ONGAR HUNDRED 



THEYDON GARNON 



was separated from Theydon Garnon manor and 

 became part of the Suttons estate (see Stapleford 

 Tawney).56 In 1605 George Carleton grandson of 

 the above Christopher Carleton, sold his rights in 

 Garnons Wood to Dun for ;^3o.57 



Sir Daniel died in 1617.58 His sons John (d. 1620) 

 and Caesar (d. 1636) both predeceased their mother, 

 Joan Dun, who held the manor in dower until her 

 death in 1640.59 She was succeeded by Daniel Dun, 

 son of the above Caesar, who in 1652 sold the manor of 

 Theydon Garnon with the advowson to Robert Abdy 

 of London for ;^3,8oo.*'' Two years later Abdy 

 acquired the manor of Albyns in Stapleford Abbots 

 (q.v.) and Theydon Garnon descended along with 

 Albyns until 1858 when Sir Thomas Abdy, Bt., con- 

 veyed Theydon Garnon to Thomas C. Chisenhale- 

 Marsh of Gaynes Park*' (see below) who in 1867 

 succeeded his father as lord of the manors of Gaynes 

 Park and Hemnalls (see below). Since 1 867 the manors 

 of Theydon Garnon and Hemnalls have had the same 

 descent as Gaynes Park. In 1650 Garnish Hall farm 

 comprised 220 acres and was valued at ^ijS a year 

 when leased: this figure included ;^I2 for quit rents.*^ 

 In 1840 John R. Hatch Abdy owned a total of 228 

 acres in the parish. Of this 196 acres formed Garnish 

 Hall farm, then let to Thomas Mills.^3 



Some references to the manor house about 1 500 have 

 been given above. In about 1650 it was described as a 

 timber house with a court and two gardens lying within 

 a moat, with two drawbridges and containing two 

 kitchens, two halls, two 'very fair parlours', and several 

 other rooms and offices. A map of the estate made in 

 1652 has as an inset a large scale drawing of the south 

 front of the house.*'' It shows a timber-framed building 

 about 90 ft. long with a central entrance flanked by 

 several gabled wings. Immediately east of the entrance 

 are a clock turret and a bell hanging in a domed cupola. 

 The irregular spacing of the windows and general lack 

 of symmetry suggest that the structure was of medieval 

 origin with later alterations. The house was sur- 

 rounded by a square moat with bridges to the south 

 and west. Beyond this the stream on the south side 

 and ditches to the north and east may have formed an 

 outer defence. The map shows several ponds, complete 

 with their sluices, including those in the strip of wood- 

 land south-west of the house. This is still known as 

 Fiveponds Wood. 



The original house with its inner moat disappeared 

 completely during the next hundred years. In the 

 middle of the 1 8th century the present farm-house was 

 built on the same site,*5 probably with timber from the 

 earlier Hall. It is a square structure, partly plastered 

 and partly weather-boarded, with a symmetrical red- 

 brick front. Internally a considerable amount of l6th- 

 or early-i7th-century panelling has been reused and 

 there is a carved overmantel of about 1650. A 16th- 

 century stained glass quarry in the staircase window 

 has a heart-shaped device and the initials i. and t. b. 



The manor of GATNES PARK appears to have 

 originated in the 1 3 th century. Previously it had prob- 



ably formed part of the manor of Theydon Garnon. 

 Until about 1400 it was known also as the manor of 

 Theydon Garnon, and this ambiguity has caused much 

 confusion in accounts of its history.** In 1 274 the king 

 ordered the escheator to deliver the manor of 'Tayden 

 Garnet' to John Engaine and his wife Joan daughter 

 of Joyce de Montfichet, as it had been found that Joyce 

 held nothing in chief at her death and that the manor 

 was held of William de Lambourne.*' William was 

 lord of the manor of Lambourne (q.v.). It is probable 

 from subsequent statements that Gaynes Park was in 

 fact held as of the capital manor of Theydon Garnon. 

