Fyfield, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
A brief discription of Fyfield by Samuel A. Lewis is:

FYFIELD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union and hundred of Ongar, S. division of Essex, 3 miles (N. E. by N.) from Ongar; containing 563 inhabitants, and comprising 2450a. 3r. 8p.

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

Fyfield St Nicholas 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 rectory of Fyfield was never appropriated although for a long period in the 12th century the Cluniac priory of Bermondsey (Surr.) had the right to receive the greater part of the tithes of the parish as well as the advowson of the rectory. In 1094 Roger, lord of the manor of Fyfield, with the consent of his overlord John son of Waleran, gave 'the tithes of Fyfield' to Bermondsey priory. In 1107 or later Maud wife of Hasculf de Tany and her son Graeland confirmed this gift and also granted to the priory the advowson of Fyfield church. In 1183 the priory released the advowson to the then lord of the manor, Hasculf son of Graeland de Tany. After this the advowson was held by the lords of the manor of Fyfield until 1890-1 when it was granted by William, Earl Cowley, to George Mayor. The advowson was held by Mayor until 1897 or 1898 after which it was held by Mrs. A. Hewitt until 1914 or 1915. Mrs. J. Worthington Atkin then held it until 1929 or 1930 after which it was held by Canford School (Dors.). The living is now (1955) in the gift of the Church Pastoral Aid Society which controls the Martyrs' Memorial Trust, of which the Canford School Trust forms part. In return for the release of the advowson in 1183 Hasculf de Tany confirmed to the priory 2/3; of the tithes from his demesne, together with those from his demesne assarts made or to be made, and undertook to give them I acre of land on which to erect a tithe barn, and also to secure to them a perpetual annuity of 40s. payable by the parson of Fyfield. (fn. 13) In about 1254 it was reported that the rectory of Fyfield was worth 24 marks and that the monks of Bermondsey received 2/3; of the tithes from the demesne of 'two lords of that vill' as well as 40s. from the parson. In 1291 the church of Fyfield was valued at £12; the prior of Bermondsey had there a portion worth £3 6s. 8d. and a pension of £2. In 1342 the prior of Bermondsey brought an action against the parson of Fyfield for payment of the annuity of 40s. due to his house. In 1427 the church was still taxed on the valuation of 1291. In 1535 the abbey of Bermondsey still held in Fyfield a pension and a portion which were then valued together at £4. (fn. 19) At that time the rectory of Fyfield was valued at £25 7s. 2½d. The abbey was surrendered on 1 January 1538. In 1650 the 'improved' value of the tithes was £120 and the value of the glebe lands and buildings £35. (fn. 22) The tithes were commuted in 1842 for £741; there were then 64 acres of glebe. Anthony Walker D.D., Rector of Fyfield from 1650 until 1692, helped in the publication of Eikon Basilike and published various books and sermons. The rectory stands on a large moated site about 400 yds. to the north-east of the church. It is irregularly shaped and has been altered and extended at different periods. Running from front to back in the centre of the house is a medieval timber roof, probably representing part of a two-storied cross-wing of the 15th century. The north end of the roof has curved wind-braces and in the south bay is an arch-braced collar beam with the king-post missing. East of this roof and at right angles to it is another timber-framed wing which may be of medieval origin. There are additional wings of later date at the west end of the house. In the 18th century the whole front was faced with red brick and there are some interior details of the same period. In about 1770 the house was described as 'a large stately brick building almost surrounded with a moat which, with the house, encloses a pleasant garden'. In 1944 blast from a flying bomb caused considerable damage and in 1952 the front was rebuilt in yellow brick and parts of the roof were renewed. The porch and the original sash windows were replaced. Although this building is certainly of medieval origin, in the middle of the 16th century at least the rector lived in another house, which was then known as 'the parson's house' and was situated on the south side of the church. In October 1546 Robert Nooke, then rector, let to Humphrey Nycolls, servant to Sir Richard Rich, afterwards 1st Baron Rich, for 51 years, at £25 7s. 2½ d. a year, the rectory, church, and parsonage of Fyfield, reserving, however, for his own residence his house south of the churchyard called 'the parsonnes house'. By 1610, however, the house to the south of the church was not regarded as the parsonage-house for a terrier of 1610 described the rectory as including 'a ParsonageHouse, with two barns, and other edifices within the yard, and a house abutting upon the churchyard, then