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A History of CoggeshalL
33rtntrtj bg <ljfoin potter,
fje Coggrsfjall iPrcss, Cssti.
A HISTORY
OF
COGGESHALL, IN ESSEX
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF ITS
ep, (THanore, Ancient Igoueee, gc.
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF ITS MOST DISTINGUISHED MEN AND ANCIENT FAMILIES
INCLUDING
THE FAMILY OF COGGESHALL
From 1149, to the re-union at Rhode Island, U.S.A., in 1884.
BY
GEO. FRED. BEAUMONT
One of the Local Secretaries of the Essex Archaological Society.
JTonbmt :
MARSHALL BROTHERS,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
dioggtsbaU ;
EUWIN POTTER,
MARKET END.
MDCCCXC.
O tfjc bclofarti iiHcmorg at
JOSEPH BEAUMONT
o ijtrt at Cojjgesfjall, 3ulg istfj, 1889
(preface*
HE following pages contain the embodiment of notes
collected during some few years of research, with the
intention in the first instance of simply allowing them
to remain in manuscript, and providing as far as possible for their
preservation for the historian of some future day. As these notes
increased in bulk, and were not arranged in any particular order,
and as I conceived that there were many of my contemporaries
both at home and abroad, who would be glad to know something
of the Church, the Abbey, the Manors, the Charities, the Chapels,
the families, and the ancient houses of this interesting town, I de-
termined to mould the collected materials into a " History of
Coggeshall."
To the end that the work might be as complete as possible,
the Court Rolls of the Manors of Great and Little Coggeshall,
the Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, from their com-
mencement to the present time, the other parish papers unfortu-
nately but few and of modern date, very many ancient deeds
and other muniments have been subjected to personal examination ;
and such time as could be spared has been spent in the Public
viii Preface.
Record Office and in the Library of the British Museum, resulting
fortunately in the unearthing of some few items of interest.
The valuable early i8th century MS.S. of Holman (now in the
Colchester Museum), so far as they relate to this town and the
family which bears its name, have been transcribed, and I have
not hesitated to draw freely from this antiquarian store. " Dug-
dale's Monasticon," " Weaver's Funeral Monuments, " Newcourt's
Repertorium," " Morant's Essex," " Dale's Annals of Coggeshall,"
the various papers contributed by the Rev. Dr. E. L. Cutts, and
Mr. H. W. King to the Journal of the Essex Archaeological
Society, and other well known and reliable authorities have been
frequently consulted and have furnished many interesting details.
To the non-antiquarian reader it will seem that there has been
an unnecessary introduction of personal names and genealogical
notes, but this will be understood when it is stated that the work
has been prepared in the interest not only of the general reader,
but also of those who may desire to connect the families of to-day
with those of past ages ; a desire which is now singularly pregnant
in New England, Australia, and the other Colonies. In order
that the task of the genealogist may be rendered as easy as prac-
ticable I have supplied an Index of all the personal names occur
ring throughout the volume.
As the importance of place names in connection with the his-
tory of a parish is now fully recognised by antiquaries, I have felt
it incumbent upon me to put on record the field' and other names
occurring here, and to add a few notes with reference to the local-
ities and their appellations, in the hope that, with the assistance
of the map which is supplied, they will be found interesting as
well to the local antiquary and general reader as to the onama-
tologist.
For much valuable aid in the production of the illustrations,
Preface. ix
I am indebted to Mr. J. D. Webster, whose excellent photographs
of local views have been of great service. The Ancient Gateway,
the Interior Elevation of St. Nicholas Chapel, and the Norman
Capital are from drawings kindly lent to me by Mr. Robert Wil-
liams, A.R.I.B.A. Most of the other illustrations have been
sketched by my wife, whose willing help in this and many ways in
preparing the work for the press I gratefully here acknowledge
Every endeavour has been made to render the work as accu
rate as possible, but as it has been prepared during the short
hours of leisure which follow the professional labours of the day
I dare not entertain the hope that it will be found faultless.
The communication of notes bearing upon the history of this
place, and the notification of errors occurring in the following
pages will be much appreciated.
GEO. FRED. BEAUMONT.
THE LAWN,
COGGESHALL,
January, 1890.
gintrotmction.
PAGE.
General Description Geology Early History Etymology. i
Site of an Early Church Church of St. Peter-ad- Vincula
General Description The Registers Monumental
Inscriptions The Churchyard The Clergy The
Rectory and Vicarage Chantries and Obits.
General Description The Abbots Abbey Farm.
Manors of Great Coggeshall Little Coggeshall Cogges-
hall Hall 109
Nonconformist
The Independents The Society of Friends The Baptists
The Wesleyan Methodists ... ... ... ... 136
Sir Robert Hitcham's School Thomas Paycocke's Thos.
Guyon's Sir Mark Guyon's Swallow's Gooday's
Land in West Street Ann Richardson's The Market
Houses or Wordsworth's Crane's The Almshouses
or Greenwood's Johan Smith's or the Tilbury Bread
Money Hibben's Cottages The National and British
Schools. ... ... ... ... ... ... 150
Contents.
The Cloth Trade Tambour Lace Silk Throwsting
Isinglass Breweries Seed Growing... ... ... 183
l^otaBlc f nmilir anti S$cn.
The Coggeshalls Du Canes Hanburys Paycockes
Guyons Fabians Thomas Hawkes and other Mar-
tyrs John Jegon, Bishop of Norwich John Godard,
Mathematician Nathaniel Rogers, " One of the Fa-
thers of the New World " John Carter, the Lip-artist.
&c., &c. .................. 197
ancient HOUJJCB, 2Trate Signs, jFieia #ame, &c. 230
ire, ^usstoms, JFoIfc ?Lore anO /^tftceUaneous. 249
.................. 263
of
Interior of Coggeshall Church
Carved Head from S. Peter's Well
Corbel, with Keys and Chain
Arms of Guyon
Thomas Paycocke's Brass
John Paycocke's
Joan Paycocke's ,,
Arms of Carter
Arms of Skingley
Arms of Townsend .
