ONGAR HUNDRED norton mandeville 



John Cooch Caton, by will proved 1896, left ;^5o 

 in trust for the maintenance of his 

 CHARITIES grave. Any balance was to be dis- 

 tributed in bread to the deserving poor 



at Christmas each year. The first bequest was void 

 under the rule against perpetuities. In 1933-4 the 

 dividend of 19^. 41/. was distributed in bread to 28 

 people." 



CHIPPING ONGAR 



Chipping Ongar is a parish and small town 1 1 miles 

 west of Chelmsford and 2 1 miles north-east of London.' 

 It has been known in the past as Castle Ongar.^ The 

 modern form of the name dates from the 14th century 

 and relates to the ancient market of the town.^ Ongar 

 has been important for more than r,ooo years as the 

 principal place in the hundred and later as the head of a 

 poor law union, petty sessional district and rural 

 district. The population has always been small and the 

 main street is still only a few minutes walk from the 

 open country, but the town houses, the concentration of 

 shops, and the little gasometer by the bridge all pro- 

 claim the place to be more than a village. 



Chipping Ongar is situated on one of the few patches 

 of glacial sand in this clay area. The parish is bounded 

 on the east by the River Roding and on the south and 

 west by Cripsey Brook. The land rises sharply from 

 1 50 ft. above sea-level in the south, east, and west to 

 more than 200 ft. in the centre and north. The main 

 road from Chelmsford to Epping enters the parish in 

 the north-east by High Ongar Bridge and leaves it in 

 the north-west by Ackingford Bridge. At Wants cross- 

 roads this road is joined by that which runs north to 

 Shelley, Fyfield, and the Rodings, and by the main 

 road from Chipping Ongar to Stratford and London. 

 The town lies mainly along this last road, which runs 

 south down the hill and leaves the parish in the south- 

 west by Ongar Bridge. Beyond the bridge the road 

 runs up Marden Ash Hill. Marden Ash is in High 

 Ongar parish (q.v.) but is in fact a suburb of Chipping 

 Ongar. The road from Ongar to Brentwood and 

 Tilbury branches south-east from Marden Ash. To 

 the west of Cripsey Brook, in the parish of Greenstead 

 (q.v.), there is a new housing estate which is also part 

 of the town. Ongar railway station, in the north of the 

 parish, is the terminus of the line from Epping and 

 London. 



Soil and situation were favourable for early settle- 

 ment. The name Ongar ('grass land') indicates that 

 this place and High Ongar (q.v.) were less thickly 

 wooded than the surrounding district. The possible 

 use of Roman bricks in the castle gateway and the 

 church (see below) and the importance of Chipping 

 Ongar in and after the nth century suggest that this 

 was one of the oldest settlements in the hundred. The 

 huge mound which formed the centre of the castle 

 (see below. Manor), together with the other earth- 

 works, probably dates from the nth or the 12th cen- 

 tury .■♦ The castle stood on the spur midway between 

 the Roding and Cripsey Brook. To the west of it were 

 the inner bailey and the town enclosure. The defences 

 of the enclosure are well preserved on the north-east and 



consist of a rampart and outer ditch branching from the 

 north end of the inner bailey. The ditch, now nearly 

 dry, is 5 5 ft. wide and 1 7 ft. below the crest of the 

 rampart. The profile diminishes westward and the ram- 

 part disappears before reaching the road. The south arm 

 of the enclosure probably followed the line of what is 

 now Castle Street. The course of the enclosure on 

 the west appears to be marked by an escarpment 

 running south through the gardens of the houses on 

 the west of High Street. The entrances were probably 

 at the points where the main road passes through the 

 enclosures 



In the r2th century there were no doubt several 

 buildings within the enclosure; for Ongar was then an 

 important place, and its castle the home of Richard de 

 Lucy, the Justiciar. Apart from the church (see below) 

 there is no surviving building earher than the i6th 

 century, although it is possible that some traces of 

 medieval building are obscured by later work.* The 

 White House and the Castle House (for both of which 

 see below. Manor) are the largest houses in the town 

 which date from the i6th century. The other build- 

 ings of that century are actually outside the town 

 enclosure. A house, now shops, which stands on the 

 west side of High Street to the south of Castle Street 

 retains an original central chimney-stack with grouped 

 diagonal shafts.' South of it is another building of the 

 same or slightly later date which has a half H-shaped 

 plan with wings extending towards the west. An upper 

 story formerly projected on the east front of the north 

 wing.* Near these buildings, on the opposite side of 

 the road, is The Old House, which may date from 

 about the same period. « Apart from the Castle House 

 and the White House the oldest secular buildings 

 inside the town enclosure are the market house (see 

 below. Occupations) and the house next to it (now 

 shops).'" On the opposite side of High Street, on the 

 corner of the street leading to the church, is a two- 

 story shop with basement and attics, which bears on its 

 original doorway (now blocked) the initial and date 

 w. 1642." Opposite this shop is that of Baugh, 

 chemist, which with King, greengrocer, forms a three- 

 gabled building having the original central chimney- 

 stack with eight octagonal shafts.'^ All the above build- 

 ings are timber-framed and plastered, but the King's 

 Head Hotel, which bears the initials and date rs 1697, 

 is built of red brick. '3 By this time the rectory (see 

 below. Church) had been built to the north of the town 

 enclosure.'* Other buildings in the town probably 

 include portions dating from the 17th century, but 

 these are obscured by later facades. In 1671 th'ere 

 were 94 houses in the parish, including the building 



" Char. Com. files. 

 ' O.S. 2j in. Map, sheet 52/50. 



2 P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 72. 



3 See below, Occupations. 

 * r.C.H. Essex, i, 296-7. 



' Hist. Man. Com. Essex, ii, 53-54 (on 

 which this account is mainly based) sug- 

 gests that the town enclosure ran down to 

 the Cripsey, but the escarpment that runs 

 through the gardens is quite pronounced 



in places and this seems the more likely 

 course. 



6 Most of the older buildings have been 

 greatly altered inside and out. 



' Hisi. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 55. Now 

 (1953) the shops of G. T. Snelling, iron- 

 monger, and E. L. Pullen, baker. 



8 Ibid. Now S. Church, butcher, and 

 the 'Royal Oak'. 



9 The owner, Mr. Scott, has a deed of 



16 1 3 relating to the house. 



'<> Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 53. 



■' Ibid. 



" Ibid. 55and plate, p. 129. E.R.O.,T/P 

 96, Ongar W.E.A. Survey 195 1, directed 

 by Mr. P. R. Banham. This Survey 

 includes many photographs. 



'3 Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 53. 



'* Ibid. 55. 



155 



