ONGAR HUNDRED north weald bassett 



The alternate patronage previously vested in the 

 Prioress of Clerkenwell was exercised in 1553 by one 

 H. Brown.* In 1 560 the queen granted it to William 

 Doddington of London.' The next presentation in 

 this turn was made in 1570 by John Searle, probably 

 the man of that name who had recently acquired the 

 manor of Marshalls (see above).* The presentation was 

 not again exercised in this turn until 1660, when John 

 Searle presented. « It would seem probable that the 

 patronage had descended not to John, eldest son of the 

 first John Searle but to a younger son Edward (d. 

 1625) who was father of the John Searle of 1660. "o 

 The latter was probably the John Searle who died in 

 1665." He left a son and heir, also named John, who 

 made conveyances of the alternate patronage in 1 677 

 and 1 698. '2 Andrew, son of the last-named John 

 Searle, succeeded his father but is said to have died 

 childless soon after his marriage."^ His widow later 

 married Capt. Andrew Searle, a relative of her husband, 

 and had two sons, Andrew and John.'* In 1706 pre- 

 sentation was made in this turn by John Searle, and 

 the new vicar was John Searle, formerly Rector of 

 Willingale Doe, son of a John Searle and perhaps 

 brother of the Andrew Searle who had died childless. 's 

 According to Morant the alternate patronage was con- 

 veyed by John Searle, the patron of 1706, to his son- 

 in-law George Finch, who subsequently sold it to 

 William Plummer of Gilston Park (Herts.). i* It 

 descended with Gilston Park and in 1836 was held 

 by Robert Plummer Ward, who had married Jane, 

 widow of William Plummer." In 1848 John Barnes 

 was patron in this turn and in 1866—74 Pemberton 

 Barnes.' 8 Mrs. Pemberton Barnes was patron from 

 about 1 874 to about 1916 when the alternate patronage 

 was vested in the Church Pastoral Aid Society." 



In 1227, when the king released Clerkenwell Priory 

 from the payment of a sixteenth on its Essex churches, 

 the sum remitted included 4/. id. from North Weald.^" 

 In 1 29 1 the vicarage was valued at £^\ ly. \tl.^^ In 

 1535 the rectory was valued at £"] 5/. 4a'. and the 

 vicarage at ^^13 3/. i\.dM In the following year the 

 Prioress of Clerkenwell granted the rectory on a 21- 

 year lease at £6 i y. \d. a year to John Avere. By 1555 

 Avere's interest in the property had been acquired by 

 George Broke, and in that year the Crown granted 

 Broke a new lease for 21 years at the same rent as 

 before.^3 In 1560 the rectory was granted, along with 

 the alternate patronage of the vicarage, to William 

 Doddington.^ From that time the rectory descended 

 with the alternate patronage to the Searles and their 

 successors. About 1826 the rectory was acquired from 

 the Plummer family by Daniel Giles, owner of Weald 

 Hall (see Manors).^! In 1841 Lady Giles Puller 

 owned f of the great tithes and 27 acres of glebe as 

 impropriator. The vicar of North Weald owned \ of 

 the great tithes and all the small tithes and 14 acres of 

 glebe. Their tithes were commuted in that year for 

 £426 and £446 respectively.^* It is clear from these 

 figures and those of 1535 that the vicarage was better 

 endowed than was usually the case when a rectory had 



'3 Morant, Essex, i 



* Newcourt, Repert. ti, 643. 

 ' Cal. Pal. 1558-60, 386-8. 



* Newcourt, Repert. ii, 644. 



' Ibid. Simon Lynch, who became vicar 

 in 159Z, held the living for 64 years, 



>» E.R.O., D/DB T104; D/P 84/1/1; 

 Morant, Essex., i, 150. 



" Hist. Man. Com. Essex, ii, 198. 



" CP25(2)/654 Mich. 29 Chas. II ; 

 CP25(2)/829 Mich. 10 Wm. III. 



