ONGAR HUNDRED 



LOUGHTON 



\ 



knighted in 1597, was a large landowner, a forest 

 official, and a Member of Parliament.* He entertained 

 James I at Loughton Hall in 1605.9 He died in 1606 

 and was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Wroth, who 

 had married Mary, daughter of Robert, Baron Sidney 

 of Penshurst, later Earl of Leicester, and niece of Sir 

 Philip Sidney. Mary and her husband had literary 

 interests and were intimate with a number of poets, 

 including Ben Jonson, who dedicated 'The Alchemist' 

 to Mary and 'The Forest' to Sir Robert. Mary was 

 also a friend of the queen, Anne of Denmark. The 

 Prince of Wales probably visited Loughton Hall in 

 1606 and it may have been through the influence of 

 the queen that Sir Robert was permitted, in 161 3, to 

 purchase the manor of Loughton from the Duchy of 

 Lancaster.'" 



In 1608 a survey had been made of all the timber 

 on the demesne lands of the manor," and in 16 12 the 

 whole manor was surveyed.'^ The latter survey gave 

 the clear annual value of the manor as £'^17. Al- 

 lowance was made in this estimate for a fee-farm rent 

 of ;^58 and a further deduction of ^192 for the feeding 

 of the king's deer on the grounds of the manor. The 

 manor house, recently repaired, with its orchard and 

 grounds, was valued at £6 a year. There were 640 

 acres of pasture, 304 acres of arable, and 156 acres of 

 meadow. The perquisites of the courts leet and baron 

 were valued at £7, the bailiwick of the manor at 

 £j 6s. 8(2'., and the rents of the 29 copyholders at ^^23. 

 In addition to the demesne lands there was the moiety 

 of a tenement called Hatfields, containing 24 acres. 

 The timber trees in the manor were valued at ^^1,028; 

 the lessee had the right of topping and lopping. '^ The 

 waste of the manor consisted of 200 acres in Fair 

 Mead, 1,000 acres in High Wood, and 100 acres in 

 Monk Wood. In Fair Mead the ancient tenants of 

 the manor and several inhabitants in adjoining manors 

 claimed and usually had common of pasture for cattle 

 without number at all times of the year, and the 

 Loughton tenants also had common of estovers. In 

 High Wood the ancient tenants had common of 

 estovers, for which each paid annually a 'smoke hen' 

 or IS. in lieu. In Monk Wood the lessees of the manor 

 had always taken the lops and the ancient tenants had 

 common of pasture only. Sixty pollard oaks in Fair 

 Mead and High Wood were valued at ;^24. 



Sir Robert Wroth paid ^^1,224 for the manor, which 

 remained subject to a fee-farm rent of ^^58, and for the 

 advowson of the rectory (see below. Churches).'* The 

 fee-farm rent was not extinguished until 18 14. '5 

 Shortly after purchasing the manor Sir Robert died 

 (1614). His infant son died in 1616.'* His estates 

 were left heavily in debt and some of them had to be 

 sold. Mary Wroth continued to live at Loughton Hall 

 for some years, harried by creditors. '7 In 162 1 she 

 published Urania, a pastoral romance which caused 



8 Ibid. 148-9. 



' Ibid. 154. 



'" Ibid. 157-8, 162-3. I" i6'3 Sir 

 Rbt. was holding a lease due to expire in 

 1685 : Waller, Loughton, i, 59; C142/524/ 

 II. 



" Waller, Loughton, i, 59. 



'2 Ibid. 60—61, where the survey is 

 printed in full. 



'3 This was on the demesne lands and 

 the lands held by tenants. 



'* E.A.T. N.s. viii, 163. The purchase 

 price seems low but clearly takes into 

 account Sir Robert's previous purchase of 

 a long lease. 



her to be accused of hbel.'* The next heir to Loughton 

 was Sir Robert's brother John Wroth, who died in 

 1642. '9 Before his death John settled the manor on 

 John Wroth, son of his brother Henry .^0 



Loughton descended in the Wroth family until the 

 death in 1738 of Ehzabeth, wife of John Wroth (d. 

 17 1 8), the fourth of his name to hold the manor.^' 

 The manor then passed to William, 4th Earl of Roch- 

 ford, grandson of Elizabeth Wroth's sister Jane." 



