A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



but the spire was recently covered with shingles of 

 Canadian cedar.5 



There is one bell by William Land, 1618, and a 

 sanctus bell, uninscribed. In 1552 there were two 

 Rogation bells weighing 10 lb. and two great bells 

 weighing 300J lb.* Early in the 19th century an old 

 bell larger than the present bell, being cracked and un- 

 hung, was sold.' 



In the chancel is a stone pillar piscina with an octa- 

 gonal bowl, probably late 15 th century. The igth- 

 century quatrefoil window in the west gable of the 

 nave contains an early 1 6th-century roundel of stained 

 glass, showing a man's head and shoulders in the dress 

 of the time. A crown suggests that he may represent 

 St. Edmund.* Two other pieces of stained glass, prob- 

 ably of similar date, were removed from the church 

 before 1836. They came into the possession of a 

 Bobbingworth farmer who took them with him to 

 New Zealand. He was persuaded to return them to 

 the church but they were lost in a shipwreck off the 

 Scilly Isles on their return journey in 1871.' Hanging 

 in the nave is a round-headed wooden panel on which 

 is an oil painting of about 1 500 showing the martyrdom 

 of St. Edmund.'" The octagonal oak pulpit was pre- 

 sented by Alexander Cleeve in 1698." One panel has 

 the date and I. H. S. inlaid in darker wood. The stone 

 font is of the 19th century. The stained glass in the 

 four chancel windows was inserted in memory of 

 William Smith, d. 1871: the north window shows the 

 martyrdom of St. Edmund and the east window the 

 Last Supper and Crucifixion. The oak screen dividing 

 the vestry from the nave was given in memory of 

 Gerard Noel Hoare and his son, between them church- 

 wardens from 1907 to 1949. 



The church plate consists of a cup, 1739, paten, 

 1699 (the gift of Alexander and Mary Cleeve), a 

 flagon 1858 (the gift of the Revd. P. W. Ray and 

 family), and an alms-dish, 1817. The last piece was 

 obtained in compliance with the archdeacon's instruc- 

 tions in 1 8 1 7 to 'sell pewter plate and provide patens 

 for the offerings'." 



On the north wall of the chancel is an alabaster 

 tablet in memory of Jone, second wife of Alane Wood 

 (1585). There are also tablets to the Revd. W. H. 

 Warren (1825) and Mary wife of Craven Ord (1804). 

 On the south wall is a tablet to Richard Hewyt, rector 

 (1724). In the nave are tablets to P. J. Budworth 

 (1885) and his son Major-Gen. Charles E. D. Bud- 

 worth (1921). 



In 1792 the rector opened a Sunday school in 



Greenstead. Only one child attended 



SCHOOLS from this parish, however; the others 



came from Chipping Ongar, and when 



the Chipping Ongar Sunday school was started the 



Greenstead school was discontinued. '3 In 1807 there 

 was no school in the parish, but by 181 8 the Sunday 

 school had been reopened by the rector and the lord of 

 the manor. Craven Ord. It then had 22 pupils and it 

 continued with varying attendances at least until 

 1 846-7. '« In 1828 a small day school existed, '5 but by 

 1833 it had been closed.'* 



In 1839 the rector began to collect subscriptions for 

 a parish school." By 1846-7 this was being attended 

 by some 34 children. The mistress then received £30 

 a year.'* About this time a new building was erected, 

 evidently by subscription, on a site on the waste on 

 Greenstead Green, presented by the Revd. Philip 

 Budworth, lord of the manor. The rector exercised a 

 close supervision over it." It provided 33 places, 

 'abundant accommodation' for the small and declining 

 population of the parish. In 1870 there were about 

 23 pupils.^" Between 1878 and 1882 the school was 

 closed; the children subsequently attended the schools 

 at Chipping Ongar and Stanford Rivers.^' 



The former school house stands on Greenstead 

 Green, beside Greenstead House; it is now known as 

 Ivy Cottage. (See plate facing p. 126.) 



