ONGAR HUNDRED 



LITTLE LAYER 



time of the latter's marriage to Henrietta Winnington.''* 

 In 1757 the Hon. Samuel Masham mortgaged this 

 manor and his two other manors of Otes in High Laver 

 and Matchinghall in Matching to Dr. Robert Taylor 

 for ;^3, 000.^5 At that time the manor house and farm 

 were rented by Thomas Halden for ;^l35^a year.** 

 There were no freeholders or copyholders.*^ In 1765 

 and 1766 the manor was included in the mortgage of 

 the Masham estates to Robert Palmer and came into 

 his possession with the other estates in 1767.** In 

 1 80 1 it was sold by Richard Palmer to William Clark 

 for £5,855 of which ^^755 was paid for the timber on 

 the estate.*' At that time the manor farm consisted of 

 about 285 acres of which 235 acres were arable. 'o The 

 whole farm except for 20 acres of woodland, which 

 Richard Palmer had kept in hand, had been leased to 

 John Hall in 1 799 for 2 1 years at £1 60 a year.^' There 

 were no quit rents and no royalties.'^ 



William Clark was owner of the estate until 1 804 

 or 1805 when it was acquired by James Meyer.'^ In 

 1 828 or 1 829 it passed to Christian P. Meyer who built 

 a new house, afterwards known as Little Laver Hall, 

 for his own occupation, leaving the old manor house for 

 his tenant John Hall.''* C. P. Meyer still owned the 

 estate in 1848; it then consisted of 270 acres of which 

 he occupied 1 5 acres and John Hall 255 acres.'' C. P. 

 Meyer was succeeded before 1859 by his son Herman 

 who died in 1893 leaving as his heir his son James.'* 

 In 1930 James Meyer sold Little Laver Hall to Mr. 

 E. W. Bovill." In 1943 he sold the rest of the estate, 

 including the manor farm and the old manor house, to 

 Mr. T. Glasse, who still owns and farms the property.'' 



The old manor house is now known as The Grange. 

 It stands on a moated site ; parts of the moat were fiUed 

 in during living memory and only fragments now exist. 

 The older part of the house is on its east side and con- 

 sists of an L-shaped timber-framed structure with wings 

 running east and north. In the centre is a massive 

 brick chimney, cruciform above roof level, on which the 

 date 1587 has been recut. The east wing may be a 

 late-i6th-century adaptation of an earlier structure and 

 there are indications that it was formerly of greater 

 extent. The north range was probably built in 1587 

 as a two-story 'solar' wing. The ground floor fireplace 

 has a fine three-centred chamfered brick arch, 9 ft. 

 wide, and there is a heavily moulded cross-beam in the 

 same room. In the upper room an arch-braced roof 

 truss is partly visible. A single-story extension to this 

 wing at its north end is now a dairy. Various timber- 

 framed additions and a staircase were inserted later in 

 the angle of the two wings. About the middle of the 

 19th century a gabled brick wing was added on the 

 west side of the house. 



Little Laver Hall was probably built about 1845. 



The original gabled house was of brick and stucco with 

 hood-moulds to the windows and a two-story bay on 

 the garden side. The south and east wings were added 

 in 1930." 



In 1299 Sir Henry de Enfield was granted free 

 warren in his demesne lands in Little Laver and 

 Fyfield.*" In 1303 Ralph of Essex was reported as 

 holding i fee in Little Laver." Ralph probably held 

 a life interest only, for it seems that Sir John, son and 

 heir of Sir Henry de Enfield, afterwards held the 

 estate. 82 In 1325 John de Enfield and others were 

 tenants of the manor of Little Laver which was held 

 by the service of i fee.83 In 1329 Sir John de Enfield 

 divided his estates in Little Laver, High Laver, and 

 elsewhere between his sons. He granted to his sons 

 William and Thomas, and to the heirs of William, a 

 messuage, a mill, 2 carucates of land, 2 acres of meadow, 

 20 acres of wood, and 4.0s. rent in Little Laver, More- 

 ton, Fyfield, and Beauchamp Roding.** In 1 346 

 William de Enfield was reported as holding the J fee 

 which Ralph of Essex once held.*' In 1361 William 

 died in possession of the estate which had been granted 

 to him in 1329 and which became known as the manor 

 ofENFIELDS alias £NFILLES.»'> His heir was his 

 son John, a minor.*' During the minority of John his 

 lands were in the custody of Thomas Rokewood.'' 

