ONGAR HUNDRED 



MORETON 



on account of the war with France, presented to the 

 living several times during the remainder of his reign.* 

 The advowson continued in the Crown during the 

 reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. 5 In 1414 Panfield 

 priory and its possessions came to the king under the 

 act suppressing non-conventual alien priories.* In 

 1441 Henry VI granted to Eton College from Moreton 

 church an annual pension equal to the value of the 

 church on the assessment of 1291 (see below).' The 

 living remained, however, in the gift of the Crown, 

 which presented to the church as a vicarage until at 

 least 1484.8 In 1532 Henry VIII presented to it as a 

 rectory and it afterwards continued as a rectory.' In 

 1538 the king granted the advowson first to Thomas, 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, and then, in December, to 

 Charles, Duke of Suffolk (d. 1545), who immediately 

 alienated it to Sir Richard Rich, later ist Baron Rich.'" 

 On the death of Lord Rich in 1567 the advowson 

 passed to his son Robert, the 2nd baron, and afterwards 

 in 1 5 8 1 to Robert, the 3rd baron, later Earl of Warwick 

 (d. 1619)." Jacob Morris and John Morrice pre- 

 sented pro iac vice in 1591.'^ Between 1595 and 1632 

 the advowson was the subject of various conveyances 

 but it remained in the hands of the Earl of Warwick 

 and his heirs.'^ In 1626 Robert, Earl of Warwick (d. 

 1658), presented his chaplain Samuel Hoard (see 

 below) to the rectory.'* In 1658 Edward, Earl of 

 Manchester (d. 1 671), and others, trustees of the earl, 

 presented Edmund Calamy the younger (see below) 

 to the living.'s Charles, Earl of Warwick (d. 1673), 

 presented in 1662.'* After his death his nieces Anne, 

 Mary, and Essex, daughters of his brother Robert, 

 Earl of Warwick (d. 1659), all secured rights in the 

 advowson as also did Frances, sister of Robert and 

 Charles and wife of Nicholas, Earl of Scarsdale (d. 

 1681)." By 1687 Daniel, Earl of Nottingham (d. 

 1730), and husband of Essex, had apparently secured 

 sole rights of patronage.'* Soon afterwards the advow- 

 son was acquired from Nottingham by Ralph Smith 

 of Ishp (Oxf.)." In 1693 it was purchased from 

 Smith for ;{^420 by St. John's College, Cambridge, who 

 retained it until 1933.20 Since 1933 the living has 

 been united with that of Little Laver in the gift of St. 

 John's College, who have first and third turns, and the 

 Bishop of Chelmsford, who has second turn. 2' 



In 1254 the church was assessed at 18 marks and 

 the vicarage at 5 marks.^^ In 1291 the church was 

 assessed at /^I2 and the vicarage at £6 13/. 4(/.^3 In 

 1324 it was recorded that Panfield priory received ;^I2 

 a year from Moreton church.^ In 1428 the church 

 was still taxed on the valuation of 1291.^5 



In 1 44 1 Henry VI granted to the Provost of Eton 

 College and to his successors an annual pension of 1 8 

 marks from Moreton church.^* In 1535 the rectory 

 was valued at ^18 p. 4</." In 1661 the living was 

 valued at £160.^8 Previous estimates in the 17th 

 century had been £50 in 1604 and ;^I20 in 1650.^9 



The tithes were commuted in 1840 for ;^390 5/.'* 

 There were then 68 acres of glebe. 3' 



A terrier of 1 6 1 o refers to 'a dwelling house newly 

 built by the incumbent'. s^ The present rectory is an 

 L-shaped building, originally timber-framed and 

 plastered but now partly faced with brick. The base of 

 the massive chimney at the south end and some of the 

 timbers may be part of the early-i7th-century rectory. 

 The house was evidently remodelled early in the i8th 

 century and the staircase and panelling are of this date. 

 The north wing probably dates from the incumbency 

 of W. Wilson (1796— 1822) when the house was 

 extended.33 The Georgian front, facing east, has six 

 sash windows on the first floor. The doorcase has a 

 Doric entablature, fluted pilasters, and a pediment. 



