Chigwell, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Chigwell St Mary is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Other places in the parish include: Chigwell Row.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

The parish church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN consists of nave, chancel, south aisle, and chapel. The timber bell-turret at the west end of the aisle is surmounted by a small copper spire. There is a south porch and a vestry on the north side of the chancel. The walls are of flint rubble covered with cement and have dressings of limestone. The roofs are tiled. In the churchyard, between the south porch and the main road, is a double row of ancient yew trees. In its original form the church dates from the late 12th century, when it would have covered the ground now occupied by the south aisle, which was then the nave, with a chancel somewhat smaller than the present chapel. Of this early church only the south wall now remains. In this wall is a fine Norman doorway with semicircular arch ornamented with double chevrons, panelled tympanum, segmental soffit, and free-shafted jambs. The window immediately to the east of this door also probably dates from the 12th century but has an inserted mullion and is modern externally. On the inside of the south wall on the east of the door is a holy-water stoup from which the basin has long disappeared. In the 15th century a north aisle was added, the original north wall being opened to insert the existing arcade of four bays, of which the two centre arches are moulded, with moulded piers, capitals, and bases. The Scott family of Woolston Hall (see above) claimed the chapel of this aisle as their private property. As they first obtained possession of the manor about 1475 it is not unlikely that they were responsible for this addition to the church. About the same time the chancel was probably lengthened and the western bell-turret added to the end of the former nave. The turret is made of eight stout vertical timber posts with curved braces and the whole frame stands independently of the fabric, being walled round at the time of its erection, with a window of three pointed lights in the west wall. Soon after this the aisle was extended from the old north door (opposite the present south door) to bring its west wall level with the bell-turret. This extension was carried out by Thomas Ilderton, the benefactor of the Trinity Guild (see above), who gave instructions in his will (1527) that he should be buried in the aisle and that an inscription on his grave should record the extension for which he had been responsible and also his gifts to the guild. This brass inscription existed as late as 1810 but has since disappeared. At about the same time as these works were carried out the nave was probably re-roofed. Many of the existing roof timbers in the present south aisle date from this period. Early in the 16th century the church must have been in good repair, but a century later the chancel was said to be ruinous. About 1600 a gallery was built at the west end of the old nave, on the order of Samuel Harsnett (vicar 1597-1605, later Archbishop of York). At the Archdeacon's Visitation in 1638 it was ordered that the chancel floor should be raised by three steps and properly paved, that a new rail should be made round the communion table, the belfry boarded with deal and the spire shingled. In 1704 the church was undergoing repair. In 1722 a second gallery, for the charity girls, was built at the west end of the north aisle. In 1745 a subscription was raised for 'ornamenting the steeple', when presumably the weather-vane was added. The roof of the old nave was repaired in 1800: this involved repair of some of the old roof timbers and the replacement of the lead covering with tiles. Meanwhile, in 1793, another gallery had been added, and in 1805 a fourth was built. One of the new galleries was probably that at the east end of the north aisle which was the private pew of the Hatch family, lords of Chigwell Hall. The spire was re-shingled in 1835. By this time the accommodation of the church was becoming insufficient for the needs of a growing population. In 1853 there was a proposal to extend the church by the addition of a south aisle. This plan, which would have destroyed the south door and all the remaining Norman fabric, was abandoned, but in 1854 there was considerable restoration. This included alterations to the windows in the south wall. It was carried out under the direction of F. T. Dollman. The church was not actually enlarged until 1886, when Sir Arthur Blomfield prepared plans upon which the present nave and chancel are based. The old nave became the present south aisle and the old north aisle was demolished to make way for the present nave, which is considerably larger. In 1896 the nave and chancel were redecorated and the alabaster reredos and pulpit, both designed by G. F. Bodley, were installed. The oak screen in the south aisle is a War memorial, unveiled in 1920. In 1552 there were three bells, to which three more were added in 1693. The three original bells were replaced in 1737, 1743, and 1771. All five bells were recast in 1910, and at the same time a sixth was added. The church plate is among the finest in Essex. There are two silver cups, one given in 1607 by John Penington of Chigwell Hall, the other inscribed 'a widow's gift A. A. 1633' (she was Alice Andrews, a relative of Roger Andrews, vicar 1605-6, and Thomas Andrews, lessee of the rectory 1635-60). There are four silver patens of 1609, 1632, 1633 and 1832, and a silver flagon inscribed with the arms of William Scott of Woolston Hall and dated 1713. The 1632 paten was also given by Alice Andrews. In the chancel is the well-known brass to Samuel Harsnett (d. 1631), Vicar of Chigwell and later successively Bishop of Chichester, Bishop of Norwich, and Archbishop of York. There is a brass in the nave to Robert Rampston (1585), a benefactor to the poor of this and other neighbouring parishes. (fn. 11) In the south chapel is a wall monument to Thomas Colshill (1595), Surveyor of the Customs under Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, and Mary (Crayford) his wife. On the south wall of the nave is a monument to George Scott (1683) and Elizabeth (Cheyne) his wife (1705). Along the roof of the south aisle is a series of painted hatchments of arms relating to families that have been prominent in the parish, including those of Scott of Woolston, and Hatch-Abdy of Chigwell Hall. The brasses of Thomas Ilderton (1527-8) and an unknown man (c. 1510), which were formerly in the church, have now disappeared. Numerous small bequests to the church of Chigwell in the 15th and 16th centuries were recorded in the series of articles on 'Old Chigwell Wills' by W. C. Waller.