John Wroth (III), who was lord of the manor from 

 1662 to 1708 was described as 'a blustering county 

 justice and gentleman grazier'.^^ In 1688 he is said to 

 have entertained Princess (later Queen) Anne at 

 Loughton Hall when she fled from London during the 

 revolution which deposed James 11.^'' Between 1662 

 and 1667 the income from rents of the manor averaged 

 about ;^7oo a year. In addition to this over j{^700 was 

 received during the whole period for fines and wood.^' 

 About 1700 the manor was said to be worth about 

 ;£i,ooo a year.^* John Wroth (III) left 124 neat 

 cattle, 12 horses, and over 200 sheep, Welsh and 

 Weyhill, wool and wheat to the value of ;{^II7 and 

 ;£i 70 respectively and i ,000 oz. plate, valued at £2 54.^' 

 A survey of 1739 8^^^ ^^^ extent of the lands of the 

 manor, including Monk Wood, but not the waste, as 

 1,319 acres. It had thus increased by 35 acres since 

 1612.^* The largest farm, described as Jonathan 

 Parker's tenure, was 455 acres. This ran from WeUfield 

 across Rectory Lane to the Theydon Bois boundary. 

 Alderton Hall farm was 267 acres. Elizabeth 

 Gilderson's tenure was 224 acres stretching east of 

 Chigwell Lane from the pound to the river. Loughton 

 Hall farm was 202 acres from the hall south to the 

 river. Debden Park covered 30 acres, Margery Field 

 held 21 acres. Monk Wood was loi acres, and the 

 remaining area was made up of Loughton Warren 

 (8 acres), Loughton Piece (5 acres), and the tenements 

 of three cottagers.^" 



In 1745 the Earl of Rochford sold the manor to 

 William Whitaker of Lime Street, London, an alder- 

 man of the City.3o Whitaker died in 1752 and 

 Loughton passed to his widow Anne, and on her death 

 in 1770 to their daughter Anne Whitaker.^' 



Whitaker had not been living at Loughton Hall at 

 the time of his death, the tenant then being a Mr. 

 Roberts.32 Miss Whitaker, however, did Hve there, 'a 

 very formall lady of the old school or court, and 

 reconned very rich, hving in good style'. 33 She died in 

 1825, leaving the manor to John Maitland of Wood-' 

 ford Hall.34 



The manor passed from John Maitland (d. 1831) 

 successively to his son William Whitaker Maitland 

 (d. 1 861) and his grandson John Whitaker Maitland, 

 who also became Rector of Loughton and died in 

 1909.35 He was succeeded by his son WiUiam W. 

 Maitland (d. 1926). In 1944 Cmdr. J. W. Maitland, 



"■ Ibid. 164-5. 



'5 Ibid. 



■' Ibid. 174-80. 



>8 Ibid. 168-72; D.N.B. Wroth, Lady 

 Mary. 



'» E.A.T. N.s. viii, 345-7. 



2° Ibid. 347. 



" Ibid. 181, where the pedigree is given ; 

 in Waller, Loughton, ii, are printed the 

 wills of many members of the family. 



22 E.A.T. N.s. viii, 181. 



" Ibid. 351. 2* Ibid. 



25 Waller, Loughton, i, 63-64. 



2' Ibid, ii, 39. 



" E.A.T. N.s. viii, 352. 



28 Waller, Loughton, i, 64-65. 



29 Loughton Warren was where the 

 Warren (house) now is. Loughton Piece 

 was near it on the Buckhurst Hill boundary. 



3» E.A. T. N.s. ix, 14; E.R.O., D/DC J7 

 729-30. " E.A.T. N.s. ix, 14. 



32 Waller, Loughton, ii, 47. Previous 

 tenants had been a Jewish family named 

 Suasso, emigrants- from Holland: ibid, 

 ii, 62. 33 E.A.T. N.s. ix, 14. 



3* Ibid, J cf. G. H. R. Harrison, Genealog. 

 Acct. oj Maitland Family; Burke z Landed 

 Gentry, 1952, 1681. 



35 Waller, Loughton, i, 65 ; E.R. xix, 50. 

 The Reyd. J. W. Maitland left a fortune 

 of ^ 1 26,000 : E.R.O., T/P 1 3 iii. 



119 • 