The Lych Gate and Church Tower
Coggeshall Church (Exterior)
Dr. Owen, the Puritan Divine
Rev. W. J. Dampier
Rev. C. P. Greene
Rev. H. M. Patch .
Abbey Farm ....
Seal of the Abbey .
Arms of the Abbey
Ambulatory ....
Norman Capital
St. Nicholas Chapel, Exterior .
Ditto, South Elevation, Interior
A Cistercian Monk
Coggeshall Hall ....
Frontispiece.
page 15
19
40
4i
42
42
45
46
48
53
70
70
,- . 7
70
70
87
93
94
97
99
100
101
1 06
124
List of Illustrations.
Congregational Chapel ..... page 136
Sir Robert Hitcham's School . . . . 150
Arms of Sir Robert Hitcham . . . . 152
Tomb of Sir Robert Hitcham . . . . 152
Paycocke's Ancient Gateway . . . . .161
Arms of the Coggeshall Family . . . . 197
The Burning of Thomas Hawkes (Martyr) . . 213
Bishop Mant ..... . . 216
John Carter, the Lip-artist . . . . .218
Stephen's Bridge ....... 235
Coggeshall Volunteers ..... 254
Arms of Beaumont ...... 262
Map of Coggeshall . . . . . 263
CORRIGENDA.
Page 1 1, line 24, for Ansum, read Ansam.
26 ,, 13, for Malchus with Judas, read St. Peter with Malchus.
,, ,, ,, 14, for Repentance, read Denial.
,, ,, ,, 24, for busts of Angels, read emblems of St. Peter.
,, 44 ,, 31, fot Quoadam, read Quondam,
> 45 > 34 f or Grimes, read Grime.
66 ,, 1 6, for The Rev. E. W. Mathew, read Col. W. Mathew.
INTRODUCTION.
JOGGESHALL comprises two parishes, intersected by
the ancient course of the river Blackwater, the greater
part of which now bears the name of " The Back
Ditch." To the north of this channel lies the parish
of Great Coggeshall, and to the south, Little Coggeshall. The
larger parish covers an area of 2,632 a. i r. iop., exclusive of the
detached portion* comprising 5 a. ir. 15 p. adjoining the bridge at
Blackwater, making a total of 2,6373. 2 r. 2 5 p., of which about
47 acres are roads and 12 acres water. The smaller parish con-
tains i, 107 a. 2r. i7p., exclusive of the detached portion f near
Rye Mill, Peering, containing 6 a. 2 r. 7 p., making a total of
i, 014 a. or. 24 p., of which about 20 acres are roads and n acres
water. The former parish is in Lexden Hundred and the latter
in Witham Hundred.
The highest point is by Nunty's Farm, near Monk Wood ;
here an elevation is reached of upwards of 228 feet above the
mean level of the sea, gradually descending to about 88 feet, O.D.
in the pastures by the river. The whole area is drained by the
river Blackwater and its contributory streams, the chief of which
is Robin's Bridge Brook.
The principal street traverses, approximately, the old Roman
Road from Verulamium to Camulodunum, and at its western ex-
tremity is known as Stock Street; from Highfield's Farm to Market
End it is called West Street ; proceeding towards Colchester the
name is changed to East Street or Gallows Street, and beyond
the Mount it is degraded to Rotten Row. From Market End,
Stoneham Street runs at right angles to the Roman Road, and in
* Amalgamated with Pattiswick Parish on 25th March, 1889.
t Now part of Feering Parish.
B
Introduction.
a northerly direction towards Halstead, bifurcating at the ' York-
shire Grey ' and changing name to Robin's Bridge Road and
Tilkey Road, the former leading to Halstead and the latter to
Mark's Hall. From Market Hill, Church Street .takes a north-
easterly direction and leads to the Church and thence to Earls Colne
and Great Tey. Beyond the Church, on the one hand, and the
Mount on the other, Church Street is connected with East Street
by Dead Lane. Bridge Street, the upper part of which was
formerly called Cellar Lane, leads from the Market Place past the
two bridges, when its name is changed to Grange Hill and Point-
ell Street [Tedric Pointell had property at Coggeshall at the time
of the Domesday Survey] ; at the Hamlet is a road running to
the mill and called Pointell Mill Lane. Bridge Street is con-
nected with West Street by the Gravel. Church Lane, Back
Lane, or Queen Street runs to the north of and almost parallel with
Church Street. There are also minor ways known as Wayne or
Vain Lane, Horn Lane, Crouches Alley, Curd Hall Lane, and
Cuthedge or Coleman's Lane.
From 4,198 inhabitants, in the united parishes, in the year
1 86 1, the population has gradually decreased, the last census
(1881) giving the number of inhabitants at 3,361, of whom 2,998
resided in Great Coggeshall and 363 in Little Coggeshall ; since
1 88 1 these figures have been further considerably reduced. The
number of houses in 1881 was in Great Coggeshall, 683, inhabited
by 704 families or separate occupiers, and in Little Coggeshall 82
houses occupied by 85 families or separate occupiers.
Great Coggeshall was from very early times in the Diocese of
London, and so remained until the year 1845 when it was trans-
ferred to Rochester. It is now in the See of the Bishop of St.
Albans, which was founded about 1877.
Little Coggeshall, until 1846, was a peculiar of Canterbury,
and the Vicars of Coggeshall up to that date attended the Visita-
tion of the Archbishop's Commissary, the Dean of Becking. In
this year the parish was removed from the Archbishop's jurisdic-
tion by Act of Parliament or Order in Council.
