A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



many of the fields named in this charter can be identified 

 from the map of the parish made in 1740.38 Upper 

 and Lower Westfield lay in the extreme south-west of 

 the parish. Upper Westfield being the more easterly of 

 the two. In 1740 their total acreage was 43. La Mora 

 is probably Moors, a small field lying along the banks 

 of the Roding, which in 1740 contained 4 acres. 

 Kelleveland is probably the Kellums Field of 1740, on 

 the north-west border of the parish adjoining Forest 

 Hall, then containing 8 acres. Churchfield adjoined 

 the church to the east. Longmead was in the centre of 

 the parish on its southern boundary, J mile from the 

 church. 



The above grant was probably the immediate pre- 

 liminary to another, in 1258, by which John de 

 Mandeville gave to the Dean and Chapter of St. 

 Paul's 76 acres of land and i acre of meadow in 

 Norton.39 From this time onwards this part of the 

 inheritance of Galiena de Dammartin presumably 

 formed part of the manor of Forest Hall in High Ongar. 



No evidence has been found to show that John de 

 Mandeville had any further connexion with the manor. 

 It was probably soon after 1258 that Galiena granted 

 the manor of Norton to her daughter Anastasia.*" 

 Anastasia subsequently granted all her land in West- 

 field in Norton, with a way for carrying, &c., from 

 Norton Heath by the causeway and with a windmill 

 and rents outside the parish, to her daughter Galiena 

 on the marriage of the latter to Gilbert de Theydon.*' 

 Anastasia was still living, in widowhood, in 1285, when 

 she granted land in Norton to John son of Henry .+2 

 John son of John le Merk (the son or step-son of 

 Anastasia) was a party to this transaction. 



The next step in the descent of the manor is not 

 quite clear. In 1296 John le Rous of Felsted granted 

 the manor to John le Rous his father and Agnes, wife 

 of the latter.''^ In 1 297 Gilbert de Theydon, formerly 

 husband of Galiena le Merk, granted to John le Rous 

 and Agnes his wife for life a windmill and 18 acres of 

 land in Norton Mandeville with 5^. rent from the lands 

 that Emma la Brune had previously held of Anastasia 

 le Merk, called 'Craneslond' in Stanford Rivers.** 

 This property, which Gilbert was holding by the 

 courtesy of England, was no doubt Galiena's marriage 

 portion mentioned above. In 1 300 Peter son of Robert 

 de Burgate quitclaimed to John the elder son of John 

 le Rous a messuage, i carucate of land and j^4 1 31. \d. 

 rent in Norton Mandevillcts This Peter may have 

 been the son of Galiena de Dammartin, but if so he 

 must have been a very old man. In any case the mean- 

 ing of this transaction is probably that John le Rous was 

 securing himself against a possible claimant to the manor. 

 If Galiena de Dammartin had not granted Norton to 

 her daughter Anastasia the manor would in the normal 

 course of succession have passed to her son Peter de 

 Burgate and his heirs. 



John le Rous the father was dead before 2 May 1 3 1 1 . 

 Map of Norton 



38 E.R.O., D/DCc P 

 Mandeville, 1740. 



3» Feet of F. Essex, i, 225. Cf. Hist. 

 MSS. Com. gtA Rep. pt. i, 38a, 31^5 

 Merton Coll. Deed 3216. 



*° Merton Coll. Deeds 977, 3194. 



*' Ibid. 321 1. 



♦^ Feet of F. Essex, ii, 45. 



« Merton Coll. Deed 3216. 



*• Ibid. 3213. 



*5 Feet of F. Essex, ii, 89; Merton Coll. 

 Deed 3205. 



*' Merton Coll. Deed 3209. 



♦' Ibid. 3240, 3232. 



3228 



*' Ibid. 3210, 3232. 

 *'> Ibid. 3242, 3250, 3218, 325 

 5» Ibid. 3234. 



" Ibid. 3222, 3237; Cal. Close, 1374-7, 

 107. 



52 Feud. Aids, vi, 443. He had probably 

 held it in 1400: Merton Coll. Deed 3276. 

