ONGAR HUNDRED 



THEYDON GARNON 



roads, and surveyors' accounts 1810—36.'" In 1581 

 the surveyors reported on those defaulting in their road 

 service.^^ An interesting dispute over the number of 

 days' work due from parishioners on the roads was heard 

 in 1684. Andrew Partridge of Theydon Garnon 

 declared that 36 years earlier he was hired to do two 

 days' work in Waltham Lane, and he believed that two 

 days was the rule for the parish.''^ 



Theydon Bridge, alias Mason's Bridge, was described 

 in 1 64 1 as a cart bridge and the feoffees of Stonards 

 were said to be responsible for its repair.'** In about 

 1800 and 1835 it was listed as a county bridge.+s In 

 1858, however, the county surveyor reported that 

 after careful inquiries from local inhabitants he was 

 unable to identify a bridge of this name, and he sug- 

 gested Coopersale Bridge (although that had been 

 repaired by the parish) or Daws Bridge.** In 1866 the 

 county surveyor had identified the bridge correctly but 

 there was some doubt whether the parish was not 

 responsible for its upkeep.*^ In his report of 1866-7, 

 however. Mason's Bridge was accepted by the county 

 and by 1869 it had been rebuilt.'** 



A new brick bridge called Brook House Bridge was 

 described by the county surveyor in 1858. It had been 

 built since 1836.*' 



For communications in general Theydon Gamon 

 has relied mainly on Epping. In the 1 8th and early 

 1 9th centuries there were coach services running through 

 Epping along the London— Norwich road. The exten- 

 sion of the railway to Epping and Ongar (1865) has 

 been mentioned above. In 1949 this line was electrified 

 as far as Epping.^o 



As late as 1 894 there was no post-office in Theydon 

 Garnon. 5' By 1898 one had been set up at Coopersale 

 Street, though it had no telegraph or facilities for deal- 

 ing with money orders.s^ There are now post-offices 

 at both Coopersale Street and Coopersale Common. 



The public services provided for Epping have in 

 general been available for the urban part of the ancient 

 parish of Theydon Garnon. By 1886 the town had 

 piped water, supplied by the Herts, and Essex Water- 

 works Co., and main drainage.53 The water-supply 

 was extended to the rural part of Theydon Garnon by 

 the same company in 1898.5* The Epping Special 

 Drainage Area, which in 1 896 became Epping Urban 

 District, included Coopersale Common, Coopersale 

 Street, and Fiddlers Hamlet. ss There is now main 

 drainage also in the present civil parish of Theydon 

 Garnon. 56 Gas was first supplied in 1865 or 1 866,57 

 and electricity by 1933-5' Electricity was extended to 

 the rural parts of Theydon Garnon in 1950.5' 



Many of the landowners of the parish have been 

 resident and have taken an active interest in its affairs. 

 So far as can be judged the lords of Theydon Garnon 

 manor were resident for much of the 13 th to 15 th 

 centuries. The lords of Gaynes Park lived on their 

 manor for part of the 14th century and probably at 



other periods in the Middle Ages; in the i6th century 

 the Fitzwilliams were probably resident there. The 

 Archers (later Archer-Houblons) of Coopersale were 

 probably resident continuously from the i6th century 

 to the 19th. Lady Fitzwilliam of Gaynes Park endowed 

 the almshouses. Henry Archer of Coopersale founded 

 another charity. Thomas Abdy, lord of the manor of 

 Theydon Garnon, granted land for use as a potato 

 ground for the poor and later substituted a voluntary 

 free gift of bread. In general this parish is exceptionally 

 well provided with charities endowed by the local 

 landowners and resident gentry.*" In the 19th century 

 Miss Archer-Houblon built the village school, St. 