From: 'Chigwell: Churches', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 32-35. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15540&amp;amp;strquery=chigwell Date accessed: 27 January 2011.

According to P. H. Reaney's Place-Names of Essex, the standard guide to etymology in the county, the name means 'Cicca's well', Cicca being an Anglo-Saxon personal name. In medieval sources the name appears with a wide variety of spellings including "Cinghe uuella" and Chikewelle". Folk etymology has sought to derive the name from a lost 'king's well', supposed to have been to the south-east of the parish near the border of what is now the London Borough of Redbridge. There were several medicinal springs in Chigwell Row documented by Miller Christy in his book History of the mineral waters and medicinal springs of the county of Essex, published in 1910. The proposal by 18th-century local historian Nathaniel Salmon that that the "-well" element in the name derives from Anglo-Saxon weald (forest), indicating Chigwell's location in a royal demesne rather than Anglo-Saxon wielle (well) has long been superseded by modern onomastic study and is no longer credible.

Traditionally a rural farming community, but now largely suburban, Chigwell was mentioned in the Domesday Book and later lauded by Charles Dickens in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty; the Maypole Inn is based on the King's Head inn, though the name was taken from the Maypole public house in Chigwell Row; and it is likely Dickens visited both hostelries. Charles Dickens frequently visited Chigwell, which he described in a letter as "the greatest place in the world...Such a delicious old inn opposite the church...such beautiful forest scenery...such an out of the way rural place!".

From 1933 to 1974 Chigwell formed together with Buckhurst Hill and Loughton the Chigwell Urban District. Parish councils were re-established for the parishes of Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, and Loughton in 1996.

A small area of the original parish was attached to London Borough of Redbridge when it was created in 1965; this area is now known as the Manford estate which still uses the Chigwell area name and postcode.

The hamlet of Chigwell Row lies towards the east of Chigwell near Lambourne; this part of the parish is well forested and mostly rural.

Grange Hill is the area around the junction of Manor Road and Fencepiece Road/Hainault Road, extending as far as the boundary with Redbridge including the Limes Farm estate.

