ONGAR HUNDRED 



STAPLEFORD ABBOTS 



timber-work are also original. Both in the central block 

 and in the west wing stone fireplaces of the i6th 

 century have been uncovered. These have four-centred 

 arches and carved spandrels and are almost identical 

 with fireplaces of the same period which were formerly 

 at Albyns. In two instances there are Tudor roses and 

 fleurs-de-lis above the lintels. 



The Romford road leaves the parish at Passingford 

 Bridge over the Roding. Immediately to the south of 

 the bridge a lane leads south-east to Albyns,^^ which 

 lies in a park, and the main road via Abridge to London 

 runs west. On the north side of the London road, 

 about J mile west of Passingford Bridge, is Passingford 

 Mill.^3 The former Mill House is a little farther west. 



References in the Quarter Sessions rolls to com- 

 munications in Stapleford Abbots chiefly relate to 

 Passingford Bridge.^t 



In 1 592 Bourne Bridge was presented as so broken 

 that no horse and cart could pass.^s In 1609-10 it was 

 said that this bridge was in decay and should be 

 repaired by the Crown.^* In 1656 it was reported that 

 'the lord of the manor of Stapleford Hall, one Chambers 

 alias Chamberline' had failed to repair it.^' 



In 1896 a sub-post-office under Romford was estab- 

 lished at Stapleford Abbots, with two rural posts.^* 

 There was a telephone service by 1937.^' A police 

 officer is stationed in the parish.'" 



Water was first supplied by the Herts, and Essex 

 Waterworks Co. in 1935, but there is no main drain- 

 age.3' In 1935 powers were obtained by the Romford 

 Gas Co. to supply gas to Stapleford Abbots and other 

 villages but there is not yet a supply.'^ Electricity was 

 laid on in 1931.33 A branch of the county library was 

 opened in i93i.3'» 



Stapleford Abbots has always been a rural parish, 

 devoted mainly to agriculture. The lords of the capital 

 manor have never lived in the parish.35 The owners of 

 Battles Hall were never resident after the beginning of 

 the 1 5th century. 3* The owners of Albyns manor seem 

 to have lived in the parish at some periods before the 

 middle of the 17th century and the Abdys, who bought 

 the estate in 1654, were resident for nearly the whole 

 of the period from 1654, if not before, until 1840.3' 

 After 1 840 both the house and the estate were leased 

 and the Abdys did not again live in the parish.3 8 



In 1845 the parish consisted of 2,332 acres, most of 

 which was occupied by tenant farmers.3' The Crown 

 owned 349 acres of which 226 acres (Stapleford Hall 

 farm) were occupied by E. and C. Mollett and 123 

 acres (Hammonds Farm) by J. Fitch.*" Lady Mildmay 

 owned 351 acres of which she occupied 140 acres, 

 mainly woodland.'" Sir Thomas Abdy owned 350 

 acres of which 12; acres, mainly wood and meadow, 

 were occupied by R. Currie, 70 acres by E. and C. 

 Mollett, and 66 acres by J. Surridge; the rest was leased 

 in 7 parcels.''^ W. J. Lockwood owned 341 acres of 



2* See below. Manor of Albyns. 



23 See Stapleford Tawney, p. 234. 



M Ibid. 



" E.R.O., Q/SR 121/30. 



" E.R.O., Q/SR 189/92. 



" E.R.O., Q/SR 368/24.. Chambers 

 may have acquired a lease of the manor 

 from William Crofts : see below, Manor of 

 Stapleford .'Vbbots. 



^' P.M.G. Mins. 1896, vol. 574, min. 

 1191. 



" Brit. Postal Guide, 1937. 



3° Inf. from Chief Constable of Essex. 



3' Inf. from Herts, and Essex Water- 

 works Co.; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1937). 



32 Inf. from North Thames Gas Bd. 



33 Inf. from East. Elec. Bd. 

 3* Inf. from County Librarian. 



35 Sec below, Manor of Stapleford 

 Abbots. 



