ONGAR HUNDRED 



MORETON 



few paid more." Some Bobbingworth children seem 

 to have attended, their fees being paid by Capel Cure; 

 in 1823 he paid 4J. a week for the schooling of 12 

 boys.'* The master received at least some of the fees 

 in addition to his ^22 salary, and his wife was paid for 

 teaching the girls." Further income came to the 

 school from charity sermons and private subscriptions.' 



After 1850 the school proved sufficient for the fall- 

 ing population of the parish. In 1867 there were 67 

 pupils,^ but in 1871 only about 50.3 An inspector 

 reported in 1 871 that accommodation was necessary 

 for 82 children to ensure universal elementary educa- 

 tion in the parish and that 87 places were available at 

 the school.* By 1880 average attendance had fallen to 

 47,5 but it subsequently increased to 76 in 1899,* 

 possibly owing to the closing of a private school in the 

 parish. 7 The annual grant also increased from ^^28 i p. 

 in 1880 to ^^65 10/. in 1899.8 In 1888 the Charity 

 Commissioners allowed the sale of stock worth ;^i 50 

 towards the ^^170 needed for a new teacher's residence 

 and in 1909 a further sale was permitted to provide 

 funds for a playground.' In a scheme of 1896 the 

 Charity Commissioners directed that the trustees were 

 to be the minister, 3 members elected by the sub- 

 scribers, and 3 others to be co-opted; the teacher was 

 to be an Anglican and the religious teaching was to be 

 in accordance with Church doctrine, but admission 

 was not to be refused on denominational grounds.'" 



By the Education Act of 1902 the school passed 

 under the administration of the Essex Education Com- 

 mittee, Ongar District. In 1904 there were 3 teachers 

 and 98 children." Average attendance fell from 72 in 

 19 14 to 54 in 1929. In I936the school was reorganized 

 for mixed juniors and infants, the seniors attending the 

 new Ongar Senior School. In 1950 it was granted 

 'aided status'.'^ In May 1952 there were 3 teachers 

 and 59 pupils.'^ 



Soon after the foundation of the school in 1821, it 

 was described as 'a neat building with a centre contain- 

 ing convenient apartments for the master and mistress'.''* 

 There was a wing for boys and one for girls. Additions 



in 1888 evidently spoilt the symmetry of the early 

 building.' 5 New classrooms have been added on the 

 east side and a new master's house on the west. The 

 buildings are of gault brick. 



For Church Lands Charity see above. Church. 



Jonathan Carver, citizen and cloth- 

 CHARITIES^'' worker of London," by will dated 

 1699, left £e„ issuing from lands at 

 Moreton End'^ in trust for the poor of Moreton. In 

 1834 blankets and clothing were given to all the poor 

 families in proportion to their size. In 1949 the 

 income, which was paid out of five separate properties, 

 was spent together with Brecknock's, Wilson's, and 

 Talbot's charities for the poor, in j^32 worth of 

 vouchers for seventeen persons in varying amounts. 



Anne Brecknock, by will dated 1804, left ^^200 

 stock for the upkeep of her grave and for quarterly dis- 

 tribution to the poor of the parish. The first purpose 

 was void by the rule against perpetuities. The income 

 was spent with that of Carver's Charity in 1834 and 



'949: . 

 William Wilson, Rector of Moreton, by will proved 



1822, made various legacies to the parish. That for 



the support of the school (see above) was much the 



largest; the others were ;^ioo and £200 stock in trust 



for the beadle and parish clerk respectively, and ;^300 



stock in trust for the poor. At least as late as 1933 the 



first two were duly paid to the clerk and beadle, but 



by 1947 the income of £j los. from both was spent 



in part payment of the verger's fee. The charity for the 



poor was distributed in 1834 and 1949 along with 



Carver's Charity. 



William Talbot, by will proved 1894, left ^£200 



stock, subject to a life-interest, in trust for one or two 



poor persons yearly, who had been resident in the parish 



for ten years. The legacy came into effect in 1923 and 



in 1925 the bench of magistrates at Chipping Ongar, 



who were the original administrators, were replaced 



by five trustees as enumerated for Carver's Charity 



(above). In 1949 the income was distributed with that 



from Carver's Charity." 



NAVESTOCK 



Navestock is about 3 miles south of Ongar and 4 

 miles north-east of Romford.' With an area of 4,518 

 acres it is one of the largest parishes in the hundred. 

 The varied scenery includes a patch of ancient wood- 

 land, an open green, and an open heath. Though so 

 close to Romford, Navestock is not traversed by main 

 roads and remains completely rural. It was one of the 

 few parishes in this area to retain a large uninclosed 

 common until the i8th century, and where Roman 

 Catholic worship^ continued after the Reformation. 



The relief of the parish consists principally of two 

 spurs, the larger in the west including Navestock 

 Heath, the smaller in the north-east with Beacon Hill 



as its highest point.3 Both spurs rise to a height of over 

 300 ft. They descend quite steeply to the north-west 

 where the winding River Roding forms the parish 

 boundary. On the south and south-east the boundary 

 is not allied to any marked physical feature and the land 

 slopes gently away to Havering Plain and South Weald 

 Common. Between the spurs is the valley of the 

 WetstafF Brook, formerly a tributary of the Roding, 

 now dammed to form the Lady's Pond, a rush-grown 

 lake in Navestock Park. This pond is the largest stretch 

 of inclosed water in the parish but the poor drainage 

 afforded by the stiff London Clay has encouraged the 

 formation of many other smaller ponds in various parts 



»' Ref). Com. Char. (Essex), pp. 230-32. 

 »8 E.R.O., D/P 72/25/1; D/DCc E6. 

 " Ibid.; Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church 

 Schools, 1846-7. 



1 E.R.O., D/P 72/25/1. 



2 KC.H. Essex, i\, 558. 



' Retns. Elem. Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 

 112-13 (1871), Iv. 



* Min. of Educ. File 13/269. 



5 Ref. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1880 

 [C. 2948-1], p. 578, H.C. (1881), xixii. 



<• Rein. Schools, 1899 [Cd. 315], p. 72, 

 H.C. (1900), Ixv (2). 



' Retns. Elem. Educ. (1871), pp. 112- 



'3- 



8 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1880, 

 p. 578; Retn. Schools, 1899, p. 72. 

 » Min. of Educ. File 13/269. 



10 Ibid. 



" Essex Educ. Cttee. Handbk. 1904, 

 185. 



■2 Min. of Educ. File 13/269. 



" Inf. from Essex Educ. Cttee. 



>4 T. Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 353. 



■s W. Talbot, MS. Hist. Moreton. 



" Ref. Com. Char. {Essex), H.C. 216, 



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

 Files. 



" E.R.O., D/P 72/25/17. Carver was 

 apparently a native of Moreton : W. 

 Talbot, MS. Hist. Moreton. 



■8 E.R.O., D/P 72/15/20. 



" For another legacy left by Talbot see 

 above, Church. 



• 0.5. 2i in. Maf, sheet 51/59. 



* See below Manors, Roman Catholi- 

 cism. 



3 There was a beacon on this hill in 

 1619: E.R. xvii, 221. 



