ONGAR HUNDRED 



FYFIELD 



Stane of Forest Hall, High Ongar (q.v.).^* Herons 

 remained part of the Forest Hall estate until that estate 

 was put up for sale by auction in 191979 In 1842 

 Herons Farm consisted of 262 acres of which 205 acres 

 were arable.*" From 1813 until after 1842 the occupier 

 was James Lucking.*' In 19 19 the farm consisted of 

 234 acres of arable and pasture, all of which was let to 

 R. and H. Oliver at a rent of ^^3 86 a year.*^ 



The site of the original manor house, partly covered 

 by farm buildings, is south of the existing farm-house. 

 It was surrounded by a moat with a second moated en- 

 closure, perhaps for cattle, to the west of it.^s The 

 present house dates from the late i8th or early 19th 

 century with a wing of about 1870 on its west side. 

 One of the timbered barns may be of the 17th century. 



The manor of LJMPETTS appears for the first 

 time under that name in the 15th century.*'* It probably 

 derived the name from Thomas Lam pet (see below).*' 



The early history of the manor cannot be traced with 

 certainty. It is possibly to be identified, however, with 

 the manor which was held in 1066 by Alestan and in 

 1086 by Roger of John son of Waleran.** It was then 

 held as 30 acres and was worth 20/.*' It is likely that 

 after 1086 this small estate was held of the manor of 

 Fyfield. In 1475 Lampetts was held of Thomas, Lord 

 Scrope, lord of the manor of Fyfield.** In 1485 it was 

 said to be worth 40J.*' 



Thomas Lampet was a tenant of the manor of Fyfield 

 by 1385 and from then until at least 1396 he was con- 

 tinually presented for failing to do suit at the manor 

 court.'" He was dead by 141 1." In 1412 it was re- 

 ported that Isabel Lampet held lands and tenements in 

 Fyfield. 9^ Later the estate passed into the ownership of 

 the Wrytell family which had connexions with the 

 Lampetsin 141 1. 'J In 1473 Walter Wrytell apparently 

 gave instructions that after his death his manor of 

 Lampetts was to be used for the maintenance of an obit 

 in Bobbingworth church.'^ Later> however, he must 

 have changed his mind, for at thet ime of his death in 

 1475 Lampetts was settled, by his demise, on his wife 

 Katherine for life with remainder to his heirs. 's 



After 1475 the manor of Lampetts followed the same 

 descent as that of High Laver (q.v.) until 15 10. In 

 1 5 10 Lampetts was allotted to Edward and Gresilda 

 Waldegrave to hold to them and to the heirs of Gre- 

 silda.9' In 1 539 William Rochester, son of Gresilda by 

 her first husband John Rochester, granted the manor to 

 Sir Richard Rich, later ist Baron Rich." In 1 564 Rich 

 conveyed the manor to John Waylett.'* In 1565 

 Waylett granted it to Nicholas Collins.^' The estate 

 remained in the Collins family until after the death of 

 John Collins in 1750.' He was succeeded by his only 

 child Mary who brought the manor in marriage to 

 Jacob Wragg, Rector of North Cadbury (Som.).^ After 

 Wragg's death in 1785-6 Mrs. Wragg held the estate 

 until she died in 1804-5.3 Her executors then sold it 



in 1806 to Ebenezer Maitland who retained ownership 

 until after i863.* In 1842 the estate consisted of 330 

 acres. 5 The manor house,* which stands on a moated 

 site, is a timber-framed structure of two stories. The 

 central part was originally an aisled hall of the 14th cen- 

 tury, built on an east-west axis and consisting of two or 

 more bays. The cross-wing at the east end, which pro- 

 jects slightly to the south, was added in the 1 5th century. 

 The division of the hall into two stories may have taken 

 place in the i6th century and at the same time the 

 north aisle roof was replaced by two gables to give light 

 to the upper floor; the raising of the eaves level on the 

 south side is of much later date. The small staircase 

 block in the angle between the hall and the east wing is 

 also probably of the i6th century. The west cross-wing 

 was probably built or rebuilt early in the 1 8th century. 