36 See below, Manor of Battles Hall. 

 3' See below, Manor of Albyns and 



Church. 



38 E.R.O., D/CT 330; ffiite's Dir. 

 Essex (1863); Kell/s Dir. Essex (1862 f.). 



30 E.R.O., D/CT 330. 



« Ibid. •<■ Ibid. 



« Ibid. « Ibid. 



« Ibid. ts Ibid. 



*<■ H.O. 67/16. 



which 1 24 acres (Knolls Hill farm) were occupied by 

 R. Rudd, 96 acres (Blunts farm) by J. Stains, and 75 

 acres (Olivers Farm) by H. Viney; the rest was leased 

 in 4 small parcels.*' There were 3 other substantial 

 owners, none of whom farmed the land himself: 

 D. Mcintosh owned 160 acres which he leased in 2 

 parcels; the Revd. John Bramston Stane owned 142 

 acres of which Rebecca Roach occupied 84 acres 

 (Wiggans farm) and C. Stevens 57 acres (Tunbridge 

 farm).** There were 3 other farms of over 40 acres, 

 all of them occupied by tenant farmers.*' 



Then, as now, there was mixed farming in the parish, 

 with a predominance of pasture. In 1801 it was esti- 

 mated that more than two-thirds of the parish was 

 meadow and pasture land.** In 1 845 there were about 

 800 acres of arable, 1,2 50 acres of meadow and pasture, 

 and 200 acres of woodland and forest.*' There were 

 also 40 acres of land under hops.** 



There is some evidence concerning inclosure in the 

 parish. Most of the common field and meadow land 

 had evidently, as elsewhere in the area, been inclosed 

 before the 19th century. In 1824, however, 291 acres 

 of land belonging to the capital manor were inclosed.*' 

 This land was mainly in the east of the parish. It was 

 largely waste but included 36 acres of common meadow 

 (Rye Mead), 21 acres of which were in Lambourne 

 parish.50 



About 132 acres of woodland in the west of Staple- 

 ford Abbots, belonging mostly to the manor of Battles 

 Hall, formed part of Hainault Forest. si When the 

 latter was disaiforested in 1 85 1, the part of it in Staple- 

 ford Abbots was unaffected. 5^ In 1858 the Hainault 

 Forest Allotment of Commons Act's provided that 

 191 acres in Stapleford Abbots, Lambourne, and 

 Dagenham should be allotted as common to the parish 

 of Stapleford Abbots.'* This land was inclosed in 

 186;; 14 acres of it were sold, almost entirely to the 

 Crown, to pay the expenses of inclosure; 2 acres were 

 awarded to the churchwardens and overseers to hold 

 in trust as an allotment for the labouring poor of the 

 parish chargeable with a rent of ^^2 to the Crown; 100 

 acres were allotted to the Crown in compensation of its 

 rights in the land as owner of Battles Hall manor; the 

 remainder was allotted to various individuals in com- 

 pensation for their rights of common." 



The windmill which formerly stood opposite the 

 'Royal Oak' does not appear on a map of 17775* and 

 may have dated from the early 19th century. It was a 

 weather-boarded post-mill" on a brick base and ceased 

 work some years before igio.'* In 1923 the sails were 

 blown off" and the building was demolished.*" 



The manor o( STAPLEFORD ABBOTS was held 



by the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds before 



MANORS the Conquest. It was recorded in the 



abbey's registers that one night in 10 13 



the lord of the manor of Stapleford was miraculously 



«' E.R.O., D/CT 330. 

 ts Ibid. 



<« E.R.O., Q/RDc 22. 

 5» Ibid. 



5" E.R.O., Q/RDc 42, 55. 

 52 W. R. Fisher, Forest of Essex, 349. 

 '3 21 & 22 Vict. c. 37. 

 5* E.R.O., Q/RDc 55. 

 ss E.R.O., Q/RDc 65. 

 56 Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 1777, pi. xvi. 

 " E.R. xxxii, 200. 

 " E.R. xxxiii, 96. 



59 Ibid. 



" E.R. xxxiii, 148. 



223 



