A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



until late in the 19th century. In 1848, in addition to 

 the usual shopkeepers, there were a pianoforte maker 

 (at Chigwell Row), a violin-bridge maker (at Chigwell), 

 and a brewer." A map of 1858 shows 'Hainan It 

 Brewery' in the position of the present Forest Cottages, 

 near the 'Maypole' at Chigwell Row,^* but it seems to 

 have closed soon after.^' 



In 1 85 1 there were 1,294 persons over 14 years of 

 age in the parish, of whom 438 were engaged in agri- 

 culture, 320 were domestic servants or gardeners, 221 

 were professional business people or gentry, 1 5 5 local 

 tradesmen, 60 were engaged in the building trades, 3 5 

 were licensed victuallers or their servants, 19 were 

 police, forest keepers, or other officials, 1 1 carriers, 8 

 were still at school, and 27 unemployed paupers. One 

 house. Rolls, had 15 servants, another 10, and 5 houses 

 had 6 or 7.30 



There is evidence of brickmaking from the 17th cen- 

 tury onwards. In 1668 Sir Eliab Harvey of Rolls was 

 granted a royal licence to inclose land near his house to 

 make bricks.^' A brickworks at Luxborough has 

 operated intermittently for nearly a century, and bricks 

 have been made at the lower end of Buckhurst Hill 

 since 1870.'^ Much of the output of these works 

 was used for local building. Both works have been 

 owned in recent times by Messrs. W. and C. French 

 Ltd. of Buckhurst Hill, a business which was started by 

 Mrs. Elizabeth French in the i86o's, with a fleet of 

 carts largely occupied in supplying gravel to parish 

 authorities for roads. From this beginning it has risen 

 to be one of the largest public works contractors in the 

 world. The head office is still at Buckhurst Hill. 33 



From 1800 until 1843 a watch-making business was 

 carried on at Marchings in Gravel Lane by John Roger 

 Arnold.3'* He was the son of John Arnold (1736 .'-99), 

 a noted watchmaker who made a number of improve- 

 ments in the design of chronometers.35 J. R. Arnold 

 was associated with Dent and Arnold of the Strand, 

 London, and in 182 1 patented, from Chigwell, an im- 

 proved expansion balance for chronometers.3* His 

 foreman, Thomas Prest (d. 1852), started business on 

 his own account at Chigwell Row in 1821.37 He 

 patented in 1820 the attached winding movement of 

 watches, as opposed to the detached key.3 8 His business 

 was continued by his son Thomas Prest (d. i877).39 



In recent years planning authorities have not con- 

 sidered the parish suitable for industrial development, 

 except for a small area in lower Buckhurst Hill.*" Local 

 employment has therefore been mainly confined to 

 agriculture, the distributive trades, and catering for 

 visitors to Epping and Hainault Forests.'" 



A hiring fair was being held at Chigwell on 30 Sep- 

 tember each year in the period 1792 to about i860. It 

 had ceased before 1888.''^ 



The best-known inn at Chigwell, the 'King's Head', 

 has been mentioned above (see p. 20). The present 



'Maypole' at Chigwell Row was built in front of an 

 earlier house.''3 There has been an inn there at least 

 since 1770, and the old house, now demolished, can be 

 traced back to 1505.'''' In 1843 the 'Maypole' served 

 over 2,000 customers from Fairlop Fair after the magis- 

 trates had refused permission for refreshments to be sold 

 in the neighbourhood of the fair.'ts At Buckhurst Hill 

 the 'Roebuck' now stands slightly south of its former 

 site, where it stood at least since 1770.** It was popu- 

 lar in the late 1 9th century as a resort of Londoners 

 visiting Epping Forest. The 'Bald Faced Stag' has been 

 traced by name back to 1752.'" It was probably the 

 house of Richard Dennis who in 1720 described himself 

 as a victualler.''* The 'Bald Hind' at Grange Hill was 

 known in 1770 as the 'Bald Faced Hind'.'" The 'JoUy 

 Wheelers' near Woodford Bridge first appears by name 

 in 1778.50 



James Basire (1769-1822), engraver, lived and died 

 at Chigwell Row. His eldest son 

 fFORTHIES'' James (1796-1 869), also an engraver, 

 was born there. Samuel Bellin ( 1 799— 

 1893), another engraver, spent his early life at Burnt 

 House in Pudding Lane. Henrietta Lady Chatterton 

 (1806-76), miscellaneous writer, lived at Rolls from 

 1852 to 1855. Roger Fenton ( 1 5 6 5- 1 6 1 6), theological 

 writer and one of the translators of the Authorized Ver- 

 sion of the Bible, was Vicar of Chigwell 1606-16. 