Coggeshall is in the Archdeaconry of Colchester, and was for-
merly in the Lexden Rural Deanery, but, on the ist January, 1846,
it was transferred to a new Deanery, which comprises the parishes
of Coggeshall, Peering, Inworth, Messing, Easthorpe, Layer Mar-
ney, Layer Breto*n, Copford, Tiptree and Stanway, and is called
Industries and Local Institutions.
the Coggeshall Deanery. The two parishes were in Witham
Union until its dissolution in 1880, when they were transferred to
Braintree.
For legal purposes of a civil nature the inhabitants are within
the Braintree County Court District, while the Justices of the
Witham Division of the county exercise jurisdiction in criminal
matters, and in such administrative affairs as come within the cog-
nizance of magistrates. Coggeshall returns a member to the
County Council. Wills and letters of administration to the
effects of persons dying here are proved or taken out either in
the Ipswich District Registry or in the Principal Registry of the
Court of Probate.
The nearest Railway Station is at Kelvedon, about 2\ miles
distant, and is easily accessible by ' Moore's Bus,' which travels to
and fro three times daily.
The principal industries are the brewing of beer, the growing
of garden seeds and the manufacture of gelatine and isinglass.
Tambour lace is still made here, but the cloth trade which once
flourished has become extinct. There are two Banks, the London
and County and Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell & Co.
A few ancient domestic buildings have escaped to some extent
the vandalism of past generations, and the frieze of one in Church
Street bears date 1565, another in East Street, 1585 ; while Pay-
cocke's house, in West Street, was doubtless built between four
and five centuries ago.
A local magazine was established, in 1870, under the name of
the ' Coggeshall Parish Magazine,' and is continued to the present
time, but its name was changed in 1875, when an extra sheet was
introduced so as to embrace the news of the rural deanery, and
the title is now 'The Coggeshall Ruri-Decanal Magazine.' The
numbers should be kept and bound periodically, as also should
the excellent ' Coggeshall Almanack,' first issued in 1883, by Mr.
Edwin Potter, and containing much local information with a sup-
plement of the principal events of the year preceding its issue.
* I A HE solid geological formation which underlies the parishes
JL of Great and Little Coggeshall and extends for many miles
in all directions, is known as the London clay, and consists of a
B 2
Introduction.
very tenacious bluish grey clay, which near the surface weathers
into a brownish colour. Few fossils are found in this district, and
such as are to be obtained are very friable. The depth attained
by the London clay in this neighbourhood varies of course with
the contours of the surface and substratum. The well at Messrs.
Swinborne's Gelatine Factory, about 120 ft. above Ordnance
Datum, disclosed beneath about 2 ft. of soil a depth for the
London clay of about 173 ft., of which i8ft. was yellow clay,
1 30 ft. blue ditto, 5ft. sand, and 20 ft. brown clay. Passing
through these beds, the borers pierced 38 ft. of the Reading Beds
and 31 ft. of Thanet sand, reaching chalk at 244ft. below the
surface, and boring into this for i6ft., they obtained at a total
depth of 260 ft. an abundant supply of water, which rose to within
1 4 ft. from the surface.
The well at Mr. Gardner's Brewery, in Bridge Street, situate
about 90 feet above Ordnance Datum, disclosed 25 feet of gravel,
1 20 ft. of London clay, and 60 ft. of slate coloured sand, a green-
ish sand being reached at 205 ft.
The well at the Gravel Brewery, about 95 O.D., bored in
1887, and commenced at the bottom of the old bore hole, no ft.
from the surface, showed Dead sand 7 ft., Running ditto 4 ft.,
Loamy ditto 2 ft., Dead ditto 8 ft., Pebbles and brown sand 5 ft.,
Brown running sand i6ft., White sand 3ft., Mottled clay 5ft.,
Greensand ioft., Grey ditto 9 ft., Green ditto 6 ft., and Grey ditto
41 ft., Chalk being reached at 226ft. from surface, and being
bored to a further depth of 79 ft., water rose about 2 ft. above the
surface and gave over 36 gallons per minute.
The preceding details have been thus fully set out, as they will
doubtless be of service to any who may contemplate the luxury of
an abundant supply of pure water from a depth of from 250 to
300 ft. The supply from the chalk bearing stratum has great
advantages for brewing purposes, but for domestic requirements
Coggeshall has an ample surface store of good water. This
supply is furnished by the rains which are absorbed by the high
level areas. Its reservoir is an extensive bed of glacial gravel,
covered with the boulder-clay in part and the brick-earths in other
part, these prevent evaporation, while the impervious London clay
below arrests filtration.
The geological beds which are exposed to view in this district
are those of the glacial series and the valley gravels, and brick-
Geological formation.
earths of later date. The Boulder-clay, which is the chief of the
glacial series, is a heterogeneous collection of fragments of rocks
from many parts of the kingdom, but mainly composed of London
clay and chalk, with slabs of Kimmeridge clay containing innu-
merable fossils, pieces of the oolitic formation and of the lias
limestones with belemnites and other remains of a former world,
and here and there may be found rounded, polished and striated
blocks of granite. It was deposited during an intensely cold period
of time, when the whole of our district was submerged to a con-
siderable depth in oceanic waters, the enormous blocks of foreign
rocks being borne here by glaciers and icebergs. Passing upwards
from the glacial series of deposits, we come upon the gravels and
brick earths of later date. These were formed during the gradual
re-elevation of the land from the depths of the sea. The coast
line by degrees receded from the north-west, and we picture the
waves of the ancient sea beating upon the uplands by Bourchiers
Grange and Hovels, and again, some centuries later an enormous
river sweeps in its pre-glacial course, denuding here and re-assort-
ing there, gravel in one place, sand in another, and brick-earth
elsewhere ; and thus, and only thus, can we account for the road-
mending material we now find 50 ft. or more above the present
river, and the earth for the potter's wheel, near Fabians or Hill
Farm, beyond the Church and elsewhere.
