A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



until his retirement in 1948. In 1927 the benefice of 

 Abbess Roding was united with that of Beauchamp 

 Roding (q.v.). The advowson of the united benefice 

 was vested in the Revd. C. L. Capel-Cure and the 

 Bishop of Chelmsford alternately. The present patrons 

 are the bishop and Mrs. L. J. Capel-Cure. 53 Since 

 1949 the united benefice has been held along with the 

 vicarages of Good Easter and Berners Roding. 



The rectory of Abbess Roding was never appro- 

 priated but about 1096 the tithes from the lands of 

 Eudo dapifer (see above, Berwick Berners manor) were 

 granted to the abbey of St. John, Colchester. In about 

 1254 it was stated that the Abbot of Colchester and the 

 nuns of the priory of Stratford-atte-Bow (Mdx.) then 

 received all the tithes of Oger Fitz Michael.st At some 

 date, presumably after this, the Abbot of Colchester 

 restored all the tithes to the Rector of Abbess Roding. ss 

 The rectory was valued at 10 marks in about 1254, 

 1291, and 1428 and a £14 10/. in 1535.'* Tithes 

 were commuted n: 843 for ^455; there were then 

 19 acres of glebe.'' 



The original rectory house was immediately south 

 of the churchyard. It was rebuilt in 1859 on or near 

 the same site by L. Capel Cure.'' The new building 

 served as the rectory only until 191 2. It is now called 

 The Manor and is a large red-brick structure of three 

 stories. In 191 2 a smaller rectory was built on the 

 opposite side of the road by C. L. Capel-Cure. This 

 was sold to him on his retirement and has since been 

 named Abbess House. It is a well-designed red-brick 

 building in an informal Queen Anne style. There is 

 now no rectory in Abbess Roding. The present (1955) 

 rector is also vicar of Good Easter and lives there. 



The parish church of ST. EDMUND consists of 

 nave, chancel, west tower, north vestry, and south 

 porch. The walls are of flint rubble, roughly coursed 

 except where they have been restored, and the original 

 dressings are of clunch. The plan indicates a 12th- 

 century origin and the dedication suggests that there 

 was a church here before the Norman Conquest. The 

 nave was probably rebuilt in the 14th century and the 

 chancel in the 14th and 15 th. The tower and porch 

 were rebuilt in 1866—8 and the vestry was probably 

 added before the end of the 19th century. The most 

 interesting features of the church are the oak screen 

 and the stained glass, both of the 1 5th century. 



The position of the north and south doorways sug- 

 gests that the nave was originally built in the 12 th 

 century. The font is of the late 12th century and is 

 similar in type to others in the neighbourhood. 5' The 

 square bowl, which is bound with iron, has vine orna- 

 ment carved on two sides and conventionalized flowers 

 on another. On the fourth side appear the disk, 

 crescent, whorl, and stars which are characteristic of 

 these fonts. The stem is circular and has small angle 

 shafts. 



The nave was probably rebuilt in the 14th century. 

 There are two pointed windows with tracery of this 

 date. They have been partially restored but retain 

 their external label moulds and grotesque head-stops. 

 The doorways are also 14th-century in style but the 

 south doorway has been completely rebuilt. West of 

 the doorways are single-light windows which are either 



modern or very thoroughly restored. A 14th-century 

 piscina in the south wall has an ogee head on a square 

 drain. The chancel arch, much restored, is of two 

 moulded orders. The windows on the north side of 

 the chancel have tracery of the 14th century, but the 

 later rebuilding of the rear arches has blocked the 

 spandrels. Between them is a small chamber or cup- 

 board, projecting externally and having a pent roof. 

 The opening to the chancel, now blocked, has a small 

 doorway, probably of the 14th century, with a pointed 

 head. 



There is much 15th-century work in the chancel. 

 The two south windows have moulded jambs and four- 

 centred heads. The east window, entirely rebuilt in 

 the 19th century, has tracery in the style of the 15 th 

 century and may replace a similar window of that date. 

 The late 15th-century south doorway has a four- 

 centred head with carved spandrels and a square label 

 externally. The stonework has been partly renewed. 

 The chancel roof has two tie-beams and a deep moulded 

 and embattled wall-plate. Below the east tie-beam are 

 moulded wall-posts and arched braces springing from 

 modern corbel brackets. The nave roof, of similar date, 

 has two tie-beams with traceried spandrels between the 

 arched braces and the moulded wall-posts. At the west 

 end are indications of the former bell turret, 'a little 

 wooden turret with a spire'.*" This is showTi in an 

 engraving of 1797.*' In the same picture appears a 

 large timber-framed south porch, also probably of the 

 15 th century, having seven pointed lights along the 

 sides. The turret and porch were both rebuilt in 1 867 

 but there is still a 1 5th-century stoup outside the south 

 door. 



The fine oak screen is of the late 15 th century. It 

 has evidently been brought from elsewhere and cut to 

 fit the present chancel arch. There are three full bays, 

 one of which forms the entrance to the chancel, and an 

 extra half bay at the south end. The upper panels have 

 four-centred heads and are filled with elaborately 

 cusped perpendicular tracery. The principal mullions 

 are carved with buttresses and crocketed finials. The 

 rail is enriched with a running vine ornament and the 

 lower panels have tracery carving. The cresting is 

 modern. 



In one of the 1 5th-century chancel windows is some 

 painted glass of the same period. It includes tabernacle 

 work and two figures, one being a bishop in mass vest- 

 ments and the other a woman, probably St. Margaret. 



Above the pulpit is a fine early-i8th-century sound- 

 ing board with an inlaid soffit and an enriched cornice. 

 It is supported on a fluted Doric pilaster in the angle 

 between the south and east walls of the nave. The 

 octagonal oak pulpit may be partly of the same date, 

 altered later. The wrought-iron hour-glass stand near 

 the pulpit is probably also of the i8th century. 



In 1866-7 the church was restored and refitted at 

 the expense of Capel Cure of Blake Hall. The work 

 included the rebuilding of the tower and the south 

 porch. The present tower is of flint rubble with free- 

 stone dressings and is of three stages surmounted by a 

 castellated parapet. Its style is mainly of the 14th cen- 

 tury. The south porch is of timber. At the same time 

 the east wall of the chancel was completely rebuilt. 



53 CrockfoTtVs Cler, Dir. passim ; Chelms- 

 ford Dioc. Tear Bk. 1952. 



5* E.A.T. N.s. xviii, 19. For Oger Fitz 

 Michael see Berwick Berners. No other 

 reference has been found to the Priory of 

 Stratford in this conneiyon. 



55 Cart, of St. John's Abhey, Colchester, 

 ed. Stuart Moore, 522. 



56 E.A.T. N.s. xviii, 19; Tax. Bed. 

 (Rec. Com.), 2ii; Feud. Aids, ii, 205; 

 Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 



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



58 E.R. xxi, 226. 



5' Cf. Moreton, Little Laver, and (out- 

 side Ongar hundred) Fryerning. 

 ''" Morant, Essex, \, I 39. 

 '■ E.R.O. Prints, Abbess Roding. 



194 



