A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



living to his nephew Peter Mews (1619-1706).*^ 

 Mews, who served in the royalist forces during the Civil 

 War, presented to the rectory in 1660.83 He later be- 

 came Bishop of Winchester. 



The advowson appears to have descended subse- 

 quently along with Pryors (see above) but to have been 

 granted for single turns to persons not connected with 

 that manor. In 17 1 2 it was sold by Nicholas Staphurst 

 to Dr. Thomas Tooke, then rector. Tooke provided in 

 his will that his heirs should have the advowson for 50 

 years after his death and that it should then pass to 

 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. *< The college pre- 

 sented for the first time in 1778 and has continued to 

 do so ever since.*' 



The rectory was valued at £fi 1 3^. \ti. in about 1254, 

 1291, and 14288* and at ^14 in 1535. *' The tithes 

 were commuted in 1841 for ;£6ro; there were then 

 35 acres of glebe. 8* 



The Old Rectory, now called Lambourne Place, was 

 originally a timber-framed house, probably of the 17th 

 century.89 It was largely faced with red brick about 

 1 740. The fine symmetrical front has rusticated brick- 

 work to the lower story, while above there are rusticated 

 quoins, a moulded brick cornice, and a central pedi- 

 ment. A high parapet conceals the dormer windows. 

 The pedimented doorcase of wood is said to have come 

 from Dews Hall (see above)."* It formerly had a shield 

 of arms in the tympanum. Inside there are panelled 

 rooms and a staircase with turned balusters of about 

 1740. Some of the chimney pieces are of this date and 

 some later. There are later additions at the back of the 

 house. It is now the home of the Rt. Hon. John 

 Strachey, P.C, M.P., Minister of Food 1946-50 and 

 Secretary of State for War 19 50-1. 



The present rectory was built in 1925 on a site pre- 

 sented by Lord Lambourne." It is a two-story house 

 of dark-red brick. 



The church of ST. MART AND ALL SAINTS 

 consists of nave, chancel, and west bell turret. It for- 

 merly had north and south porches. The walls are of 

 flint rubble with stone and brick dressings and are 

 covered externally with cement. The bell turret is 

 timber-framed and weather-boarded and has a lead 

 spire. 



The nave dates from the middle of the 12th century. 

 It has north and south doorways which were blocked 

 and reset in the 1 8th century. The south door has some 

 of the original voussoirs to the semicircular arch. The 

 north doorway has original scalloped capitals externally 

 but the shafts are missing. The outer order of the open- 

 ing is semicircular, enriched with chevron ornament. 

 Below is a tympanum now resting on a wood lintel. 

 Some of the reset stones of the tympanum are decorated 

 with axe-cut formy crosses and similar designs. At a 

 high level and partly behind the timber-work of the bell 

 turret on both north and south sides are round-headed 

 single-light 12th-century windows. Part of the internal 

 jamb and arch of a similar window was uncovered 

 farther east on the north side in 195 i. 



An original chancel, built at the same time as the 

 nave, was largely rebuilt in the 13th century. The 



thicker walls adjoining the nave may be the remains of 

 the 12th-century chancel. A 13th-century blocked 

 lancet window is visible externally on the south side. 



In the 14th century new windows may have been 

 inserted in the nave and chancel. 



The nave roof, with its tie-beam and king-post with 

 four-way struts, probably dates from the 1 5th century. 

 Timber porches, later removed, may have been added 

 in this or the following century. 



The bell-turret was probably added early in the i6th 

 century. The timber-framing, reaching to the floor of 

 the nave, has angle-posts, tie-beams, and curved braces. 



In 1704-5 the west gallery was built at the expense 

 of William Walker of Bishops Hall. It is supported on 

 moulded columns and is ornamented with foliage carv- 

 ing incorporating Walker's monogram. The panels are 

 inscribed with a list of benefactions to the parish. A 

 new chancel screen may have been inserted soon after- 

 wards. The panels, which now form a dado at the back 

 of the choir stalls, have similar foliage carving and the 

 monogram T.T. (possibly Thomas Tooke, rector 

 1707-21). 



The church was restored and altered between 1723 

 and 1727. In 1726—7 about ^220 was spent on this 

 work. 9^ The renovations were inspired by Catlyn 

 Thorogood of Dews Hall, a churchwarden. After his 

 death in 1732 there was a dispute between the parish 

 and his executors concerning his accounts for the period 

 of renovation. '3 The work included the removal of the 

 timber porches to north and south and probably the 

 blocking and resetting of the 12th-century doorways. 

 A new west door was inserted, having a moulded hood 

 on foliated brackets (dated 1726) and an oval window 

 above it. New or altered windows were provided in the 

 chancel and nave. At the same time the interior was 

 decorated. The chancel arch is now three-centred, rest- 

 ing on voluted brackets and enriched with 1 8th-century 

 plasterwork. The tie-beams across the nave and chancel 

 are covered with moulded and enriched plaster, the 

 mouldings being carried round the walls to form a 

 cornice. The king-post of the nave roof has been 

 clothed in ornamental plaster and acanthus leaves. It 

 was probably at this time, also, that the oak reredos with 

 its fluted Corinthian pilasters was installed, and also a 

 three-decker pulpit and box pews. The renovation was 

 so thorough that the interior gives the impression of a 

 Georgian church, an effect heightened by the large 

 number of painted hatchments and of i8th- and early 

 19th-century monuments. A print dated 1824 gives a 

 good general view of the interior at this time, including 

 the three-decker pulpit with an enriched sounding- 

 board and the box pews. It also shows a late-i 8th-cen- 

 tury monument above the altar, blocking the east win- 

 dow."* An upper tier was added to the gallery in 

 1820.95 



In 1889 a new organ was installed and a new brick 

 organ chamber was built for it on the north of the 

 chancel. At the same time the church was reseated, the 

 pulpit probably lowered, and a new heating system 

 installed. These alterations were the gift of Col. Lock- 

 wood of Bishops Hall. 9* In 1933 a new vestry and 



82 D.N.B. 



83 Ibid.; Newcourt, Repert, ii, 360. 

 8* Morant, Essex^ i, 175. 



*' Michael Tyson (174.0—80) was insti- 

 tuted in 1778 after a long legal struggle 

 concerning the advowson. He was a 

 former scholar of Corpus Christi, anti- 

 quary, and artist : D.N.B. 



^ E.A.T. N.s. xviii, 18; Tax. Fed. 

 (Rec. Com.), zih; Feud. Aids, ii, 204. 

 8' Fahr Fed. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 



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



89 Possibly the house mentioned in the 

 glebe terrier of 16 10: Newcourt, Repert. 

 ii, 360. 



9" Hist. Mort. Com. Essex, ii, 144. 



82 



9' Inf. from the present rector. 



92 E.R.O., D/P 181/8/1. This vestry 

 book contains details of the renovation. 



93 Ibid. 181/8/1,2. 



9'' E.R.O., Prints, Lambourne. See plate 

 facing p. 53. 

 95 T. Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 403. 

 »' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1890). 



