ONGAR HUNDRED 



NAVESTOCK 



In 1770 there seems to have been a school at Nave- 

 stock Side,89 but by 1818 this had 

 SCHOOLS evidently ceased to exist.'" In the early 

 19th century Lady Waldegrave and the 

 vicar had jointly supported a school, probably a dame 

 school on Navestock Heath, but about 18 17 this was 

 closed on the death of the mistress. Earl Waldegrave 

 then built a schoolroom on the north side of Navestock 

 Heath in which in 181 8 a master was teaching some 

 40 children on the monitorial system." Under the 

 patronage of the Waldegraves and the superintendence 

 of the vicar the school increased its attendance to 50 

 in 1828 and 60 in 1833.'^ In 1837 the Waldegraves 

 built a new school, or rebuilt the old one on the same 

 site, and added a teacher's house. '^ By 1839 the school 

 was being used to full capacity by some 70 children, 

 each of whom paid a penny a week. The total income 

 for the previous year had been £46, of which ;^3i had 

 been obtained (with some difficulty) from subscribers. 

 The school was supervised by the vicar and Litchfield 

 Tabrum of Bois Hall. At that time there was also a 

 dame school in the parish with about 50 pupils, 

 but there were still some children not going to 

 school.'^ 



School attendance continued to increase as the popula- 

 tion rose. In 1846—7 there were 75 children, taught 

 by a master and mistress. 's In 1 8 59 an inspector found 

 the schoolroom overcrowded with 95 pupils. 'The 

 children seem nice', he reported.'* In 1862-3 the 

 school was receiving an annual government grant.'^ 

 Its supporters realized the need for more accommoda- 

 tion and this had been provided by about 1867. Local 

 subscribers gave £617 towards the rebuilding and the 

 government contributed ^145.'^ By a deed of 1867 

 the vicar and churchwardens were made trustees and 

 the management was entrusted to the vicar and six 

 representatives of the subscribers. An inspector 

 reported in 1871 that the new school had 146 places 

 but that 14 more places were needed to ensure uni- 

 versal elementary education in the parish. 9" 



Attendance at the Navestock Heath school was loi 

 in 1871.' It fell with the declining population of the 

 parish to 88 in 1902.^ The government grant, how- 

 ever, increased from ^45 in 1873 to £i^g in 1893 and 

 £101 in 1902.3 By the Education Act of 1902 the 

 school passed under the administration of the Essex 

 Education Committee, Ongar District, as a non- 

 provided church school. In 1904 there was an average 

 attendance of 89 and there were four teachers.* The 

 attendance fell to an average of 71 in 191 1 and 46 in 

 1938.5 In 1948 the school was reorganized for mixed 

 juniors and infants and in July 1949 it was closed 

 owing to the small attendance.* The building is owned 

 by the Diocesan Board and is used for village activities.' 

 It is a rectangular one-story building of yellow brick 

 with a slate roof with the former teacher's house 

 attached, and it stands next to the Plough Inn. 



In about 1871 there was a school at Horseman Side, 

 in the cottage which now adjoins the 'King William 

 IV'.* This may have been a private school mentioned 

 by an inspector in 1871 as being at Navestock Side." 



John Green, grocer of London, by will proved 1626, 

 devised to the poor of Navestock, 

 CHARITIES^" where he was born, all his property 

 in the parish. He also left the parish 

 £^0 and the residue of his estate, which were used to 

 buy more land. In 1834 the endowment consisted of 

 freehold and copyhold land in Brentwood and Nave- 

 stock, including an almshouse of two rooms occupied 

 by paupers placed there by the parish officers. This 

 stood at Navestock Heath opposite the road junction 

 nearly J mile south of the village school." It was burnt 

 down in 1892. Parts of the property, including that in 

 Brentwood, were sold between 1919 and 1942. In 

 1834 the charity's rental was j^48 jjs. gd. In 195 1 it 

 held over a thousand pounds in stock and its income 

 from this and rents was ,^92 17/. jd. 