So far as the personal researches and enquiries of the writer
have been pursued, no traces of palaeolithic or neolithic man have
been discovered in this district, but well polished flint implements
of neolithic man have been found at Peering and at Inworth, and
sooner or later the diligent observer will probably be rewarded
with similar "finds." Fossil bones of the elephant and other
mammals have been found in the gravel pit in the Vicarage Field
and elsewhere, but they are generally so fragile that they can
seldom be preserved entire.
A LTHOUGH we have no traces of an early British occu-
1\_ pation of this place, there is, nevertheless, satisfactory
evidence that the Romans were for some time dwellers here.
The road which we traverse every day when we pass along East
Street and West Street is a remnant of one of the great works of
Introduction.
this noble race, a race to whom England owes its mediaeval and
its modern greatness. Let the reader walk along this road, and
although he cannot now gaze upon the barrow of British
or Anglo-Saxon date, which probably occupied a place in the
locality of the 'Mount,' yet, when he descends the gentle slope
towards the town, he will find in the field opposite the western end
of Starling Leeze, that a portion of the original road is still extant,
and may be traced by the raised ground or highway.* The bar-
barians, who succeeded the Romans, it would seem at this point
diverted the road a few yards to the north and on the ancient
way built their miserable hovels, and so the original road is now
lost beneath the houses which occupy the south side of the
present highway. But the old road is again plainly seen opposite
the Vicarage and the Hitcham School, and on its crown, Pay-
cocke's House, the Fleece Inn, and other houses now stand.
Dr. Holland, in his translation of Camderfs Brit., p. 449, and
Weever also, p. 619 (see also Newcourt Rep., Vol. II., p. 158),
tell us : " That in a place called Westfield, three-quarters of a
mile from Coggeshall, and belonging to the Abbey, there was
found by touching of a plough a great brazen pot ; the plough-
man supposing it to have been hid treasure, sent for the Abbot
of Coggeshall to see the taking of it up, and he going thither
met with Sir Clement Harleston, and desired him also to accom-
pany him thither. The mouth of the pot was closed with a
white substance like past or clay, as hard as burnt brick ; when
that by force was removed, there was found another pot but that
was of earth, that being opened there was found in it a lesser
pot of earth of the quantity of a gallon covered over with a
matter like velvet and fastened at the mouth with a silk lace;
in it they found some whole bones and many pieces of small
bones wrap'd up in fine silk of flesh color, which the Abbot took
for the Reliques of some saint and laid up in his Vestiary."
If one refers to the ordnance map of Great Coggeshall, he
will have no difficulty in finding the West Field of the govern-
ment surveyors of 1875, for it appears in large type under the No.
314. It is doubtful whether there is any authority for calling
* Krom earliest times the principal roads appear to have been raised above
the level of the adjoining ground ; thus in Numbers xx 19, the Israelites
state that they will go by the raised road or highway, and in the I7th
verse, it will be noticed, they call the road, the King's Highway, just as
we do at the present day.
Early History.
this field West Field, for in the title deeds it is not so called ;
in the Morden College Survey of 1740, it is called Crow Barn Field,
and in the tithe map its name is Lower Crop Barn ; one can
therefore only conclude, that the surveyor having ascertained that
many Roman remains had been found in this field, set it down
without further enquiry as-the West Field of Camden. The Rev.
Dr. Cutts, who knew Crow Barn Field well, when writing (1855)
on the Roman remains of Coggeshall, evidently did not consider
it possessed the name of West Field, for in quoting from Camden
he parenthetically suggested that the place in question was near
West Mill*
A search at the Public Record Office among the rolls of the
Duchy of Lancaster (Bundle 58, No. 726) enables me to produce
the following from the Court Rolls of the Manor of Coggeshall
Hall, dated 1517. "At this Court the Steward by command
of the Lord granted out of the hands of the said Lord to John
Aylward and Benedicte his wife, certain enclosures and crofts
of land called Colvercroft, late in the tenure of John Aleward,
his father, while living, lying between the way called Colmannes
Lane, on the one part, and enclosures of the Lord Abbot called
Westfields and Bawnes Shott, on the other part, one head
thereof abutting upon land of the said Abbot called Boune-
shott, and the other head upon the field called Westfield." The
fields called Colvercroft or Cutlers Crofts are shown on the
map of Coggeshall Hall manor and are the same as Nos. 79,
8 1, and 82 on the tithe map of Little Coggeshall. No. 109 in
the same map is called Boonshots, and Colemans Lane is now
called Cuthedge Lane. From these facts we may learn approxi-
mately the locality where the remarkable pot was found, which so
delighted the Lord Abbot of Coggeshall.
The Rev. E. L. Cutts (Essex Arch. Soc. Trans.) says (1855)
that in a couple of fields, called Crow Barn and Garden Fields,
on the north of the road from Coggeshall to Braintree, a little
distance west of the town, gravel has been excavated for some
years back, and he was told that from time to time a considerable
number of Roman urns had been discovered, a drawing of one of
which he possessed. The dimensions of this urn were io| in. in
height and about Sin. in width, and he adds, several had more
* There are West Fields near West Mill, but they are at least a mile and a
half from the town.
8 Introduction.
recently been discovered, and two of them, smaller ones, were
preserved tolerably entire. One of these was enclosed within
a larger vessel, whose impress he saw in the bank of earth,
but its fragments had been thrown among the gravel and carted
away ; these urns were deposited as is usual in Roman sepulchral
deposits on the top of the gravel which lies about 2 ft. beneath
the surface of the soil ; human bones had also been found here,
and there were two'plots of soil of some yards square, in each of
which was a layer of black ashes, perhaps the trace of funeral
pyres ; and in the middle of Crow Barn Field was found a large
quantity of Roman bricks, which were taken out and used to
repair the farm premises. The space over which these urns were
scattered is about three acres. Dr. Cutts continues To the east
of this cemetery, with one field intervening, is the park-like field
in front of Highfield House ; an avenue of fine elm trees extends
from the house to the road, running from north to south ; the east-
ernmost row of trees is planted on the edge of an artificial dyke,
in the hollow of which runs the drive up to the house. This bank
and hollow way have very much the appearance of the agger and
ditch of a Roman camp. From the southern extremity of this,
another very similar ditch runs westward in the direction of the
Roman cemetery ; there are faint indications of a continuation of
this along the western side ; and the line of the hedge along the
nothern side would complete a square enclosure of about an acre
and a half in extent. Dr. Cutts says his attention was first called
to the eastern and most conspicuous of these lines of embank-
ment by hearing it spoken of as Roman ; but there was not any
general tradition of the kind, and the intimation may have been
merely the echo of the opinion of some previous antiquary.
