A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



the part of High Ongar which may have been trans- 

 ferred to Stanford Rivers about 1280 was this belt 

 between Marden Ash and Ongar Park Hall. This 

 transfer would have had the effect of making the 

 Ashlyns— Ongar Park section of High Ongar a detached 

 part of the parish. This detached part was known as 

 Bobbingworth hamlet or as Westwood hamlet. 

 Throughout most of its history Detached Part No. i 

 has consisted of two estates: Ashlyns in the north, and 

 Ongar Park in the south.' Ongar Park was originally 

 part of the manor of Stanford Rivers (q.v.). 



Detached Part No. 2 was separated from the main 

 body of the parish by Norton Mandeville (q.v.). In 

 1 1 8 1 there was no church at Norton. The tithes from 

 the manor of Norton (Foliot) which belonged to St. 

 Paul's and which was later known as Forest Hall (see 

 below) were then payable to the church of High 

 Ongar. 



The church of Norton Mandeville was built after 

 1 1 8 1 and before 1 1 90 on the manor of Norton 

 (Mandeville). It drew tithes from that manor but 

 there is no evidence that it ever received the tithes of 

 Forest Hall or those of the manor of Newarks Norton 

 (see below). This would seem to be the origin of the 

 second detached part of High Ongar, which included 

 the manors of Forest Hall and Newarks Norton. It is 

 possible that this detached part became for a time part 

 of the parish of Norton Mandeville and was restored 

 to High Ongar after the Dissolution, when the ist 

 Baron Rich was trading in tithes and monastic lands 

 in these parishes. * 



The main body of the ancient parish of High Ongar 

 now stands alone, without detached parts. It consists 

 of two sections, linked by a narrow neck of land. The 

 section to the south of Chipping Ongar is small, but it 

 includes Marden Ash. The name Marden goes back 

 at least to the nth century and means 'boundary 

 valley': it suggests that this was the boundary between 

 Chipping Ongar and High Ongar even at that time.' 

 Cripsey Brook is the present northern boundary of this 

 part of High Ongar. The brook here joins the River 

 Roding which flows south-east across the neck of High 

 Ongar and forms the boundary of Marden Ash on the 

 east and south. The road from Chipping Ongar south- 

 west to London rises steeply up Marden Ash Hill to a 

 height of 200 ft. above sea-level. Near the top of the 

 hill it joins the road to Brentwood and Tilbury, which 

 runs south-east and leaves the parish via Langford 

 Bridge (see Kelvedon Hatch). Most of the houses at 

 Marden Ash are built along these two main roads and 

 in the streets branching from them. In general the 

 character of Marden Ash is purely residential. The 

 sophisticated quality in some of the 1 8th- and early 

 19th-century houses is of special interest. It suggests 

 that the residents were not dependent on local re- 

 sources. 



Marden Ash House, described in 1768 as a 'seat', 

 was probably built by Nicholas Alexander late in the 

 17th century.'" It retains a fine staircase of this period. 

 Externally the appearance of the house was entirely 

 altered in the middle of the i8th century, when it was 

 cased in red brick and a new front was added. The front 

 is of two stories with nine windows to the first floor. It 



has a central doorway with half-round Ionic pilasters 

 and a pediment. There is a modillion cornice and a 

 parapet, with pedimented dormers above. Internally 

 there is some good mid-i8th-century detail and a later 

 'Adam' ceiling. The oak overmantel in the Jacobean 

 style was carved in the 19th century." The 18th- 

 century brick stable block has a clock turret and cupola. 

 North of the house is a consciously picturesque 

 gardener's cottage, probably dating from the late 1 8th 

 century. It is of one story with a deep thatched roof, 

 the eaves supported on rustic veranda posts. The 

 windows are pointed, with gothic glazing bars and 

 leaded lights. 



Opposite Marden Ash House is Dyers, a much 

 smaller house which was also brought up to date in 

 the 1 8th century. Similarity of detail suggests a con- 

 nexion between the two houses at this time. Dyers 

 may have a i6th- or 17th-century origin; there is a 

 mid- or late- 17th-century window head on the north 

 side. The mid-i8th-century front of plastered brick- 

 work is not symmetrical, which suggests the adaptation 

 of an earlier building. Internally the house is extremely 

 rich in mid-l8th-century decorative features, including 

 door-heads and overmantels. The fine staircase has 

 enriched strings and there is a Roman Doric order on 

 the half landing. 



Houses which probably date from the second half 

 of the 1 8th century are the White House, near the 

 north end of the Brentwood road, the Two Brewers 

 Inn and houses near it on the Greenstead road, and a 

 red-brick house with a wall sundial on the main road 

 south of Ongar Bridge. 



Grey End, formerly The Nook, appears to have 

 been a weather-boarded 18th-century house, part, of 

 which was refronted in brick and stucco early in the 

 19th century. The altered part of the south front has 

 somewhat elaborate detail of the period. 



Brewery Cottages, on the Brentwood road, were 

 probably built in connexion with the former brewery 

 at Dyers (see below). They are of whitewashed brick 

 and probably date from about 1830. Orchard Cottage, 

 built by Noble of Ongar in 1837, is a typical small 

 middle-class house of the period with a trellis porch 

 and sash windows. There are several fairly large late- 

 I9th-century houses, the most important of which is 

 The Gables, built in 1887 with additions of 1891 and 

 1 894." For some years before the Second World War 

 it was the Mary Macarthur Holiday Home for Work- 

 ing Women. '3 Most of the houses along the London 

 road were built during the second half of the 19th 

 century. Three cul-de-sac roads have houses of a later 

 date including seven pairs of red-brick council houses 

 in St. James's Avenue and three pairs in Landview 

 Gardens. Also in St. James's Avenue is the site of the 

 former St. James's Church. ■•• There is a Gospel Hall 

 on the west side of Marden Ash Hill. 



A quarter of a mile east of Marden Ash the Brent- 

 wood road is joined by the road running west from 

 Hallsford Bridge. Newhouse Farm, on this latter road, 

 is a timber-framed and plastered house dating from 

 about 1600. The original structure is L-shaped with a 

 small staircase wing in the angle. There may have been 

 a second cross-wing at the east end, giving the more 



' For these manors see below. 



' Cf. Newcourt, Repert. ii, 452. The 

 topography of the former detached parts 

 is described under the parishes of Bobbing- 

 worth and Norton Mandeville. 



» P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 73. 



"> Morant, fjwr, i, 132. Inigigitwas 

 reported that there was a sundial in the 

 garden, dated 1697: Hist. Mon. Com. 

 Recs. 



" Inf. from Mr. S. H. Jones, the present 

 owner. 



" E.R.O., T/P 96 (Ongar W.E.A. 

 Survey 1951). 

 ■3 Kflly's Dir. Essex (1933 f.). 

 ^* See below, Church. 



172 



