A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



NORTH WEALD BASSETT 



North Weald Bassett lies in the extreme north-west 

 comer of Ongar hundred, the parish being divided 

 almost equally between this hundred and that of 

 Harlow.' It is 3 miles north-east of Epping and 19 

 miles from London. The name Weald (forest land) 

 is no longer appropriate, for very little woodland now 

 survives, and much of the parish is open and bare. The 

 main road from London to Newmarket and Norwich 

 runs through the west and that from Epping to Chelms- 

 ford through the south of the parish. The Epping- 

 Ongar railway runs through the southern tip of North 

 Weald. A large R.A.F. station and wireless masts 

 are prominent features of the landscape and there has 

 recently been much domestic building. But some parts 

 of North Weald are still rural. At Woodside in the 

 south-west a leafy lane runs past Wintry Wood and in 

 the north of the parish there is a view across to the 

 woods of Harlow Park. 



In 1873-4 the total area of the parish was 3,433 

 acres of which 1,739 acres were in Ongar hundred. 

 The part in Harlow hundred was made up of the tithing 

 of Thornwood in the west (901 acres) and that of 

 Hastingwood in the north (793 acres). A detached 

 portion of the parish consisting of 1 1 acres to the north- 

 east of the main body and near Weald Lodge was 

 situated locally in Magdalen Laver parish.^ This was 

 transferred to Magdalen Laver in 1883.3 In 1946 the 

 part of North Weald to the north of Weald Bridge, 

 including Weald Bridge Farm, Weald Lodge, and 

 Bowlers Green was also transferred to Magdalen 

 Laver .^ In 1949 the parish was considerably enlarged 

 by the addition of parts of Netteswell and Latton 

 parishes in the north-west, part of Harlow in the north- 

 east, part of Theydon Garnon in the south, and part of 

 Epping Upland (including Wintry Wood) in the 

 south-west.5 The present area of the civil parish is 

 4,032 acres.* 



The highest parts of the parish are in the south and 

 west, rising to 300 ft. and affording good views. From 

 there the land slopes gently down to Cripsey Brook, 

 which rises in the west, flows north-east through the 

 centre of the parish, and forms part of the north- 

 eastern boundary. Shonks Brook, which joins Cripsey 

 Brook, forms part of the northern boundary. 



Population is mainly concentrated along the Epping- 

 Chelmsford road and to the north of it. There are also 

 villages at Thornwood and Hastingwood. 



In 1086 North Weald was one of the most thickly 

 wooded places in Essex. Peter de Valognes' manor 

 was said to contain woodland sufficient for 1,500 

 swine, a figure larger in proportion to the parish area 

 than those even for Waltham Holy Cross, Loughton, 

 and the Theydons.' The 'wood of Henry of Essex' 

 in North Weald was mentioned in 1248.' In 1260 

 Philip Basset, Henry's successor as lord of the manor, 

 complained that many robberies were being done in 

 this wood near the road between Ongar and Waltham, 

 and he secured the king's permission to assart 6 acres 



of the wood.' Other assarts were taking place in the 

 13th century, particularly in connexion with some of 

 the estates which later became manors. '<" The park 

 belonging to the principal manor was still in existence 

 in 1 540." It gave its name to Park Corner in the south- 

 west of the parish. Late medieval conveyances do not 

 mention any other large areas of woodland except in 

 the Paris Hall area, where about 60 acres were reported 

 as late as 1520.'^ Norden's Map 0/ Essex, 1594, does 

 not show North Weald as a densely wooded parish. 

 In 1777 there was apparently no woodland there apart 

 from Weald Hall Coppice. '3 This is specially interest- 

 ing in view of the survival of large woods in neighbour- 

 ing parishes. Weald Hall Coppice still (1954) survives, 

 and there is also a small wood at Canes. 



The ancient manor houses were Weald Hall, near 

 the centre of the parish. Canes i mile farther north, 

 Marshalls near Woodside, and Paris Hall at Hasting- 

 wood. All four were on moated sites and there were 

 also moats at Newhouse Farm in Vicarage Lane and 

 at Schoolgreen Farm. Paris Hall, on the original site, 

 was rebuilt about 1600. Marshalls was rebuilt on a 

 new site in the 17th century. Canes, Weald Hall, and 

 New House were rebuilt in the 19th century.'* In 

 addition to the four manor houses there were probably 

 substantial medieval dweUings at Tylers Green, 

 Bowlers Green, Bridge Farm (near Weald Bridge), 

 and possibly one or two other places.' 5 The parish 

 church, which dates from the r4th century, is J mile 

 east of Weald Hall. 



In 1777 there was a concentration of houses around 

 four commons: at Weald Gullet, Tylers Green, 

 Thornwood, and Hastingwood. There, as well as on 

 the older sites, a number of houses survive from the 

 1 8th century and earlier. Apart from the church the 

 oldest existing building in the parish is probably 

 Tylers. This is a timber-framed and plastered house 

 consisting of a central block with a gabled cross-wing 

 at each end. It may date from the 1 6th century but 

 there is some evidence that the central block was an 

 earlier open hall with a screens passage at its south-west 

 end. A large curved and chamfered brace, which 

 appears to have been part of a main roof truss, was 

 recently removed from the first floor of this block. 

 Bluemans Farm, which formerly stood immediately 

 north-east of Tylers, may have been a 16th-century 

 building, but it has recently been demolished. It was 

 timber-framed with oversailing gable-ends at the back 

 and front.'* From the 17th century several houses sur- 

 vive. Hastingwood Farm, known locally as Rainbow 

 Farm, was demolished in 1954. It was a timber- 

 framed building of which parts dated from the 17th 

 century or earher. Two small crosswings projected on 

 the south side and there was a central chimney with 

 four diagonal shafts. Little Weald Hall, formerly New 

 Hall, near the church, is a timber-framed building 

 probably of the 17th century, also having a chimney 

 with diagonal shafts. The 'King's Head' at Weald 



' O.S. 2i in. Mafi, sheets 52/40, S^IS°- 



' O.S. 6 in. Map (ist edn.), sheet 1. 



^ By the Divided Parishes and Poor 

 Law Amendment Act, 39 and 4.0 Vict. 

 c. 61. 



< By the Co. of Essex {Rural Parishes) 

 Confirmation Order., ig^d. 



' By the Co. of Essex (Alteration of 



Rural Parishes) Conf. Order No. 2, ig4g. 

 ' Inf. from Epping R.D.C. 



7 r.C.H. Essex, i, 538; cf. ibid. 375. 



8 P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 86. 

 » Cal. Pat. 1258-66, 65. 



'» See, e.g. Merton Coll. MSS. Deed 

 3128 (Canes). 

 " L.&P. Hen. nil, xv, p. 349. 



284 



" C./447/59- 



'3 Chapman and Andre, Map of Essex^ 

 J777, sheet xi. 



*♦ For the manor houses see below. 

 Manors. 



■5 P.N. Essex, 86-87. 



"> Hist, Men. Com. Essex, ii, 199 (10). 



