ONGAR HUNDRED 



KELVEDON HATCH 



jr4,ooo.*2 The cost was borne by E. W. Puxon, 

 father-in-law of the rector, and by his widow.63 A 

 new wing was added at the south end and several 

 smaller additions were made on the garden side. 

 Mullioned and transomed windows were inserted and 

 the older house was encased with ornamental timber- 

 ing. Much of the interior detail is of the same date. 

 In 193 1 the present rector moved to a new rectory and 

 the old house became the property of Mr. J. W. B. 

 Jones. 



The present rectory was built in 193 1 immediately 

 to the west of the modern parish church. It is of dark 

 red brick. The builders were Messrs. Trigg & Moore 

 of Chelmsford.*" 



The former parish church of ST. NICHOLAS 

 stands in the grounds of Kelvedon Hall. There was a 

 medieval church on this site, but a complete rebuilding 

 took place between 1750 and 1753.^5 The font and a 

 1 5th-century bell were preserved from the old church 

 and many of the floor slabs appear to have been left ;'» 

 situ. Four bells were sold to help defray the cost of re- 

 building.** In 1873 the church was restored at a cost 

 of ;^38o,*' but twenty years later it was decided to build 

 another church on a more convenient site near the 

 centre of the parish. The new building, to which 

 many of the fittings had been removed, was con- 

 secrated in 1895.*^ The old church, dismantled and 

 derelict, became overgrown with creeper and was 

 further damaged by a German rocket bomb in 1945.*' 



The building is of red brick, plastered internally, 

 and had a tiled roof, much of which has fallen down. 

 It consists of nave and chancel with a small weather- 

 boarded bell turret at the west end. Both Morant 

 (1768) and Wright (1835) mention a south aisle, but 

 it is probable that their information is out of date and 

 that they are referring to the medieval church.'" The 

 chancel arch is slightly pointed and the glazing of the 

 windows has a gothic flavour, but in other respects the 

 details are purely Georgian. At the east end is a three- 

 light Venetian window, the other windows being 

 round-headed or circular. The flat ceiling has a 

 modillion cornice. Classical pilasters, formerly at one 

 of the south entrances," are now missing. 



Some floor slabs remain, many from the medieval 

 church. A slab having indents for a figure and for four 

 shields of arms has no inscription but probably dates 

 from the 15th century.'^ An indented slab which 

 formerly held brasses of a kneeling man and woman 

 has an inscription to Francis [sic] Wright, formerly 

 Waldegrave (d. 1656). The inscription was probably 

 cut at this date on an older slab: the woman's figure, 

 of which a drawing remains, is shown in the dress of 

 about 1 570.73 An epitaph mentioned by Morant''' 

 to John Wright (15 51) has now disappeared. An 

 inscribed brass to another John Wright (1608) recorded 

 in 1920's is also missing. Other slabs to the Wrights 

 of Kelvedon Hall include those of Ann (Suliard, 16 17) 

 and two John Wrights (1654 and 1656). There are 

 many 17th-century slabs to members of the Luther 

 family, some with shields of arms. An inscribed brass 

 plate to Richard Luther (who died 1638)'* and his 



I 



" Inf. from Mr. J. W.B.Jones. " Ibid. 



«♦ Inf. from Rev. Wm. Tirrell. 



" Essex Par. Recs. 139; a brief for 

 ^1,681 was applied for in 1750—1: E.R. 

 xxvi, 199. See plate facing p. 270. 



'« Inf. from Revd. Wm. Tirrell. 



<•^ Kelly's Dir. Essex (1886). 



" E.R. V, 7. 



" Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 142; inf. 



from Revd. Wm. Tirrell. 



7° Morant, Hist. Essex, 

 Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 4.23. 



" E.R. xii, 17+. 



'2 Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 1+2. 



'3 E.A.T. N.s. X, 206. 



'■• Morant, Essex, i, i8y. 



'5 Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, il, 142. 



'' See Germains, above. 



brother Anthony is undated. Other slabs are to Robert 

 Thurkettle (1679) and his wife and to Elizabeth Purca 

 (1727) and Mrs. Ann Westwood (1742). 



No wall monuments survive from the medieval 

 church. In the chancel is a handsome marble tablet 

 to John Wright (175 1) who rebuilt Kelvedon Hall. 

 There is also a tablet to his son-in-law, Marrock 

 Strickland. A white marble cartouche shield in the 

 nave commemorates Charles Dolby of Brizes (1755) 

 and a gothic tablet, now fallen, is to William Dolby 

 (1819). On the south wall of the chancel are marble 

 tablets to John Luther, M. P. (1786), and Rebecca and 

 Amy Luther (1780 and 1782). A painted board giving 

 a list of the parish charities hangs in the nave. Among 

 the many headstones in the churchyard is one carved 

 with an hour-glass, skull, and crossbones, inscribed to 

 Jonathan Wingrue (1704)." 



The- present parish church, also dedicated to St. 

 Nicholas, was built in 1895 at a cost of £2,000.'* 

 The site had previously been acquired for burials." 

 Funds were raised by appeals and subscriptions and 

 John Thomas Newman, F.R.I.B.A., of Kelvedon Hatch 

 gave his services as architect, ^o The building is of red 

 brick, left exposed internally, and consists of chancel, 

 nave, organ chamber, vestry, and south porch. Above 

 the porch is a small bell tower with a louvred belfry 

 and a shingled spire. The church was thoroughly 

 restored in 1927 when the roof was partially renewed 

 and the pipe organ, which had been damaged by rain, 

 was taken away.*' 



The font, removed from the earlier church, is octa- 

 gonal and probably of the 15th century. On one face 

 is carved a mitre and on the adjoining faces are 

 children's heads. The position of the carvings suggests 

 that the font has been wrongly orientated. The seat- 

 ing, much of which came from the old church, is of the 

 19th century. 



The single bell, which also came from the old church, 

 was cast about 1460—80 and was probably by John 

 Kebyll; it is inscribed 'Sancte Andree Ora Pro Nobis' 

 and has a shield of arms. *^ The church plate consists 

 of a silver cup and paten of 1674, with the arms of the 

 Luther family and probably given by them. There is 

 also a silvered copper paten, undated but fairly modern. 

 At one time there was an electro-plated flagon, also 

 modern, but this has been missing since at least 1926.83 



The former Church Room, previously the non- 

 conformist mission hall and now the village hall, was 

 bought by the rector, D. W. Peregrine,*'* who sold it in 

 1905 to certain parishioners who in 191 2 made it over 

 to the then rector, W. S. Mavor. The consideration of 

 j^ioo was to be repaid and then the house would be 

 handed over to the church. By 1930, however, the 

 money was only partly repaid and the building was in 

 disrepair. It was therefore sold for £1 1 5 and after the 

 repayment of Dr. Mavor the balance was devoted to 

 church work.'' The former Church House, now 

 Reed's Stores, was built late in the 19th century. 

 Early in the present century the house was used as a 

 Working Men's Club and coffee house.** From 1906 

 to 1909 the curate hved there." 



" Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 142. 

 87; T. ■>» Kelly's Dir. Essex (^i<)Z<)). 



" Inf. from rector. »<> Ibid. 



8' Ibid. *' Ch. Bells Essex, 309. 



" Ck. Plate Essex, 136; inf. from rector. 

 «♦ Inf. from the Revd. W. Tirrell. 

 »5 Char. Com. Recs. 

 '8 Kelly's Dir. Essex {liq^ 1896, 1906). 

 »' Inf. from Revd. W. Tirrell. 



69 



