ONGAR HUNDRED 



CHIGWELL 



In 1848 a room in the old workhouse at Chigwell 

 Row was being used for services. It had accommoda- 

 tion for 100 but was then overcrowded.^-! Chigwell 

 Row became a separate ecclesiastical district in 1 860.^ 

 The parish church was built in 1867, and in the 

 same year Chigwell Row became a separate parish.^5 

 The living, like that of Buckhurst Hill, was declared 

 a rectory, having been endowed with tithes which in 

 1886 were estimated to produce j^343 a year, and 6 

 acres of glebe.^* The advowson was at first vested in 

 the bishop of the diocese, but from about 1 874 has been 

 exercised alternately by the bishop and the Crown.^' 



Bartholomew Hartley Foulger of Chigwell Row, 

 by will proved 1930, left ^1,000 for the upkeep of the 

 churchyard, provided that certain graves and his family 

 memorial tablet were kept in repair. In 1950 the whole 

 income was spent on the churchyard.^* 



The Revd. Alfred W. Gross of Woodford Wells, by 

 will proved 193 1, left X^ioo duty-free to maintain 

 Chigwell Row church and churchyard. In 1950 the 

 whole income was spent on the churchyard.^' 



The church oi ALL SAINTS is a stone building in 

 Gothic style. It originally contained nave, chancel, 

 aisles, and west porch. A tower was added in 1903.30 



The church of ST. PAUL, Hainault, was built in 

 195 1, and in 1953 became the centre of a new Con- 

 ventional District which includes parts of the parishes 

 of Chigwell Row, Chigwell, and the Ascension, Collier 

 Row, together with part of the Conventional District 

 of St. Francis of Assisi, Barkingside.s' 



A private chapel at Tumours Hall, Gravel Lane, 

 was used for public worship for some years about 

 1912.32 



The Convent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary 

 (formerly the Manor House) at 

 ROMAN Woodford Bridge was consecrated 



CATHOLICISM in 1925. It is served from Wood- 

 ford.33 A school is carried on in 

 connexion with the convent.3'* The church of the 

 Assumption was opened in Manford Way, Hainault, 

 in November 1953.35 



PROTESTANT 

 NONCONFORMITT 



On 31 May 1804 a nonconformist chapel was 

 opened at Chigwell Row.3* 

 The minister was a Mr. 

 Booth. Among the original 

 trustees were Joseph 

 Fletcher, shipbuilder of Shadwell Dock, and Isaac 

 Gould of Loughton. Henry Fletcher had bought 

 Clare Hall in 1801, and its name had been changed 

 to Chapel House.3' The chapel was usually described 

 during the 19th century as Independent and supported 

 the Essex Congregational Union. In 1829 the minister 

 reported that his congregation numbered 200-50, of 

 whom 100 'may properly be called dissenters, accord- 

 ing to our system'. 3 8 In 1831 the chapel opened a 

 school (see Schools). During the early 1840's, under 

 its minister the Revd. T. Hill, it made itself responsible 



" E.R.O., D/P 166/3/3. " See below, Schools. 



M Kellfi Dir. Essex (1870). " Calk. Dir. (1954), 129. 



" Ibid. 



" Ibid. (1886). 



" Ibid. (18701). 



'» Char. Com. Recs. 



" Ibid. 



30 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



" Inf. from the Revd. P. H. Wingham. 



3^ Kelly's Dir. Essex (19 1 2); inf. from 

 Mrs. Beattie of Tumours Hall. The 

 chapel is still used for private services. 



" Brentwood R.C.) Diocesan Tear Bk. 

 >953- 



for the mission at Abridge (in Lambourne, q.v.).'« 

 During the next ten years the Chigwell Row church 

 was in difficulties.t" In 1857 the British School was 

 temporarily closed and the church itself barely sur- 

 vived. In the following year, however, the school was 

 reopened and the church was said to be reviving.*' 



The church experienced further difficulties during 

 the next few years, partly as the result of Anglican 

 opposition.*^ About 1866, however, it began to sup- 

 port a mission in Chigwell Road, which later developed 

 into a small church (see below).*3 The church at 

 Chigwell Row could usually afford to keep a minister 

 at this period. In or about 1882 it once again under- 

 took to support the Abridge church.** In 1904 there 

 were 37 members, 80 Sunday school pupils, and 3 

 teachers.*5 In 1925 the numbers were 52, 53, and 10 

 respectively.** The society is now (1952) a United 

 Free Church with 80 members, 50 Sunday school 

 pupils, and 18 teachers. It has had a lay pastor since 

 1938.*' 



The church is a rectangular building of gault brick 

 with stone or cement dressings. If this is the original 

 building of 1804 the front must have been altered 

 during the second half of the 19th century. Beside it 

 is an iron building used as a schoolroom. This was 

 brought from Leytonstone in 1880.** 



In 1866 the Essex Congregational Union was 

 making a small grant to help mission work in Chigwell.*' 

 In the following year it was reported that a room in 

 Chigwell Road had been opened for worship and that 

 congregations numbered about 130. Services were 

 held by the Revd. F. Neller, of the Chigwell Row 

 Congregational Church.^" In 1870 the mission was 

 flourishing, but the landlord had given the members 

 notice to quit.s' About 1875 the Chigwell Road 

 society appears to have become associated with one at 

 Woodford Bridge: in that year they had a joint super- 

 intendent, E. W. Skinner.52 From this time support 

 was being given by the Woodford Congregational 

 Church.s3 



In 1890 the two missions were united under the 

 superintendence of G. H. Giddins, minister of the 

 Ray Lodge Congregational Church, Woodford, which 

 church had itself been founded by the Woodford Con- 

 gregational Church. 5* Land was bought in Smeaton 

 Road, Chigwell, near Woodford Bridge, and an iron 

 chapel was given by T. W. Orr. Financial support by 

 W. H. Brown enabled a resident missionary to be 

 retained from 1903 to 1932.55 The chapel remained 

 under the care of the Woodford Congregational Church 

 when Ray Lodge became independent in 1930, and in 

 1947 became a branch of the Woodford Green United 

 Free Church, in which the Woodford Congregational 

 Church was merged. 5* There is a lay pastor at the 

 Smeaton Road church. The iron building was 

 damaged by enemy action during the Second World ■ 

 War.57 



3* Evangelical Mag. xii (1804.), p. 334. 



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



38 E.R.O., Q/CR 3/2/23. 



39 Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1847, pp. 

 20-21. 



■to E.R.O., D/P 166/3/3. 



•»■ Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1858. 



<2 Ibid. 1859, i860, 1861. 



<3 Ibid. 1866 f. 



" Ibid. 1882. 



■•5 Congr. Tear Bk. 1904. 



♦« Ibid. 1925. 



<' Congr. Tear Bk. 1952. 



** Essex Congr. Union Rep, 1880. 



« Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1866. 



50 Ibid. 1867. The room was in the 

 house of a Mr. Root. 



s' Ibid. 1870. 



5= Ibid. 1875. 



53 A. G. Kidd, 'The Pioneers, a Short 

 Hist, of the Woodford Green United Free 

 Church' (Typescript, 1948). 



5< Ibid. 



55 Ibid. 



5' Ibid. ■ 



5' IHd. 



35 