in dispute at law'. In 1650 the rectory was said to include 'a parsonage house, glebe lands and a small tenement'. Whatever the source or the outcome of the dispute of 1610, a property at the south-west corner of the churchyard was part of the glebe in 1842 and remained so until 1948, when it was sold. In the late 19th century it was known as the Vicarage. The back part of the building is timber-framed and weatherboarded with a tiled mansard roof and dates from the 18th century, if not earlier. The front was added in the 19th century and the building now comprises two attached cottages. The parish church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of nave, north and south aisles, chancel, central tower, north porch, and organ chamber. The nave and the first stage of the tower are mostly of flint rubble with some Roman brick. The second stage of the tower is largely of red brick. There is a timber belfry. The exterior of the church is mostly covered with cement, now in poor repair, and numerous buttresses of the 18th and 19th centuries show where weaknesses have developed in the structure. The building differs in several respects from the type of parish church found in the district. The 12th-century plan with the tower standing 'cathedralwise' is unusual, and it is evident that large sums were spent on improvements during the 13th and 14th centuries. The chancel in particular has some good interior features. The nave was built in the 12th century. The walling at each end of the two arcades is 3 ft. thick and is evidently the original 12th-century work. The lower part of the tower is of the same date, including the large stair turret on the north side reaching to the second stage. The stair has a circular newel of Roman brick and there are arches of Roman brick to the round-headed windows in the south and west walls of the second stage of the tower. The former window has been blocked by brickwork and the latter opens into the roof space above the nave. There is one very small rectangular opening in the north wall of the stair turret, and there are two in the east wall. In about 1220 a north aisle of three bays was added to the nave. The pointed arches are of two chamfered orders and rest on circular columns with moulded capitals and bases. Attached half-columns form the responds against the ends of the 12th-century walls. In the middle of the 13th century the south aisle was added. This is similar in general arrangement to the north aisle but the arches are moulded and the supporting columns are octagonal. The single-light window in the west wall is probably of the 13th century but its four-centred head was added later. There are traces of colour decoration of uncertain date on both arcades. The chancel was built about 1330-40. The date can be fixed approximately by the detail of the interior. All the windows are of the 14th century and have moulded labels and head stops. The tracery of the east window has been replaced, but the fine carving of the jambs and rear arch survives. On the north side the arch has beasts of the chase and on the south a series of cowled heads. The jambs are carved with flowers and leaves in high relief. In both north and south walls are two windows, the easternmost being two-light with shafts to the internal splays. The other windows are single light, the sill of that on the south side being taken down to form a 'low side' window. Between the windows in the south wall are stepped sedilia of three bays. The arches are cinquefoiled and between them are octagonal shafts of Purbeck marble. The moulded label has four carved head stops, one head wearing a mitre. and another a curious pointed head-dress terminating in a flower. In the spandrel above a third head are three balls carved in relief; it has been suggested that these are the emblems of St. Nicholas. East of the sedilia is a piscina of similar detail and farther east there is a credence with one jamb cut off by the east wall of the chancel. Below the chancel is a vault which has a wide arched opening externally under the east window. This opening was sealed during the restoration of 1893, but one account of the church suggests that it was formerly pierced with quatrefoil openings, possibly for the viewing of relics. Another account, given in 1898 by the then rector, the Revd. L. Elwyn Lewis, referred to the existence of arcading internally below the east window. The fact that part of the credence is now cut off suggests that the lower part of the east wall has been widened, perhaps obliterating the arcade. Some windows were inserted elsewhere in the church in the 14th century. These include one in the south wall of the tower and the westernmost windows in the north and south aisles. The other aisle windows may have been of the same date, but if so they were replaced in the 19th century. In 1570 Elizabeth I granted to Thomas, 2nd Lord Wentworth, in fee such 'concealed' estates as he could discover to a total annual value of £200.

