A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



Thomas (d. 1748)." This became the seat of the Lock- 

 wood family and gave its name to their estate in the 19th 

 century. It was much enlarged by Lord Lambourne 

 about 1900. After the break-up of the estate (1929) 

 the house was demolished (1936)^" and the present 

 Bishops Hall, the third of the name, was built in the 

 grounds about 1 50 yds. south-east. This is a two-story 

 gabled building, partly half-timbered. Various features 

 from the earlier house are incorporated, including the 

 carved stone Lockwood arms on the south front and the 

 17th-century Dutch panelling in the library. 



The manor oi DEIVS HALL took its name from the 

 family of Deu or Dew. Thomas Deu held land in Lam- 

 bourne in 1248.^' He and John Deu made a convey- 

 ance of 9 acres of land and i acre of meadow in 1 262.^^ 

 A Richard Deu of Lambourne occurs in 1280-1.^2 A 

 John Deu was verderer for the regards of Chelmsford 

 and Ongar in 1285. He was probably identical with 

 the man of the same name who was a juror at the peram- 

 bulation of the forest of Essex in i30i.2'» In 1304-5 

 Hamon de Deu conveyed to Richard of Chigwell and 

 Joan his wife a messuage, 120 acres of land, 24 acres of 

 pasture, and 9 acres of meadow in Lambourne and 

 Theydon Bois.^s 



In 1305 Juliane, widow of John de Deu, conveyed 

 to Henry de Multon and Agnes his wife a messuage, 

 200 acres of land, 6 acres of meadow, 1 5 acres of wood, 

 and 20 acres of pasture in Lambourne.^* It was pro- 

 vided in this conveyance that the property should de- 

 scend to the heirs of Agnes; probably therefore she was 

 the daughter of John Deu. In or about 1322 the estate 

 passed to Juliane, daughter of Agnes and Henry and 

 wife of Richard de Welby of Multon (Moulton, 

 Lines .?)." In 1333 it was said to consist of a messuage, 

 220 acres of land, 7 acres of meadow, 20 acres of pas- 

 ture, 20 acres of wood, 24/. rent and \ messuage all in 

 Lambourne. A settlement in that year provided that 

 the estate should descend to the male heirs of Juliane 

 and Richard, with successive remainders to their daugh- 

 ters Margaret, Elizabeth, Joan, and Ada.^* No sons are 

 mentioned by name and it is probable that Dews Hall 

 descended through one of the daughters. 



In 14 1 9 John de Leventhorpe held an estate in 

 Lambourne, described as I messuage, 220 acres of land, 

 100 acres of meadow, 20 acres of pasture, 20 acres of 

 wood, 24-f. rent and J messuage.^' A Thomas de Leven- 

 thorpe had connexions with the parish in 1469.3° The 

 Leventhorpe estate was probably Dews Hall. Reynold 

 Bismere (d. 1 506) held Dews Hall of the Duke of 

 Buckingham as of Ongar castle by doing what are called 

 'white services' at the wardstaff of the hundred of 



Ongar.3' Two other Essex manors held by Bismere in 

 1 506 had formerly belonged to the Leventhorpes.'^ 



By 1 540 Dews Hall had passed to Sir William Sul- 

 yard who died in that year.^J He was succeeded by his 

 half-brother Eustace Sulyard (d. 1547). Eustace's heir 

 was his eldest son Edward, but Dews Hall, then in the 

 occupation of James Haydon, was left to a younger son 

 John. 34 There is no further mention of John. In 1580 

 Edward Sulyard and Anne his wife conveyed Dews 

 Hall to Henry Palmer.^' 



The manor descended in the direct male line of 

 Palmer to Henry Billingsley Palmer, son of Edward 

 Palmer.36 Between 1668 and 1697 a number of mort- 

 gages were taken out on Dews Hall.37 Among the 

 mortgagees was Richard Lockwood. In 1709 Henry 

 Billingsley Palmer sold the manor to Catlyn Thorogood, 

 an official of the South Sea Company.'* Thorogood 

 died in 1732.3' His son Pate Thorogood sold Dews 

 Hall in 1735 to Richard Lockwood, 'an eminent 

 Turkey merchant', the son of the above-mentioned 

 Richard Lockwood.'"' 