In 1834 the income, after deductions for repairs, 

 &c., was used to buy shoes, jackets, and faggots for poor 

 people, including some receiving parish relief. The 

 sum of ;^i 5 a year was given to the parish school from 

 1850 to 1872. The rest of the income was being spent 

 on clothes and coal. In 1952 ^^65 was given to the 

 vicar to distribute at his discretion. 



In 1669 Lewis Betts gave £1 a year for four of the 

 oldest decayed labouring men of the parish and £2 

 towards binding poor apprentices. Both sums were 

 charged on property at Romford, and were regularly 

 paid in 1834. The first was distributed, but no ap- 

 prentice had been bound for 20 years. The money 

 for apprenticing appears to have been used for that 

 purpose for the last time in 1922. In 195 1 £2 was dis- 

 tributed to four old people. 



An unknown donor before 1786 gave the poor a 

 rent charge of £1 issuing from Dycotts in Navestock. 

 In 1834 it was spent along with Green's Charity and 

 in 195 1 with Bett's Charity. 



Elizabeth Prince, by will dated 1796, left ^150 in 

 trust for a distribution every February to eight poor 

 families or persons not in receipt of parish relief. In 

 1834 it was reported that the vicar was careful to 

 choose people of good character and that all the poor 

 of the parish received the charity in turn. In 1950 the 

 income was £6 19/. and ^^lo was distributed among 20 

 people. 



The Revd. Frederick Vane, by will proved 1865, 

 left ^^50 in trust for distribution to the poor of the 

 parish on St. Thomas's day. The money was invested. 

 In 1929 it was said that many years before the income 

 had been distributed in fourpenny pieces. In 195 1 

 the income had apparently not been spent for some 

 years. 



The charities of James Wallenger and Lady Tipper 

 were reported as already lost in 1786. The unknown 



<"> E.R.O., e/RDc I (Map). 



«» Retm. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 263 

 (1819), ix(i). 91 Ibid. 



" Nat. Soc. Rep. 1828, p. 70; Educ. 

 Enquiry Abstr. H.C. 62, p. 284 (1835), 

 xli. 



" E.R.O., D/P 30/28/19. For the site 

 see E.R.O., D/DXa 24 (Map 1835) and 

 later maps. 



M E.R.O., D/P 30/28/19. 



95 Nat. Soc. Enrjuiry into Ch. Schs. 

 1846-7, pp. 14-15. 



9' Educ. Cttee. Repi. on Schs. in Norfolk, 

 Suffolk and Essex, 1858-9, p. 22 (in Min. 



of Educ. Libr.)., 



" Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1863 

 [3349]. P- 401. H.C. {1864), xlv. 



98 Sch. Bdg. Grants [Cd. 1336], p. 39, 

 H.C. (1902), lixviii. 



99 Min. of Educ. File 13/274. 



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

 1 12-13 (1871), Iv. 



^ Schs. under Bd. of Educ. 1902 [Cd. 

 1490], p. 73, H.C. (1903), li. 



3 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1873 

 [C. 1019-1], p. 324, H.C. (1874), xviii; 

 Retn. of Schs. 1893 [C. 7529], p. 715, 

 H.C. {1894), Ixv; Schs. under Bd. of 



Educ. 1902, p. 73. 



■• Essex Educ. Cttee. Handbk. 1 904. 



5 Min. of Educ. File 13/274. 



' Inf. from Essex Educ. Cttee. 



' Inf. from - Chelmsford Diocesan 

 Council. 



* O.S. 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet lix. 

 For the cottage see also Roman Catholi- 

 cism, above. 



9 Min. of Educ. File 13/274. 

 ■o This section is based on Rep. Com, 

 Char. [Essex], H.C. 216, pp. 234-7 

 (1835), xxi (1) and Char. Com. Files. 

 " O.S. 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet lix. 



149 