Samuel Hoard, rector 1626-58, was a theological 

 writer.3'' The puritan Edmund Calamy the younger 

 was rector from 1658 until ejected in 1662.35 Richard 

 Vaughan, rector from 1591— 2 until 1596, was bishop 

 successively of Bangor, Chester, and London. 3* 



The parish church of ST. MJRK THE FIRGIN 

 consists of nave, chancel, west tower, south porch, and 

 north vestry. The nave and chancel, which are struc- 

 turally undivided, are of flint rubble. The dressings 

 of clunch have now mostly been replaced with more 

 durable stone. The tower and vestry are of red brick. 

 The south porch is of wood. 



Nothing remains of the pre-i3th-century church 

 except the font (see below). The present nave and 

 chancel date from the first half of the 13th century, the 

 nave having been built first. The nave has two restored 

 lancet windows in the north wall and one in the south. 

 The position of the north and south doorways is prob- 

 ably original. The east wall of the chancel has three 

 lancets, a central one in the gable and two below. The 

 north wall of the chancel has two lancets, one of them 

 being behind the organ. 



In the 15th century the chancel, and nave were 

 probably reroofed. The chancel retains one moulded 

 tie-beam of this date. The nave has two 15th-century 

 roof trusses near the west end. These have long struts 

 from the tie-beams to the heads of the octagonal king- 

 posts as well as one short strut each to the central purlin. 

 In both chancel and nave the rafters are ceiled in. The 

 roof of the south porch retains some r5th-century 

 timbers. The two-light window near the east end of 

 the north wall of the nave was inserted in the late 1 5 th 

 century. The single-light window on the south side 

 of the chancel is also of this date. The perishable nature 

 of the clunch of which the windows were constructed 

 accounts for their replacement at difl^erent dates and 

 for the extremely varied character of the windows on 

 the south side of the church. The westernmost window 

 in the nave, recently replaced, was probably originally 

 of the 15 th century. Two other windows, one of 

 the 1 8th and one of the 19th century, may also 

 have replaced windows of the 1 5th century or earlier. 



* Newcourt, Repert. ii, 423; y.C.H. 

 Essex, ii, 198. 



5 Newcourt, Repert, ii, 423. 



' Rot. Pari, iv, 22. 



' Newcourt, Repert, ii, 423. 



8 Ibid. 



Ibid, ii, 424. 



'» Ibid, ii, 423; L. ©■ P. Hen, VUI, 

 xiii (2), pp. 494, 496. 



'■ 0142/147/141; C142/192/29. 



■^ Newcourt, Repert. ii, 424. 



" CP25(2)/, 37/1738; CP2S(2)/292 



Hil. 3 Jas. I; CP25(2)/385 East. & Trin. 

 6 Jas. I; CP2 5(2)/296 Trin. 19 Jas. I; 



CP25(2)/4i6 Mich. 8 Chas. I. 



" D.N.B. ix, 918. 



"5 D.N.B, iii, 682. 



16 Newcourt, Repert, ii, 424. 



" CP25(2)/654 Trin. 26 & East. 28 

 Chas. II. 



'8 CP25(2)/777 Trin. 3 Jas. II. 



'» Inf. from Revd. J. S. Boys Smith, 

 Senior Bursar, St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge. 



" Ibid. 



2' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933); Chel, Dioc. 

 Tear Bk. 1952. 



" hunt, Val, of Nor-wich, 337. 



^25 



" Tax. Eccl, (Rec. Com.), 21. 



" y,C,H, Essex, u, 198. 



^5 Feud. Aids, ii, 205. 



2' Newcourt, Repert. ii, 423. 



" Valor Eccl. (Rec^Com.), i, 437. 



28 E.A.T.ti,s, xxi, 83. 



" Ibid. 



3° E.R.O., D/CT 244. 



3" Ibid. 



3* Newcourt, Repert, ii, 423. 



33 T. Wright, Hist, Essex, ii, 353. 



3« D.A'.S. ix, 917-18. 



35 D,N,B, iii, 682-3. 



36 D,N,B. 



