A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



timbers in the present south aisle date from this 

 period. 



Early in the i6th century the church must have 

 been in good repair, but a century later the chancel 

 was said to be ruinous.'-J About 1600 a gallery was 

 built at the west end of the old nave, on the order of 

 Samuel Harsnett (vicar 1 597-1605, later Archbishop 

 of York).'* At the Archdeacon's Visitation in 1638 it 

 was ordered that the chancel floor should be raised by 

 three steps and properly paved, that a new rail should be 

 made round the communion table, the belfry boarded 

 with deal and the spire shingled.'' 



In 1704 the church was undergoing repair.'* In 

 1722 a second gallery, for the charity girls (see below, 

 Schools), was built at the west end of the north aisle. 

 In 1745 a subscription was raised for 'ornamenting the 

 steeple', when presumably the weather-vane was 

 added." The roof of the old nave was repaired in 

 1800: this involved repair of some of the old roof 

 timbers and the replacement of the lead covering with 

 tiles.'* Meanwhile, in 1793, another gallery had been 

 added, and in 1805 a fourth was built." One of the 

 new galleries was probably that at the east end of the 

 north aisle which was the private pew of the Hatch 

 family, lords of Chigwell Hall (see above).' 



The spire was re-shingled in 1835.^ By this time the 

 accommodation of the church was becoming insuffi- 

 cient for the needs of a growing population. In 1853 

 there was a proposal to extend the church by the addi- 

 tion of a south aisle.3 This plan, which would have 

 destroyed the south door and all the remaining Norman 

 fabric, was abandoned, but in 1854 there was con- 

 siderable restoration. This included alterations to the 

 windows in the south wall. It was carried out under 

 the direction of F. T. DoUman.* The church was not 

 actually enlarged until 1886, when Sir Arthur Blom- 

 field prepared plans upon which the present nave and 

 chancel are based.' The old nave became the present 

 south aisle and the old north aisle was demolished to 

 make way for the present nave, which is considerably 

 larger. In 1 896 the nave and chancel were redecorated 

 and the alabaster reredos and pulpit, both designed by 

 G. F. Bodley, were installed.* The oak screen in the 

 south aisle is a War memorial, unveiled in 1920.7 



In 1552 there were three bells, to which three more 

 were added in 1693. The three original bells were 

 replaced in 1737, 1743, and 1771. All five bells were 

 recast in 1910, and at the same time a sixth was added.' 



The church plate is among the finest in Essex. There 

 are two silver cups, one given in 1607 by John Pening- 

 ton of Chigwell Hall, the other inscribed 'a widow's 

 gift A. A. 1633' (she was Alice Andrews, a relative of 

 Roger Andrews, vicar 1605-6, and Thomas Andrews, 

 lessee of the rectory 1635-60). There are four silver 

 patens of 1609, 1632, 1633 and 1832, and a silver 

 flagon inscribed with the arms of William Scott of 



" E.R.O., D/AEA/14. 



9* Ckignvell Register (1907), 14.. 

 «5 E.R.O., D/AEV/7. «« Ibid. 17. 



" E.R.O., D/P 166/8/11. The copper 

 covering was not paid for by this sub- 

 scription. This came much later. 

 98 E.R.O., D/P 166/8/10. 

 M Ibid. 166/5/6. 

 ■ E.j4.T. U.S. xii, 137 f. Probably the 

 1805 gallery, since James Hatch acquired 

 Chigwell Hall in 1 800. 

 » E.R.O., 166/5/6. 

 ' Ibid. 1 66/8/ 1 1. 

 * E.A.T. N.s. xii, 138. 

 5 E.R.O., D/P 166/8/11. 



<■ E.R. V, 65. 



* Ch. Bells Essex, 209 ; E.R. xix, 204. 

 « CA. Plate Essex, 98. The 1607 plate 

 illustrated, p. 122. 



"> For Harsnett see E.R. xxi, 2 1 and li, 9. 

 For his brass see f^.C.H. Essex, ii, 544. 

 It was originally set over his grave in the 

 old chancel, now the south chapel. 



