ONGAR HUNDRED 



STANFORD RIVERS 



been built here. The factory of Piggott Bros. & Co., 

 tent and tarpaulin makers, is on the east side of the 

 main road at Little End.* Opposite the factory is the 

 site of the former Congregational church, and also the 

 present rectory. Stanford House, which hes near the 

 factory to the south, is of 18th-century date possibly 

 with an older core. It has brick walls, to which imita- 

 tion half-timbering has been applied recently. It was 

 the home of Isaac Taylor (see below). A mile north- 

 east of Little End is Littlebury (see below). Wash 

 Farm, at Wash Bridge, is the name given on modern 

 maps to Bridge Farm, alias Bridge House Farm (see 

 below. Bridges and Piggsland). The part of the main 

 road to the south-west of Little End has been known 

 since at least the 17th century as Hare Street.' 



The main road is joined at Little End by a road 

 running north-west to Toot Hill. Stanford Hall (see 

 below) and the church lie beside this road J mile from 

 Little End. The old rectory is i mile south-west of the 

 church. The school, and Steward's Farm, are on the 

 road between the church and Toot Hill. 



Toot Hill is now the main centre of population. 

 Does Farm here is of late 16th-century origin, faced 

 with brickwork in the 19th century. It has a cruciform 

 chimney-stack with five polygonal shafts. A cottage 

 on the north side of the road about J mile east of Does 

 was part of a larger building at one time divided into 

 three tenements.* The east end, including a central 

 chimney, was destroyed by fire within the last 20 years. 

 It is of the 1 5th or early i6th century and is of timber 

 construction, plastered and weather-boarded. Also at 

 Toot Hill is a small cottage with one gabled cross-wing 

 which may be of the i6th century or earlier. On both 

 sides of the 'Green Man' at Toot Hill is a layout of 16 

 post- 1 94 5 council houses. 



In the extreme south of the parish the main road is 

 joined by a road which leads to Navestock and crosses 

 the Roding by Shonks Mill Bridge. Haifa mile north- 

 west of the bridge is Lawns Farm. The house is of 

 late i6th- or early- 17th-century date, much restored. 

 It is timber-framed and plastered and has a tiled roof 

 The front is flanked by two gables oversailing at first- 

 floor level. North of Lawns is Wayletts, another 

 timber-framed and plastered house, probably of the 

 17th century. Traceys Farm (see below) is i mile 

 north-west of Wayletts. Murrells is on the north-west 

 side of the main road, to the north-east of Traceys. It 

 also is timber-framed and plastered. The front has 

 been entirely rebuilt after receiving severe damage from 

 a flying bomb in 1944. The house probably dates 

 from the i6th century, but may have incorporated 

 parts of an even older house." Berwick Farm (see 

 below, Barwicks) is in the west of the parish near 

 Twentyacre Wood. The site of Bellhouse (see below), 

 once the main manor house of the parish, is a mile east 

 of Berwick. 



The railway from Epping to Chipping Ongar passes 

 through the north of the parish. North Weald station 



is just inside Stanford Rivers in the north-west, and 

 Blake Hall station similarly in the north. 



There are frequent references to the condition of 

 bridges in Stanford Rivers. In 1566 Stewards Bridge, 

 with land on both sides belonging to a Mr. Steward, 

 was in need of repair.'" This may have been the bridge 

 described later as Hawkes or Hackes Bridge and as 

 Hallyngford." Stewards Bridge was frequently pre- 

 sented in the manor court during the reign of Elizabeth 

 I as needing repair.'^ The great bridge between 

 Stanford Rivers and Navestock, Shonks Mill Bridge, 

 is treated under Navestock (q.v.). Wash Bridge was 

 taken over by the county in 1 8 30. '3 In 1858 it was 

 described in detail by the county surveyor.'* 



The coach and carriers from Chipping Ongar were 

 calhng at Stanford Rivers in 1848 and 1863. '5 



The railway stations at North Weald and Blake 

 Hall were probably opened as soon as the line to 

 Chipping Ongar was completed in 1865. There was 

 a coal merchant's wharf at Blake Hall Station in 1869.'* 

 Stanford Rivers had a postal receiving house in 

 1793." It was on the daily horse ride shown on the 

 post-office map of 1 8 1 3.'* In 1 848 the post-office was 

 at the 'White Bear'." By 1896 there was a sorting 

 office.^" Toot Hill had a sub-post-office in 1863.^' 

 There was a telephone service at Stanford Rivers by 

 1926." 



There was a resident police constable at Stanford 

 Rivers from 1906.^^ Two new police houses were 

 built at Hare Street in 1954. 



Water was supplied to parts of the parish in 1949 

 by the Herts, and Essex Waterworks Co.^'* There is 

 sewerage in part of Stanford Rivers.^5 Electricity was 

 laid on in part of the parish in January 195 1. 2* There 

 is no local supply of gas, but the parish is traversed by 

 an untapped trunk main.^' 



There is a village hall at Hare Street and a parish 

 room at Toot Hill, both dating from 1921.^* A 

 branch of the county library was opened in April 

 1927.29 



In 1086 the main manor of Stanford was a large and 

 important estate containing a total of 20 plough- 

 teams.3o Little Stanford contained I plough-team.3' 

 There was another \ plough-team on the estate formerly 

 held by a freeman. 3^ At the time of Domesday 5J 

 plough-teams were employed on the demesne, but the 

 number had dropped steadily since 1066. There was 

 estimated to be woodland sufficient to feed a total of 

 520 swine. This suggests that Stanford was less 

 densely wooded than Chipping Ongar (q.v.) immedi- 

 ately to the north. From the nth century until the 

 1 6th the lords of the capital manor never seem to have 

 been resident. This, and the size of the parish, explain 

 why so many subordinate estates grew up. Even after 

 the Petres had settled at Bellhouse there does not seem 

 to have been a large demesne farm. Their estate was 

 mostly let out to tenants farming 100—300 acres. 33 In 

 1842 there were 17 farms in the parish with 90 acres 



' See below, and also Parish Govt, and 

 Poor Relief. 



' P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 78. 



' Hisl. Mon. Com. Essex, ii, 222. 



« Cf. Morant, Essex, i, 1 54,. 

 ■0 E.R.O., e/SR 20/6. This bridge was 

 probably near Steward's Farm. 

 " See Navestock, p. 14.2. 

 " E.R.O., D/DP Mi 127. 

 " E.R.O., Q/ABz I. 

 ■•• E.R.O., e/ABz 3. 

 " ff^iile's Dir. Essex (1848), 437; ibid. 



(1863), 744. 



« E.R.O., D/P 140/5. 



" Cary's English Atlas, 1793. 



" See Chipping Ongar, p. 158. 



■9 White's Dir. Essex (1848), 436. 



^o P.M.G. Minutes 1896, vol. 573, 

 min. iigi. 



" Ibid. 1863, vol. 25, min. 274. 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1926). 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1906, 1933). 



** Inf. from Herts. & Essex Water- 

 works Co. 



" Inf. from the rector, the Revd. J. H. 



Ward. 



^' Inf. from East. Elec. Bd. 



" Inf. from East. Gas Bd. 



^' Inf. from the rector. 



29 Inf. from the County Librarian. 



3» l^.C.H. Essex, i, 466*. 



" Ibid. 467a. 



3^ Ibid. 466^. For the Domesday 

 tenants and their predecessors see below, 

 Manor. 



33 See various manors, below. 



209 



EC 



