ONGAR HUNDRED 



CHIGWELL 



of penitentiary and priest of Kemp's chantry, and 

 subsequent prebendaries of St. Pancras were sinecure 

 rectors of Chigwell and presented to the vicarage until 

 1848, when the rectory was vested in the Ecclesiastical 

 Commissioners and the advowson of the vicarage in the 

 Bishop of London.** The patronage has subsequently 

 been exercised by the bishops of the diocese in which 

 Chigwell has been, and the present patron is thus the 

 Bishop of Chelmsford.*' 



In about 1254 the value of the rectory was stated to 

 be 15 marks and that of the vicarage 10 marks.** In 

 1291 the church was valued at 25 marks.*' When the 

 church was appropriated in 1440 its annual value was 

 said not to exceed ^^^24 and the vicarage was then 

 valued at 18 marks.'" In 1535 the vicarage was valued 

 at ;£i8." In 1839 the rectorial tithes were commuted 

 for ;£900, and the vicarial tithes for £500. There were 

 then 54 acres of rectorial glebe and 10 acres of vicarial 

 glebe.'^ 



In and after the i6th century the impropriators 

 usually farmed out the rectorial glebe and tithes. Thus 

 in 1540 the rectory was leased for 31 years to Hugh 

 Fen of Stepney.'^ In 1 5 64 William Colshill and Barbara 

 his wife, who had succeeded to Fen's interest in the 

 lease, conveyed it to Nicholas Fulham of Chigwell.'* 

 In 1569 Fulham sold the lease to Robert Spakman.'s 

 From 1635 to 1660 Thomas Andrews, a relative of 

 Roger Andrews, vicar in 1605-6, was lessee of the 

 rectory.'* William Andrews was lessee in 1697— 

 1729." In 1753 the rectory was being leased by 

 James Crokatt of Luxborough." On his death it 

 passed ( 1 776) to his daughter Jane, wife of Sir Alexander 

 Crauford, ist Bt." In 1791 a new lease was granted 

 to Sir Alexander for the term of the lives of his children 

 James, John, and Cecilia.'" The reversion of the lease 

 was offered for sale in 1800 for j^i 3,000. It was 

 bought by George Clark of West Hatch*' on whose 

 death it was sold to William le Gros, also of West 

 Hatch.*^ Le Gros died in 1820 and John Boote 

 bought the lease.*' Boote held it until 1848 when the 

 rectory came into the hands of the Ecclesiastical Com- 

 missioners. They evidently bought out the unexpired 

 portion of Boote's lease about the same time.** 



The Guild of the Holy Trinity had an altar in the 

 parish church. *5 At the time of its dissolution in 1 548 

 the guild owned a house and some 9 acres of land, and 

 also had 60 sheep and 10 cows. The net annual value 

 of these endowments was ;^i 10/. 6<2'.** The land con- 

 sisted of Fishes, Little Berdes, and Brockesfeld (Brook- 

 house Seld). It had been given by Thomas Ilderton, 

 stockfishmonger of London (d. 1527-8), for the pur- 

 pose of endowing a priest to sing at Trinity altar. 

 Ilderton also left the 10 cows to the guild.*' The sheep 

 were the gift of William Butler. When the property 

 of the guild was valued by the royal officials in 1548 

 the net income was assessed at 41/. 6/, the value of the 



stock at £8 and the total value for purchase at ^^5 3 1 3/. 

 In the same year the property was sold to John Whyte- 

 horne and John Bayly of Chard (Som.).** It is not 

 clear when the guild had been founded. The earliest 

 reference to it is in 1 5 17, in the will of one John 

 FuUham.*9 



The parish church of ST. MJRr THE VIRGIN 

 consists of nave, chancel, south aisle, and chapel. The 

 timber bell-turret at the west end of the aisle is sur- 

 mounted by a small copper spire. There is a south 

 porch and a vestry on the north side of the chancel. 

 The walls are of flint rubble covered with cement and 

 have dressings of limestone. The roofs are tiled. In 

 the churchyard, between the south porch and the main 

 road, is a double row of ancient yew trees. 



