Langham, Essex Genealogy

England Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Langham 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 church of ST. MARY comprises a chancel, a nave with south aisle, north and south porches, and a west tower. A north chapel was in ruins by 1768. The 12th-century church, incorporated within the surviving building, had a shorter nave and chancel. The nave was lengthened before the tower was added in the 13th century. In the 14th century the chancel was lengthened, diagonal butresses were added to the tower, and the six-bayed south arcade and aisle were constructed. The moulded capitals, bases, and octagonal piers of the arcade are very similar to those at Fordham, and there is a large 14th-century tomb recess and piscina in the south aisle wall. The trussed-rafter roof, which was intended from the outset to be ceiled, was built at the same time. The asymmetrical chancel arch, which has half-octagonal piers and moulded capitals with tablet flower panels, may date from the late 14th or early 15th century. In 1633 the church roof lead and churchyard wall needed repair, and the pews and tower needed boarding. The church was restored c. 1863 and other repairs followed a fire in the tower in 1879. The chancel arch appears to have been widened on the south when the west end of the south wall of the chancel was splayed out to remove the corner between it and the east wall of the aisle. The chancel door was moved several feet to the east, and a window in 14th-century style and virtually identical to that at the west end of the aisle was inserted in the splayed wall. The chancel roof is also 19th-century, and is similar to that at Boxted. The porches are 19th-century restorations. Underfloor heating was installed in the later 19th century. The church was extensively renovated c. 1956-61. The exterior faces of the chancel and nave were restored between 1980 and 1988 and restoration continued into the 1990s. An organ gallery designed by Nicholas Jacob, with a new organ, was built in 1997. In 1684 there was a small chalice and cover of silver, and in 1810 a small silver cup and a silver salver. That plate had been lost by 1883 when the plate was all modern. The church contains a 12th-century dugout chest and a 13th-century chest. An English, oak, altar figure of the Virgin and Child of c. 1200-20, found at Langham Hall before 1925 and thought to have been removed from Langham church in the later 19th century, was bought by the National Art Collection Fund and donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1925. Re-used 16th-century chancel seating has carved bench ends. A Royal arms, dated 1660, was restored to the church in the 20th century. An oak screen and a wooden font cover are later 20th-century, by H. &amp; K. Mabbitt. In 1684 there were four bells, by 1768 five. A sixth bell was added in 1895 to the ring which in 1909 included one bell of 1618 by Miles Gray and one originally of 1708 by John Waylet. In the chancel are monuments to William Umfreville (d. 1679) and his son Charles (d. 1696). In 1896 the churchyard was extended southwards onto Church green. The small school erected in the churchyard in 1832 was renovated as a church room c. 1981; toilets and a kitchen were added in 1992.

From: 'Langham: Church', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 256-258. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15269&amp;amp;strquery=langham Date accessed: 13 February 2011.

Anglo-Saxons established a settlement which was possibly called Laingaham, the spelling in the Domesday Book. The Domesday Book shows a small agricultural community with the manor held by Walter Tirel, the man who was accused of shooting William Rufus while hunting for deer in the New Forest.

Langham, like most of the villages along the Stour Valley, was primarily agricultural until the 20th century, with a few large farms and many small holdings. Like the other villages it enjoyed a period of prosperity due to the cloth trade, which started at the end of the 14th century and lasted until the 17th century.

Up to the start of the 20th century Langham would have been a reasonably self contained community and everyday items could have been bought at the village stores or from the variety of shops in Dedham. However, the Essex Great Road from London to Norwich via Colchester, later known as the A12, ran up its east side and after the growth of the coaching routes in the 18th century it would have been possible to go to Colchester, Ipswich or even London.

During WW2 a large airbase (called RAF Boxted) was built on land to the south of the main village area. Although much of the airfield has since reverted to agriculture some features and memorials remain.

Langham is a village and civil parish in the Colchester District of Essex County Counil.

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 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
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

The courts baron recorded at the Rectory manor from 1543 were probably medieval in origin. They regulated customary land until 1924, by which date all copyholds had been enfranchised. The courts were held at Glebe Farm, sometimes called the manor house, from 1769 to 1843, but in 1859 were held at the Anchor inn in Stratford St. Mary. There were two surveyors of highways in 1646. In 1677 the constables were paid from the rates. The parish cage was apparently next to Langham Moor where a Cage field survived in 1838. A policeman lived at the Moor in 1881. In 1776 a poor rate raised £194 17s. 8d. Expenditure had risen to £1,530 17s. 1d. by 1801, but thereafter declined, averaging c. £705 between 1802 and 1816. The average then rose to c. £1,034 between 1817 and 1836. Relief per head of population was about average for the hundred. In 1813 regular outdoor relief was given to 78 people and another 15 were relieved in the parish workhouse. Another 36 received occasional relief in or out of the workhouse. The workhouse may have been at Adelphi Cottages at Langham Moor where bread was distributed to the poor in the early 19th century; Workhouse field lay nearby in 1834. Both the building and the field had passed into private hands by 1837. Keepers Cottage, formerly Old Workhouse Farm, may have been another work- house. It had been converted to a labourer's cot tage by1841.

From: 'Langham: Local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 255-256. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15268&amp;amp;strquery=langham Date accessed: 13 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.