'^ Rampston was buried in Chingford 

 church:£.^.r. N.s. X, 186. 



'^ For Ilderton's brass see above. For 

 the unknown man see E.A.T. N.s. x, 185. 



" E.A.T. N.s. X, 237, 312; xi, 10, 150, 



335- 

 '♦ St. Winifred's was the gift of Mr. J. 



Woolston Hall and dated 17 13. The 1632 paten was 

 also given by Alice Andrews.' 



In the chancel is the well-known brass to Samuel 

 Harsnett (d. 163 1), Vicar of Chigwell and later suc- 

 cessively Bishop of Chichester, Bishop of Norwich, and 

 Archbishop of York.'" There is a brass in the nave to 

 Robert Rampston (1585), a benefactor to the poor of 

 this and other neighbouring parishes." In the south 

 chapel is a wall monument to Thomas Colshill (1595), 

 Surveyor of the Customs under Edward VI, Mary, and 

 Elizabeth, and Mary (Crayford) his wife. On the 

 south wall of the nave is a monument to George Scott 

 (1683) and Elizabeth (Cheyne) his wife. (1705). 

 Along the roof of the south aisle is a series of painted 

 hatchments of arras relating to families that have been 

 prominent in the parish, including those of Scott of 

 Woolston, and Hatch-Abdy of Chigwell Hall. The 

 brasses of Thomas Ilderton (1527—8) and an un- 

 known man {c. 1 5 10), which were formerly in the 

 church, have now disappeared.'^ 



Numerous small bequests to the church of Chigwell 

 in the 15th and i6th centuries were recorded in the 

 series of articles on 'Old Chigwell Wills' by W. C. 

 Waller.'3 



The ancient parish of Chigwell was divided in the 

 19th century by the creation of new parishes at Buck- 

 hurst Hill and Chigwell Row (see below). In 1935 

 the small church of ST. WINIFRED was built at 

 Grange Hill as a chapel of ease to St. Mary's, Chigwell. 

 It is a small brick building faced with cement. Adjoin- 

 ing it is an iron mission room, erected about i886.''* 



The parish church of -Sr. JOHN THE BAPTIST, 

 Buckhurst Hill, was built in 1837 as a chapel of ease. 

 In the following year Buckhurst Hill was constituted 

 a separate ecclesiastical district." In 1848 the minister 

 there had an income oi £60 a year, of which ;^40 came 

 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the re- 

 mainder from pew rents.'* Buckhurst Hill became a 

 separate parish in 1867. The living was endowed with 

 j{^200 tithes by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (as 

 owners of the rectorial tithes of Chigwell) and was 

 declared a rectory under the District Church Tithes 

 Act, 1865.''' The patron of the new rectory was the 

 Vicar of Chigwell until about l93i,whentheadvowson 

 passed to the Bishop of Chelmsford.'* 



The church consists of nave, chancel, aisles, north 

 porch, and tower with pinnacles and spire. It origin- 

 ally consisted of nave, chancel, and tower," and has been 

 several times enlarged.^" It is a stone building in the 

 Early English style. 



The mission church of ST. STEPHEN, Albert 

 Road, Buckhurst Hill was built as a chapel of ease to 

 St. John's in 1876.^' The mission church of ST. 

 ELISABETH, Chestnut Avenue, Buckhurst Hill, 

 which is also in this parish, was opened in 1938." 

 They are both small brick buildings. 



' E.R. XXX, 46. 



Sanders ; for the iron room see Kelly's Dir. 

 Essex {1SS6, 1890). 



'5 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1859, 1933). 



■6 E.R.O., D/P 166/3/3. 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1895); E.R.O., 

 D/P 166/3/3. The Act was 28 & 29 

 Vict. C.42. 



** Kelly's Dir. Essex, passim. 



■9 prate's Dir. Essex (1848). 



"> Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933); Buckhurst 

 Hill, pub. J. W. Phelp {c. 1 897 : a local 

 handbk.). 



^' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



22 Inf. from Canon I. Whitehouse, 

 Rector of Buckhurst Hill. 



34 



