Layer de la Haye, Essex Genealogy

England Essex England  Essex Parishes



Parish History
Layer de la Haye St John the Baptist is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Other places in the parish include: Layer Cross.

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 village is thought to have been founded in Saxon times, with its original name, Legra, meaning 'lookout'; indeed, its elevation made it an ideal vantage point for the Saxons against raiding parties from the coast. Later its name changed to Leire or Leger, meaning 'mud'. A Norse word, this is likely to have referred to the soil and marshland around the village. During the time of the Norman Conquests, the village was "owned" by the de la Hayes, and its name thus changed to Layer de la Haye. Layer was ravaged by the Black Plague of the 14th Century. The Church became derelict until it was restored by monks.

In 1289, John de Rye donated 160 acres (650,000 m²) of land to St John's Abbey in Colchester. As a token of appreciation, a manor and farm were named after him (Rye Manor and Rye Farm respectively). At the end of the 15th century, the Abbey built a toll-gate house, now called the Greate House (originally the Gate House) near Malting Green.

At the time of the dissolution of the Monasteries which began in 1536, Sir Thomas Audley, who in turn became speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Chancellor, appropriated the manors of Rye and Blind Knights, together with the Mill and the patronage of the benefice. Layer Mill is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a water-mill. The mill wheel was powered by water from the Roman River.

LAYER-DE-LA-HAY, a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, hundred of Winstree, N. division of Essex, 4¼ miles (S. W. by S.) from Colchester; containing 731 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2577 acres, of which 59 are common or waste; it is the most eastern of the three parishes of the name of Layer. The land is generally wet: in some parts it is a light soil, well adapted for turnips, and in others a very shallow loam. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £82; patron, Sir G. H. Smyth, Bart.; impropriator, J. Pearson, Esq., whose tithes have been commuted for £680. The church is a plain edifice, with a stone tower.

From: 'Layer-Breton - Lea-Newbold', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 40-42. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51098&amp;amp;strquery=layer marney Date accessed: 11 February 2011.

Layer de la Haye (often spelled Layer-de-la-Haye; locally known just as Layer) is a village and civil parish which for administrative purposes is in the Colchester district of Essex.

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

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.