West Bergholt, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
West Bergholt St Mary is an Ancient Parish in Essex.

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 medieval church of ST. MARY is built of rubble, which includes Roman tile and possibly 12th-century brick, with freestone dressings and has a chancel, a nave with south aisle and timber porch, and a weather boarded bell turret. Beneath it a timber building of indeterminate plan was replaced by a stone single cell church with apsidal end in the 11th century. Part of the north wall of that building survives as the east- ern end of the nave wall. The apsidal east end was extended and given a square termination late in the 13th century, and the south aisle was added in the early 14th century. At its west end it respected an already existing extension of the nave which encased a timber bell turret. The extension appears to have been subsequently rebuilt in stone, perhaps when other work, including the north windows in the nave and the nave roof were being replaced. The bell turret and south porch are 15th-century. The supports for a sanctus bell were uncovered in the south aisle roof in 1995. There is a 19th- century gallery. In 1545 the chancel was dilapidated, and in 1607 the church had no tiling, paving, or glazing. By 1684 and 1705 major structural repairs were required to the belfry and north wall, as well as new paving in the nave and chancel. The west gallery on Tuscan columns with tri- glyph frieze was built in the early 19th century. Two dormer windows were inserted above the arcade. The church was damp in the later 19th century and repairs were required to the tower, porch, and nave roof. Plans made in 1866 for a thorough restoration and extension of the church were found to be impractable, presum- ably because of the cost, but urgent repairs were carried out in 1878. After the consecration of a new church in 1904 the old church was main- tained, but by 1946 was only used in the summer months. The redundant church was acquired in 1977 by the Redundant Churches Fund which restored the fabric. The building has since been used for concerts, exhibitions, and occasional services. A medieval grave slab survives in the south aisle. The font is 13th-century with a plain circular bowl, square pedestal, and 18th-century lid. The altar-rail has been reconstructed from portions of an 17th-century rail and the base of the lectern may be of similar date. The massive oak chest is of 15th- or 16th-century date and there are some early wooden hat-pegs. The royal coat of arms of 1603 above the chancel arch was restored in 1986 and there is another coat of c. 1826 on the front of the west gallery. The church was reseated with new pews in 1877, partly constructed from sections of earlier box-pews. In 1552 there were apparently three bells but only one was recorded after 1684. That bell, apparently 15th-century by Henry Jordan, was cracked c. 1850 and was replaced in 1883 by one cast by John Warner and Sons of London. A new second bell, presented at the same time, had been removed to the new church by 1946. A site for a new church was set aside at the inclosure of the heath in 1865, but the money was not raised to build one until after 1898. The new church of ST. MARY erected in 1903 and 1904 in 13th-century style comprises a chancel, nave, and south aisle. The pulpit and font were given in 1904, the altar and lectern in 1913. The church was restored sometime before 1955 by the architect F. T. Clater. (fn. 9) The plate includes an Elizabethan silver communion cup, a pewter flagon of c. 1772-80, and a silver plate presented by the incumbent in 1816. The churchyard at the old church was full by 1900 and one at the site of the new church was consecrated in 1902, despite the objections of the parish council, the medical officer of the rural district council, and many inhabitants. It was still in use in 1995.

From: 'West Bergholt: Church', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 35-37. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15141&amp;amp;strquery=west bergholt Date accessed: 14 February 2011.

West Bergholt, formerly known as Bergholt Sackville, is a large rural village and civil parish in Essex, lying on the border with Suffolk, near to the ancient town of Colchester. For administrative purposes the civil parish is now part of the Colchester Borough Council seat of West Bergholt and Eight Ash 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

Essex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Census records
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
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

Few records of vestry government survive. There were three constables 1578 and two surveyors of highways in 1608. The Bergholt Hall manor pound probably lay between the Hall and Lexden Road where Pound field survived in 1843. Stock was rescued from Cooks Hall pound in 1823. The brickbuilt parish cage stood on a triangle of waste on the crossroads near the White Hart in 1857. It was demolished about 1870. In 1776 a poor rate raised £100 7s. 6d. Expenditure had nearly doubled by 1783-5 and reached a peak of £831 19s. 8d. in 1801. It fell quite sharply to £249 10s. 10d. in 1804 but then crept upwards again, averaging c. £418 between 1805 and 1823. In 1824 expenditure suddenly leapt to £810 1s. and was generally high throughout the rest of the 1820s. Expenditure in 1830 fell to £234 2s. but averaged c. £581 between 1831 and 1836. Throughout poor relief expenditure per head of population was one of the lowest in the hundred. The three almshouses 'on the green' in 1768, probably unendowed, may have later become the parish workhouse sited on the heath edge south-west of New Church Road near its junction with Lexden Road. It presumably shut and was demolished c. 1834.

From: 'West Bergholt: Local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 34-35. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15140&amp;amp;strquery=west bergholt Date accessed: 14 February 2011.

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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.