Weever (Funeral Monuments), writing in 1631, makes the
following observation : " Adjoining to the Rode called Coccill-
way, which to this towne leadeth, was lately found an arched
vault of brick, and therein a burning lampe of glasse covered with
a Romane tyle some 14 in. square, and one urne with ashes and
bones, besides two sacrificing dishes of smooth and polished red
earth, having the bottom of one of them with faire Romane
letters inscribed COCCILL. M. I may probably conjecture this
to have been the sepulchrall monument of the Lord of this towne,
who lived about the time of Antoninus Pius (as by the coyne
there likewise found appeareth), the affinitie between his and the
Early History.
now towne's name being almost one and the same. These remain
in the custody of that judicious great statesman, Sir Richard
Weston, Knight, Baron Weston of Nealand, Lord Treasurer of
England; and of the most honourable Order of the Garter Com-
panion, who for his approved vertues and industrie, both under
father and sonne doth to the publique good fully answere the
place and dignitie."
As a detached portion of Coggeshall until recently adjoined
the bridge at Blackwater, it should be mentioned that when that
bridge was re-built between thirty and forty years back, the remains
of several successive timber bridges were discovered, and planks
were found at a considerable depth below the present bed of the
river, having the darkness and heaviness characteristic of very old
oak; and Mr. Murdock, the clerk of the works, entertained the idea
that the river might have been paved with these planks to form a
ford ; for, as the soil is boggy at this particular spot, some such
paving would have been necessary to make a ford passable on a
road so much frequented. Mr. Cutts observed, after recording these
facts (Roman Remains at Coggeshall), that the Romans invariably
bridged over the streams which were crossed by their great
military roads ; the bridges over insignificant streams being some-
times composed of a horizontal roadway of planks laid upon
abutments of piles. Among other interesting antiquities found at
Blackwater, and, be it observed, at a considerable depth below the
bed of the stream, were a portion of a glass vessel, described
by Mr. Murdock as like in quality and appearance to Roman
vessels of glass which he had seen ; the upper part of an earthen-
ware drain pipe, the upper orifice enlarged for the insertion of the
next pipe, which resembled Roman aqueduct or drain pipes*; a
portion of a brick, honeycombed with deep irregular holes like
rustication ; a vertebra of a large ox ; and perhaps most important
of all, an iron instrument, believed by antiquaries to be a horse-
shoe for a horse with a diseased hoof, having two tags of iron
* I have not seen this pipe, but it would seem to be similar to two I have in
my possession, taken by me from a field (341 ordnance survey) on the
Abbey Farm. These are 4 in. square at one end, tapering to about 3^in.
at the other, and measuring 2 ft. \ in. in length, with circular bore of
i-jjin. in diameter. The pipes have sockets and enlarged orifices, and
were disinterred from a disused clay pit. My own opinion is, they are of
mediaeval date and were used by the monks as conduits for the carrying
of the pure water of the hill sides to the domestic offices of the monastery.
10 Introduction.
which may have been clasped over the hoof, and the shoe being
further fastened by a rope attached to the hook at the hinder part
of the shoe (see illustration in Mr. Cutts' paper).
Many Roman coins have been found in Coggeshall and the
immediate neighbourhood, but, wit'h the exception of one of the
Emperor Vespasian, found in 1887 in Mr. Beaumont's orchard
opposite the Church, and one of Constantinus (locality where
found unknown), a second bronze of M. Aurelanus found on the
Abbey Farm (1888), and some others in my possession which are
illegible, it has not been found possible to add to the following
list compiled by Dr. Cutts :
M. Antoninus (31 B.C.), a denarius found at Curd Hall Farm ;
Nero (A.D. 54-68), 2nd bronze; two of Vespasian (69-79), 2nd
bronze; two of Domitian (81-96), 2nd bronze; Trajan (98-117),
2nd bronze; Hadrian (117-138), 2nd bronze; ditto 3rd bronze,
found in the field in front of Scrip's Farm; Antoninus (138-
161), mentioned by Weever; ditto, second bronze; Faustina
(wife of Antoninus), 2nd bronze; M. Aurelius (161-180), 2nd
bronze; Commodus (180-192), 2nd bronze; Julia Domna, wife
of Severus (193-211), a denarius; Gallienus (253-268), 3rd
bronze; Victorinus (265-267), 3rd bronze; Claudius Gothicus
(268-270), 3rd bronze ; Tetricus (267-272), 3rd bronze ; Claudius
Tacitus (275), 3rd bronze; Diocletian, 284-305), 3rd bronze; two
of Carausius (287-293), 3rd bronze; Maximinus (308-313), 3rd
bronze; seven of Constantine (323-337), 3rd bronze; Magnentius
(35-353)> 3 r d bronze ; Theodosius (379-395), 3rd bronze ; Head
of Constantinopolis ; four undecypherable. Ancient urns have
also been found at Bouchiers Grange, by the side of an old pond
filled in some years ago, but the workmen did not preserve
them.
