A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



Robert Rampston, by will dated 1585, left to the 

 poor of Loughton ^^i a year issuing 

 CHARITIES'"* from Stone Hall Farm in Little 

 Canfield. In 1834 the money was 

 spent on bread which was distributed after church one 

 Sunday in the spring to those poor parishioners who 

 had attended the service. In 1872 it was decided that 

 flannel was a more useful gift than bread. In 1951-2 the 

 rent charge was spent, together with the income from 

 the following six charities, on coal and clothing tickets. 



In 1 8 1 3 the Rector of Loughton was admitted as 

 tenant of 3 acres formerly waste of the manor, to hold 

 to the use of the poor to grow potatoes or other 

 vegetables. '5 The land was to be divided into allot- 

 ments. In 1 817 he was admitted to another 3 acres 

 for the same purpose. In 1834 the land was divided 

 into 48 gardens, each let at 2S. (yd. a year, and the 

 income was spent on fencing and on twelve prizes for 

 good cultivation. The Potato Ground lies north-west 

 of Whitaker's Almshouses at Goldings Hill and in 

 1952 was divided into 80 plots, let at 312'. a rood. The 

 total rent of ^^i 2 1 2J. was spent on maintenance and 

 management. 



Anne Whitaker, by will proved 1825, left £;i,200 

 stock in trust for ^^40 to be spent each year on the 

 charity school and the rest of the income given to the 

 deserving poor, with preference to women lying in. 

 In 1905 the two parts of the charity were separated 

 and the Eleemosynary Charity was given an endow- 

 ment of ^^380 stock. In 195 1-2 the income was 

 spent on coal and clothing tickets. 



Miss Whitaker also left j{^i,ooo to repair the poor- 

 house.'* In 1847 most of this money was spent on 

 building six two-roomed almshouses under one roof, 

 to the north-west of Arewater Green at Goldings 

 Hill. The remaining ^115 formed the permanent 

 endowment of the almshouses. To this additions have 

 been made by the charities of Jane M. Waller and 

 Olivia Houghton (see below) and in the Second World 

 War the charity also received Savings Certificates 

 worth ;^iio, raised in local savings weeks. Part of 

 this last sum has been spent on electric lighting. Part 

 of the almshouse garden is now let as allotments with 

 the neighbouring Potato Ground (see above). The 

 almswomen, who hve rent free, usually receive part of 

 the other parish charities. 



Nicholas Pearse, by will proved 1825, left £50 in 

 trust for the poor of the parish. In 1834 it was reported 

 that the income was distributed every two or three 

 years to poor parishioners selected by the vestry. In 

 195 1-2 the dividend of ^^i \s. %d. was spent on coal 

 and clothing. 



In 1834 an inscription in the church recorded the 

 existence of Poor's Piece,'^ comprising part of the 

 glebe land in Round Mead. In that year the rector 

 paid ;£3 rent for it, which was distributed with the 

 income from Rampston's Charity. In 191 7 the land 

 was sold for £,\io stock. In 195 1-2 this produced a 

 dividend of £■}, which was spent on coal and clothing. 



Sarah Pearse, by will proved before 1846, left ^50 

 to be invested for the poor of the parish. In 195 1-2 

 the income of ,{^1 6s. was spent on coal and clothing. 



The above seven charities, together with Olivia 

 Houghton's (see below), are in practice administered 

 together under the name of the Parochial Charities. 



In 195 1-2 they yielded together ^^9 is. zd. This was 

 spent on coal and clothing tickets for seventeen people, 

 five of whom were the inmates of Whitaker's Alms- 

 houses and two of Lincoln's Almshouses (see above, 

 Protestant Nonconformity). 



Baldwins Buildings or the Parish Houses were 

 founded as a charity by a public subscription to buy 

 the old parish workhouse after the Poor Law Unions 

 were formed.'* The workhouse was divided into six 

 tenements with gardens, which according to the founda- 

 tion deed of 1837 were to be occupied free or at low 

 rent. In 1873 five were occupied but all were in a very 

 poor condition, so they we're pulled down and the land 

 was used as allotments. In 1927 the land, then said to 

 front on Wroth's Path, was sold for ^^430. The charity 

 now holds over ^{^500 stock, the income from which is 

 to be spent on the payment of weekly allowances to 

 deserving parishioners. In 195 1 £"] <)s. 6d. was spent 

 on coal for the almshouses and £6 I ox. on gifts to poor 

 people. 



Eliza Watson, by will proved 1871, left ^1,000 in 

 trust for the purchase of bread, coal, or clothing for 

 poor parishioners. In 195 1 the income oC £27 2S. Sd. 

 was spent on los. vouchers and coal for the almshouses. 



The Parish Clerk's Piece is of unknown but ancient 

 origin. It may be identical with Sexton Acre, mentioned 

 in I 585.99 In 1877 the parish clerk held a small piece 

 of pasture on Traps Hill, supposedly by virtue of his 

 office. Its origin could not then be traced. In 1922 the 

 land was sold for ^^650 which was invested for the 

 benefit of the parish clerk. The income in 1950 was 

 ;^24 1 8s. 6d. and was used for the general expenses of 

 St. John's, Loughton. 



Jane Miller Waller, by will proved 1882, left 

 ^1,000 in trust for distribution early each year to the 

 six inmates of Whitaker's Almshouses. The endow- 

 ment was augmented in 1 897 by £<)0 from one of the 

 trustees: this was to be spent with the main fund, and 

 called the Longest Reign Augmentation Dole. In 

 1945 the income of £■}! los. \d. was given in cash 

 half-yearly to the six almswomen. 



William Frederick Turner, by will proved 1905, 

 left two bequests of ^^250 in trust for the purchase of 

 boots for deserving poor men and of underlinen for 

 deserving poor women, respectively. In 195 1 the 

 whole income was ^^14 is. 4^. Nineteen los. vouchers 

 were given away. 



William Chapman Waller, by will proved 19 17, 

 left ;^300 in trust to spend ^i \s. a year each on ser- 

 mons at St. Mary's and St. John's, Loughton, and ^^i is. 

 a year in gifts to two or three deserving old parishioners 

 of St. Mary's, preferably Anglicans, and an unspecified 

 sum in the same way in St. John's parish. The lych- 

 gate at St. John's was to be maintained and £2 2S. 

 spent on the maintenance of the graveyard there. In 

 1950 the Vicar of St. Mary's was paid ;^i is. for the 

 sermon and three poor parishioners of St. Mary's 

 received js. each. The churchwardens of St. John's 

 received ^^9 1 5^. Sd. in 195 1 ; ^^i is. was spent on the 

 sermon and £4. los. on mowing the churchyard. 



Mrs. Olivia Houghton, by will proved 1922, left 

 ^300 duty free for the general purposes of the Whitaker 

 Almshouses. The money was invested in stock and in 

 1 95 1-2 the income of £13 13/. 6d. was handed over 

 to the trustees of the almshouses. 



'♦ This section is based on Refi. Com. 

 Char. (Essex), H.C. 216, pp. 230-2 

 (1835), xxi (i) and Char. Com. Files. 

 Charities not treated here will be found 



in the sections relating to Churches, 

 Protestant Nonconformity, and Worthies 

 and Social Life. 

 95 See Waller, Loughton, i, 129. The 



128 



Potato Ground has also been known as the 

 Potney Allotment Ground. 



9' Ibid, i, 130. " Ibid, i, 47, 120. 



98 Ibid, i, 1 30. 99 Ibid, i, 47, 1 1 1, &c. 