Lockwood settled at Dews Hall and the manor de- 

 scended to his eldest son Richard (d. 1794).'" The 

 latter left no children and was succeeded by his brother 

 the Revd. Edward Lockwood, owner of the main manor 

 of Lambourne (see above). In 1802, after the death of 

 the Revd. Edward Lockwood, Dews Hall passed to 

 William Joseph Lockwood, son of his elder son. It was 

 thus separated from the manor of Lambourne, but the 

 two manors were reunited in 1842 and Dews Hall 

 subsequently descended along with Lambourne. 



In 1 841 Dews Hall farm consisted of 40 acres occu- 

 pied by William Wootton.^^ In 1929 it consisted of 

 87 acres, in hand.*' 



When Richard Lockwood acquired Dews Hall in 

 1735 the manor house was 'an old brick building'.*^ 

 He enlarged and refronted it in the classical style.*' A 

 print of 1824 shows a fine three-story Georgian man- 

 sion with seven windows across the front.** The central 

 bay had a pediment and a first-floor balcony. The 

 arcaded side wings were of one story. The house was 

 demolished shortly before i84i.'»' The site is now 

 occupied by a red-brick stable court belonging to 

 Bishops Hall and dating from about 1900. 



The estate or farm known as HUNTS and later as 

 PATCH PARK never seems to have been styled a 

 manor. It derived its original name from the family of 

 Richard le Hunte who with Cecily his wife held land in 

 Lambourne in 1306.''* In 1360 John Hunte and his 

 'parceners' held \ knight's fee in Lambourne of the 

 Earl of Oxford.*' The name Patch Park probably came 



'9 William Walker was resident in the 

 parish (cf. E.R.O., D/P 181/8/1). Before 

 him the owners of Bishops Hall manor in 

 the 17th cent, were probably non- 

 resident. The house existed by the time 

 of Morant (cf. Morant, Essex^ i, 173). 



20 Inf. from Col. J. C. Lockwood, present 

 owner of Bishops Hall. For the building 

 demolished in 1936 see E.R.O., Sale Cat. 

 1046 (includes photo.). For the contents 

 of that great house in 1929 see E.R.O., 

 Sale Cat. A. 623. They included a 'magni- 

 ficent French state bedstead' upon which 

 Edward VII had slept during his visit to 

 Bishops Halt. 



" Feet of F. Essex, i, 161. 



" Ibid. 2+5. 



" E.A.T., N.s. xviii, 139. 



^ Ibid, xvi, 93-94. 



^5 Feet of F. Essex, ii, 98. 



*' Ibid. 100. 



2' Cal. Fine R. 1 3 19-27, 89. 



28 Feet of F. Essex, iii, 28. 



^' Feet ofF. Essex, iii, 270. 



3i> Cal. Pat. 1467-77, 173. 



" C142/20/56. This is the first 

 reference to the estate as a manor. For the 

 wardstaff see above, Hundred of Ongar. 



32 Leventhorpes in Wennington and 

 Launders in Rainham : see Morant, Essex, 

 i, 86, 89. 



" C 142/64/89. For the Sulyards see 

 Morant, Essex, ii, 42 and also Manor of 

 Otes in High Laver. 34 C 142/86/63. 



35 E.R.O., D/DLo T5. An Edward 

 Palmer probably occupied Dews Hall 

 before 1547; E.A.T. N.s. ix, 217. 



3' For the descent see Visits, of Essex 

 (Harl. Soc), 463. 



37 E.R.O., D/DLoTs, 6. 



3' Ibid. T7; Morant, Essex, i, 174. 



3' Morant, Essex, i, 174. For his part 



80 



in renovating the church and the sub- 

 sequent dispute between the parish and 

 his executors see below, Church. 



40 Ibid. J E.R.O., D/DL0T9. 



41 For the Lockwood pedigree see 

 Burke, Commoners (1833-8), iv, 81. 



42 E.R.O., D/CT 202. 



43 E.R.O., Sale Cat. A. 1046. 



44 Morant, Essex^ i, 174. 45 Ibid. 



46 See plate facing p. 30. A view 

 in Gents. Mag. Oct. 1821 is less good: 

 here the apparent position of the house to 

 the south-east of the church is probably 

 due to faulty perspective. 



47 E.R.O., D/CT 202. The Tithe Map 

 and Award show the 'scite of old mansion' 

 at the position of Dews Hall. T. Wright, 

 Hist. Essex (1835), ii, 401-2 speaks of the 

 house as still standing. 



48 Feet of F. Essex, ii, 107. 



49 Cal. Inq. p.m. x, p. 522. 



