Willingale Doe, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
St Andrew's Church, Willingale, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Willingale, Essex, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building,and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands less than 50 yards (46 m) from the adjacent church of St Christopher, and shares its churchyard.

It is not unusual for two churches to share a churchyard and it must be remmbered that before the English reformation parishes had differing boundaries but could share the same land.

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 is constructed in flint rubble, and contains some freestone and puddingstone. The dressings are in clunch and re-used Roman bricks. The roofs are tiled. The plan consists of a nave and chancel, with a south porch and a north vestry. At the west end is a wooden belfry and spire, both of which are weatherboarded. The east window dates from the 19th century and has three lights containing Decorated-style tracery. In the north wall of the chancel are two two-light windows from the 15th century, and between them is a blocked doorway. There are similar windows in the south wall, and a 15th-century doorway. In the north wall of the nave are two 12th-century windows with semicircular heads, and a doorway from the same period. The doorway contains a door with 12th-century scrolled ironwork. In the south wall are three windows in different styles; a 13th-century lancet window, a 14th-century two-light window, and a small window dating from the 12th century. The south porch is weatherboarded and it leads to a 12th-century doorway with a semicircular head and jambs in stone and Roman brick. The west window has a semicircular brick head, which probably dates from the 17th century.

Willingale is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district, in the county of Essex, England. Other nearby settlements include Miller's Green, Shallow Bowells and Birds Green. Willingale has two churches, one called St Christopher, Willingale. and one called St Andrew's Church.

WILLINGALE-DOE (St. Christopher), a parish, in the union of Ongar, hundred of Dunmow, N. division of Essex, 5½ miles (N. E.) from Ongar; containing 529 inhabitants. It comprises 1736a. 3r. 37p., of which 1408 acres are arable, 320 meadow and pasture, and 8 woodland; the soil is a rather strong clay. The small river Roden flows on the east. The living is a rectory, with that of Shellow-Bowels consolidated, valued in the king's books at £16, and in the gift of T. W. Bramston, Esq.: the tithes of the parish have been commuted for £489, and the glebe comprises 31 acres. The church, consisting of a nave and chancel with a square embattled tower, stands in the same churchyard as that of Willingale-Spain, and the parishes are much intermixed, though distinct both as to ecclesiastical and civil concerns.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 579-581. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51409&amp;amp;strquery=willingale doe Date accessed: 07 February 2011.

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 St Christopher

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
Ongar 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.

http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/findachurch/st-andrew-willingale/?region=Essex&amp;offset=1 Churches Conservation Trust