A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



conveyed to Nicholas de BurndisK 24 acres of land in 

 Moreton to hold of the king in chief.'^ Nicholas de 

 Burndish died, probably of the plague, in 1 349, still 

 holding this 24 acres of the king.'^ In addition he held 

 another 60 acres in Moreton and i messuage of the 

 manor of Moreton by service of 2 u. 313'. a year and suit 

 of court, and 20 acres land in Shelley and the other 

 half of his messuage which he held of John de Legh, 

 lord of Shelley manor, by service of 8^. \od. a year and 

 suit of court. '■♦ It seems clear that these lands of 

 Nicholas de Burndish formed the main core of the 

 estate which later became known as Bundish or 

 Brendish manor. Nicholas evidently occupied a house 

 which was situated partly in Moreton and partly in 

 Shelley and he farmed lands in both parishes. During 

 the period when Bundish manor is known to have 

 existed, its lands were situated in Shelley and Moreton 

 and the manor house lay on the boundary between the 

 two parishes which 'divided at the entrance end of the 

 great hall'.'s 



Nicholas de Burndish left as his heir his brother 

 John, Rector of South Ockendon, who in 1 3 5 3 enfeoffed 

 Richard de Fifhide with 24 acres which he held in 

 Moreton of the king in chief.'* When Fifhide died in 

 1374 his lands were described as tenements only.'' 

 Thomas Wynslowe died in 1481 holding the 'manor 

 of Brundisshe' of Henry, Earl of Essex (d. 1483), who 

 was then lord of the manor of Nether Hall.'* At the 

 time of his death Thomas also held 2 messuages, 79 

 acres of arable, and 5 acres of meadow, in Moreton, 

 of John, Lord Howard, who was then probably lord 

 of the manor of Upper Hall." Thomas apparently 

 did not hold any tenement of the manor of Shelley. 



He devised Bundish manor to his daughter Margaret, 

 wife of William Nynge.*" Margaret died in 1522, 

 leaving as her heir her grandson Thomas Nynge.*' 

