ONGAR HUNDRED 



LITTLE LAYER 



19 children from Little Laver in need of places. 87 

 Thereafter it continued to serve both parishes. *' 



By a deed of 1891 Arbury Hill Hoppit (2 r. 17 p.) 

 was vested in the rector, the rector's warden, and the 

 ovraer or occupier of Little Laver Hall in trust for use 



as a Sunday school and parish room for the education 

 of the poor.*" The building erected for this purpose is 

 now known as the village hall and is administered by a 

 village committee, its principal use being as a social 

 club.'" It is a single-story building of brown brick. 



MAGDALEN LAVER 



Magdalen Laver is a small parish about 5 miles to 

 the north-west of Chipping Ongar and 4 miles to the 

 south-east of Harlow.' A very small detached part 

 (5-6 acres) hes on the boundary between Moreton 

 and High Laver, to the east of the main part of the 

 parish. The area of the ancient parish was 1,229 acres.^ 

 It was increased by the incorporation of two detached 

 portions of North Weald Bassett. One portion of 

 North Weald (10 acres), lying to the north-west of 

 Weald Lodge, was transferred to Magdalen Laver in 

 i883;3 the larger portion, lying to the north of the 

 middle of Cripsey Brook, near Weald Bridge and 

 including Weald Bridge Farm, Weald Lodge, and 

 Bowlers Green, was transferred to Magdalen Laver in 

 ig46.'' Magdalen Laver now has an area of 1,443 

 acres. 5 The parish has an unusual number of ancient 

 timber-framed farm-houses, the oldest of which prob- 

 ably dates from the 14th century.* Several of these, as 

 well as the manor house and the old rectory, stand on or 

 near moated sites. There were 28 inhabited houses in 

 l8oi,33ini8ii, and 3 8 in 1 8 2 1 .' In 1 80 1 the popu- 

 lation was 228;* it reached 236 in 1821 and again in 

 185 1.' Then it declined irregularly to 134 in 1931.'" 

 By 195 1 it had risen to 242," this being partly due to 

 the incorporation of part of North Weald Bassett in 

 1946. 



The land rises in the west of the parish to just over 

 300 ft. above sea-level. It slopes eastward and south- 

 ward to less than 200 ft. along the streams that separate 

 the parish from Moreton on the east and Bobbingworth 

 on the south. Another stream rises in the north-west 

 and flows south-eastward across the middle of the 

 parish, joining one of the other streams on the southern 

 boundary. A small area of woodland lies on the 

 northern boundary. 



The road from Epping crosses the southern boundary 

 at Weald Bridge and runs northward for about J mile 

 until it is joined by a road from Bobbingworth. To 

 the north of this junction the road meets another road 

 which runs from east to west across the parish. About 

 i mile to the west, on the south side of this last road, is 

 the 'Green Man', which was probably built early in 

 the 1 8th century. Almost opposite the 'Green Man' 

 is a single pair of council houses built during the Second 

 World War. Immediately to the west, on the south 

 side of the rOad, is the new rectory.'^ On the north 

 side of the road, by a drive leading north-eastward 

 to Spencers, is Humphreys which probably derives its 

 name from the family of John Humphrey, living in the 

 13th century." This has a pedimented door-hood and 

 appears to be an early- 18th-century timber-framed 



»' Chelmsford Chronicle, 2 Aug. 1872. 



88 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1899 f.). 



89 Char. Com. Files. 

 9** Local information. 



' O.S. 2i in. Map, sheets 52/40, 52/50. 



» O.S. 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet xli. 



J Under the Divided Parishes and Poor 

 Law Amendment Act, 1882, 39&40 Vict. 

 C.61. 



* County of Essex {Rural Parishes) Con- 

 firmation Order, 1946; see North Weald 



house, although the back wing may be older. Immedi- 

 ately west of Humphreys is Mollmans, where another 

 road leads north-eastward to Tilegate Green in High 

 Laver. At Mollmans a fragment of a moat remains. 

 The south end of the house and the back wing were 

 probably built in the late i6th or early 17th century. 

 On the north side of the road leading westward from 

 Mollmans is Rolls,"'* a timber-framed farm-house stand- 

 ing on a moated site. The moat, more than half of 

 which remains, is curved in shape and of considerable 

 size. The main axis of the house runs north and south 

 and there is a cross-wing at the north end. This north 

 wing has two stories and an attic and dates from the late 

 1 6th or early 17th century. It has a chimney with 

 octagonal clustered shafts, now covered with cement. 

 The upper flight of the staircase is original and has 

 turned balusters and moulded newel caps. The main 

 block also has two stories and an attic, but there are 

 indications that it is an adaptation of an earlier struc- 

 ture. The chimney, now cement-covered, has diagonal 

 shafts. The doors and windows of the house mostly 

 date from the i8th and early 19th centuries. From 

 Rolls the road turns northward and then sharply west- 

 ward past Wynters Armourie to the western boundary 

 of the parish. 



Wynters Armourie, formerly Winters, which prob- 

 ably derives its name from the family of Alice Winter, 

 living in about 1248, '5 stands on a moated site. The 

 moat encloses a long narrow rectangle from north to 

 south. There is part of a transverse arm in the centre 

 but the south end has been obliterated by the farm- 

 yard. The house is timber-framed and consists of a 

 central block with cross-wings to the east and west (see 

 plate facing p. 1 37). On the north side there is a single- 

 story addition and a small staircase wing. The central 

 block originally consisted of a partially aisled hall of two 

 bays, probably dating from the r4th century. Ceilings, 

 fireplaces, and partitions have been inserted later and 

 the west bay has been raised in height and rebuilt. Most 

 of the main roof truss dividing the bays is stiU in posi- 

 tion and at the east end of the hall are the remains of a 

 'spere truss', suggesting that the hall is of the transitional 

 type where the aisles are retained in the screens bay only. 

 The central truss has a steeply cambered collar below 

 which are deep curved braces, moulded at their lower 

 edge. The collar purlin and some of the original rafters 

 are in position and there are indications of a former king- 

 post. All the timbers are blackened with smoke from 

 an open hearth. Rising obhquely from near the base 

 of one of the principal rafters and reaching to the under- 

 side of the plate is a wind-brace or strut.'* The others 



Bassett. 



5 Inf. from Essex County Council. 



6 See below. 



7 Census Reports, 1801, 1811, 1821. 



8 y.C.H. Essex, ii, 350. 

 « Ibid. 



'» Ibid.; Census Reports, 191 1 f. 



'" Census Report, 1 95 1. 



'2 See below, Church. 



" P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 64. 



■♦ In 1539 Rolls Farm, consisting of 



103 



82 acres, belonged to Sir William Sulyard, 

 who owned half of the manor of Otes in 

 High Laver (q.v.): Morant, i, 14.3; by 

 1848, however, Rolls no longer formed 

 part of the Otes estate: E.R.O., D/CT 2n. 



'5 P.N, Essex (E.P.N.S.), 64. 



^6 An almost identical truss at the Old 

 Parsonage, Marlow (Bucks) retains its 

 moulded king-post and has been dated 

 c. 1340 {^nL Brit. Arch, Assoc. 3rd scr. 

 ^"> 54-55)- 