As Hovels (otherwise Holfield, Holville or Oldfield) was the
manor house of Great Coggeshall, it is probable that it is the site
of a Roman villa, which, when its buildings had fallen into decay,
and the population of the place had migrated to the Saxon ham,
or home, where our town now is, became very properly known
as the old-ville, afterwards corrupted into various forms. Whether
Hovels Farm, or Holfield Grange, is the original Oldville it is
impossible to say, but the road north of Holfield Grange should
be noticed; then there are the Vineyard, and the Stock Street,
close by, and although the Vineyard may have been planted by
Early History. u
the monks in later days, it is well known that the Romans intro-
duced the vine into this country. The survival of the name, Stock
Street, in a locality where there are only three or four houses, is
decidedly indicative of former importance.
Scrips Farm, with its Church Field and Kitchen Field, in
Little Coggeshall, may also be the site of a Roman villa, as to
which it should be stated that, in addition to the Roman urn
mentioned by Camden, several Roman coins have been found on
this farm, and the reader is invited to compare the plan of its
fields with the plan of a Roman holding, at Much Wymondley,
given by Seebohm, in his Village Community. Coggeshall Hall
is also a locality which should receive attention.
Let the reader glance at the ordnance map of Coggeshall, in
the neighbourhood of Highfields Farm and some distance west-
wards, and discover, if he can, why the field lines are not parallel
with and at right angles to the ancient road from Colchester to
Bishops Stortford, and say, was there an older way, a British or a
Roman road from Aldham or from Halstead, which formed the
base upon which the surveyor worked, when he divided the lands
into separate enclosures.
It may be mentioned that Coggeshall has at different times
been considered the site of one of the Roman stations mentioned
in the Itineraries of Antoninus, some writers contending for
Canonium, while others thought it Ad Ansum, and with regard to
the latter station a recent writer,* though "not placing it at Cog-
geshall, fixes upon the neighbouring village of Kelvedon or Peering
as its proper site.
THE word Coggeshall is of uncertain derivation. We first
meet with the town's name in a grant in the time of
Edward the Confessor, where it is rendered Coggashael ; in the
Domesday Book, 40 years later, viz. 1086, we have Cogheshal,
and since then corruptions in nearly every form may be met with,
thus, we have Cogshall, Coxal, Gogshall, Coggashael, and many
others. We have seen in a previous page what Weever has to say
* Mr. H. F. Napper, East Anglian Notes and Queries, Vol. II, pp. 278, 304,
332, and Vol. Ill, p. 6.
1 2 Introduction.
upon the matter, and it will be remembered that this learned
writer found an affinity between the name of the person inscribed
upon the Roman patera and the name of the town, and to make
his conjecture the more apparent he speaks of the Coggeshall
road as the Coccil way (pronounced Cocksill), and so he con-
cluded that the town belonged in Roman times to the Lord
Coccillus, whereas the inscription COCCILLI. M. means, as is now
well known, Coccilli manu, i.e. : by the hand of Coccillus the
potter.
Dunkin (Monumenta Anglicana) says that it has been
ingeniously conjectured that this name was compounded of two
Celtic words, Cor or Cau (enclosure), and Gafael (hold) ; or
otherwise was derived from Coed (wood), and Caer or Gaer
(camp), Coed-Gaer, Cogger, i.e. camp in a wood. The Saxon thane
might have occupied the Caer with the house and out-houses, and
the rustics would call it Coed-Gaer's Hall or Coggeshall. This
derivation seems almost too far-fetched.
The learned Essex historian Morant, was of opinion that the
true and original name was Cocks-hall, and his view is supported
by the fact that the seal of the Abbey is charged with three cocks,
but he does not give any reason for the appropriation of this
name to our town.
The following suggestions are also offered, first, that it is just
possible that the earliest Christian Church here, was, as the pre-
sent is, dedicated to Saint Peter, and on some part of it figured
prominently a cock (A.S. a Cog), not only as an indication of
the dedication, but also as a mark, warning the people against
the sin of denying their Redeemer, whence the building was
called by the inhabitants the Cog's-hall, and later on the parish
itself was distinguished by that name. Secondly, that Coggeshall
may mean nothing more nor less than North Hall, just as the
Welsh Prydain y Gogledd is equivalent to North Britain, and
this name it may have received from the position it occupied in
regard to Kelvedon or Peering, the Canonium of some antiquaries,
as at both these places Roman and Anglo-Saxon remains have
frequently been found.
It is worthy of note, that the Galatians in Asia Minor, who
spoke the same language as our ancient Gauls, had, as St. Jerome
says, a little shrub which they called Coccus, with which they
made a deep red or scarlet colour, and that very colour is at this
Etymological. 13
day called Coch in the British language. Camden observes, that
in the names of all the ancient Britains there appears some
intimation of a colour which without doubt arose from the custom
of painting, and he fancied that this word Coch or Goch laid
couched in such names as Cogidunus and Argentocoxus, and if
his imagination served him aright, there would seem reason in
tracing the same indication of colour in the word Coggeshall.
It may be remarked that whereas part of this parish is known
as Crowland, on the other hand, part of the parish of Crowland,
in Lincolnshire, is called Gogguslands.
There are several places which bear a similar appellation to
that of our town, such as Uggeshall and Cockfield in Suffolk,
Cogshull in Cheshire, Cogges in Oxfordshire, Cockley-Cley and
Coxford in Norfolk, and Coxall Knoll in Herefordshire.
REAT Coggeshall or some part of it appears to have been
V_T at one time called Sunnydon, and is mentioned by this name
(Sunnedon) in the agreement between the Abbot of Coggeshall
and the Vicar of the same place, in or about the year 1224, and
Holman, speaking of the place early in the eighteenth century,
thus quaintly puts it : " Tis scituated somewhat lowly, some part
of it on the declivity of a hill, but so pleasant that part which
leads to Colchester and Fering is called in old deeds Coggeshall
alias Sunny Bank, as 1 am informed by that oracle of the law,
John Cox, Esq."