 On Thomas's death, before March 1524, he was suc- 

 ceeded by his sisters Amphyllis and Isabel.^^ Sub- 

 sequently the manor seems to have come into the sole 

 possession of the elder sister Amphyllis, for in 1533 it 

 was held by her and her husband John Shereff.*' In 

 the same year Amphyllis conveyed the manor to Sir 

 Richard Rich, later ist Baron Rich, from whom it 

 passed in 1567 to his son Robert, the 2nd baron and 

 afterwards in 1581 to Robert, the 3rd baron. ** In 

 1585 Lord Rich conveyed the manor to William 

 Ramsey. *5 



The history of Bundish in the 1 7th century is not 

 clear, but at the end of the century it was apparently in 

 dual ownership. In 168 1 Henry Herbert and his wife 

 Anne conveyed half of the manor to Joseph and Thomas 

 Offley.** In 1690 Sir William Boughton and his wife 

 Mary, daughter of John Ramsey, alderman of the city 

 of London, conveyed half the manor to Matthew and 

 Robert Skinner.*' It may be that Lady Boughton and 

 Anne Herbert were granddaughters of William Ramsey 

 and had inherited Bundish as coheiresses of their father 

 John Ramsey. Subsequently the manor came into the 



undivided ownership of John Lingard, common 

 Serjeant of the City of London, who died in 1729 

 leaving several daughters as coheiresses.** In 1740 

 Elizabeth, Sarah, Anne, and Frances Lingard conveyed 

 the manor to Samuel Brackley, merchant.*' In 1753 

 Sarah and Anne Lingard and Robert Chase and his 

 wife Frances, daughter of John Lingard, conveyed it 

 to Francis Capper.'" In 1775 the estate was still 

 described as a manor." In all later documents and 

 histories it was described merely as a farm. In 1840 

 the farm consisted of 166 acres of which 107 acres lay 

 in Moreton and 59 acres in Shelley; at that time the 

 estate was held by Thomas Chaplin, trustee of John 

 Chaplin, deceased.'^ 



Bundish Hall occupies a large moated site. At some 

 time prior to 183 5, but probably after 1768, the parishes 

 of Shelley and Moreton agreed that the whole of the 

 farm-house should be considered within the parish of 

 Moreton." Consistently with this the parish boundary 

 runs along the west wall of the farm-house, leaving some 

 of the outbuildings in Shelley.'* Wright's statement 

 that formerly the parish boundary was 'at the entrance 

 end of the great hall' '5 confirms the existence of a 

 medieval manor house here, and the present farm- 

 house incorporates at its west end what was probably 

 the late- 1 jth-century solar wing. This is of two stories, 

 the solar itself being on the first floor and having an 

 open arch-braced roof truss above it. The roof is now 

 ceiled in but the rebated king-post with four-way struts 

 is still visible in the attic. The ceiling probably dates 

 from the i6th or early 17th century and in the solar is 

 panelling of the same period and later. The timbers of 

 the lower part of the great hall are probably still in 

 position to the east, but this part of the house has been 

 much altered. A northward extension of the solar wing 

 has the date 1697 scratched on the brickwork. At 

 some time previous to 1835 the house was reduced in 

 size, '6 and at this period or later" was partly cased in 

 brick and reroofed. It now gives the impression 

 externally of a small farm-house of the early 19th 

 century. The west wall was damaged by flying bombs 

 in 1944 and has been rebuilt.'* In the farm-yard are 

 two large timber barns of the 17th or 1 8th century. 



There was a church in Moreton before the end of the 

 nth century. William de Scohies, lord of 

 CHURCH the manor of Moreton by 1086," gave 

 the church with its land and tithe to the 

 abbey of St. Stephen, Caen.' Between 1 174 and 1 182 

 a charter of confirmation described the gift as the 

 church of Moreton and the tithe of the demesne of 

 William d'Avranches from his mill, pannage, poults, 

 apples, nuts, and other tithes belonging to that church, 

 according to William's charter; also the messuage of 

 John the chaplain, near the churchyard, with the 

 adjacent flax-ground of William's gift.^ A vicarage 

 was ordained to which the prior of Panfield, a cell of 

 the abbey of St. Stephen, usually presented until 

 1335.3 After this Edward III, having seized the priory 



'» Feet of F. Essex, iii, 47; Cal. Pat. 



1338-40, 50. 

 " Ca/. /ny./>.w. ix, p. 314. '< Ibid. 



'5 T. Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 355. 

 " Ca!. Intj. p.m. ix, p. 314; Cal. Pat. 

 " C135/235/16. 

 See above. Manor of 



'35°-+. 486. 



'8 C140/79. 

 Nether Hall. 



" C140/79. 

 Upper HaU. 



«» C142/40/: 



See above. Manor of 

 8. 8' Ibid. 82 Ibid. 



»» CP25{2)/i2/62 East. 25 Hen. VIII. 



8* Ci42/i47/:4i; €142/192/29; Ci/ 

 708/14. 85 CP2i;(2)/i 32/1696. 



8' CP25(2)/763 East. 33' Chas. II. 



8' CP25(2)/827 Mil. I Wm. & Mary; 

 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, 1625-4.9, 

 122. 88 Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 356. 



8« CP25(2)/ii22 Mich. 14 Geo. II. 



«» CP25(2)/ii24 Mich. 27 Geo. II. 



«" CP43/767 rot. 426. 



" E.R.O., D/CT 244. 



13 Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 355. 



«♦ O.S. 2$ in. Map (2nd edn.), sheet Ii 



(5). «s Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 355. 



«6 Ibid. 



" The date 1839 is on the brickwork. 

 '8 Inf. from Mr. Lavender, present 

 occupier. ^9 See above. Manor. 



' Cal. Doc. France, ed. Round, 156, 

 157; Newcourt, Repert. ii, 422; Dugd. 

 Mon. ii, 957; V.C.H. Essex, ii, 198. 



^ Cal. Doc. France, ed. Round, 162. 



3 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 423; Reg. 

 Baldock, Seagrave, etc. (Cant. & York 

 Soc), 306. 



134 



