A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



was entirely rebuilt. There are two two-light windows 

 of this period in both north and south walls of the nave, 

 the tracery design being a little different on the two 

 sides. On the south side the original stonework is much 

 decayed. There is a double locker in the north wall 

 and an original piscina with a trefoil head but without 

 a drain on the south side. The roof of the nave has 

 three trusses with 14th-century king-posts with moulded 

 caps and bases and two-way struts. On the western- 

 most truss two braced posts support the bell-cote which 

 may be of this century or the next. Fourteenth-century 

 slip-ware tiles, recovered during the restoration of 

 1903, have been set round the font.*' In the chancel 

 the single-light window in the north wall is original, 

 that in the south wall a copy, probably retaining its 

 original splay. Farther west is a 'low side' window, 

 probably also of the 14th century. The east window 

 has an original chamfered rear arch and splay: the 

 tracery is a copy of 14th-century work. The piscina 

 is modern but similar in design to that in the nave, the 

 scalloped drain being original. 



The chancel roof truss has a chamfered king-post 

 with two-way struts and is probably of the 15 th 

 century. Some restoration of the church may have 

 taken place in the 19th century. The wooden frame 

 to the west window appears to be of this date. 



In 1903 the church was restored largely by means 

 of a donation of ^^900 from the Revd. W. M. Oliver, 

 former Rector of Bobbingworth, given anonymously.'" 

 The timber porch was built or rebuilt at this time, and 

 among other items several windows were renewed. 

 In 1944 the church was damaged by blast from a rocket 

 bomb. 



The chancel screen, probably dating from 1903, 

 incorporates tracery carving of the 15th century. Six 

 16th-century benches in the nave have roughly carved 

 finials. An hour-glass stand of wrought-iron, probably 

 of the 17th century, was formerly fixed to the splay 

 of one of the nave windows." It has recently been 

 taken down but is stiU in the possession of the church. 

 The communion table is of carved oak of the 1 7th 

 century. Carved and painted figures of the lion and 

 unicorn from a royal arms of the early i8th century 

 are set on brackets at the base of the westernmost roof- 

 truss of the nave. The turned balusters of the com- 

 munion rails are of mid- 18th-century date. The 

 altered pulpit has enriched 18th-century mouldings. 

 In the 'low-side' window is stained glass given in 

 memory of John Caton (d. 1892). The glass in the east 

 window was erected in memory of the anonymous 

 benefactor of 1903. There are inscribed floor slabs in 

 the nave to Mary and Robert Hadsley, 1 824 and 1 840. 



There is one bell, dated 1872, by John Warner & 

 Sons, London. It replaced a bell of the same size dated 

 1782, and 'obviously by Chapman & Meats'. '^ The 

 plate consists of a cup of 1724, a paten of 1703, given 



by John Searle, and an almsdish, undated, also given by 

 him.«3 



The church hall at Norton Heath was built in 

 191 3.'* It is a rectangular wooden building. 



In 1875 land at Norton Heath was acquired for 

 ^10 from a Mr. Caton, and 

 NONCONFORMITY vested in trustees for the erec- 

 tion of a Congregational 

 church. Among the trustees was George A. H. Woods, 

 missionary of Cooks Mill Green, Writtle." The 

 church subsequently erected is now associated with 

 those at Writtle and Cooks Mill Green.'* It is a 

 small wooden building south of the main road to 

 Chelmsford and is just inside High Ongar parish. '^ 



No parish records are known to survive except the 

 registers. Details of poor relief, 

 POOR RELIEF 1776-1821, whicharegivenbelow, 

 come from returns made to Parlia- 

 ment and may not always be very accurate.'* In 1776 

 a total of £jo was said to have been spent on poor 

 relief." The average for 1783-5 was jC36-' The 

 cost of relief was given as j[,i\o for 1 800-1, and for 

 1816—17.^ Between those years it fluctuated, averaging 

 slightly over ^100 a year. Only once, in 1815— l6,was 

 it higher (;^i5o) than in 1 800-1. In 1 817-18 it was 

 given as ;^i3o, in 1819-20 as ^^116 and in 1820— i as 

 ^100.3 



There was a cottage in three tenements in Norton 

 Mandeville which was used as a poor house.* It was 

 sold by the Ongar Union in 1837.5 



There was no school in the parish in 1818. The 

 perpetual curate reported that the poor 

 SCHOOLS would use any educational facilities made 

 available, but that financial difficulties 

 prevented the establishment of a school.* In 1833 

 there was still no church school, not even a Sunday 

 school, but 1 1 children were attending a private 

 school, established in 1831.' In 1836 a dame school 

 was established at Norton Heath under church 

 guidance. In 1839 it had 14 pupils and received about 

 £3 a year in voluntary subscriptions.* In 1846—7 it 

 was attended by 14 boys and 16 girls and was adminis- 

 tered in connexion with a Sunday school. The 

 mistress was paid £1 5 a year; a proper schoolroom was 

 'very much wanted'.' This school seems to have 

 existed in various forms for nearly 50 years.'" In 1 870- 

 71 it was still 'a well-conducted dame school in a 

 cottage'" attended by some 22 children.'^ 



In 1874 a school was built with 25 places. '3 It was 

 at Norton Heath and belonged to J. L. Newall of 

 Forest Hall, who granted its use, rent free.'* Atten- 

 dance rose to 46 in 1886, when there was said to be 

 accommodation for 43 ; an annual grant of ;^49 was 

 then received. '5 The school was closed about 1893, 

 the children being sent to High Ongar and Paslow 

 Wood Common schools.'* 



8» £.v4.r. N.s. xiv, 122. 



'" E.R. xiv, 186. Inscription on east 

 window. 



9' Hht. Mon. Com, Essex, ii, 200. 



«= Ck. Bells Essex, 348. 



« Ch. Plate Essex, 139. 



»* Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



«s Essex Congr. Union Deeds. 



»6 Congr. Year Bk. 1948. 



" E.C.U. Deeds. 



9' Cf. Greenstead, Poor Relief. 



«» E.R.O., e/CR i/i. This seems a 

 high figure for the time, if correct, for the 

 population can hardly have been more than 



about 80. ■ Ibid. 



^ Ibid. 1/9. 5 Ibid. 1/12. 



* The parish had a poorhouse by 1776, 

 at latest: Rep. Sel. Cttee. on Overseers 

 Retns. 1777, H.C. ser. i, vol. ix, p. 350. 



5 E.R.O., G/On Ml. It was probably 

 at Norton Heath, where a 'Poor House 

 Field' was shown on the Tithe Map, 

 1 847. Norton Mandeville became part of 

 Ongar Poor Law Union in 1836. 



' Retns. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 263 



(.8'9).ix(')- 



' Educ. Enquiry Ahstr. H.C. 62, p. 284 

 (183s), xli. 



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



« Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Ch. Schs. 

 1846-7, pp. 14-15. 



i» White's Dir. Essex (1848, 1863); 

 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1855-82). 



" E.R.O., D/AEM i/i/i. 



■2 Retns. Elem. Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 

 1 12-13 (1871), Iv. 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1882). 



'* Min. of Educ. File 13/199. 



'5 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 18S6 

 [C. 5123-1], p. 520, H.C. (1887), xxviii. 



'^ Min. of Educ. File 13/199; Kelly's 

 Dir. Essex (1894). 



154 