From: Lewis, Samuel A. A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4

Fyfield is a village and civil parish in the County of Essex. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-east of Chipping Ongar, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) south-east of Harlow and 8.3 miles (13.3 km) west of Chelmsford.For administrative purposes it is part of Epping Forest District.

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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http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Ongar Poor Law Union, Essex

Medieval court rolls for the manor of Fyfield survive for the periods 1385-97, 1401-4, and 1413-43. In the 14th century the number of courts held each year varied between 2 and 4. Usually two of them included view of frank-pledge. In the 15th century courts were usually held twice a year, at Easter and Whitsun, and nearly always included view of frank-pledge. The homage numbered 12 or more. The courts were largely concerned with the control of trade. The commonest subject of presentment was breach of the assize of ale; the offenders against this assize were often women, who were presented year after year on the same charge. Breach of the assize of bread was also frequently presented. Occasionally fines were imposed on regrators. Apart from trade offences, the most common subjects of presentment at the courts were the failure to scour wayside ditches and the obstruction of watercourses. Small fines were sometimes imposed for minor assaults. Two constables and two aletasters were chosen at the Easter court in most years. Aletasters were often fined for inefficiency. The modern series of court rolls for Fyfield runs, with some short breaks, from 1509 until 1865. In the first half of the 16th century courts were held in most years and often twice in a year. From the middle of the 16th century until about 1640 they were held once a year. They usually included view of frankpledge. After 1640 courts were no longer held annually and did not always include view of frank-pledge. In the second half of the 17th century there were 23 courts of which 13 included the view. In the 18th century courts which, nominally at least, included view of frankpledge, took place in 1703, 1709, 1711, and, for the last time, in 1749. Most of the business transacted at the courts after 1509 concerned minor nuisances and breaches of manorial custom. In the reign of Henry VIII the presentment of breaches of the assizes of bread and ale were still common. There were still occasional presentments for assault until 1617. In 1585 a man was presented for 'keeping bad order' in his house. Towards the end of the 16th century the number of presentments of nuisances declined markedly. After 1589 there were rarely more than two or three such presentments at any one court. From the beginning of the reign of Charles I there were frequently no leet presentments even when the court nominally included view of frank-pledge. In the 17th century, particularly in the latter half, the jurisdiction of the manor court was yielding to that of the parish vestry. In 1626 the manor court ordered that no one should demise any cottage within the manor to any person living outside Fyfield and no one should entertain any pauper from outside the parish without leave from the churchwardens, overseers, and the parishioners. In 1647 the manor court elected as constables Thomas Gynne and John Church who in 1648 rendered an account to the parish vestry. Afterwards the constables continued to account to the vestry (fn. 95) although they were sometimes appointed in the manor court until the last decade of the 17th century. A court appointed R. Church and J. Church as constables in 1654. No appointments were made by the next court leet which was held in May 1656; it does not appear what body appointed I. Allam and A. Kent who were constables from 1657, if not before, until 1661. A court leet chose two constables in 1661 and one in 1662 'for the parish of Fyfield'. The rolls do not record any further appointments by the manor court until 1692. On the other hand, until 1680 the vestry minutes did not include the constables in the lists of appointments and reappointments made by the vestry. In 1680, however, it was recorded that at a meeting of the parish on Easter Monday all the old officers, including the constables, were 'continued for the following year'. In 1681, shortly before a court leet, a vestry meeting chose two new constables for the year 1681-2, (fn. 98) but the next court leet, which was held in May 1692, chose two constables. The following court leet, held in October 1696, also chose T. Luck and E. Havers as constables for the parish. It may be, however, that the court merely confirmed appointments made at a vestry meeting earlier in the year, for in the vestry minutes it was recorded that'T. Luck and E. Havers were chosen as constables for the year 1696'. The rolls record no later appointments of constables in the manor court. Two vestry minute-books survive. The first covers the period 1648-1732. The second contains overseers' accounts from 1827 to 1836 and vestry minutes from 1854 to 1890. During the period 1648-1732 meetings of the public vestry usually seem to have been held only at Easter in each year. In only seven years in the whole of this period was more than one meeting recorded and in only two of these years were as many as three meetings recorded. If a resolution of 1704 was carried out, however, there must have existed from that time a select committee which met often in each year: the vestry ordered 'that there be always three persons chosen by a vestry at Easter to