A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



coved underside of a former rood loft has survived.^' 

 The lower panels have fluted panelling of 'linenfold' 

 type and a rail carved with a running vine and con- 

 ventional ornament. The doors have traceried lower 

 panels. There is a lettered inscription: 'Orate pro bono 

 statu Thome Wyher, diacon.' The cornice is modern. 



The west tower was built about 1 500. It is entirely 

 of brick and is unusually high, in four stages with an 

 embattled parapet resting on a corbel table of small 

 segmental arches. The two-centred tower arch is 

 of moulded brickwork. It consists of four orders, 

 chamfered, moulded, and plain. The responds have 

 two shafts each, with continuous moulded caps and 

 spreading bases. The west doorway has double 

 chamfered jambs and a two-centred arch of stone with 

 a moulded brick label. The west window is modern 

 except for the splays and rear arch. Across the south- 

 west angle is a chamfered four-centred doorway to a 

 turret staircase. This has a door of about 1500 with 

 studded battens and strap hinges. In the north wall is 

 a brick fireplace with a four-centred head. The 

 windows to the upper stages are of single lights in 

 three-centred heads and in each wall of the bell 

 chamber there is a window of two four-centred lights 

 under a four-centred head. On the south wall is a 

 sundial dated 1706. 



In 186; the church was reroofed. A church rate of 

 6d. in {^\ was levied for the purpose and permission 

 was given to borrow on the rates. 3" New pews were 

 installed about the same time. 3' These, however, 

 incorporate 18th-century panelling in the seats in the 

 nave, chapel, and choir stalls. 



In 1867 the chancel was rebuilt.^^ Presumably it 

 had originally been built in the 14th century along 

 with the nave and aisle, and this style was repeated in 

 the new work. In the north wall of the nave there are 

 three windows which are apparently of the same date 

 as those in the chancel. 



In 1889 the north vestry was added and a new ceil- 

 ing put into the church. A new organ chamber was 

 built and the organ renovated. At the same time the 

 tower was restored and a new west window inserted. 33 

 The tower was again repaired in 1936, the brickwork 

 being repointed and the bells rehung. A new wooden 

 screen between the tower and the west end of the nave 

 has been added within the last year.34 



There are six bells, dated 1755, 1887 (the recasting 

 of a 1712 bell), 1712, 1755, 1673, and 1803.35 



The church plate consists of two cups dated 1563 

 and 1876 and a third undated; patens of 1567 and 

 1875, a flagon of 1730, an almsdish of 1682, two un- 

 dated almsdishes, and another bought recently.3* 



In the south aisle there is a plain 16th-century chest 

 with strap hinges, and also a partially restored 15th- 

 century chair. There is a 17th-century chair in the 

 chancel. In the aisle is a modern octagonal font. 



On the north wall of the nave, in the recess formed 

 by the blocking up of the 14th-century door, is a floor 

 slab with brass effigies of William Larder and his wife, 

 three sons, and two daughters. It is surmounted by 



^' N. Pevsner, Buildings of Essex, 282. 



30 E.R.O., D/P 84/8/2. 



3' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1870), but cf. 

 ibid. (1886). 



" Ibid. (1886). 



3' Ibid. (1906). The present glass in tliis 

 window is dated 1927. 



M Inf. from tlie Rev. B. F. Adeney, 



1954- 



35 Ch. Bells Essex, p. 440. 



shields with a partially destroyed inscription and is 

 dated 1606. Other floor slabs in the nave are to John 

 Searle (1665) and his wife (1676) and to Thomas 

 Arrowsmith, vicar (1706), and his wife (1702). The 

 only other monuments are wall plaques dating from 

 1900 onwards. The stained glass in the east window 

 of the chancel is a memorial to Henry Cockerell, vicar 

 for 52 years, who died in 1880. The glass in the east 

 window of the chapel is in memory of his wife. 



On the south side of the church is a memorial to 

 those who died in the two world wars. 



The lychgate in the churchyard was dedicated in 

 1912.37 On the north side of the churchyard is a 

 burial ground for members of the Royal Air Force and 

 the Essex Regiment. A stone memorial appears to have 

 been recently completed. 



The chapel of ease at Hastingwood was built in 

 1864 and consists of a nave and small chancel.38 It is 

 of red brick with diaper ornament and has a small bell- 

 cote at the west end. The east window contains 

 memorial glass to John Stallibrass of Paris Hall (1872) 

 and his wife (1868). 



The church of ST. JOHN, Thornwood Common, 

 was built in 1923, and was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. 

 C. E. Hart. 39 It replaced a small corrugated iron 

 church which lies on the opposite side of the main road 

 a little to the south of the turning to Epping Upland. 

 This iron church had been built in i888;'"' it is now 

 almost derelict. The new church is of red brick and 

 has pointed doors and windows. It consists of nave, 

 chancel, and small western bell-cote. It is also a 

 chapel of ease to St. Andrew's. 



In 1672 the house of a Mr. Bennett in North Weald 



was licensed for worship by 



NONCONFORMITT Presbyterians.*' A conventicle 



in the parish was licensed in 



i704.« 



No nonconformist place of worship was mentioned 

 in the returns of 1829 as then existing in North 

 Weald,''3 but a Congregational chapel was opened soon 

 after. This was probably the chapel shown on the 

 parish map of 1838, near the south end of Weald 

 Bridge** In 1841 Richard Cecil, minister of the Con- 

 gregational church at Chipping Ongar (q.v.), reported 

 that students under his care had resumed preaching at 

 North Weald 'amidst encouraging circumstances' .'•5 

 Before 1847 a resident evangelist, Mr. Vale, had come 

 to North Weald and was receiving financial assistance 

 from the Essex Congregational Union.** About 1850 

 he began preaching at Moreton (q.v.),*' where he was 

 living by 1857.*^ By 1859 he was preaching there 

 more often than at North Weald. Thenceforth the 

 congregation at North Weald seems to have declined,*' 

 and services probably ceased altogether about 1874.5° 

 The former chapel has apparently been demolished, 

 although the house beside it remains. 



From about 1867 to 1875 services were held in the 

 parish at Tylers Green, in connexion with the Con- 

 gregational church at Abridge in Lambourne (q.v.). 5' 



In 1883 a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Thorn- 



36 Ch, Plate Essex, p. 14.2; inf. from 

 Rev. B. F. Adeney, 1954. 



37 E.R. xxi, 168. 



38 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1937). 



39 Ibid. {1926). 

 *" Ibid. (19°^)- 

 *' G. L. Turner, Orig. Recs. of Early 



Nonconformity, U, 929. 

 42 E.R.O., e/SBb 40. 

 *3 E.R.O., Q/CR 3/2. 



** E.R.O., D/CT 387. 

 *s Essex Congr. Union Ref>s. 1841. 

 *6 Ibid. 1847. 

 *7 Ibid. 1850 f. 

 IS Ibid. 1857. 

 *" Ibid. 1859 f. 



5» Ibid. 1874-5; Congr. Year Bk. 1874, 

 1875. 

 5« E.C.U.Reps. 1867-75. 



292 



