Fairstead, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes

Parish History
A brief history of Fairstead from Samel A. Lewis is:

FAIRSTEAD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Witham, N. division of Essex, 4 miles (W. N. W.) from Witham; containing 306 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its name from the pleasantness of its situation and the beauty of the surrounding scenery, comprises about 1800 acres, whereof about 300 are woodland and pasture, and the remainder arable; a considerable portion is heavy and wet, and the substratum a whitish clayey marl. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Bishop of London: the tithes have been commuted for £479, and the glebe comprises 74 acres. The church is a small ancient edifice, with a tower of stone surmounted by a tall shingled spire, and contains several monuments, among which is one to Sir Antony Maxey and his lady, whose effigies in a kneeling posture are well sculptured.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848).

Fairstead St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient parish in Essex.

The church is mainly Norman and a grade 1 listed building. Built in the 11th century extended in the 13th and renovated in the 19th century it includes many Roman bricks included Roman brick butresses. The church is one of the earliest in Essex and the aisle-less nave and part of the chancel were built in the eleventh century. The chancel has been extended, probably about 1200, and the tower is thought to have been added at the same time or a few years before. The spire, however, was not added until about 1600.

Fairstead is a Saxon name meaning a fair or pleasant place. A Roman villa once stood near where the church now stands and bricks from it have been used in the building of the church itself.

The church has four bells. The oldest was made by Peter de Weston about 1340 and must be the original bell. A second was added in 1601 and a third in 1725, the fourth, and last, being added in 1786. The bells were rehung in 1889/90; the present state of the bell cage does not permit them to be rung over and at the present day they are only chimed.

The 13th century wall paintings were discovered during the restoration of the church in 1890 when the plaster was removed. Professor E. W. Tristram restored them when the church was again restored in 1934/36.

They were cleaned again by Mr Rowse in 1966. The oldest paintings, which are above the chancel arch, (early 13th century) represent the Passion of Christ. Those on the south wall depict St Christopher and a scene believed by some to represent the Shepherds and the Angel and by others the miracle of Longinus. There is, at the west end, a curious grotesque head in a horn-like headdress.

There are the remains of two separate sets of consecration crosses. The church is dedicated to both St Mary the Virgin and to St Peter and it must be presumed that the second dedication coincided with the enlargement of the church referred to earlier. The earlier crosses are those within a circle and the Latin type crosses are later.

The modern parish is part of a united benefice with the rector of Terling, Essex resposnsible for the parish of St Mary and St Peter and is in the diocese of Chelmsford.

Fairstead is a civil parish which for local government purposes is in the Braintree district of Essex, and includes the hamlets of Fuller Street &amp; Ranks Green.

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 St Mary the Virgin parish registers, Bishop's Transcripts,Monumental Inscriptions and transcripts

Census records
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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
Witham 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
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-115361-parish-church-of-st-mary-the-virgin-fair British Listed Buildings online