In its original form the church dates from the late 

 1 2th century, when it would have covered the ground 

 now occupied by the south aisle, which was then the 

 nave, with a chancel somewhat smaller than the present 

 chapel. Of this early church only the south wall now 

 remains. In this wall is a fine Norman doorway with 

 semicircular arch ornamented with double chevrons, 

 panelled tympanum, segmental soffit, and free-shafted 

 jambs. The window immediately to the east of this 

 door also probably dates from the 12th century but has 

 an inserted mullion and is modern externally. On the 

 inside of the south wall on the east of the door is a 

 holy-water stoup from which the basin has long dis- 

 appeared. 



In the 15 th century a north aisle was added, the 

 original north wall being opened to insert the existing 

 arcade of four bays, of which the two centre arches are 

 moulded, with moulded piers, capitals, and bases. The 

 Scott family of Woolston Hall (see above) claimed the 

 chapel of this aisle as their private property.'" As they 

 first obtained possession of the manor about 1475 it is 

 not unlikely that they were responsible for this addition 

 to the church. About the same time the chancel was 

 probably lengthened and the western bell-turret added 

 to the end of the former nave. The turret is made of 

 eight stout vertical timber posts with curved braces and 

 the whole frame stands independently of the fabric, 

 being walled round at the time of its erection, with a 

 window of three pointed lights in the west wall. Soon 

 after this the aisle was extended from the old north 

 door (opposite the present south door) to bring its west 

 wall level with the bell-turret. This extension was 

 carried out by Thomas Ilderton, the benefactor of the 

 Trinity Guild (see above), who gave instructions in his 

 will (1527) that he should be buried in the aisle and 

 that an inscription on his grave should record the 

 extension for which he had been responsible and also 

 his gifts to the guild." This brass inscription existed 

 as late as 18 10 but has since disappeared.'^ At about 

 the same time as these works were carried out the nave 

 was probably re-roofed. Many of the existing roof 



" E.R.O., D/P 166/11/12. Several 

 prebendaries between 1470 and 1848 

 presented themselves to the vicarage. 



" Crockford's Cler. Din. passim ; Chcl. 

 Dioc. Tear Bk. (1952). 



6« E.A.T. N.s. xviii, 18. 



M Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 2ii. 



70 Newcourt, i?tf^tfr/. ii, 140. 



'■ Fahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 



" E.R.O., D/CT 78. At that time the 

 Revd. .\. R. Chauvel, Prebendary of St. 

 Pancras, was also vicar. 



'3 Cat. And. D. iii, A. 5524; Newcourt, 

 Reperl. ii, 141. 



'« Ibid. " C3/62/52. 



T> E.R.O., D/AEV/5, 7. 



" E.R.O., D/AEV/16-21. 



'8 E.R.O., D/DB T337. 



79 Lysons, Environs of London (18 10), i, 

 64.8. 8» Ibid.; E.R.O., D/DB T337. 



*' Lysons, op. cit. i, 648. For a survey 

 of the glebe of the rectory and of all tithe 

 payers c. 1800 see E.R.O., D/P 166/3/3. 



" Ibid. 



M Ifhite'! Dir. Essex (1848), 415; 

 E.R.O., D/P 166/11/2-11; E.R.O., 

 D/CT 78. 



84 E.R.O., D/P 166/11/12; ibid. 166/ 



3/3- 



85 E.A.T. N.s. X, 236-8. 



3Z 



8' Ibid. The gross income was 43J. ^d. 

 Reserved rents of ys, lod. and an annual 

 payment of 55. to the poor were chargeable 

 against this. 



8' Ibid. 238. For Ilderton's will see 

 ibid. 316. He also extended the north 

 aisle (see below). 



88 E.A.T.N.s.x,ZiSiCal.Pat. 1547-8, 

 287. 



89 Archd. Essex 3 Sell. 



9» E.R.O., D/DEs M82, L3. Many 

 members of the family were buried in this 

 chapel. «' E.A.T. ■!).$. X, 316. 



92 Lysons, Environs of London (1810), i, 

 647- 



