A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



and south walls are 13th-century lancets. There are 

 two lancets at the west end which may date from the 

 13th century but have probably been rebuilt. 



In the 14th century windows were inserted on both 

 north and south sides near the east end of the nave. 

 These have three lights with sharply pointed cinque- 

 foiled heads. That on the south side retains a label 

 mould externally with corbel heads roughly restored 

 in cement. 



In the 15 th century the church was reroofed, the 

 chancel roof having heavily moulded wall-plates. The 

 nave roof has five king-post trusses, the posts being 

 octagonal with moulded bases and capitals and having 

 four-way struts. Probably at the same time a square 

 timber bell tower was inserted near the west end of the 

 nave. This had a tall spire and survived until 1858.^5 

 The timbers of the western-most truss are not original 

 and this may have been inserted when the tower was 

 removed. The eastern-most truss is also new. The 

 rafters of both roofs are ceiled in. During the 15th 

 century also a two-light window with a square head 

 was inserted in the north wall of the chancel at the east 

 end, and another uniform with it in the corresponding 

 position in the south wall. A three-light window of 

 similar design in the west end of the south wall of the 

 chancel dates from the 19th century but may have 

 replaced an original i jth-century window. 



The square-headed 'low side' window near the east 

 end of the south wall of the nave is of the late i 5th or 

 early 1 6th century, and so also is the ogee-headed piscina 

 below it. 



The brick doorway on the south side of the chancel 

 is probably of the 17th century. It has chamfered 

 jambs and a segmental head and was restored in 1883.^* 

 In the early 19th century there still existed a timber 

 porch dated 1640 outside the south doorway of the 

 nave.^' 



The south side of the church was repaired in 1 730-1 . 

 It is unlikely that the work involved was extensive, for 

 it appears to have cost not more than ^20 in addition 

 to the normal church rate.^s 



About 1800 it was reported that 'the church of 

 High Ongar is shored up and threatens downfall'.^' 

 Repairs to the west end and ex;ternal rendering in 

 Roman cement may have taken place about 1830, 

 when the west door was made and the shallow porch 

 added. This has a segmental arch and a castellated 

 parapet. 



In 1858 the present tower was added on the south 

 side of the church, incorporating a south porch.so The 

 idea may have come from Bobbingworth, where a 

 somewhat similar tower was built in 1 840. The tower 

 is in a late 13th-century style; it cost j^8oo.3' There is 

 evidence that a spire was planned,^^ but this was never 

 built. The timber bell tower was removed at this time, 

 and presumably also the 17th-century timber porch. 

 The west gallery also appears to have been built at this 

 time. 



The chancel was thoroughly restored in 1883, the 

 plaster being stripped from the walls externally and a 

 vestry of uncertain date on the south side being cleared 



away. The three-light window on the south side of the 

 chancel was inserted or renewed at the same time.3' 

 In 1885 the north vestry was built to designs by 

 Frederic Chancellor. This work and that of 1883 was 

 carried out by Noble of Ongar. 34 



There are six bells. The two oldest are by William 

 Carter, 1610, and John Waylett, 1728.3s In 1746 the 

 fourth bell in the peal was recast by Thomas Lester: 

 an entry in the vestry book records his contract with 

 the churchwardens.3* Other bells are by Pack and 

 Chapman of London, 1775, and T. Mears, 1822 (a 

 recasting).^' In 1933 a sixth bell was added and all 

 were rehung on a steel frame, the cost being met by 

 the Barron Bell Trust.3* 



The pulpit and reading-desk, mostly of 1883, 

 incorporate enriched panels of the late i6th or early 

 17th century.39 The communion rails have turned 

 posts of the mid-i7th century. The stone font is of 

 mid- or late-igth-century date. On the north side of 

 the chancel are two bench-ends, with shaped finials, 

 one having the date 1680 and the other the initials 

 R.s. (probably Richard Stane). West of this and below 

 the wall monument to Richard Stane is an imposing 

 early 18th-century square pew with foliated carving to 

 the mouldings and panels. The panelling on the north 

 side of the chancel is of similar date. 



The coloured glass in the east windows is mostly of 

 the 19th century, but in each of the flanking lancets is 

 a shield of arms surmounted by a crown and encircled 

 by a wreath. The arms are those of Jane Seymour with 

 the initials i.r. and those of Henry VIII with the 

 initials h.i. (Henry and Jane). The date may be 

 assumed to be about 1536. 



Ceiling paintings which were not obliterated until 

 after 1855 may have been of 17th-century origin. 

 In 1768 and 1855 the roof was described as 'lofty, 

 arched and painted with clouds and a sun rising in a 

 glorious manner' .■♦° 



The church plate consists of three silver cups dated 

 1683, 1702, and 1891, three silver patens of, 1683, 

 1702, and 1749, ^f^ ^ silver flagon of 1883 and alms- 

 dish of 1747. The cup and paten of 1702 were given 

 by Mrs. Joanna Abdy and the paten of 1749 ^7 

 William Denn. 



On a floor slab in the chancel is the indent of a miss- 

 ing 14th-century brass. This appears to have con- 

 sisted of a foliated cross with a figure in the head and 

 an Agnus Dei at the foot. A slab in the nave has a brass 

 showing the standing figure of a man in early-l6th- 

 century dress. A brass in the chancel dated 16 10 has 

 initials m.t. and a text from 1 Corinthians xv, 36. A 

 companion brass with initials e.t. and a text is now 

 lost, but a rubbing was taken about 1 810.*' Also in 

 the chancel is a floor slab and brass to William Tabor 

 (161 1) Rector of High Ongar and founder of Tabor's 

 Almshouses (see Charities, below). Floor slabs of other 

 former rectors include William Alchorne (1701), 

 Josiah Tomlinson (165 1), John Lavender (1670). 

 There is also a floor slab to Richard Cartar (1659) with 

 an inscription indicating that he was the victim of per- 

 secution. Above the Stane pew is a handsome marble 



" E.R.O., Prints, High Ongar: draw- 

 ing of c. 1 766 ; T. Wright, Hist. Essex, ii, 



335- 



*' Builders' Acct. in poss. of present 

 rector, Revd. B. Hartley. 



" T. Wright, Hist, Essex, ii, 335. 



" E.R.O., D/P 68/8/1: June 1730, 

 Apr. 1731. 



" E.A.T. N.s. X, 143. 



30 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1866). 



3' Ibid. 



32 Water-colour in poss. of rector, prob- 

 ably an architect's drawing. 

 " Builders' Accts. in poss. of rector. 

 i* Ibid. 

 35 Ch. Bells Essex, 351. 



184 



36 E.R.O., D/P 68/8/2. 

 3' Ch. Bells Essex, 351. 

 38 Tablet in church. 

 3» Builders' Accts. 1883. 

 *o Morant, Essex, i, 132; cf. T. Wright, 

 Hist. Essex, ii, 335; Kelly's Dir. Essex 



(■855). 

 ♦> E.A.T. N.s. X, 203. 