No parish records are known to survive except the 

 registers. A few figures of poor 

 POOR RELIEF relief are available from Parlia- 

 mentary returns but these are prob- 

 ably not very reliable.^^ In 1776 expenditure on poor 

 relief was ;^il.^3 For the three years 1783-5 the 

 average annual expenditure was ;{^29.^'» By 1 800-1 the 

 annual expenditure had risen to ^^i 50, but in 1 802-3 '^ 

 was only £7^.^^ Figures of expenditure on poor relief 

 alone are missing for the years 1 803-1 1 ; the poor rates, 

 which also include administrative expenses and county 

 rates, rose from £()i in 1803-4 to ,{^255 in 1810-11.^* 

 The cost of relief rose from £174 in 1811-12 to /C486 

 in 1819-20." The cost for 1 820-1 was, however, 

 only Xi4+-'* 



There was a parish poorhouse by 1776.^' In 1841 

 there were 'almshouses' belonging to the parish, situated 

 at Greenstead Green, opposite Greenstead House.^" 

 These had probably been provided by the parish for 

 the accommodation of its poor: there is no evidence 

 that they were a privately endowed charity. They had 

 disappeared by 1873—4.3' 



In 1836 Greenstead became part of Ongar Poor 

 Law Union. 



For an account of Petit's Charity see Stanford 

 Rivers. 

 CHARITIES Richard Bourne of Greenstead Hall 

 (d. 1660) left to the poor of the parish 

 40;. issuing from Lee Fields.'- In 1834 the money was 

 used to buy coal for all the poor householders. The 

 rent-charge was not collected from 1908 to 1924 but 



* Inf. from present rector, Revd. W. A. 

 Hewett. 



» E.A.T.t).%. 11,236. 

 ' Ch. Bells Essex, 265. 



* Sec Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, pi. p. xxxv ; 

 p. 112. 



« E.R. iii, 135; xxii, 45. 



'» See E.R. xlvii, 78. 



" P. J. Budworth, Mems. of Green- 

 stead- Budivorth. 



" Ch. Plate Essex, 135-6. 



'3 E.R.O., D/AEM 2/4. 



'♦ Ibid.; ifrtnJ. Educ. of Poor, H.C. 224, 

 p. 256 (1819), ix (i); Nat. Soc. Reps. 

 1 820, I 828 j Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church 

 Schs. 1 846-7, 8-9. 



" Nat. Soc. Rep. 1828. 



" Educ. Enquiry Abstr. H.C. 62, p. 276 

 (1835), xli. 



1' E.R.O., D/P 30/28/18. 



■8 Nat. Soc. Enquiry, 1846-7, 8-9. 



'» Kelly's Dir. Essex (1855, 1862). 



" E.R.O., D/AEM i/i/i ; Retns. Elem. 

 Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 1 12-13 ('^7')' l^- 



" Kelly's Dir. £jKr (1878, 1882, 1922). 

 The school was sold in 1 890 for ,^200 : 

 Char. Com. files. The income from this 

 sum, known as the Greenstead School 

 Foundation, is used to give book tokens 

 at Christmas to children recommended by 

 the headmasters of the Ongar Primary 

 and Secondary Schools : inf. from rector. 



22 The parliamentary returns can often 

 be checked for parishes with surviving poor 



62 



law records; for other places in Ongar 

 hundred they have been found inaccurate. 



» E.R.O., (2/CR i/i. " Ibid. 



" E.R.O., e/CR 1/9. " Ibid. 



" Ibid.; Q/CR 1/12. 



28 Q/CR 1/12. A remarkable drop, if 

 the figure is correct; but it may be an 

 error. 



2« Rep. Sel. Cttee. on Overseers Retns. 

 ijjy, H.C. Ser. i, vol. ix, p. 350. 



3» E.R.O., D/CT 153. The almshouses, 

 apparently 4 in number, were in a terrace. 



3' O.S. 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet 1 



(1873-4)- 



32 Rep. Com. Char. (Essex), H.C. 216, 

 pp. 228-9 {i835)> "''' (')i Char. Com. 

 files. 