 Samuel Harsnett(i56i— i63i)ismentioned below (see 

 Church). Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (1758-1830), 

 who commanded the T/m/raire at Trafalgar, was lord 

 of the manor of Barringtons (see above) and lived at 

 Rolls House. He was M.P. for Maldon 1780 and for 

 Essex 1803-12. Richard HoUingworth (1639-1701), 

 Royalist pamphleteer, was Vicar of Chigwell 1690- 

 1701. Samuel Howitt (1765 .'-1822), painter and 

 etcher, lived at Chigwell Row in his youth. Admiral 

 Sir Edward Hughes (1720 .'-94) was lord of the manor 

 of Luxborough and lived at Luxborough House. 

 Joshua Jenour (1755-1853), author, hved at Chigwell 

 Row from 1792 to 1804.52 Thomas Johnson (fl. 17 1 8), 

 classical scholar, was headmaster of Harsnett's Gram- 

 mar School 171 5-18. Admiral Richard Lestock 

 (1679 .'-1746) lived at Chigwell Row 1709—46. 

 William Penn (1644-17 18), Quaker and founder of 

 Pennsylvania, was educated at Harsnett's Grammar 

 School. George Robert Rowe (1792-1861), physi- 

 cian and medical writer, lived and practised in Chigwell 

 village from about 1823 and was buried in the church- 

 yard. Helen Maria Williams (1762-18 27), authoress, 

 was living at Grange Hill in 1826. 



The manor oi CHIGWELL, later known as CHIG- 

 WELL HALL alias CHIGWELL-AND- 

 MANORS WEST HATCH, was held in 1066 by 

 Earl Harold. After the Conquest it was 

 given to Ralph de Limesi, whose chief seat was at 

 Wolverley in Solihull (Warws.).53 The tenancy in 



" White' 1 Dir. Essex (1848). 



" E.R.O., D/DLo P5. 



" No brewer is mentioned in Kelly's Dir. 

 Essex (1859). 



3° H.O. 107/1770, 195/1. Wives and 

 children over 14. have been included under 

 their husbands' or fathers' occupation un- 

 less stated to have been otherwise em- 

 ployed. 



3' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1667-8, 72. 



32 E.R.O., D/P 166/11/34-51; Kelly's 

 Dirs. Essex, passim; personal knowledge. 



" Ibid. 



" E.R.O., D/DEs M8ij Par. Reg.; 



personal knowledge. 3s B.N.B. 



36 Pigot's Dir. London, (1817-32); E.R. 

 Ivi, 79. 37 E.R.O., D/DEs M81. 



38 E.R. Ivi, 78 i M.I. in Chigwell church- 

 yard. 



3^ M.I. in Chigwell churchyard. 



♦" fV. Essex Reg. Planning Schm. igjj, 

 p. 105. 



'" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1879-1933); per- 

 sonal knowledge. 



■•2 Rep. Com. Mkt. Rts. [C. 5550], p. 

 161, H.C. (1888), liii; White's Dir. Essex 

 (1848); Kelly's Dir. Essex (1859). 



« E.R.O., D/CT 78. 



ft E.R.O., D/DEs M95; Q/RLv 25. 

 *5 Dickensian, xv, 147. 



46 E.R.O., Q/RLv 25; D/CT 78. 



47 Authentick Tryals of "John Stvan and 

 Eli-3sabeth "Jeffryes. They were hanged for 

 murder near this house. 



48 Archd. Essex, 89 Goates. 



49 E.R.O., Q/RLv 25. so Ibid. 



51 For all Worthies see D.N.B. 



52 See also Parish Government, below, 

 and E.R.O. D/DEs M80-81. 



53 V.C.H. Essex, i, 553*; Dugdale, Hist. 

 Warius. 342—3, gives the Limesi-Dodyng- 

 sells pedigree. 



24 



