soc), i, 

 244, 260. 



* Feet of F. Essex, iii, 211; Newcourt, 

 Repert. ii, 66. 



5 E.R.O., D/DB T98. 



' Newcourt, Repert. ii, 66. 



7 CP2s(2)/i38/i75o. 



8 E.R.O., D/DB T98. 9 Ibid. 

 10 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 66. 



" E.R.O., D/DB T98; D/DWv T51. 



■2 Ibid. 



■3 E.R.O.,D/DCcTi/i-3;D/DCcT2i 

 D/DCc T4i J. Ecton, Thesaurus, 270; 

 J. Bacon, Lib. Reg. 615. 



^* Sepulchral Mems. of Bobbingixiorth, ed. 

 F. A. Crisp, 38. 



'S Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874 f.); Chel. 

 Dioc. Tear Bk. 1952. 



'* W. E. Lunt, Val. of Norwich, 336. 



■7 Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 21*. 



'8 Feud. Aids, ii, 205. 



»» Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 



14 