 Alban's church, and the vicarage at Coopersale.*' 



In the Middle Ages the capital manor of Theydon 

 Garnon was probably much larger than any other 

 estate in the parish. This was, however, divided in the 

 1 6th century and from the 17th century Gaynes Park 

 and Coopersale both increased. In 1840 the Garnish 

 Hall property consisted only of 228 acres, while Gaynes 

 Park and Coopersale each contained over 700 acres.*^ 

 In the same year there were 19 farms in the parish 

 containing more than 50 acres, 7 of over 100 acres and 

 I over 200 acres.*3 



In Theydon Garnon, as elsewhere in the hundred, 

 inclosure took place at an early date, and details of the 

 process are lacking. One exception was Gernon 

 Bushes, Coopersale Common. Some inclosure of forest 

 waste appears to have taken place there between 1777 

 and 1838,*'* but a substantial part still remains. Mixed 

 farming is carried on in the rural part of the parish. In 

 1838 there were estimated to be some 770 acres of 

 arable, 1,740 acres of meadow or pasture, 264 acres of 

 wood, and 100 acres of common (most of which was 

 in fact woodland) .*5 



A small mound just north of the railway near 

 Stonards Farm is marked on the map of I777 as Mill 

 Hill. There was no mill there then, but a windmill is 

 shown on the map about J mile farther north. 

 Garnish Mill, on the Roding, has already been men- 

 tioned above. It was no longer operating in 1777. 

 It may have been the mill on the manor of William 

 son of Constantine in 1086.** 



In 1305 the king granted to Hugh Gernon a weekly 

 market and an annual fair at his manor of Theydon 

 Garnon.*'' In 1872 a fair formerly held at Fiddlers 

 Hamlet on 20 July was abolished at the petition of its 

 owner, T. C. Chisenhale-Marsh.*' 



Robert Fabyan (d. 15 13), chronicler, acquired 

 Halsteads in Theydon Garnon on his marriage.*' Sir 

 Daniel Dun or Donne (d. 1617), M.P. for Oxford 

 1604 and 1614, an authority on marriage law, was lord 

 of the manor of Theydon Garnon.^" Sir John Archer 

 (l 598-1682), a justice of the Common Pleas, lived at 

 Coopersale House." Thomas Dimsdale (1712-1800), 

 physician, who inoculated the Empress Catherine of 

 Russia against smallpox, was born at Theydon Garnon.''^ 



«■ E.R.O., D/P 152/10/1, 152/21/1. 



" E.R.O., Q/SR 78/28. 



*3 Ibid. 4.46/93. 



« Ibid. 312/25. 



" E.R.O., e/ABz 2; ibid. Q/ABz i. 



*' E.R.O., Q/ABz 3. 



<' E.R.O., Q/ABp 46. 



«» E.R.O., Q/ABz 3. 



« Ibid. 



*° Inf. from London Transport. 



5' Kelly i Dir. Eatx (1894). 



52 Ibid. (1898). 



" Ibid. (1886). 



s« Inf. from Herts. & Essex Water- 

 works Co. 



5 5 See above. 



5' Inf. from Rector of Theydon Garnon. 



5' Inf. from Eastn. Gas Bd. 



5» Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



5' Inf. from Eastn. Elec. Bd. 



*** See below, Charities. 



6* See below. Church, School. 



" E.R.O., D/CT 350. " Ibid. 



'* Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 1777, sheet xvi; E.R.O., D/CT 350. 



<'5 E.R.O., D/CT 350. 



261 



" Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex, 

 1777, sheet xvi; V.C.H. Essex, i, 563a. 



*' Cal. dart. R. 1300-26,62. 



" iMnJ. Gaz. 9 July 1872, p. 3106. 



<"> D.N.B.; E.H.R. iii, 318-21. For his 

 will, with many references to Theydon 

 Garnon, see Nem Chrons. of Eng. and 

 France (ed. Ellis, 181 1), iii-xiii. 



"> D.N.B. See below Manors, Church. 



■" D.N.B. ; E.R. xxxi, 160-73, '79-94- 



" D.N.B. He was perhaps the doctor 

 mentioned below. Parish Govt, and Poor 

 Relief, or a relative of that doctor. 



