ONGAR HUNDRED 



ABBESS RODING 



stood in a wooded park, but this had disappeared by 

 1777." The transformation of the area was completed 

 between 1939 and 1945 when much of it was taken 

 into Matching Airfield. Old roads were diverted and 

 new concrete roads made, one of which crosses the 

 subsidiary moated enclosure south of old Rookwood 

 Hall. Some huts and other service buildings remain, 

 some used as stores. Fairlands (formerly Cockerells) is 

 on an ancient moated site ^ mile north-west of Rook- 

 wood Hall. The house is timber-framed and probably 

 dates from the i6th century. It is L-shaped in plan 

 with later additions in the angle of the wings. In the 

 middle of the 19th century the south front was faced 

 with brick. Inside there is an original fireplace. In 

 the room above there is said to be painted decoration, 

 probably of the 17th century, on the plaster panels 

 between the exposed studs. North of the house a frag- 

 ment of the moat remains. A quarter of a mile east of 

 Fairlands is the site of the former Congregational 

 church of Abbess Roding, which was built (1729) on 

 land given by the then owner of Cockerells. '^ Nothing 

 remains of the church but on the east of its site is 

 Anchor House, originally given to the church by the 

 owner of Cockerells and later converted into a public 

 house for the refreshment of the congregation. 'J The 

 road which runs north from Anchor House to join the 

 White Roding-Matching Green road is modern. '■♦ 

 Falkiners, at one time called Offins, is J mile south-east 

 of old Rookwood Hall. It is a two-story cottage row 

 standing at right angles to the road and containing two 

 dwellings. It is partly weather-boarded and partly 

 plastered and has a tiled roof. The main timber-framed 

 structure is of the 17th century. Over a fireplace in 

 one of the houses is a carved door-head brought here 

 from old Rookwood Hall. These houses are charged 

 with an ancient rent for the benefit of the parish clerk.'s 

 Near Falkiners to the east is Sparrows, a timber-framed 

 house with a thatched roof, recently modernized. It 

 probably dates from the 17th century. Leader's Farm 

 (formerly Gilberts)'* is | mile south of Rookwood 

 Hall. It probably dates from the late 1 7th century and 

 has a central chimney with attached pilasters. 



There are three old houses in the north-east of the 

 parish, Berwick Berners Hall and Hales and Nether 

 Farms. Hales Farm, near the parish boundary on the 

 Ongar-Dunmow road, is a timber-framed building 

 probably dating from the late 17th century. Nether 

 Farm (formerly Nether Street), on the same road J 

 mile south of Hales, was probably built about 1700. 

 It is timber-framed and roughcast and has a hipped 

 tile roof. Parts of a moat remain. Two 17th-century 

 cottages on the east side of the road south of Nether 

 Farm, which were recorded in 1 9 14, have now dis- 

 appeared." 



Among the modern buildings of the parish are two 

 pairs of council houses on the road between the village 

 and Longbarns and seven pairs of 'Airey' type houses 

 on the south-east side of the Little Laver road. 



Communications have never been good in the 

 Rodings. Defoe, visiting the area in 1724, described it 



" Oliver, Map of Essex, i6g6 ; Chapman 

 and Andr^, Map of Essex, 1777, sheet xii. 



" See below, Nonconformity. 



" Ibid. 



■« Cf. O.S. 6 m. Map (ist edn.), sheet 

 xlii. 



" See below. Parish Govt, and Poor 

 Relief. 



" Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 1777, sheet xii. 



as 'famous for good land, good malt and dirty roads; 

 the latter indeed in the winter are scarce passable for 

 horse or man'.'^ There is earlier evidence of this, in 

 relation to Abbess Roding. In 1583 the road between 

 Longbarns and Nether Street was said to be in ruins 

 and the inhabitants of Abbess and Beauchamp Roding 

 were ordered to repair it." In 1620 the same road was 

 again in decay 'being very deep and unfit for carts'.^" 

 In 1652 the inhabitants of Abbess Roding were pre- 

 sented at Quarter Sessions for not repairing the way 

 from Leaden Roding parsonage to Beauchamp Rod- 

 ing.2' This was the same road, with an additional 

 portion to the north. Recent alterations to the roads 

 have already been mentioned. 



During the first half of the 19th century, and prob- 

 ably for much of the 1 8th, Abbess Roding was on the 

 coach route from Dunmow to Ongar and London,^^ 

 but in the 1850's this route was abandoned in favour 

 of a link with the railway at Bishop's Stortford, and 

 ten years later the railway was brought to Dunmow 

 itself and also to Ongar.^^ In 1863, however, a coach 

 ran from Fyfield, 3 miles from Abbess Roding, daily 

 to London.^'* Now (1954) Abbess Roding is on a bus 

 route between Dunmow and Brentwood, with two 

 services a day in each direction and three on Saturday. 



A walking postman operated between Ongar and 

 Margaret Roding (about 8 miles) in 1844, but in that 

 year it was stated that this was too far for any man to 

 travel every day and it was decided to terminate the 

 post at Abbess Roding and to transfer the receiving 

 house there from Margaret Roding.^s A sub-post- 

 office was maintained until 19 14 but had been dis- 

 continued by 1922.2* 



Piped water was supplied by the Herts, and Essex 

 Waterworks in 195 1." The new 'Airey' houses have 

 main drainage, connected to a sewage works which is 

 situated near the Longbarns road and was installed by 

 the Air Ministry during the Second World War.^' 

 Electricity is now (1955) supphed tothe village.^' A 

 village hall for Abbess and Beauchamp Roding is 

 situated in the grounds of The Manor. It is a con- 

 verted cow-shed and has been in use for the past 20 

 years.^" A branch of the county library was opened in 

 1931.3' 



Throughout the history of the parish agriculture has 

 been almost the only occupation of the inhabitants. 

 From about 1500 to about 1700 there was a resident 

 landowner living at Rookwood Hall. Apart from that 

 period it is doubtful whether the owners of any of the 

 principal estates lived at Abbess Roding. In 1842 it 

 was estimated that the parish contained 1,257 acres of 

 arable, 243 acres of meadow and pasture, and 75 acres 

 of woodland. There were then six farms over 50 acres 

 of which the largest was 382 acres. None of these 

 farms was occupied by the owner. ^^ An inventory of 

 the goods and chattels of Richard Hills of Abbess 

 Roding, made after his death in 16 14, sheds some light 

 on the life of a small farmer of the parish at that time.'^ 



There is very little evidence of occupations other 

 than agriculture. The name Brick Kiln Wood, how- 



" Hist. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 2. 



'8 Defoe's Tour through Great Britain, 

 ed. G. D. H. Cole, 1927, p. 89. 



» E.R.O., Q/SR 86/5+. 



»» Ibid. 230/31, 32. Cf. Q/SBa 1/42. 



" E.R.O., e/SR 354/25. 



22 Pigot's Dir. Essex (1839); fVhite's 

 Dir. Essex (iS^»). 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (185 1 f.). And see 

 Chipping Ongar. 



" ffhite's Dir. Essex (1863), 740. 

 " P.M.G. Mins..i844, vol. 78, p. 629. 

 2' Kelly's Dir. Essex (19 14, 1922). 

 " Inf. from Herts, and Essex Water- 

 works Co. 

 28 Inf. from the Revd. R. T. K. Griffin. 

 " Ibid. 30 Ibid. 



3* Inf. from County Librarian. 

 " E.R.O., D/CT 292. 

 " E.R.O., D/DGe 506. 



189 



