ONGAR HUNDRED 



HIGH ONGAR 



Nursing Association. In 1949 the property was 

 transferred to the county council. 



For much of its history High Ongar has been oc- 

 cupied mainly by tenant farmers. During the Middle 

 Ages the Waldens and Batailles of Ongar Park were 

 probably resident lords, from the 1 5th century to 1578 

 the Pawnes probably lived at Chivers Pawne, and from 

 the 1 6th century onwards the Stanes of Forest Hall 

 lived on their manor, but with these exceptions it is 

 doubtful whether any of the lords lived in the parish 

 until the i8th century. About 1730 the leading vestry- 

 men were William Stane and William Baker (of 

 Withers Pawne).^^ By this time the Stanes owned the 

 manors of Newarks and Chivers Hall as well as Forest 

 Hall. A hundred years later their new mansion of 

 Forest Hall was the centre of an expanding estate of 

 more than 1,000 acres. S3 Meanwhile, in the detached 

 part of the parish adjoining Bobbingworth, the manor 

 of Ongar Park had been acquired by the Capel Cures, 

 of Blake Hall in Bobbingworth. Both the Stanes and 

 the Capel Cures let most of their land to tenant farmers, 

 but being themselves resident were in a position to 

 exercise fairly close supervision over the tenants.^^ In 

 1 849 the parish contained some 20 farms of more than 

 30 acres.ss Of these the largest (Paslow Hall) con- 

 tained 705 acres. There were five others of more than 

 200 acres, six of 100—200 acres, four of 50-100 acres, 

 and four of 30—50 acres. In the previous year it had 

 been estimated that 2,500 acres of the parish were 

 arable and 1,500 acres were meadow and pasture.^* 

 As these figures indicate, mixed farming was then, as 

 now, being carried on in High Ongar. In general this 

 applied to individual farms: in about 1820-30 Ongar 

 Park Hall farm (in High Ongar and Stanford Rivers) 

 consisted of 42 1 acres, of which I ig acres were pasture 

 and 302 acres arable.^' In 1827-9 wheat, barley, 

 clover, and oats were the main crops. '^ Warden's 

 Farm in the same parishes contained 93 acres of pasture 

 and 176 acres of arable.'' Newhouse Farm, on the 

 other hand, was entirely pasture (106 acres).*" 



The Capel Cures still live at Blake Hall (1953) but 

 the Newalls were not resident at Forest Hall after 

 about 1900 and their estate was broken up in 1919-20. 

 The largest farm of the estate, Paslow Hall, was 

 acquired as a dairy farm by the Stratford (now the 

 London) Co-operative Society. A previous tenant of 

 Paslow, Hugh Craig, attained distinction as a maker of 

 cheese. During the summer of 1904 he made several 

 Cheddar cheeses, using as much as 160 gallons of 

 milk.*' 



There is httle information about inclosure in the 

 parish. Richard I granted Waltham Abbey 60 acres 

 assarts in the manor of Paslow.*^ Paslow Wood Com- 

 mon, which contained 83 acres, was inclosed in 1859.^3 



There was a windmill in Mill Lane in 1777.** The 

 mill was still working in 1 874, but fell out of use soon 

 after.*5 A bakery was run in conjunction with it, 

 which continued after the mill itself had closed.** The 

 base of the old windmill, now an outhouse, stands in 

 the garden of Mill Cottage. It is of unusual octagonal 

 shape and has thick battered walls of red brick. The 

 cross-trees are still in position. The mill may date from 

 the 17th century. Mill Cottage, which included the 

 bakery, is probably of the same period. It has been 

 considerably extended by the present owners. 



In 1833-4 and 1848 malting was being carried on 

 at Marden Ash by Henry Johnston.*' In 1848 there 

 was also a brewer, Henry Saltmarsh, in the parish.*' 

 In 1874 J. and J. Palmer were brewers at Marden 

 Ash, and their business was still being carried on in 1 906 

 by E. J. Palmer.*' The brewery was behind Dyers'" 

 and must have been a flourishing concern if Brewery 

 Cottages (see above) were built to house its workers. 