 It is possible that Joyce had held a part of her land of 

 the manor of Lambourne, but there is no further 

 evidence even of this. Joyce had married as her first 

 husband Sir Gilbert de Greinville, who was the father 

 of her daughter Joan. After Gilbert's death Joyce 

 married Richard de Montfichet who in 1253 had 

 licence to inclose his wood in Theydon with a low 

 hedge and ditch, so that the king's deer could go in 

 and out, and to assart a hay called Ruhedon.*^ 



It was no doubt from John Engaine that Gaynes 

 Park derived its name. In 1287 he and his wife 

 granted the manor for life to Robert Fitz Walter, to 

 hold of them at an annual rent of id. After his death 

 it was to be held by Walter, son of Robert and his wife 

 Joan, who was daughter of John and Joan Engaine, 

 and her heirs.*' In 1294 Robert Fitz Walter, then 

 about to depart for Gascony, had licence to lease the 

 manor, said to be held in chief, to Nicholas de Barring- 

 ton and Eustace de Masshebury for two years.'" In 

 1298 the king confirmed a grant of the manor for life 

 made by Fitz Walter to Walter de Langton, Bishop of 

 Coventry, promising that if Robert should die leaving 

 an heir under age he would take nothing in the manor 

 as a custody, nor distrain therein for any debts that 

 Robert might owe to him.'" Two years later the bishop 

 had a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in 

 Theydon.72 Langton, who was Treasurer under 

 Edward I, was arrested on the accession of Edward IF^ 

 but in 1308 the Sheriff of Essex was ordered to value 

 the corn and other goods in the manor of 'Theydon 

 Mountfichet' and deliver them to the bishop along 

 with the manor, after taking' security from him for 

 rendering thereof at the king's will.''' In 1309, how- 

 ever, Langton petitioned the king to restore three little 

 manors, one of which was Theydon Mountfichet, be- 

 cause he had had no restitution of his property other 

 than the bishopric.''5 No further reference has been 

 found to Langton at Theydon, but since he was eventu- 

 ally released from prison and reinstated as Treasurer 

 it is possible that he recovered the manor and held it 

 to his death in 1 321, at which time, if not before, it 

 would have reverted to Fitz Walter. 



Robert Fitz Walter died in 1326; he had outlived 

 both his son Walter and Joan, wife of Walter, and the 

 manor passed under the settlement of 1287 to Adam, 

 Lord de Welle, son of Joan by her second husband" 

 Adam, Lord de Welle (d. 131 1).''* An inquisition of 

 1326, nominally on the death of Joan (d. 1315), found 



'<■ E.R.O., D/DSd Ti, D/CT 350. 



" E.R.O., D/DDaTi3. 



5« D.ti.B. s.v. Donne. 



" Ci42/38+/i4i;Ci42/54i/93. 



«" E.R.O., D/DDaTi3. 



" E.R.O., D/DTc M12, p. 316. 



«2 E.R.O., D/DB Mi 19. 



«5 E.R.O., D/CT 350. 



«* E.R.O., D/DC 27/1124. 



's It is shown on an estate map of 1772; 



ES. IV 



E.R.O., D/DC 27/1 1 19. 



^* e.g. Salmon, Hht. Essex^ 48 j Morant, 

 Essex, i, 1 59. About i 300 Gaynes Park 

 was sometimes called Theydon Mount- 

 fichet : see below. 



*' Cal. Close, 1272-9, 74. 



*' Cal. Chart. 1226-57, 433; Complete 

 Peerage, v, 72. 



**9 Feet of F. Essex, ii, 59 ; Complete 

 Peerage, v, 475. 



265 



'» Cal. Pal. 1292-1301, 84-85. For 

 Nicholas de Harrington see Harringtons in 

 Chigwell. 



" Ibid. 389. 



^^ Cal. Chart. 1 257-1 300, 481. 



'3 D.N.B. 



■?♦ Cal. Fine R.u, 33. 



■" Cal. Close, 1307-13, 89. 



76 Complete Peerage, V, 474—5. 



Mm 