 For the change of name see Cawnes in 

 North Weald. 



53 Merton Coll. Deed 3267. 

 5< Ibid. 55 Ibid. 3256, 3288, 3268. 

 5* See also Cawnes in North Weald. 

 5' Merton Coll. Deed 3281. 

 58 Ibid. 3261, 3283, 3259. 



His elder son John had died before him and his heir 

 was another son, also named John. In 1 3 11 the ward- 

 ship of John the last born (^post natiis) son and heir of 

 John le Rous was granted by the Earl of Gloucester to 

 Simon le Wylde and Joan his wife.** John le Rous was 

 alive in 1328 but dead by 4 April 1332 when a release 

 of land was executed by his widow Maud.*' He left 

 sons Robert, John, and Nicholas.** Maud le Rous 

 retained some interest in Norton Mandeville and was 

 still alive in 1345.*' By 1350 the manor had passed to 

 John le Rous, probably her second son. so This John 

 le Rous was still alive in 1366 and probably also in 



1374.51 His son and heir was probably Thomas le 

 Rous alias Caune, who held Norton Mandeville in 



1412.52 Thomas was dead by 18 November 1422 

 when his widow Elizabeth had seisin of the manor for 

 life. He left sons John, Thomas, and Richard. '^ It 

 was provided that the eldest son John Caune should 

 have the reversion of the manor on condition that he 

 paid ^20 to each of his brothers and of his three sisters. 

 If he failed to do so the second son Thomas was to have 

 Norton. 5* 



In 1440 the manor was held by Thomas Rous.55 

 He was probably the second son mentioned above, and 

 had assumed the original family name again. 5* He was 

 apparently dead by 7 May 145 1, leaving a widow 

 Elizabeth and a son Thomas. 57 In 1473 Thomas Rous 

 conveyed Norton Mandeville to his son Richard.' 8 In 

 1 490 Richard Rous sold Norton and Cawnes in North 

 Weald (q.v.) to Merton College, Oxford, for ;^493.s» 



The college retained the property until 1864. From 

 1800 to 1832 Norton Hall farm, consisting of 264 

 acres was leased by the college to Capel Cure of Blake 

 Hall, Bobbingworth (q-v.), who sub-let it to a tenant 

 farmer, Robert Hadsley.*" The farm contained 207 

 acres of arable and 57 acres of pasture. 



In 1847 the college owned 265 acres in Norton 

 Mandeville, most of which lay around Norton Hall in 

 the centre and west of the parish. Norton Hall farm 

 now contained only 164 acres, the rest of the property 

 being separately leased.*' In 1864 the whole property 

 was sold by the college and became part of the Forest 

 Hall estate. High Ongar, which was then in the process 

 of being bought from J. B. Stane by J. L. Newall. 

 Stane and his father had previously leased Norton Hall 

 farm.*2 By 19 19 the farm had increased to 421 

 acres.*3 



There appears to be no trace of an ancient manor 

 house. The present Norton Hall farm-house dates from 

 about 1870 — the time when J. L. Newall was building 

 up and improving the Forest Hall estate. It is of red 

 brick. 



In 1 1 8 1 Norton was included for ecclesiastical pur- 

 poses in the parish of High Ongar. The 

 CHURCH church of High Ongar received all tithes 

 from the manor of Norton belonging to 

 St. Paul's (see Forest Hall, High Ongar) but propter 



5« Reg. Ann. Coll. Men. 1483-1521 

 (Oxf. Hist. Soc. Ixxxvi, ed. H. E. Salter). 

 Most of the money was left to the college 

 by Tho. Kemp, Bp. of London (d. 1489). 

 For the conveyances preceding the sale 

 see Merton Coll. Deeds 3280, 3297, 3277, 

 3275, 3285, 3264, 3284, 3272, 3253. 



<"> E.R.O., D/DCc E6 (Blake Hall estate 

 notebk.). 



*' Tithe Redemp. Com. Norton Mande- 

 ville Tithe Award and Map, 1847. 



''2 Merton Coll. Liber Rationarius 

 1840-72. 



*3 E.R.O., Sale Cat. A. 225. 



152 