The original 14th-century construction appears to be 

 somewhat later than that at Fyfield Hall. The position 

 of the two longitudinal plates marking the limits of the 

 'nave' can be seen in the roof space. Below these lay the 

 nave arcades. The post in the centre of the arcade on 

 the south side is still partly visible behind plaster in a 

 ground-floor cupboard. It is octagonal in section and 

 about I ft. in diameter. The corresponding post of the 

 north aisle is buried in a later partition. A curved 

 timber forming one side of the easternmost arch of the 

 south arcade can be seen both from the roof space and 

 against the later chimney breast on the first floor. The 

 construction of the upper part of the north aisle can also 

 be traced, but several of the timbers are missing. In the 

 roof space above the nave all the timbers are much 

 smoke-blackened. Across the centre is a king-post truss 

 with a cambered tie-beam below which were originally 

 two large arched braces. One of these is still in position. 

 The short king-post is octagonal. It has four-way struts 

 and a moulded capital and base. There are indications 

 of a second king-post truss near the west end of the hall 

 where the addition of the later cross-wing has cut into 

 the 14th-century construction. This may represent the 

 site of a demolished screens bay. An original doorway 

 near the east end of the north aisle, however, suggests 

 an alternative site for the screens passage. 



The roof of the two-story east wing is divided into 

 three bays by two original trusses, the timbers of which 

 are not smoke-blackened. One of the king-posts is octa- 

 gonal, the other octagonal on a square base and both 

 have fairly elaborate mouldings. This was almost cer- 

 tainly a 15th-century solar wing. 



The chamfered beams which support the inserted 

 ceiling in the hall have bar-stops of the i6th or early 

 17th century. The central chimney and one at the 

 south-east corner of the house have diagonal shafts and 

 moulded brickwork and are probably of much the same 

 date. There is panelling of a similar period near the 

 west end of the house. Most of the fittings and panelling 

 in the west wing date from the first half of the i8th 



'• E.R.O.,Q/RPl 715-37. 



" E.R.O., Sale Cat. A. 225. 



«» E.R.O., D/CT 148. 



«' E.R.O., e/RPl 718-37; ibid. D/CT 

 148. 



82 E.R.0.,5afcCa/. A. 225. 



" Hist. Mon. Com. Rccs. 



8< Cat. Inq. p.m. Hen. VU, i, pp. 61-62, 

 383;Ci4C5/52. 



«5 Cal Inq. f.m. Hen. VU, i, pp. 61-62, 



383- 



*' y.C.H. Essex, i, 545a; see above, 

 Manor of Fyfield. 



«' V.C.H. Essex, i, 545^. 



88 C140/52. 



89 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen, VU, i, pp. 61-62. 

 »o E.R.O., D/DCw M97. 



»i Eeet of F. Essex, iii, 256. 



92 FeuJ. Aids, vi, 439. 



93 Feet ofF. Essex, iii, 256. 



94 Morant, Essex, i, 135. 



95 C140/52; Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VU, i, 

 pp. 61—62, 383. 



94 E.R.O., D/DB T96/69. 

 9' CP40/1102 rot. 157. 



98 CP25(2)/i27/i624. Cf. Blake Hall 

 Manor in Bolibingworth. 



99 P.R.O., MS. Cal. Feet of F. Essex, 



51 



Mich. 7-8 Eliz. (the original final concord 

 is now missing). 



■ CP25(2)/i3S/i725; CP25(2)/922 

 Trin. 4 Anne; C142/481/44. In the 

 records the family name is sometimes spelt 

 Collins, sometimes Collin, and occasionally 

 CoIIen. 



2 Hist. Essex hy Gent, iii, 336. 



3 E.R.O., Q/RPl 685-710. 



< E.R.O., e/RPl 711-37; ibid. D/CT 

 148 ; ibid. 2/RPr 1/27; fVhite's Dir. Essex 

 (1863). 



5 E.R.O., D/CT 148. 



' See pi. p. 50. 



