BRAUGHING HUNDRED 



Sawbridgewonh (q.v.) until 1672, when Sir Thomas 

 Leventhorpe, bart., conveyed it to William Kiffen. 26 

 In 1691 William Kiffen, Henry Kiffen, merchan', 

 and Rachel his wife joined in a sale to John Billcrs,- 7 

 a haberdasher of London, after whose death in 1712 

 his son William sold it in 1 714 to Moses Raper of 

 London.* 8 Raper died in 174s, 29 and was succeeded 

 by his brother Matthew, who married Elizabeth sis-er 

 (or daughter) and heir ofSir William Billers. Matthew 

 died the same year, 3 " and the manor descended to his 

 son Matthew Raper, F.R.S. Raper left no issue, and 

 devised Thorley (by will of 1775) to his brother John, 

 who had married Elizabeth daughter of William Hale 

 of Twyford House in this parish, and who succeeded 

 in 1778. Elizabeth daughter and heir of John Raper 

 married William Grant, M.D., a Scotchman, but 

 died in 1 778 before her father, 

 whose heir at his death in 

 1783 was his grandson John 

 Peter Grant, then an infant. 31 

 The latter suffered a recovery 

 in i8oc. 3J His trustees sold 

 the manor in 1 8 1 o to Edward 

 Law, first Lord Ellen- 

 borough. 33 It descended to 

 the fourth Lord Ellenborough, 

 who in 1895 sold the manorial 

 rights to Charles Gayton of 

 Much Hadham. In 1906 

 they were bought by Mr. G. S. 

 Streeter, the present lord of 



the 



lained to the 



One half-hide in Thorley 

 Sishop of London in 1086 after his dispossession of 

 the rest by Geoffrey de Mandeville, and was held of 

 him by a tenant named Roderi. 34 * This is probably 

 the 'manor ofThorley in Stortford ' which was held 

 of the Bishop of London in 1194 by Hugh de Birne, 

 who then died seised leaving a brother John. 34b As 

 there seems to be no further trace of this estate, it 

 was probably afterwards attached to the Bishop of 

 London's manor of Stortford. 



MOORHALL was a small estate of the priory of 

 Merton in Thorley. The grantor is unknown, but 

 in 1291 the lands of the Prior of Merton were taxed 

 at £4. js. zd. 2i The prior claimed view of frank- 

 pledge in 1278, but as he could only show the 

 general charters to his house his claim was not 

 allowed. 36 In 153; the 'rent of assize with rents 

 and farms in Morehall in Thorley' held by Merton 

 was assessed at £$ 6s. S^. 37 The estate was gianted 

 as the manor of Morehall to Sir Henry Parker, Lord 

 Morley, in 1544, 38 who in the same year alienated 

 it to Clement Newce. 39 It descended with the 

 Newces 40 (see Berwick in Standon) until as late as 

 1611, when William Newce died seised of it,- 11 and 

 it appears to be the Morehall held with Tedenhoebury 

 in Sawbridgeworth by the Taylor family in 1779." 

 It now belongs to Mr. A. N. Gilbey of Swakeleys, 

 Uibridge. 



THORLEY 



In 1468 William Wetenhale died s^sed of a tene- 

 ment called MAUNDEFILE, consisting of 20 acres 

 of arable, 4 acres of meadow and 6 acres of pasture, 

 held of John Leventhorpe by suit of court.* 3 These 

 from their name were apparently some lands which 

 the Mandevilles had for a time kept in their own 

 hands. 



In 1 5 5 5 the messuage called Maundevile with lands 

 and rent in Thorley was conveyed by George Whctcn- 

 hall to John Elliot, merchant of London. 431 



The church of ST. JJMES consists 



CHURCH of chancel 31 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., small 



north vestry, nave 43 fr. by 23 ft. 6 in., 



south porch, and west tower 12 ft. 6 in. by 1 1 ft., 



all internal dimensions. 



The walls are probably of flint rubble and are 

 coated with cement, the dressings are of stone. 



The nave and chancel were built in the early part 

 of the 13th century, but the south doorway, of 

 12th-century work, remains. The chancel arch 

 appears to have been rebuilt in the 14th century 

 and the west tower added early in the following 

 century. In the 19th century the church was 

 repaired and the vestry and south porch were built 

 and all the walls covered with cement. 



The three-light east window in the chancel is 

 modern. In the north wall are two 13th-century 

 lancet windows, one of which has been restored, and 

 a doorway of the same period. In the south wall is 

 another 13th-century lancet. There are two other 

 windows with modern tracery. In the same wall is a 

 piscina with cinquefoiled head arid moulded jambs, 

 and adjoining it is a triple sedile with ogee-arched 

 heads, moulded and cusped, all under a square moulded 

 label with head stops, and with cusped spandrels; both 

 sedilia and piscina belong to the late 14th century. 

 The 14th-century chancel arch is of two chamfered 

 orders with semi-octagonal responds and moulded 

 capitals and bases. 



At the east end of the north nave wall is the 

 doorway to the rood stairs, and above is the doorway 

 formerly giving access to the loft. Of the three 

 windows on each side of the nave the central one is 

 a 13th-century lancet, the others arc probably of the 

 15th century with modern tracery. The south 

 doorway is of 12th-century work and has been much 

 restored ; the arch is semicircular of two cheveron- 

 moulded orders, the outer one having a double 

 cheveron ; the jambs have twisted shafts with scalloped 

 capitals. In the south wall at the east end is a 

 trefoiled recess, chiefly of cement, which was probably 

 a piscina. 



The west tower is of three stages, unbuttresssd, 

 and is finished with an embattled parapet and slender 

 wood spire. At the south, -east angle is a projecting 

 stair turret which is carried up to the belfry level ; 

 the doorway to this stair, which is inside the tower, 

 has a four-centred moulded arch. A filleted roll in 

 the jamb mouldings has a foliated capital supporting 

 an upper member which dies into the arch. The 



37J 



