A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



The tower may originally have been of the i6th 

 or early 17th century. Morant (1768) described 

 the tower as 'of brick, plaistered over, with a spire 

 shingled'.^' Parts of the nave and chancel roofs date 

 from the 17th century. 



The south doorway with its six-panelled door is of 

 18th-century date. The weather-boarded south porch, 

 incorporating earlier timbers, may have been recon- 

 structed at the same time. In 1727 twisted com- 

 munion rails, chancel wainscoting, box pews, and a 

 west gallery were given by Mrs. Judith Elford.38 



In 1786 part of the tower fell in a gale. 39 It was 

 rebuilt by James Marrable in 1787 'upon the model of 

 the old'.^" It is of red brick, in three stages, and has a 

 castellated parapet and a short shingled spire. The 

 doorway into the nave was built at the same time. The 

 two-light window near the east end of the nave on the 

 south side is like the wooden west window of the tower 

 and is probably of about the same period. 



In i868-g there was a thorough restoration of the 

 interior of the church.'" Many of the fittings, including 

 the box pews, the chancel wainscoting, the lists of 

 benefactions to the poor, texts and hatchments, were 

 removed. New pine seating was installed.*^ The pulpit 

 was reconstructed and the sounding-board removed. 

 The vestry may have been built at the same time. 



Between 1877 and 1 891 the north wall of the chancel 

 was rebuilt, the lancet windows being restored and 

 reset at the expense of the rector, the Revd. A. Calvert.''^ 

 The easternmost window on the south side of the 

 chancel appears also to be of late-igth-century date, 

 probably replacing a 15th-century two-light window. 



In 1897 the west gallery was removed.''* In 1904 

 a new organ was built.^s 



In 1953 the two lower lancets at the east end and 

 the quoins at the west end of the church were restored 

 in Clipsham stone. The westernmost window on the 

 south side of the nave was replaced by a copy of a 

 square-headed two-light late-i5th-century window in 

 the same material.'** The tower was restored and the 

 spire reshingled. 



There are six bells. Two were recast in 1928 when 

 the wooden framework supporting the bells was 

 replaced by steel.'*' The inscription on one of these, 

 'Miles Graye and William Harbert me fecit 1627', has 

 been cut out and mounted on a pedestal in the church. 

 Of the remainder one is inscribed 'Miles Graye 1632', 

 one 'Thomas Gardiner Sudbury 17 12', and one 

 'Thomas Lester 175 1'. The sixth bell (No. l) was 

 presented by the ringers themselves in 1933.** 



The Purbeck marble font is of the late 1 2th century. 

 It consists of a square bowl standing on a circular base, 

 which has four detached shafts. Two sides of the bowl 

 are ornamented with fleur-de-lis, one has round- 

 headed arcading, and the fourth a crescent, disk, and 

 spiral. The surface is much decayed and the carving 

 incomplete. 



The oak pulpit is hexagonal and probably dates 

 from the restoration of 1868. It incorporates four 

 carved panels and a cornice of about 1600. The paint- 

 ing above the altar is a copy of the Holy Family by 

 Andrea del Sarto and was acquired in 1951.^9 



On the south wall of the nave is an inscribed tablet 

 to George Goodwin, rector (1625). 



The plate consists of an almsdish of 1648 with a 

 shield of arms, a cup of 1663, a paten of 1663 (dated 

 1664), and a flagon of 17 19 presented by A. Heron, 

 rector (1698-1733). 



A Chancery decree of 1638 recognized the Church 

 Lands Charity, the origin of which was then unknown. 50 

 Its property was then and afterwards stated to be 'a 

 tenement and 6 acres of land called the Church Land', 

 held in trust for the repair of the church. 5' The pro- 

 perty was at the west end of North Lane.s^ In deeds 

 from 1787 until 1832 it comprised a freehold cottage 

 or tenement called 'the Church House', a close of 

 pasture adjoining, 2 acres by estimation, and two other 

 closes or crofts of arable, 4 acres by estimation, on the 

 other side of the road leading towards Moreton wind- 

 mill. 53 The estate seems always to have been let 

 together and in the 19th century was called Church 

 Farm.5'» In 1646 it was rented at ^^5 12s. a year.ss 

 The annual rent remained at this figure until 1 8 1 1 

 when it rose to ^i2.5* By 1879 it had risen to j^20 

 but it fell to £18 before 1895 when it was further 

 reduced to ^^i 2, after the farm-house had been destroyed 

 by fire.57 In 1947 the rent was £1 5.'* After 1895 the 

 income from rent was supplemented by the interest on 

 j^ii2 2s. fire-insurance, which was invested. '' In 

 1869 ;^i 13 3/. 9</. stock, representing accumulations of 

 surplus income, was sold and, supplemented by 

 voluntary contributions, was used to erect new pews.*" 

 The sum of ;^50, invested in 1874, was also used in 

 1878 for large repairs.*' In 1950 the income of 

 £2 1 2S. id. from stock was spent in part payment of 

 repairs, but apparently no rent was received from the 

 lands of the charity .^^ 



The payment to the verger from Wilson's charity 

 (1822) is mentioned below (Charities). 



William Talbot, by will proved 1894, left ^^loo 

 stock to the rector and churchwardens in trust for 

 the maintenance of the churchyard.*' In 1950 the 

 income of ^■^ lis. zd. was spent in part payment for 

 its upkeep.*'' 



The Guild of All Saints, Moreton, probably 

 founded in 1473, was a religious guild of a type com- 

 mon in rural parishes in the 14th and 15 th centuries. 

 Its statutes,*! drawn up in 1473, prescribed that it was 

 to hold an annual general meeting on the Sunday after 

 All Saints Day, for worship and the election of officers. 

 Any member who failed to attend mass on this Sunday, 

 'in his best clothynge', or failed to attend evensong the 

 previous evening, was to pay I lb. of wax 'to the 

 amendment of the lyghtes'. The guild officers, who 



3' Morant, Essex, i, 146. 



38 Wright, Hisl. Essex, ii, 353; W. 

 Talbot, MS. Hist. Moreton. 



3« W. Talbot, MS. Hist. Moreton. 



*» E.R.O., D/P 72/25/12; W. Talbot, 

 MS. Hist. Moreton; inf. from tablet in 

 tower. 



<■ Kelly's Dir. Essex (iiS6). 



« W. Talbot, MS. Hist. Moreton. 



<3 Kell/s Dir. Essex (1899). 



♦♦MS. notes in possession of present 

 rector, the Revd. A. W. I. Weir. Cf. 

 Kelly's Dir. Essex (19 14), which gives 



1904 as date for removal. 



■•' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1914). 



♦^ Inf. from present rector. 



<' Inscription in Ringing Chamber. 



ts Ibid. 



♦9 Inf. from present rector. 



50 E.R.O., D/P 72/25/3, 4, 19. 



5" E.R.O., D/P 72/25/3-4, 10-16, 19, 

 20. 



5^ E.R.O., D/P 72/25/12-16; Hist. 

 Essex by Gent, iii, 363. 



S3 E.R.O., D/P 72/25/12-16. Cf. ibid. 

 D/CT 244 where locations of the pasture 



and one of the arable fields are reversed. 



54 Rep. Com. Char. (Essex), H.C. 216, 

 pp. 230-2 (1835), xxi (i); Char. Com. 

 Files. 



55 E.R.O., D/P 72/25/20. 



136 