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
|F the early ecclesiastical history of this place very little
is known, but it may be mentioned that, in 1851, when
the recent restoration of the present church was com-
menced, pieces of brick were found in the walls, and
among them were some fragments of scored and flanged tiles,
which the Rev. E. L. Cutts pronounced to be undoubtedly of
Roman date. This fact, however, tends to show nothing more
than that there were Roman buildings in this locality, not neces-
sarily ecclesiastical.
There was probably a Saxon church here, for the Great Domes-
day Book tells us that there was a Priest at Coggeshall at the time
of the survey, and we may consequently not unreasonably infer
that there was a building in which he ministered to his flock.
The site of this Saxon building it is believed has never been sug-
gested ; there was without doubt an earlier church in the same
position as our present building, but that the earliest place of wor-
ship stood here appears improbable.
The origin of the town is apparently due to the convergence
of minor roads to a point on the Roman road or Stane Street
leading from Camulodunum (Colchester) to Verulamium (St.
Albans). At this point our Saxon forefathers from divers villes and
hamlets met and transacted their primitive sales and purchases.
This eventually resulted in the establishment of a market, and
around the place of mart, known as Market Hill, the rude houses
of those who decided to settle here gradually grew up and formed
a town. The market was held at regular intervals, and after the
business of the day had been completed we can picture the
homely traders and farmers with their wives, children, and depen-
dents gathered round the missioner, who had been sent out by
Site of the Early Church.
the Bishop of the Diocese to spread the doctrines of Christianity
As the population of the place increased and the inhabitants
became converted, a church, wherein they might assemble for wor-
hip became necessary, and it is probable our Saxon forefathers
erected one of their wooden buildings for the purpose.
We now come to consider the question, where did this church
stand ? It is improbable that it stood on the same site as the
present one ; a spot which, by reason of its distance from the
market place, would have been most inconvenient ; we must there-
fore look for a more suitable locality, and having found it consider
the surrounding circumstances.
Our town, in early Saxon times, was probably nothing more
than a hamlet or cluster of small houses on the Stane street.
These houses in time extending northward formed the way called
Stanham or Stoneham Street, above what we still call Market Hill,
and running almost at right angles with the Roman Road. If
this surmise be correct the site of the church was probably in
Stoneham Street, above the market place just below Church Lane.
For convenience the position is unequalled, and the following facts
support the proposition : There is a well near the corner formed
by the junction of Church Lane with Stoneham Street, in the yard
at the rear of the cottage
opposite the Congrega-
tional Chapel ; it is said
to have been called 'Pe-
ter's Well,'* and when it
was repaired, about 50
years ago, a stone, with
what was believed to be
the head of St. Peter
carved on it, was found
embedded in the stean-
ing. It is evidently the
central boss of an arched
portion of a Church. It CARVED HEAD FROM s. PETER'S WELL.
* Not to be confounded with the better known Peter's Well, near Wayne
Lane, which would seem to be the old church pond reduced in size and en-
closed in a circular brick wall. The enclosing of this pond appears to have
been effected nearly two centuries ago and is referred to by Bufton thus :
".1689 In June the Church Pond was cast, it cost 503."
1 6 Ecclesiastical History.
now belongs to Mr. Edward Catchpool, of Peering Bury. Beneath
the boss was another stone with the cross keys carved on it in
relief. This was removed when the well was repaired, but the
stone with the carved head was allowed to remain till about 20
years ago, when Mr. William Smith, of Stoneham Street, assisted
in removing it.
This is doubtless the well to which Bufton refers as follows :
" 1696, Sept. Peter's Well was very well repaired by the Consta-
bles :" and it is also the well in which Joseph Dor was drowned ;
the fact being recorded in the Parish Register of Burials : " i4th
June, 1765, Joseph Dor, drowned in Peter's Well." He could
hardly have been drowned in the shallow Church Pond.
The custom of giving names to wells is of the most remote
antiquity, and it is not improbable that the well near Stoneham
Street was dedicated to St. Peter shortly after the introduction of
Christianity into this country, and it may be that this was the
baptistery of our Saxon forefathers.*
Then again on the west of this site are the fields known as
' Crouches,' strongly indicating that a cross, possibly the church
cross stood here ; and to the south west of Crouches are the lands
which belong to the Vicarage as glebe, and have been so held for
a certainty since 1223 (see the agreement between the Vicar of
Coggeshall and the Abbot and convent), and probably long before
that date.
And yet again, immediately above Saint Peter's Well (where
the Congregational Chapel now stands) is a property which, in
1710, was known as ' Old Ales,f signifying that here was the old
* Staveley, in -his History of Churches, says that "fonts were first set up in
private houses, and subsequently in more peaceful times, at a little distance
from the church or oratory; afterwards they were placed in the church porch,
and lastly in the church itself near the entrance, on account of baptism being
the sacrament of initiation or admittance into the church, and have ever since
retained the name of font or fountain, from the primitive custom of immersion
in rivers and fountains. Anciently there was but one font in a city and that in
or near the principal church, which peculiarity still obtains in some cities in
Italy. Fonts were anciently adorned with the images of Saints and Holy men,
to the end that such as were baptised might have before their eyes the re-
presentations of those persons eminent for holiness and virtue, whose actions
they were to imitate."
It is not suggested that the stone with the figure on it is more than from
five to seven centuries old. It may have come from the demolished Abbey
Church, and have been placed in the position where found between two and
three centuries ago. See also Arch. Jour., Vol. xxxv. p. 86.
t Ale means a feast in its original sense. See Brand's Pop. Antiq. vol. i. 279.
Site of an Early Church. 17
Play Place, where the inhabitants of the past were wont to assem-
ble on certain feast days and engage in dances, bowls, shooting at
butts and other sports. These play grounds generally adjoined or
were but a short distance from the church.*
It may be mentioned also that, in addition to the easy access
to this spot from the market place, there are two roads on the
north which converge just above it, and if we assume that Church
Lane and the footpath through the Vicarage Fields and Crouches
are ancient ways, then we also have approaches to the very site of
the church both on the east and on the west.