■♦ Ibid.; E.R.O., D/DW E11/3. 



15 Morant, Essex, i, 152 ; J. and J. Venn, 

 Alumni Cantab, pt. i, vol. iv, p. 38. 



'6 Morant, Essex, \, 151. 



■' Cler. Guide, 1836; Burke's Com- 

 moners, i, 71—72. 



■8 IVhite's Dir. Essex (1848); Kelly's 

 Dir. Essex (1866-74). 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1878-1914); 



been appropriated. That this was so was no doubt due 

 to the special relationship between the parish and the 

 bishops of London in the Middle Ages. 



A vicarage house beside the churchyard was men- 

 tioned in a terrier of the early 17th century." The 

 present vicarage is a red-brick and roughcast building 

 probably dating from the early 19th century. 



In 1 33 1 and 141 1 there was a manorial chapel 



attached to Weald Hall, then owned by the earls of 

 Kent.28 



The parish church of ST. ANDREW consists of 

 nave, chancel, south aisle and lady chapel, west tower, 

 and north vestry. It is built of flint rubble, brick, and 

 limestone. The red-brick Tudor tower and the 

 chancel screen are of special interest. 



There was certainly a church in North Weald in 

 the 1 2th century, but the oldest parts of the present 

 building date from about 1330. These are the nave, 

 aisle, and chapel. The walls are of flint rubble with 

 dressings of limestone and clunch and the roofs are 

 tiled. Separating the nave and aisle is an arcade of five 

 bays with octagonal columns and semi-octagonal 

 responds. The two-centred arches are of two chamfered 

 orders ; the middle arch is narrower and lower than the 

 rest. At its east end the aisle is widened to form the 

 lady chapel. 



In the south wall of the aisle is a 1 4th-century window 

 of two trefoiled ogee lights in a square head, containing 

 fragments of 14th-century glass. Farther east is a 14th- 

 century south doorway; the door is modern. Farther 

 east still, in the south wall of the chapel, are two 14th- 

 century windows in the heads and trefoils of which is 

 14th-century glass consisting of tabernacle work. The 

 sill of the most easterly window has been carried down 

 to form stepped sedilia. At the side is a piscina, also of 

 the 14th century. The stonework to the windows and 

 the head of the piscina have been partially restored. 



The east window of the lady chapel consists of three 

 trefoiled ogee lights with tracery in a two-centred head. 

 This is a 14th-century window which has been largely 

 restored. At the side of it is a stone bracket with a flat 

 top which may have been intended to support an 

 image. The roof of the chapel is gabled, with trussed 

 rafters of uncertain date. The moulded wall-plate on 

 the south wall is of the 14th century. Separating the 

 chapel from the aisle is a two-centred arch. 



The north wall of the nave contains a 14th-century 

 doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred 

 arch with a moulded label. This is now blocked and 

 a floor slab has been set upright in the recess. The 

 original door, of battens with ornamental hinges, dating 

 from the late 13th or early 14th century, has been left 

 externally. 



A carved oak screen, dating mostly from the early 

 1 6th century, divides the nave and chancel. It consists 

 of five bays, the centre one containing a pair of doors. 

 The side bays have four-centred traceried heads, sub- 

 divided by pendants which are a later addition. 

 Moulded posts support a cusped and ribbed loft. This 

 is said to be the only case in the county where the 

 50. 



Chel. Dioc. Tear Bk. 1 9 1 6 f. 



20 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 



21 Tax. Eccl. (RecT Com.), 21 A. 



22 Val. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 

 " Cal.Fat. 1554-5, p. 323- 



« Ibid. 1558-60, pp. 386-8. 



25 E.R.O., Q/RPI 730-2. 



2« E.R.O., D/CT 387. 



27 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 643. 



^8 E.A.T. N.s. xvi, 120, XX, 289. 



193. 



291 