 John came of age in November 1368.*' In June 1369 

 he had seisin of his lands. 'o Immediately afterwards he 

 granted to John Hampton and John Lepyngeden in fee 

 a yearly rent of ^^20 'to be taken of all his lands in 

 Little Laver, Moreton and Beauchamp Roding'." 

 John de Enfield died in 1375.'^ 



In or soon after 1 375 the manor descended to Alice, 

 daughter of John de Enfield, and her husband Ralph 

 de Tyle.93 In 1397, after the death of Ralph de Tyle, 

 all his lands in Little Laver were committed to the 

 custody of William de Stuck during the minority of 

 John de Tyle, son and heir of Ralph.'* John de Tyle 

 died in 1399 leaving as his heir Thomas de Enfield, 

 uncle of his mother Alice." 



The subsequent history of the manor has not been 

 traced until May 1 541 when Robert Tirrell of Lynton 

 (Devon) and his wife Joyce were licensed to alienate it 

 to Richard, afterwards ist Baron Rich.'* In 1563 

 Lord Rich conveyed it to John CoUins of Bourchiers 

 Hall and his son Thomas." In 1603 Nicholas Collins 

 held the manor. '^ In 1625 Thomas Collins, probably 

 the son of Nicholas, and his wife Dorothy conveyed it 

 to George Scott and John Rowley." In 1632 and 

 1634 Thomas Collins was lord of the manor.' In 1640 

 Thomas Collins and his wife Dorothy and Richard 

 Collins held the estate.^ By 1660 Thomas Collins the 

 husband of Dorothy was dead.^ In that year the widow 

 Dorothy Collins and Thomas Collins, probably her 



<■* E.R.O., D/DEwTi. 



«5 Ibid. " Ibid. " Ibid. 



'8 Ibid. See Manor of Otes in High 

 Laver. 



M E.R.O., D/DEw Tz. 



'0 Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



'2 Ibid. The deed of sale drawn up in 

 May 1 802 described the estate as a 'manor 

 or reputed manor'. Cf. E.R.O., D/DEw 

 Ti (.765). 



'3 E.R.O.,Q/RPI 708-11. 



'4 E.R.O., G/RPl 732-5- 



'5 E.R.O., D/CT 210. 



'« Ke!!/! Dir. Essex (1859 f.); inscrip- 

 tion on gravestone of Herman P. D. Meyer 

 in Little Laver churchyard. 



" Inf. from Mr. E. W. Bovill. 



'8 Inf. from Mr. T. Glasse, the owner. 



'« Inf. from Mr. E. W. Bovill. 



80 Cal. Chart. R. 1 257-1 300, 476. • 



81 Feud. Aids,\\, 136.. 



82 Fisits. of Essex (Harl. Soc), 23, 227. 



83 Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, p. 372; Morant, 

 Essex, i, 143. 



8* Feet of F. Essex, iii, 5. Sir John 

 granted his estate in High Laver to his 

 son Richard. (See Manor of Otes in High 

 Laver.) 



85 Feud. Aids, ii, 160. 



86 Cal. Inq. p.m. xi, p. 50. 

 8' Ibid. 



88 Cal Inq. p.m. xii, p. 363. 



89 Ibid. 



99 



«" Cal. Close, 1369-74, 43. 

 9" Ibid. 99. 



92 Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii, 7. The 

 inquisition post mortem on John de Enfield 

 is missing from the P.R.O. files. 



93 C139/13. 



9-» Cal. Fine R. 139 1-9, 246. 



95 Ci 37/14; Morant, Essex, i, 144. 



9' L. &■ P. Hen. yill,^v\, p. 426. 



97 CP2S(2)/l26/l62I. 



98 E. Anglian, n.s. vi, 222. 



99 CP25(2)/4is East. I Chas. Ij f^isiu. 

 of Essex (Harl. Soc), 379. 



■ E.R.O., D/DB M79. 

 » CP25(2)/4i8 Trin. 16 Chas. I. 

 » CP25(2)/652 Mich. 12 Chas. II; 

 ,CP43/3ii. 