In 1823 a lacemaking school was established in or 

 near Marden Ash by Charles Walker, who took pauper 

 apprentices from local parishes." 



The brickworks at Hallsford Bridge were opened 

 about 1914.'^ Other occupations that have been noted 

 were mainly of the types common in rural areas, but a 

 marine store dealer and a fishmonger occur in 1886.'^ 

 There is now (1953) a sawmill opposite the church in 

 High Ongar village. 



About 1220 there were two separate grants of a 

 fair in High Ongar, one to William de Monceux, lord 

 of the manor of Ongar (later Nash Hall), and the other 

 to the Rector of High Ongar.'* In 1657 Quarter 

 Sessions suppressed a fair in the parish that was said to 

 have been held illegally.'s 



The manor of ONGAR alias LITTLE ONGAR, 

 later known as ASHHALL alias NASH 

 MANORS HALL was held in 1066 by Leuric as a 

 manor and 3 virgates. In 1086 it was held 

 by Roger of John son of Waleran.'* There is no direct 

 reference to the manor in the 1 2th century, but in 1 2 1 2 

 it was held by William de Monceux of the king in chief 

 'de Mareschaucie', and it was added that it had been 

 'de baronia Gileberti de Tani'." This marshalship 

 consisted of looking after the prostitutes at the king's 

 court, dismembering condemned malefactors, and 

 measuring the king's 'gallons' and 'bushels'. '^ In 1 166 

 this strange office had been held by William Fitz 

 Audelin, who had received it in marriage with Juliane, 

 daughter of Robert Doisnel." This Robert may have 

 been a descendant of the Domesday tenant Roger.'" 

 Gilbert de Tany, of whose barony the manor had been 

 held, was the successor of the Domesday overlord 

 John son of Waleran.'' The tenure of the manor of 

 Ongar was probably converted from knight service to 



'^ See below. Parish Government. 



5' See below. Forest Hall. 



5« The notebook of Capel Cure (1797— 

 1878) for c. 1820—30 records such super- 

 vision: cf. E.R.O., D/DCc E6. 



55 E.R.O., D/CT 263. These figures 

 relate to farms being worked as single 

 units. In some cases two or more farms 

 were at this time merged in one. 



5<' Ibid. 



5' E.R.O., D/DCc E6. 



58 Ibid. 59 Ibid. «o Ibid. 



«• r.C.H.Essex,\\,27i. 



" Cal. Chart. 1226-57, 306. 



'J E.R.O., e/RDc 50. 



'* Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 iyy7, sheet xvii. 



«5 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874 f.). 



'<■ Ibid. (1874, 1886). 



" E.R.O., g/RPr i/i; Pfhite's Dir. 

 ^■jKa: (1848), 434. 



'8 ffhite's Dir. Essex (i 848), 434. 



'9 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874, 1906). 



'** Inf. from Miss Jones of Dyers i O.S. 

 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet li. 



'■ F.C.H. Essex, ii, 485-6. 



72 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1914). And cf. 

 Chipping Ongar, Occupations. 



" Ibid. (1886). 



'* See below Nash Hall and Church. 



'5 E.R.O., Transcripts, No. 90 {1657). 

 The fair had been held in the village street 

 about the beginning of September. The 

 Earl of Warwick, 'the lord of that place'. 



had stated that there was no legal warrant 

 for the fair. But the earl was lord of 

 Paslow Hall, not of High Ongar (Nash 

 Hall), and cannot be regarded as an 

 authority on the matter. 



'<■ V.C.H. Essex, i, 545*. 



" Bk. of Fees, 122. Cf. Red Bk. of 

 Exck. 507. 



'8 J. H. Round, King's Serjeants and 

 Officers of State, 92-98. 



" Ibid. 92. 



80 R. Doisnel occurs in 1 096—9 : 

 H. W. C. Davis, Regesta Ang.-Norm., 

 No. 440. 



8* Gilbert also succeeded John son of 

 Waleran at Fyfield (q.v.). For Gilbert de 

 Tany see Dugdale, Baronage, i, 508. 



175 



