Birch, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Chapel History
BIRCH, GREAT AND LITTLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, Colchester division of the hundred of Lexden, N. division of Essex, 5¼ miles (S. W.) from Colchester, containing 794 inhabitants. The parish is supposed to have derived its name from the Saxon signifying a bridge, in reference to a bridge over a brook, now called Hickford bridge. It comprises 3028 acres, by measurement; the soil is various, consisting of dry loam resting on clay marl of a whitish colour, and of heavier mould resting on brown clay. Birch Castle was fortified against Henry III. by Sir Ralph Gernon, then lord of the manor: there are still some remains. The living is a rectory, with that of Little Birch (formerly a parish valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8.) united, valued in the king's books at £11, and in the gift of the Bishop of London, and C. Round, Esq.: the tithes of Great Birch have been commuted for £574, with a glebe of 57½ acres, and those of Little Birch for £210, with a glebe of 14½ acres. The church is a small edifice, with a spire of shingles. When the church of Little Birch became a ruin, several of the monuments in it were removed to Earl's Colne.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50801

Birch was built in 1849 as union of both Great and Little Birch parish churches, funded by C.G. Round. It is considered the ancient parish of Birch St Peter. By 1736, Little Birch St Mary was united for Great Birch St Peter to become the main parish.

"The small medieval church of ST. PETER, Birch Road, stood on an elevated site until 1849 when it was in a dilapidated condition and demolished. It had nave and lower chancel, undivided internally and with tiled roofs, a south porch, and within the west end of the nave a timber west tower, which was shingled and had a needle spire. The chancel had lancet windows, and other windows in nave and chancel were 14th century.  In 1633 the tower and chancel needed repair and the church needed paving. The tower was repaired in 1713, and the church was apparently extensively repaired in 1713-17, 1725-6, and 1741.  In 1849 two nave windows were rectangular and possibly 18th century. A new church, largely financed by C. G. Round, was built on the same site in 1849-50 to restrained designs in Decorated style by S. S. Teulon. The church, flint-faced with Caen stone dressings and a tiled roof, has a chancel with north vestry, aisled nave with south porch, and north-west tower with broach spire. It provided accommodation for 500. There were two stained glass memorial windows of the 1880s, one in the north and the other in the south side of the nave. A clock was added to the tower in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, and in 1919 new furnishings replaced some of the plain originals. In 1948-9 there was some re-ordering and repair. Monuments included several to members of the Round family. The church closed in 1990 because maintenance was too expensive. In 1684 there was a small silver chalice and cover. In 1705 a flagon and paten were needed. A silver paten of 1782 survived in 1926. At the Reformation two bells and one handbell were sold, leaving one bell. There was one bell in 1684. The single bell recorded in 1768 was presumably the new one, made in 1737 by Thomas Gardiner of Sudbury, which survived in 1999.

LITTLE BIRCH. The church existed by the 11th century. The patronage descended with Little Birch manor, the lords of the manor presenting, except that presentations were made in 1382 by John Boys and others, in 1391 by John Costentyn, in 1469 by the bishop of London by lapse, in 1584 by Queen Elizabeth, in 1608 by Nathaniel Monk (who apparently bought a turn to present a relative), and in 1672 by Charles II by lapse. In 1752 the bishop collated George Kilby to the rectory of Great Birch with Little Birch, but William Round argued that it was his right to present to the rectory as appendant to his manor of Little Birch. In 1753 Round recovered his right, but allowed Kilby to keep all the profits of both churches. No value was estimated for the church in 1254. In 1535 the rectory was worth 66s. 8d. About 1600 the glebe was worth £5 8s. a year and the tithes £15 a year. In 1664 the living was worth only £12. In 1610 and 1810 there was c. 12 a. glebe but no parsonage house. Tithes included those due from land in Copford, Easthorpe, and Messing. The earliest recorded parson was Michael c. 1194-1238. Rectors were appointed regularly in the Middle Ages, but many were plural- ists. In 1607 parishioners attended Great Birch church because Little Birch church was ruinous. Robert Mitchell, rector from 1630, obtained the sequestration of Abberton and lived there. In 1646 he was accused of neglecting Little Birch and the living was sequestered. Thomas Martin of Layer Breton was appointed lecturer of Little Birch in 1658. Mitchell was restored c. 1662; in 1664 he was old and sick, and most or all of the very few parishioners attended neighbouring churches. The living was vacant in 1669. In 1684 the rector, who also held Easthorpe, reported that there were no books nor ornaments for the communion table, and that the three families in the parish attended Easthorpe church. In 1705 there was no communion table, and no orna- ments nor utensils, and in the 18th century and early 19th members of the Round family and their tenants attended Great Birch church which served both Great and Little Birch parishes long before the formal union. The ruined church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, Little Birch, stands just north of the site of Birch Hall. The rubble-built nave, which has Roman brick dressings and pilaster buttresses at the east angles, may be 11th-century in origin, although the windows are 12th- century and later. In the 14th century the chancel was rebuilt and the west tower added, the walling being of rubble and the tower arch of brick. About 1400 a brick chancel arch was inserted and a rood loft and stair added. In 1518 a parishioner left 3s. 4d. for repairs, and during the 16th century the upper part of the tower was rebuilt in brick and a brick stair turret added. At the Reformation there were two bells. John Eldred of Stanway, who lived at Little Birch, and Thomasin, widow of Sir John Swinnerton, restored the church about the 1630s. The church became ruinous again and before 1682 Eldred's monument was moved to Earls Colne. Nevertheless the church was reported to be in good repair in 1684, although by 1736 it was 'in a demolished state'. ) In 1768 there was no roof; only the tower, which was quite high, and the walls remained.

From: 'Birch: Churches', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 50-53. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15149&amp;amp;strquery=birch Date accessed: 11 February 2011.

Birch is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately 8 km (5 miles) southwest of Colchester and 27 km (17 miles) northeast of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Colchester and in the parliamentary constituency of North Essex. There is a Parish Council.

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.

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

Census records
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Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

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Poor Law Unions
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

Great and Little Birch were combined for parish government from the 18th century or earlier. In 1757 teams of farmers and labourers from both parishes were set up for highway maintenance. In 1783 there were 31 ratepayers and 20 outdwellers. In 1836 at a vestry seven of the principal inhabitants elected 2 church- wardens, 7 overseers, 2 assessors, 2 surveyors, and 2 constables. In 1726 a woman was paid £4 4s. for cures and physic for the poor. Bread was bought for the poor in 1779 with the proceeds of a fine levied on an unlicensed beerseller. In 1835 the overseers' purchases included loaves and flour; illness and unemployment were fre- quently recorded. In 1758 a workhouse was built on land near Great Birch church leased from William Round. In 1838 C. G. Round sold the workhouse to Lexden and Winstree poor law union. The building survived in 1999, called Church Cottages. Birch's rate of poor relief expenditure per head of population was about average for Lexden hundred. In 1608 the 'towne house called Stocke house' belonging to Great Birch parish was leased, presumably to raise money for poor relief. In 1776 costs were £239, and in the period 1783-5 averaged £224 a year. In 1801 they were £946, equivalent to 33s. 9d. a head. Between 1802 and 1815 they fluctuated between £419 and £822, except for 1812 when they reached £1,103 (41s. 2d. a head). In the period 1816-22 they ranged between £1,000 and £1,207 and in the period 1823-35 between £615 and £971. In 1836 they were £819 (21s. 11d. a head).

From: 'Birch: Local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 50. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15148&amp;amp;strquery=birch Date accessed: 11 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.

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Web sites
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