assist the churchwardens in the repair of the church and that the overseers of the poor and constables and churchwardens shall not disburse above 20s. without an order of vestry or the major part of the three persons with the churchwardens'. The vestry minutes were usually signed only when there was an important resolution. The number of those attending the meetings, in addition to the churchwardens and overseers, usually varied between one and seven but on five occasions there were more than ten. The chairman was never named as such in the minutes. The rector signed first when he attended the meetings, but there were some important meetings which he did not attend. In his absence one of the larger landowners signed first. Members of the Collins family, of Lampetts, were always prominent at the meetings, and John Collins often signed first, or first after the rector. The work of the vestry consisted mainly in nominating parish officers, granting rates, and approving officers' accounts. There were usually two men in each office. Until 1672 the overseers sometimes continued in office for three or more years. After 1672 they often served two years consecutively but rarely more. The churchwardens and constables usually remained in office for at least two years and often for much longer. The overseers, churchwardens, and constables were each granted separate rates for which they accounted separately throughout the period 1648-1732. Until 1672 the overseers sometimes presented several years' accounts at once. After 1672 they always presented annual accounts. The churchwardens and constables, on the other hand, occasionally presented two or even three years' accounts in one until the end of the period covered by the first vestry minute-book. In 1662-3 the constables' receipts from rates totalling 6d. in the pound were £28 13s. 2d. This implies a rateable value of about £1,150. In 1669-72, however, a 2d. rate yielded £11 12s. 3d. This implies a rateable value of about £1,394 and this continued to be the rateable value until after 1690. In the period 1827-36 the rateable value was about £1,750. In 1835 the parish owned three houses known as the 'Poorhouses' and for which the overseers paid to the churchwardens £11 a year. 'Street House' and a house on the east side of the churchyard were occupied rentfree by poor women, placed there by the parish officers. It does not appear how the third house, on Cannon's Green, was used, but it may have been a workhouse. There is no doubt, however, that in most cases poor relief was given, in various forms, outside a workhouse. In 1813-15 there was no person on 'permanent relief' inside a workhouse, but in each of those years there were 41-43 adults on permanent relief outside. Provision for the poor was made in various ways, including the binding out of paupers' children as apprentices and the payment of rents and weekly doles. In 1711 the rents of 11 poor persons were paid, the total cost to the parish being £12 14s.: in addition weekly doles, amounting to £1 0s. 8d., were paid to 10 households of whom 4 also had their rent paid. In one case at least, early in the 18th century, a pauper was allotted to parishioners on a rota system. In 1708 it was agreed at a vestry meeting that if 'Thomas Ashfeld, a poor fellow that is to go about the parish by a former agreement, should fall sick or lame in any place that he goes to he shall not lie altogether upon those persons where he is present but that it shall be at the charge of the whole parish'. In 1721, when the same Thomas Ashfeld was put on an eightyear rota of some 32 parishioners, there was a similar resolution to the effect that 'if any sickness or lameness should happen during these years it shall be at the cost of the parish and likewise his clothing'. Under the Commonwealth the total cost of poor relief usually varied between £15 and £25 a year. From 1675 until 1693 it was frequently between £30 and £40 a year. No figures survive for 1693-6. From Easter 1696 until Easter 1701, however, it averaged about £100 a year. These expensive years were followed by five years in which the cost ranged between £71 and £85 a year. In 1706-7 it rose to a new maximum of £117. In April 1707 the vestry ordered the badging of the poor according to law (8 and 9 William III, c. 30 (1697)) and ordered that an inventory should be made of every pauper's goods. There was a slight decline, to £103, in the cost of relief in the following year and at Easter 1708 the vestry agreed 'that if any overseer in the parish shall relieve any person by a weekly collection that does not wear the badge or come themselves for their collection unless they are sick or lame, the said overseer shall forfeit the sum of 40s. Nevertheless the cost of relief, after remaining at £103 for two more years, began to rise again in 1710-11 and in 1715-16 reached £142. In the next year it fell again to £103. From 1717 until 1731 it fluctuated between £69 and £108. No figures survive for 1731-75. In 1776 expenses were £156 and the average for the three years 1783-5 was £268. In 1800-1 the cost of relief was £765. It fell to a minimum of £324 in 1807-8, and rose to £683 in 1813-14 and £613 in 1816-17. In the years 1827-32 it was between £500 and £600 each year. It then declined to about £350 a year in 1834-6. In June 1836 Fyfield became part of the Ongar Poor Law Union.

From: 'Fyfield: Parish government and poor relief', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 55-56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15550&amp;amp;strquery=fyfield Date accessed: 05 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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