A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



faced with red brick, having dark brick bands and stone 

 dressings. The capitals of the nave arcade are carved 

 with stiff-leaved foliage. The east window has plate 

 tracery, the stained glass being the gift of Mrs. Allen 

 in 1888.*^ Formerly there were two bells dated 

 1 8 1 o ;*3 only one is now in use. 



On the walls of the porch are tablets from the 

 original church. Over the door is an inscribed brass 

 commemorating John Green (1595) and Katherine 

 his wife.*^ On the east wall of the porch is a carved and 

 painted stone tablet to Agnes wife of John Green 

 (1626); it shows the kneeling figures of husband and 

 wife with two sons and four daughters. Also mounted 

 on the porch walls are two floor slabs from the chancel 

 of the original church discovered when the present 

 foundations were dug.*' They commemorate Mar- 

 garet, daughter of John Neale (1625), and Hadsley 

 Green (1699); this last slab has an achievement 

 of arms. 



The plate includes an undated Jacobean cup, a 

 silver paten of 1724 given by Harvey Kimpton,** 

 patron, and another of 1726 given by John Pearson, 

 rector. There is also a beaker of 1799 given by Harvey 

 Kimpton and two almsdishes probably of the 19th 

 century. 



In 161 3 the cost of poor relief was 20s. 4/*^ In 

 1776 it was £6\.<>^ In 178 3-; 

 POOR RELIEF expenditure averaged j^Sg a year.*' 

 In the years of scarce food at the 

 turn of the century it almost reached £ioo and 

 through the Napoleonic wars varied between ^^200 

 and ;^345.^° There was a parish poorhouse by 1776.7' 

 In each of the three years ending at Easter 1 8 1 5 there 

 were 16 or 17 persons on 'permanent' outdoor relief 

 and 9 or 10 persons who were relieved occasionally .^^ 



In 1836 Shelley became part of Ongar Poor Law 

 Union. 



In 1 8 19 there was no school in the parish. The 



rector, H. Soames, sent some children to 

 SCHOOL Chipping Ongar Sunday school and a few 



others to a neighbouring day school.^J By 

 1832 he had established a Sunday school in Shelley; 

 25 children attended it in 1832 and 17 in 1833.'* No 

 day school was later founded except a 'ladies' academy' 

 in Shelley House's and until the Education Act of 

 1 870 only a few Shelley children seem to have attended 

 King's Trust School in Chipping Ongar (q.v.).'* In 

 1872, however, the Education Department decided 

 that the 33 Shelley children needing an elementary 

 education could most conveniently obtain it if Shelley 

 and Chipping Ongar were formed into a single School 

 District and King's Trust School were enlarged. This 

 policy was adopted and Shelley children then attended 

 King's Trust School, their expenses being paid by 

 means of voluntary contributions. In 1897-9 the 

 rector found it very difficult to collect these contribu- 

 tions.77 



Harvey Kimpton, lord of the manor of Shelley, by 

 will dated 18 17, left ;£ioo in trust for 

 CHARITIES the poor of the parish. In 1834 the 

 income was distributed in small sums 

 of cash to all poor parishioners including some receiving 

 parish relief. William Bullock, by deed poll of 1822, 

 gave ;^333 6s. SJ. in trust for the poor, subject to a life- 

 interest for himself In 1834 the income was spent on 

 bread, meat, and coals for all poor parishioners of good 

 character.'* A scheme of 1863 provided for the use of 

 both charities in support of a clothing club or for gifts 

 in kind, but in 1950 £10 were distributed from them 

 in gifts of cash to zo people." 



STANFORD RIVERS 



Stanford Rivers is a large parish whose north-east 

 boundary is | mile south-west of Chipping Ongar.' 

 The soil is Boulder Clay and London Clay with small 

 patches of gravel. The part of the parish to the north 

 of the stream which flows into the Roding at Wash 

 Bridge, and which includes Toot Hill and Ongar Park 

 Wood, may originally have been part of the parish of 

 High Ongar, and may have become part of Stanford 

 Rivers about 1280.2 LJ^e many other parishes in this 

 area Stanford Rivers is made up mainly of scattered 

 farms and cottages. There are two hamlets, one in the 

 east and the other in the north-west, both some dis- 

 tance from the parish church. The population density 

 never seems to have been unusual for the area, although 

 until the 19th century the population was larger than 

 that of High Ongar, a parish adjacent and of similar 

 area. 3 Population in 1801 numbered 740. It rose to 

 a peak of 1,082 in 185 1 and then gradually declined. 



In 195 1 it was 802.* There has been a slight increase 

 since 191 1, due to council housing and private building 

 after the break-up of the Bishops Hall estate. 



The land in the parish varies in height from about 

 100 ft. above sea-level in the south to over 300 ft. at 

 Toot Hill in the north-west. The River Roding forms 

 the eastern and southern boundaries of the parish. A 

 stream flows east across the north of the parish to join 

 the Roding at Wash Bridge. Several smaller streams 

 join the river farther south. Ongar Park Wood, in the 

 north-west, is a mile long and J mile wide. A mile 

 south of this is Knightsland Wood, and farther south- 

 east are Twentyacre Wood and Tenacre Wood. The 

 main road from Chipping Ongar to London passes 

 south-west through the parish. Lying along this road, 

 at a distance of 2 miles from Chipping Ongar, is the 

 hamlet of Little End. There have been houses here at 

 least since 1777. ' A recent group of council houses has 



*' Inscription in situ. 



'3 CA. Belli of Essex, 386. 



'* It is recorded that they had 13 

 children and that the number of their 

 descendants was 1 1 1 in their lifetime. 



'5 E.A.T. N.s. xi, 174. 



'^ See above. Manor. 



«' E.R.O., Q/SBa 3. 



«8 Ibid. e/CR i/i. «» Ibid. 



'» Ibid. (2/CR 1/9. The peak year was 

 1809-10. 



" Rep. Sel. Cttee. on Overseers' Retns. 

 1777, H.C. Ser. i, vol. ii, p. 350. 



" Ibid. e/CR i/io. 



'3 Retns. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 270 

 (1819), ix(i). 



'♦ Nat. Soc. Rep. 1832, p. 80; Educ. 

 Enquiry Abstr. H.C. 62, p. 288 (1835), 

 xli. 



'5 fVhite's Dir. Essex (1863). This 

 school was probably founded not long 

 before 1863. Cf. IVhite's Dir. Essex 

 (1848) and Kelly's Dir. Essex (1859). 



" E.R.O., D/AEM i/i/i. 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/66. 



'8 Rep. Com. Char. {Essex), H.C. 216, 



208 



pp. 241-2(1835), xxi(i). 

 " Char. Com. files. 

 ' O.S. 2\ in. Map, sheet 52/50. Total 

 area 4,413 acres. 



2 See below. Church, and High Ongar, 

 Church. 



3 See below, pp. 300 f. For the Domesday 

 population see V.C.H. Essex, \, 466^, 467U. 

 For some comparisons see High Ongar. 



♦ Inf. from Essex County Council; 

 V.C.H. Essex, ii, 350 ; Census Reps. 1 9 1 1 f. 



s Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 ITJJ, sheet xvii. 



