A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



teacher was again a master.^ In 1872 the Education 

 Department urged that the school should be repaired 

 and enlarged to accommodate 40 boys, as a contribu- 

 tion towards the provision of elementary education for 

 all children in the parish.^ No steps were taken, how- 

 ever, to enlarge this or other schools in Stapleford 

 Abbots and Lambourne, with the result that a school 

 board was formed for the two parishes.'* In 1878 a 

 board school was opened.' There seem to be no 

 references to the existence of the Knolls Hill school 

 after that date, except in about 1907 when it was stated 

 to be still in existence as an elementary school.* The 

 Knolls Hill farm estate is now charged with the 

 annual sum of £2° i^/. which goes towards the 

 secondary education of a pupil from Stapleford Abbots 

 primary school.^ 



The original Knolls Hill school building still stands, 

 being now occupied as a cottage. It is of red brick with 

 some burnt headers. The symmetrical front is of two 

 stories and has a central doorway with a flat hood on 

 moulded brackets. The building originally consisted 

 of one large room to each floor, but these are now sub- 

 divided. The master's house, which is attached to the 

 back of the school, may be a later addition. 



The parochial school had its origins in the early 

 years of the 19th century. Presumably because girls 

 were not admitted to Knolls Hill Free School, private 

 schools for girls existed in the parish both in 1 807 and 

 18 1 8. In 1818 there was also a school in which 14 

 girls had their fees paid and some clothes given them 

 by Mrs. Abdy of Albyns.^ This girls' school seems to 

 have accepted boys as pupils at some time before 1839, 

 when the Abdy family was still its sole supporter.' In 

 1 846-7, when the school was situated on land owned 

 by the Abdys, a little to the north of the church,'" 

 widow Williams was being paid £^7 a year to teach 

 15 boys and 43 girls, including some from Navestock 

 and Stapleford Tawney." The school continued for 

 at least another 28 years, evidently under the patronage 

 of the Abdy family. In 1872 the Education Depart- 

 ment urged that certain alterations and re-equipment 

 should be carried out so that its accommodation might 

 be used to help provide universal elementary education 

 in the parish,'^ but this was not done'3 and the school 

 seems to have been closed on the establishment of the 

 board school.'* 



In 1878 the school board of Stapleford Abbots and 

 Lambourne opened a new school on a freehold site at 

 the top of the hill leading to Passingford Bridge. The 

 cost was defrayed by a loan.'' The accommodation 

 was for 99. The average attendance rose from 49 in 

 1886 to 73 in 1902, and its annual grant from ,^35 to 

 j^ioi.'* In 1904 there were 80 children at the school 



and 3 teachers, 2 of whom were certificated. '^ By the 

 Education Act of 1902 the school passed under the 

 administration of the Essex Education Committee as 

 a provided mixed school. Its average attendance fell 

 to 54 in 1909 and 32 in 1930. In 1936 it was re- 

 organized for mixed juniors and infants,' ' the seniors 

 being sent to Chipping Ongar. In May 1952 there 

 were 3 teachers and 74 pupils. The school is a single- 

 story, red-brick building, and it has a teacher's house 

 attached. 



Elizabeth Watson (d. 1782) left ^^3 issuing from 

 her estate of Mitchells to be dis- 

 CHJRITIES^^ tributed to the poor on Christmas 

 Day and Good Friday, provided that 

 her parents' monument should be well maintained in 

 its then position. Although all the monuments in the 

 church were moved into the tower in 1 861, the 

 charity money continued to be paid. There was some 

 difficulty in coUecting the rent-charge from 1930 to 

 1937. In 1952 the money was spent on gifts of bread 

 to 38 recipients. 



Dr. Gould, rector of the parish (d. 1799), left j^i^S 

 to be invested for distribution among the poor of the 

 parish at Christmas and Easter. A board was to be 

 maintained, bearing a description of the charity. By 

 1835 the charity was only distributed on alternate 

 Easter Saturdays, when meat was given away to all the 

 poor families of the parish in proportion to their size. 

 In about 1888 ^30 was added to the stock, represent- 

 ing the endowment of the Bell Rope Charity. This 

 was of unknown origin and had apparently consisted 

 of a small plot of land in Hook Lane which was sold 

 by the churchwardens in 1781 for ^25. The payment 

 of the dividends of this sum seems to have been irregular 

 for some time: no mention of the charity was made in 

 the Brougham Commissioners' Report of 1835 and 

 about 8 years' arrears were paid in 1855. In the early 

 19th century the income was apparently used with 

 that of the other charities, and from 1888 it was always 

 distributed with Dr. Gould's Charity. In 1952 the 

 income of the two was ^^4 1 8^. \J. which was spent on 

 meat for 41 persons. 



Alice Martin, by will proved 1946, left the residue of 

 her estate amounting to ^^2,265 8/. 5^'. in trust for the 

 benefit of the poor of the parish at Christmas. In 1952 

 the income was j^7 3 6s. ioa'.;43 persons received gifts in 

 cash and 7 persons received them in children's clothes. 



The Parliamentary Returns of 1786 recorded two 

 charities which were then lost: Edward Masters had 

 given ^3 a year to the poor in 1670, and Captain Allen 

 gave them £t.o, producing 10/. a year, in 1675. 

 Nothing had been received from the first 'for many 

 years' or from the second since 1690. 



» mile's Dir. Essex {iSSj). 



3 Chetmsford Chronicle^ 9 Aug. 1872. 



♦ Essex Standard, 29 July 1874. 

 s Sec below. 



* Kelly's Dir. Essex (1878, 1882); 

 F.C.H. Essex, ii, 563. 



' Inf. from Mr. D. fCelly, present 

 owner of Knolls Hill Farm. 



' Reins. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 271 

 (1819), ix (i); see above, Manor of 



Albyns. 



« E.R.O., D/P 30/28/19. 



"o E.R.O., D/CT 330; see above, p. 222. 



*' Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church Schs, 

 1846-7, pp. 18-19. 



" Chelmsford Chronicle, 9 Aug. 1872. 



" Essex Standard, 29 July 1874. 



■« Kelly's Dir. Essex (1878, 1882). 



'5 Min. of Educ. File i 3/346. 



" Rep. of Educ. Cllee. of Council, 18S6 



[C. S123-1], p. 519, H.C. (1887), xitviii; 

 List of Schs. under Admin, of Bd. igo2 

 [Cd. 1490], p. 71, H.C. (1903), li. 



" Essex Educ. Cttee. Handbk. 1904, 

 p. 186. 



" Inf. from Essex Educ. Cttee. 



^9 All the information which follows is 

 derived from the following sources : Rep. 

 Com. Char. [Essex), H.C. 216, pp. 243-4 

 (1835), xii (i) j Char. Com. files. 



232 



