ONGAR HUNDRED 



LAMBOURNE 



I793.*5 In 1 839 a Mr. Mead was appointed receiver/* 

 By 1856 a sub-post-office had been established.'''' A 

 telegraph service was set up in 1 89 1** and the telephone 

 by 192 1.'" 



The Herts, and Essex Waterworks Co. extended its 

 mains to Abridge and some other parts of the parish in 

 19 1 7, and a further extension took place in 1937.50 

 There is a sewerage system, chiefly at Abridge. 5' Gas 

 was first supplied by the Chigwell, Loughton, and 

 Woodford Gas Co.s^ Electricity was supplied to parts 

 of Abridge and Lambourne in 1929.53 At Abridge 

 there is a parish room (formerly the Congregational 

 chapel), and a village hall called the Gymnasium. There 

 is another parish room at Lambourne End. A branch 

 of the county library was opened in 1929.5* The 

 Abridge Coffee Rooms and Club existed in 1886 and 

 later.55 There was a cricket club at Abridge in 1 895.56 

 There was a police sergeant at Abridge in 1898.5' 

 There is now a policeman at Abridge and another at 

 Lambourne End.'^ 



A writer of about 1770 noted that 'husbandry alone 

 seems to be the employ of the inhabitants' of Lam- 

 bourne. 5' This was not entirely true; as is shown below 

 there were some inns and shops at Abridge, which must 

 have employed a few people in the i8th century. But 

 agriculture was certainly the main occupation. During 

 the Middle Ages the ownership of the land in the parish 

 was shared among some eight chief lords. From the 

 middle of the i6th century onwards the estates tended 

 to coalesce. In the i8th century three large estates, 

 attached to Lambourne Hall, Bishops Hall, and Dews 

 Hall, accounted for much of the parish. By 1850 the 

 greater part of the parish was owned by a single family, 

 that of Lockwood, of Bishops Hall. Their estate was 

 broken up in 1 929.60 Until the i6th century it is prob- 

 able that few of the chief landowners were resident in 

 the parish: this may partly explain the unsatisfactory 

 relationship between Abridge and the rest of the parish.*' 

 In and after the i6th century there was some improve- 

 ment. The Taverners of Arneways and the Palmers of 

 Dews Hall lived in the parish. In the 1 8 th century this 

 area became remarkably fashionable for the gentry. 

 Lord Fortescue, the Walkers, the Lockwoods, the 

 Thorogoods, and Sir Edward Hughes all lived in Lam- 

 bourne or in neighbouring parishes.*^ All contributed 

 in various ways to the improvement of the parish, and 

 their paternal interest in it was maintained in the 19th 

 and 20th centuries by the Lockwoods. They must have 

 been large employers of domestic as well as agricultural 

 labour. 



The landowners do not seem to have attempted direct 

 large-scale farming. In 184 1 there were three farms 

 over 200 acres in extent, of which the largest was 235 

 acres. There were five farms of 100-200 acres and six 

 of 40-100 acres.*3 All these farms were let to tenant 

 farmers. In 1929 most of Lord Lambourne's estate was 



occupied by tenants, although the home farm of Lam- 

 bourne Hall was in hand.** 



In this parish, as elsewhere in this area, mixed farm- 

 ing is carried on. In 1841 there were some 750 acres 

 of arable, 1,300 acres of meadow and pasture, and 350 

 acres of woodland and forest.*5 At that date there was 

 also a small amount of ozier-growing.** Of greater 

 interest is the persistence of hop-growing. In 184 1 

 there was ij acre of land under hops. As is noted 

 below, brewing was carried on in Abridge at this 

 time.*' 



