A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



revive.*" The E.C.U. was making an annual grant 

 amounting to ^^40 in 1859-60 and ^■^j los. in 

 1 860-1." 



The church remained attached to Epping until 

 1881." In 1861 new pews were installed; the Sunday 

 school numbered about 30.^3 A room had been rented 

 at Lambourne End and a Sunday evening congregation 

 of 30-40 met there.^ In 1 869 it was reported that 

 'a Spanish Protestant' was holding a bible class in con- 

 nexion with the church.^s In 1870 the cottage service 

 at Lambourne End was transferred to the care of the 

 church at Chigwell Row; about 80 now attended the 

 service.** A. M. Kemsley, a missioner who worked at 

 Moreton, took the Sunday school at Abridge in 1876." 

 The church was flourishing at this time: in 1877 new 

 classrooms were built at a cost of ;(^25, all of which had 

 been paid oiFduring the year.** In 1 879, however, the 

 E.C.U. considered withdrawing its annual grant of 

 ;^2 5 because there was an evangelical ministry at the 

 anglican chapel in Abridge.*' This was not done, but 

 the grant was reduced to ;{^20.3o Jn 1880 the church 

 had 1 1 members, an average congregation of 90, and 

 a Sunday school of 100 with 6 teachers." The expenses 

 in connexion with it amounted to about ;^40.3* 



In 1 88 1 the church was removed from association 

 with Epping and placed under the charge of Chigwell 

 Row.33 By this time the cottage service at Lambourne 

 End appears to have ceased ;3* it had been thriving in 

 1873, when it had become financially self-supporting.^s 

 From 1886 the Abridge church was included in the 

 London Congregational Union. 3* It was apparently 

 given up by the Congregationalists about 1905.37 It is 

 now used as a parish room. It is a plain building of 

 gault brick. 



The Evangelical Free Church was started about 

 1923 when a Mr. White from Woodford held services 

 first in the Parish Room (former Congregational 

 Chapel) and later with a tent and caravan. In 1924 

 the church was built.38 It is a wooden building with a 

 cement-rendered front and it stands set back on the 

 south side of the London road. 



At Augusta Cottages, near Lambourne End, there 

 is a small wooden hut called Emmanuel Chapel, prob- 

 ably not more than 50 years old. 



Vestry minute-books for Lambourne survive for the 



periods 1 67 1— 1 764 and 



PARISH GOVERNMENT 1 8 1 0-4 5 .3 « Before 1733 



AND POOR RELIEF the vestry usually met 



only at the two appointed 

 times for the election of oificers, but these meetings 

 were well attended, there being often ten and some- 

 times as many as fourteen present. In November 1733 

 it was resolved to hold a vestry on the first Sunday in 

 every month. This resolution was not fully carried out, 

 but for the next fifteen years meetings were frequent 

 and well attended and a strict control was maintained 

 by the vestry over all sides of parish government. Be- 



tween 1810 and 1826 four or five meetings were held 

 each year. John Tooke, rector 172 1-64, often attended 

 after 1733. Richard Lockwood of Dews Hall often 

 attended between 1736 and 1747 and he or the rector 

 presided over the vestry when present. A dinner was 

 usually held in conjunction with the Easter vestry at 

 one of the pubhc houses in Abridge; the expenses were 

 charged to the churchwarden's accounts. A vestry 

 clerk was appointed in 1745 ^' ^^ annual salary of ij 

 guinea; the person then appointed signed the minutes 

 as clerk. 



In 1826 a public vestry resolved unanimously to 

 adopt the second Sturges Bourne Act (59 Geo. Ill, 

 c. 1 2) and set up a select vestry. Fifteen members were 

 elected with the addition of the rector, Robert Sutcliffe, 

 as chairman, and the parish officers. The select vestry 

 functioned until May 1836, fortnightly meetings being 

 held in the workhouse during the whole period. Poor 

 relief and the management of the workhouse were its 

 main concern. Public vestries were still held occasion- 

 ally to deal with general matters and to appoint fresh 

 select vestries at intervals of one or two years. The lord 

 of the manor, Edward Lockwood Percival, and the 

 curate, Morgan Lewis, were usually among those ap- 

 pointed to the select vestry, and either one of them or 

 of the churchwardens presided. 



In 1723 a rate of is. in the ^^i produced almost £6g. 

 This was a general rate levied by the overseers, out of 

 which they paid the accounts of the other parish officers. 

 In 17 16 deficiencies in the surveyors' and constable's 

 accounts were met out of the churchwardens' and over- 

 seers' accounts and the final balance of 8/. yj. was spent 

 at the vestry. In 1807 a rate of is. in the £1 produced 

 over £<)0.*'' The parish was surveyed in 1 8 27 by James 

 Thompson and a new valuation made. The rateable 

 value was then over ^£3,200.^' A public vestry fixed the 

 scale of rates per acre and according to different quali- 

 ties of arable, pasture, and woodland.** In 1837, under 

 direction from the Poor Law Commissioners, the rate- 

 able values were raised by 2 5 per cent. 



Relations between the vestry and its officers were not 

 always harmonious. The dispute with the executors of 

 a former churchwarden is mentioned above.''3 In 1737 

 the constable's absence from the vestry was the subject 

 of complaint, and there were other occasions when 

 officers were censured. It is possible that this dishar- 

 mony was caused by a conflict of interests between the 

 shopkeepers of Abridge and the farmers of the parish.** 



The normal parish officers were appointed until 

 1 83 1, when a salaried assistant overseer was appointed 

 at j^5 a year. Women were chosen as overseers in 1730 

 and 1737 and both served. The son of the earlier over- 

 seer, however, attended the vestry and signed on her 

 behalf. The constables elected in 1676 were described 

 as being for the 'townside or kite and for the end' (i.e. 

 Abridge and Lambourne End). In 1678 the former 

 was succeeded by the constable for the manor of St. 



*" Essex Cmgr. Union Report, i860. 



" Ibid. 1861,1862. The grant was kept 

 up for many years after 1861. It was 

 £z$ p. a. in 1866-79. 



2^ Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1881. 



" Ibid. 1861. 2* Ibid. 



25 Ibid. 1869. There is no later mention 

 of this man. 



2' Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1870. 



" Ibid. 1876. 28 Ibid. 



« Ibid. 1879. 



3» Ibid. 1879-81. 



" Ibid. 1881. 



32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 



3< Ibid. 1%%1-z; Congr. Tear Bk. 1879, 

 1880. It is possible that the service con- 

 tinued outside the Congregational Union. 



35 Essex Congr. Union Rep. 1873. 



3« Ibid. 1885. 



3' Congr. Tear Bk. 1 905, 1906. A 

 Congregational chapel is listed in KeIIy*s 

 Dir. as late as 19 14, but this is perhaps an 

 error. 



38 Inf. from Mrs. Brewster of Abridge. 



39 E.R.O., D/P 181/8/ 1, 2, 4. Unless 

 otherwise stated all information is derived 



from these sources. 



♦» E.R.O., D/P 181/11/1 (Overseers 

 Rate Bk.). 



4' E.R.O., D/P 181/11/2. 



♦2 1 2 J.- 1 8 J. per acre for arable, 15^.— 

 iSs. for pasture, izs. for woodland, and 

 10s. for forest underwood, with a deduc- 

 tion of one third for waste in the measure- 

 ment. 



43 See above, Church. 



+* For the position of Abridge in rela- 

 tion to the rest of the parish see above, 

 PP- 73-74- 



84 



