ONGAR HUNDRED 



HIGH LAYER 



said that the accommodation was sufficient for the 

 parish." Attendance increased considerably in the 

 next eight years and the annual grant rose from ^^26 

 in 1872 to ^^58 in i88o.'6 In 1899, when there was 

 accommodation for 132 pupils, there was an average 

 attendance of 95 and a grant of ^^85 was received.'^ 

 In 1900 about 58 people were subscribing money for 

 the school." 8 Attendance, however, was falling as the 

 population of the parish declined. In 1904 there were 

 84 pupils and 3 teachers." » 



By the Education Act of 1902 the school passed 

 under the administration of the Essex Education Com- 



mittee as a non-provided school. The average atten- 

 dance fell to 76 in 1914 and 57 in 1938. In 1939 the 

 school was reorganized for mixed juniors and infants." 

 In May 1952 there were 2 teachers and 44 pupils.*' 



The school is a single-story red-brick building. On 

 the front is a combined chimney and bell-cote. 



Magdalen Laver school, which is situated a little to 

 the south-west of Tilegate Green just within the 

 southern boundary of High Laver, is attended by 

 children from this part of the parish as well as by those 

 from Magdalen Laver (q.v.). 

 CHARITY. For Bell Acre charity see above. Church. 



LITTLE LAVER 



Little Laver is a small parish about 5 miles to the 

 north of Chipping Ongar," with an area of 964 acres.* 

 In 1428 it contained fewer than 10 households.^ There 

 were 15 inhabited houses in 1801, 20 in 181 1, and 

 16 in 1821.* In 1 80 1 the population was 90.5 By 

 1841 it had grown to 128.* It declined in the next 30 

 years to 104, then rose to 124 in 1891.' At the end of 

 the century it fell j ust below 1 00 and has since remained 

 about this level.' In 195 1 it was 96.' 



The land is about 280 ft. above sea-level in the east 

 and 230 ft. in the west. Three streams run across the 

 northern half of the parish. There is a small area of 

 woodland on the north-east boundary. The road from 

 High Laver to Abbess Roding crosses the western 

 boundary of the parish and runs eastward. On the 

 south side of the road, about \ mile from the boundary, 

 is Church Farm, where there is part of a large moat. 

 Farther east are Little Laver Mill and the Mill House.'o 

 Beyond the mill the road is joined by a road which 

 runs southward to Moreton. On the east side of the 

 road junction is the Red House, a timber-framed farm- 

 house of the 1 8th century or earlier. To the south of 

 the Red House, on the west side of the Moreton road, 

 is the former rectory." East of the Red House on the 

 road to Abbess Roding is the village hall.'* To the 

 south of the road on the eastern boundary of the parish 

 is Envilles.'s 



Nearly opposite the village hall a road runs north- 

 west to Matching Green. On the west side of this road 

 is Gosling Hall, a two-story timber-framed building 

 probably of the 1 5th century. It originally consisted 

 of an open hall of two bays with a two-story cross-wing 

 at its north end. The south end of the hall block may 

 be a later addition. In the i6th or early 17th century 

 a chimney was built in the south bay of the hall, a ceil- 

 ing was inserted and the roof was renewed and possibly 

 raised. The lower part of the arched braces to the tie- 

 beam of the original hall roof-truss can still be seen in 



" Chelmsford Chronicle, 2 Aug. 1872. 



" Rep. of Educ. Citee. of Council, i8y2 

 [C. 812], p. 408, H.C. (1873), ixiv; ibid., 

 1880 [C. 2948-1], p. 577, H.C. (1881), 

 xxxii. 



" Retn. of Schs. 1899 [Cd. 315], p. 71, 

 H.C. (1900), Ixv (2). 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/196. 



'• Esiex Educ. Cttee. Handhk. 1904, 

 p. 185. 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/196. 



" Inf. from Essex Educ. Cttee. 

 > O.S. 2\ in. Map, sheets 52/50, 



S*/5'- 



' Inf. from Essex County Council. 

 ' Feud. Aids, ii, 205. 

 * Census, 1 80 1, 181 1, 1 82 1. 

 » y.C.H. Essex, \\, 350. 



« Ibid. ■ 



8 Ibid.; Census, 191 1 f. 

 « Census, 1 95 1. 



10 See below. 



■I See below, Church. 



'2 See below, School. • 



■3 See below, Manor of Envilles. 



'* See below, Church. 



'5 See below. Manor of Little Laver 

 Hall. "' Ibid- 



J' See below. Parish Government and 

 Poor Relief. 



18 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1886, 1890). 



" The location of this inn in Chapman 

 and Andre, Map of Essex lyy;, plate xii, 

 appears to be wrong. According to this 

 map there was at that time a building on 

 the lite later occupied by the Leather 



97 



the ground floor room of this block. A cambered tie- 

 beam, originally having arched braces, is also partly 

 visible above the first floor room of the cross-wing. The 

 gabled east end of this wing oversails and has curved 

 supporting brackets. An external chimney on the north 

 side, partly rebuilt recently, has diagonal shafts and is 

 probably of the i6th or early 17th century. Beyond 

 Gosling Hall to the north are the church'* and the old 

 manor house, now called the Grange. 's Farther north 

 there is a windpump on the west side of the road. 

 Opposite this is a long drive north-east to Little Laver 

 Hall.'* To the north of the drive on the road to Match- 

 ing Green are Stone Cottages, formerly the parish poor- 

 house." About J mile farther north is Hull Green 

 farm-house, which is probably of 18th-century date. 

 From Hull Green the road turns westward and forms 

 the parish boundary for a short distance before joining 

 the road from Matching Green to Ongar. South of 

 the junction the Ongar road, called at this point Water 

 Lane, forms the western boundary of the parish for 

 about a mile. On the east side of this road is Water- 

 man's End House, a timber-framed building of the 

 1 8th century or earlier. North of the house is a pair of 

 18th-century cottages. South of Waterman's End 

 House, on the same side of the road, is a brick house 

 which until 1886— 90'8 was the Leather Bottle Inn." 



Postal facilities were extended to Little Laver when 

 a receiving office was set up at Moreton in 1846.*" 

 Water was supplied by the Herts, and Essex Water- 

 works Co. in 1912.*' Electricity was supplied to one 

 end of the parish in 1950.** There is a village hall, 

 erected in i89i.*3 



Little Laver has always been a rural parish devoted 

 mainly to agriculture. The Collins family, owners of 

 the manors of Little Laver Hall and Envilles for a 

 century or more after 1559, lived in the parish at least 

 during the period 1599-167 1. *•♦ It is not clear whether 

 the owners were resident in the period immediately 



' Ibid. 



Bottle Inn but the name of the inn was 

 attached to a building about i mile farther 

 south on a site now occupied by America 

 farm in High Laver. As there was un- 

 doubtedly a Leather Bottle Inn in Little 

 Laver by 1769 It is almost certain that on 

 the map of 1777 the name was attached 

 to the wrong building: E.R.O., D/CT 

 210; 6 in. O.S. Map (ist edn.), plate xlii; 

 2j in. O.S. Map, sheet? 52/50, 52/51; 

 E.R.O., 2/RLv 24-82. 



" P.M.G. Mins. 1846, vol. 87, p. 5. 



^' Inf. from Herts. & Essex Waterworks 

 Co. 



" Inf. from East. Elcc. Bd. 



*3 See below. School. 



M E.R.O., D/P 147/i/ii ibid. Q/RTh 

 1&5. 