There is little evidence concerning inclosure in the 

 parish, which so far as it concerned common field and 

 meadow had evidently been completed before the 1 8th 

 century. A small exception is shown on a map of 1 740: 

 strips in Rye meadow, north of Arneways in the north- 

 east corner of the parish.** Inclosure of woodland was 

 much slower, for royal rights were involved. About 

 200 acres in the south of the parish formed part of 

 Hainault Forest. In 1305 William de Sutton, lord of 

 Battles Hall in Stapleford Abbots, who also held land 

 in Lambourne, was granted licence to fell and sell the 

 great trees and underwood of 7 acres in his wood of 

 Lambourne, which was within the Forest of Essex, as 

 it appeared that there was not a frequent resort of the 

 deer there.*' This grant was made to enable him to pay 

 his debts at the Exchequer. In 1630 six unauthorized 

 inclosures of the forest were said to have recently been 

 made in Lambourne; one of these was on the waste, the 

 others on old inclosures.'o 



In 1 8 5 1 Hainault Forest was disafforested. The part 

 of the forest in Lambourne was, however, not affected." 

 In 1858 the Hainault Forest Allotment of Commons 

 Act (21 & 22 Vict. c. 37) provided that 314 acres in 

 Lambourne, Chigwell, and Dagenham should be 

 allotted as common to the parish of Lambourne. The 

 map attached to the act shows a small existing inclosure 

 at Lambourne End. It is possible that this was the area 

 inclosed in 1832—3 by the parish vestry with the con- 

 sent of E. L. Percival, the lord of the manor.'^ By an 

 award of 1861, under the act of 1858, 186 acres in 

 Lambourne became common for the parish; more 

 specifically it was waste of the manor of Lambourne." 

 In 1903, by the Hainault (Lambourne Burrows and 

 Grange Hill) Act'* the then lord of the manor, A. R. M. 

 Lockwood, was authorized to sell Lambourne Common 

 for £2,830 to the London County Council, so that it 

 might become a public park.'s This is now all that 

 remains of Hainault Forest. 



Abridge fair, on 2 June, was abolished in 1878.'* It 

 had existed in 1780." In 1848 it was stated to be for 

 cattle.'* Its origin has not been traced. No lord or 

 owner of tolls was known in 1878. 



The existence of the fair suggests that Abridge was 

 an important viUage in the i8th century. Alistof 1723 

 names three inns, the 'Crown', the 'Blue Boar', and the 



*' Gary's Eng. Alia!, 1793. 



■»' P.M.G. Mins. 1839, vol. 46, p. 462. 



" Brit. Post. Guide, 1856. Cf. P.M.G. 

 Mins. 1865, vol. 43, min. 4070. 



♦8 P.M.G. Mins. 1891, vol. 448, min. 

 14861. 



*' Brit. Post. Guide, 1 92 1. 



s» Kelly's Dir. Essex (1917, 1937)- 



" Inf. from the rector. 



52 Inf. from the North Thames Gas Bd. 



53 Inf. from Eastn. Elec. Bd. 

 '♦ Inf. from County Librarian. 



55 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1886 f.). 



56 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1895). 

 5' Ibid. 1898. 



58 Inf. from Chief Constable of Essex. 



5' Hist. Essex by Gent, iv, 20. 



«» For details see below, Manors. 



«' See above; and below, Parish Govern- 

 ment. 



'» Fortescue lived at Stapleford Abbots, 

 Hughes in Chigwell. 



'3 For these figures see E.R.O., D/CT 

 202. " See below. Manor. 



6s E.R.O., D/CT 202. " Ibid. 



6' Ibid. For a reference to a hop-garden 

 ini727seeE.R.O., D/P181/8/1. 



68 Map in poss. of Mr. H. E. Clarke nf 

 Arnolds. 



M Cal. Pat. 1301-7, 315-16. 



75 



'» W. R. Fisher, Forest of Essex, 327. 



" Ibid. 349. 



'2 See below. Parish Govt, and Poor 

 Relief. 



'3 Details of the award are given in the 

 act of 1903 (see below). 



^* 3 Edw. VII, c.257 (priv. act.). 



'5 The purchase included the 186 acres 

 in Lambourne and 54 acres in Chigwell 

 and Dagenham, which were included in 

 the price. 



'6 Lond. Gax. 26 July 1878, p. 4318. 



" Essex, Herts. & Camhi. Almanack 

 1780. 



'8 fVhite's Dir. Essex (i%\%). 



