A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



church of Cottered (Herts.). S3 Also on the north wall 

 of the chancel are white marble tablets to Charlotte 

 Edwards (1823) and Isaac Taylor (1865). s* On the 

 east wall of the chancel is a white marble tablet to Dr. 

 Charles Gibbs (1681), and on the south wall a brass 

 inscription to Katherine (1609) wife of Richard 

 Mulcaster, rector of the parish. In the nave is a stone 

 tablet to Anne, wife of William Napper (1584), bear- 

 ing a brass of a kneeling woman and her six sons. On 

 the floor of the chancel, some of them concealed below 

 the altar, are four floor-slabs with brasses: (i) fragment 

 of late- 16th-century slab with shield of arms; (2) 

 Thomas, infant son of Giles Greville (1492) with a 

 figure of a Chrisom child and shield of arms; (3) Robert 

 Borrow (1503) and Alys his wife: figures of man in 

 plate armour and woman in pedimented head-dress 

 with dog at their feet and shield of arms; (4) Lucy, 

 daughter of William Petre (1637): inscription only. 

 Also in the chancel are many floor slabs to the Petre 

 family, ranging in date from 1677 (William son of 

 Lord Petre) to 1797 (Hon. George William Petre). 



The Berkeley Charity, for the upkeep of the grave- 

 yard of the church, is described below, under Charities. 



The old rectory is a fine late-l8th-century red-brick 

 house of two stories and attics, with a one-story wing 

 to the south-west. The entrance front has a pedi- 

 mented doorcase and on the garden side there are two 

 slightly projecting bays with pediments. The detail 

 here and elsewhere is of c. 1780. Parts of the moat 

 remain to the north of the house. The glebe terrier of 

 1610 describes extensive buildings which were prob- 

 ably on the same site.ss There appear to be no traces 

 of these earlier buildings. 



For the present rectory see below, Protestant Non- 

 conformity. 



In the 17th century and the first half of the i8th 



Roman Catholic wor- 



ROMAN CATHOLICISM ship was carried on by 



the Petres at Bellhouse 

 (see above). This was one of the places served by the 

 secret Jesuit mission in eastern England which was 

 founded about 1633 and largely financed by the 

 Petres.56 The first William Petre of Bellhouse was a 

 servant of Charles I and in 1639 the king personally 

 intervened to prevent him from being prosecuted for 

 recusancy.57 In 1676 there was an unusually large 

 number of papists in Stanford Rivers. 5* There was 

 probably a private chapel at Bellhouse,^' and Roman 

 Catholic worship continued there until after the death 

 of William Petre in I745.*<' The date when it finally 

 ceased is not certain, but it is unlikely to have continued 

 for long after the death of John Petre in 1762. 



The Petres also contributed generously to the sup- 

 port of Roman Catholicism elsewhere. During the 

 reign of Charles II an annuity of ^{^40 out of the manor 

 of Stanford Rivers was being paid to each of two 

 members of the family, Richard and Robert Petre, 

 who had become Jesuits.*' In 1678, however, these 

 revenues were seized by the government.*^ William 



Petre (d. 1728) made settlements on at least five of his 

 daughters who became nuns.*^ His son Robert (1700- 

 66) became a Jesuit.*'* 



On 20 October 18 19 a small place of worship, 

 originally a cottage, was 

 PROTESTANT opened for the use of dissen- 



NONCONFORMITT ters. Sermons were preached 

 at the opening service by the 

 Revd. James Stratten of Paddington and the Revd. 

 Edward Andrews of Walworth. A Sunday school was 

 attached to the chapel. Arrangements had been made 

 for the supply of preachers from Hoxton Academy .*5 



On 27 June 1820 a new chapel, specially built and 

 seating 300, was opened in place of the converted 

 cottage. Stratten and Andrews were again the preachers 

 at the opening. Two local residents had each con- 

 tributed ;^ioo towards the cost of the chapel. Supplies 

 were still being sent by Hoxton.** 



In 1827 the site, chapel, and vestry, with a stable 

 and outhouses, were conveyed to trustees, among 

 whom were Stratten, then of Maida Vale, and Thomas 

 Kingsbury of Stanford Rivers. The trust deed stipu- 

 lated that the buildings should be used for 'a con- 

 gregation of Protestant Dissenters usually denominated 

 Calvinists of the Independent Denomination'.*'' 



In 1829 the congregation numbered 150 and there 

 was a minister, William Temple.** There was a 

 minister in 1846—7 and another in 1850-3.*' About 

 1839 David Livingstone preached in this chapel while 

 a student at Chipping Ongar. He is said to have 

 suffered from stage-fright and to have been unable to 

 complete his sermon.'" From about 1854 the chapel 

 was served mainly by the ministers of the Congrega- 

 tional church at Chipping Ongar." Isaac Jennings, 

 formerly the minister at Ongar, had charge at Stanford 

 Rivers during his retirement in 1863.'^ 



A new trust was appointed in 1 877.'^ In 1904 there 

 were 34 Sunday-school children and 2 teachers. '-t The 

 chapel was burnt down in 1927. To supplement the 

 insurance money of ^(^700 a fund was raised to rebuild 

 the chapel as a memorial to David Livingstone. The 

 response to the appeal was disappointing, less than ^{^400 

 being received,and the scheme was not carried through. 's 



The chapel was a rectangular stucco building with 

 a pedimented front.'* It stood opposite the former 

 Ongar Union workhouse at Little End. The site is 

 still walled and has the original cast iron early- 19th- 

 century gate piers. 



The present rectory, formerly the Chapel House, 

 adjoins the chapel site and may have been built in con- 

 nexion with it. It was originally a small house of gault 

 brick, probably built in the first quarter of the 19th cen- 

 tury. Additions in the same style were made about 1 948 . 



Records of the courts of the manor of Stanford 



Rivers exist for the years 



PARISH GOFERNMENT 1 3 24-5 and 1327-9 and 



AND POOR RELIEF also for 1 534" but they 



are continuous only from 

 1560.'' Between 1560 and 1624 the court met 



" E.A.T. N.s. vii, 167. 



** For Taylor see above, p. 210. 



s* Newcourt, Repert. ii, 546. 



" H. Foley, Rea. of Eng. Province of 

 Soc. ofjfeius, V, 536. 



" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1638-9, 607; ibid. 

 1639,427. 5' See below, p. 31 1. 



" R.C. Parish of Brentwood, MS. Book 

 (Letter of J. F. Wright, 1854). 



*" See above, Manor of Stanford Rivers. 



" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1689-90, 359, 434; 



ibid. 1690-1,451. For the identity of Ricd. 

 and Robt. Petre see Foley, Recs. of Eng, 

 Provinceof Soc.ofye!us,n, s,%$. " Ibid. 



'3 See above, Manor of Stanford Rivers. 



6< Foley, Recs. of Eng. Province of Soc. 

 ofjesu!, ii, 585. 



^5 Evangelical Mag. xwiif ^\J. 



" Ibid, xxviii, 390. 



" Essex Congr. Union, Trust Deeds. 



'8 E.R.O., Q/CR 3/2. 



<"> Congr. rear Bks. 1846-53. 



218 



"> E.R. xxii, 90. 



" Congr. rear Bh. 1854 f. 



'2 Ibid. 1863. 



'3 Essex Congr. Union, Trust Deeds. 



T* Congr. rear Bk. 1904. 



'5 Char. Com. files. 



'* See plate facing p. 113. 



" DL30/1 16/1762; SC2/173/81. 



'8 E.R.O.,D/DP Mi 127-40. For later 

 court rolls (to 1923) see E.R.O.. D/DTc 

 M3. 