From 1933 to 1958 there was an RAF presence[3] based at Roding Valley Meadows (near what is now the David Lloyd Leisure Centre). It served first to provide barrage balloon protection during the Second World War and was involved in the rollout of Britain's coastal nuclear early warning system during the Cold War. In 1953 it briefly housed the RAF contingent taking part in the Coronation celebrations. Some of the RAF Chigwell site is now part of a local nature reserve.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
There is little information concerning poor relief before the 18th century. The Guild of the Holy Trinity (see above, Church) took a regular part in relieving the poor. The poor men's chest in the parish church is mentioned in 1550, and the collectors of the poor in 1564. Vestry minute books have survived for 1712-49, 1789-1804, and 1847-94. There are overseers' accounts for 1821-36 and an almost complete series of bills for 1784-1836. For a large and fairly populous parish attendance at the vestry was normally not numerous; there were rarely more than twelve ratepayers present. Meetings were usually held in the vestry room, but in 1870 and 1872 exceptionally large attendances necessitated an adjournment to the 'King's Head'. At the 1872 meeting more than 200 attended to discuss an advance to the Chigwell School Board. In the later 19th century the ratepayers of Buckhurst Hill, who outnumbered those in the rest of the parish, disliked travelling to Chigwell for vestry meetings, especially because there was still no direct road between those two parts of the parish. There seems to have been no particular system of rotation in appointing parish officers. Until 1770 churchwardens were appointed for two successive years but afterwards they often served for longer terms. From 1730, or earlier, one churchwarden was appointed by the vicar and the other by the parish. Overseers of the poor usually served only for one year, two being appointed each Easter. There is a vague suggestion that during the 18th century one was appointed for the lordship of Chigwell Hall and the other for that of Woolston. Three surveyors of highways were appointed each year, one each for the lordships of Chigwell Hall, Woolston, and Barringtons. This office was often taken by the gentry, and in the middle of the 18th century William Harvey, lord of Barringtons, served his own lordship for many years. There is no evidence that the vestry nominated constables before 1790. A resolution of 1721 prohibited the appointment of a deputy by any parish officer without the vestry's approval. A paid assistant overseer was appointed in 1827 and served continuously until 1839, when he became the relieving officer for Epping District under the Epping Board of Guardians. An assistant overseer was again appointed in 1840, and in 1852 he was also made collector of the poor rate and paid a commission of 3 per cent. of the rates collected. In 1727 there were 2 men, 5 women, and 5 children receiving regular poor relief. A year later a house in Chigwell was converted into a workhouse and in 1733 the vestry resolved to send all out-pensioners there. In 1730 a workhouse master had undertaken to maintain the poor for a 10d. rate, but this arrangement seems to have lasted only a few years. In 1745 all pensioners were ordered to wear the parish badge. The workhouse remained adequate for the needs of the parish until 1790, when a larger house in Gravel Lane was taken on lease. This was used as the parish workhouse until 1836 when it was taken over by the Epping Union, which used it until the new Union house was opened in 1838. In 1796 the poor were farmed out to a workhouse master at 15 guineas a year; he also received 2 guineas for acting as parish beadle. Of the 94 surviving settlement certificates dated between 1699 and 1791 received by the parish officers 60 were issued by parishes in south-west Essex, 12 elsewhere in the county (mostly in the north-west), 6 in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, 12 in London, Middlesex, Surrey and Kent. One was for a blacksmith from Taunton and one for a barber and wig-maker from Berwick-on-Tweed. The others were from Wellingborough (Northants.) and Steeple Aston (Oxon.). The 106 surviving apprenticeship indentures drawn up between 1671 and 1809 show that most pauper children were apprenticed to masters within the parish. For many years the ratepayers took these children as apprentices on a rota system. In 1727 a woman paid a fine of £10 to avoid taking a child allotted to her. In 1730 it was resolved not to pay relief to travellers through the parish even though they carried passes; it was considered that as the main road through Chigwell led only to Ongar such passengers had no need of assistance. In 1792 one of the overseers was Joshua Jenour, a well-known author and pamphleteer and a man of advanced views. In that year he planned to build a pest-house out of the poor rates. As he had not consulted either his fellow officers or the vestry, the churchwardens ordered him to desist. He moved a resolution at a subsequent vestry meeting that the house should be built, but this was defeated. Among his supporters were three local doctors, while the opposition came mainly from the farmers and larger ratepayers. In 1794 the vestry supported a plan proposed by John Conyers for the relief of the poor of the hundreds of Ongar, Harlow, and Waltham, but later withdrew support. In 1795 the high price of flour was met by subsidizing from the rates the bread bought by the poor from local bakers, and by the agreement of the wealthier inhabitants to use flour from which 7 lb. bran a bushel had been extracted. In 1800 it was decided to provide the poor with substitutes for flour, mainly rice and potatoes, and the ratepayers were urged to use similar substitutes themselves. The overseers' expenditure in the year ending at Easter 1724 was £151, and in 1745 £180. In 1783 the total poor rate was £485. Expenditure rose to £716 in 1791 and in 1801 the poor rate was £1,086. Between 1801 and 1821 the rate fluctuated considerably; it was highest in 1820 (£2,519) and lowest in 1811 (£630), but was usually between £1,000 and £2,000. Overseers' expenditure was £1,339 in 1823 and £1,614 in 1836.

From: 'Chigwell: Parish government and poor relief', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 37-38. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15543 Date accessed: 27 January 2011.

Epping Poor Law Union, Essex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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