To recapitulate the evidence in support of the suggestion that
the church of our Saxon ancestors stood in Stoneham Street, on
the south of Church Lane, we have : (i) Proximity to the Market
Place. (2) A well, dedicated to St. Peter. (3) Crouches Fields
on the west and the Glebe Lands on the south west. (4) ' Old
Ales ' on the north. (5) The convergence to this point of several
roads or ways.
Attention has been thus fully called to these coincidences in
the hope that when any excavations are being made in the locality
care may be taken to note the occurrence of any foundations of
an early character, and if any Saxon or other coins should be
found let the discoveries be duly recorded, as this is the one great
way to obtain more accurate knowledge of the distant past.
It has been estimated that, during the i2th century, no
fewer than eight thousand ecclesiastical buildings were erected
for public worship ; and, bearing in mind the fact that in those
days our town was one of the most important in this county, we
may safely conjecture that our Norman ancestors, with the assist-
ance of the conquered Saxons, early in this same century on the
site of the present structure erected a place of worship to which
for two centuries the townspeople of Coggeshall resorted. These
enthusiastic builders doubtless had the advantage of the advice
and guidance of the monks who had settled on the southern side
of the river, and were at the same time erecting the monastery-
church which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
Evidences of an earlier church having existed on the same site
as the present building have been found on several occasions ;
thus, when the church was seated with benches, about 1863, there
were unmistakeable signs of a former church having a south aisle ;
*See post, under title, ' Fairs, Customs, and Folk-Lore.'
C
1 8 Ecclesiastical.
and, while the excavations were being made, in 1886, for the heat-
ing apparatus, the writer detected immediately beneath the north
wall, the foundations of which are six feet deep, fragments of
human bones, showing that a burial ground existed where the north
aisle now stands. Some ancient tiling was also found in 1863 ; and
in the early days of the present restoration of the nave, which
commenced about 1851, fragments of masonry of later Norman
or Early English character were found, and in the composition of
the present building may now be seen pieces of brick of early
date.
The church which immediately preceded the present appears
to have been small, for its dimensions may to some extent now be
traced on the tower, which also served the purposes of that earlier
building. Thus, there can be seen the remains of the two diago-
nal buttresses which, until they were cut away, stood within the
present building. There are also on the tower marks of the
former roof, which was high pitched, and sprang from a height cor-
responding with the top of the arches of the present building.
From these facts we gather that the nave of the former church
was about the width of the tower and that there was no clere-
story. There was probably a south aisle but no aisle on the north.
of
'TPHE present church is situate in the north-eastern corner of
JL the town, about 50 feet above the River Blackwater, which
flows in its winding channel through the fertile valley on the south.
The position, though not so convenient as a more central one, has
the advantage 'of a healthy elevation and possesses commanding
views of the surrounding country. To the south, in years gone
by, might be seen the grand old Abbey Church, dedicated to St.
Mary, with the multifarious monastic buildings clustered around
her ; beyond, in the distance a glimpse is caught of the tower of
Peering Church, and in the farther distance, on the gentle slope
towards Tiptree Heath, the massive tower of Inworth Church
stands boldly out to view. The principal approaches are by way
of Church Street and Church Lane, the latter being also known
as Queen Street or Back Lane.
The present building is one of the few churches in this country
whose dedication is to St. Peter-ad-Vincula, or St. Peter-in-Chains
The Church.
Its dedication to Saint Peter is testified not only by tradition but
by the symbols of that apostle the cross keys which figure pro-
minently in many parts of the Church, notably on the shields on
the outer side of the walls between the plinth and the ground line.
The second corbel from the east wall of the
chancel, in the north clerestory, is a figure of
an angel bearing on an escutcheon a chain
between two keys erect. The most satisfactory
evidence, however, of the true dedication of
the church is to be found in the will of William
Goldwyer,* of Coggeshall, dated the 26th
January, and proved loth March, 1514-15.
He directs " My body to be buried in the
quere of Saint Peter-ad- Vincula ther as
the legende is redde [the lectern] by the sepulture of my wif." And
the fact that the Fair, which the Abbot of Coggeshall was licensed
to hold, under Letters Patent, granted in 34th year of King
Henry III., was to last for eight days every year from the vigil
and on the day of St. Peter-ad-Vincula and for six days following,
is certainly confirmatory of the dedication ; for, it will be remem-
bered, that the Latin feria, whence we derive fair, is the ecclesi-
astical term for saints' day. The Feast of Dedication is held on
the ist August, and not on St. Peter's Day, the agth June. In
the year 1500, there was in the chancel the image of St. Peter;
for we read in the will of Thomas Halle,f a resident of this town,
directions that his body should be " Cofered and buried within
the quere of the parish church of Coksale, near to the sepul-
ture of my wife." He then bequeaths " Towarde makeyng of
a tabernacle for the Image of Saint Peter the Apostle in the
quere of the said Church of Coksale X marcs, if it be made
within 3 years after my decease, else to be disposed in deeds of
charity for my soul and my friends' souls." This will is dated
i5th Jany, 1499-1500.
The church, which is almost as perfect as when first erected,
was built in the reigns of Kings Henry IV., V. and VI., in other
words in the first quarter of the i5th century. It is said, by an
eminent authority on the subject [Hadfield EccL, rc. Architec. of
Eng., 1848], to be one of the very best specimens in the county
of the perpendicular period of Christian architecture; and he goes
* Essex Arch. Journal, Vol. I, N.S. 177.
fib.
C 2
20 Ecclesiastical.
on to say that there are very few churches in the kingdom equal
to it It consists of a nave, with north and south aisles, from which
it is divided by five bays or arches ; a chancel, with similar aisles
separated therefrom by three bays. There is a tower at the west
end, and on the south side is a porch, which is the principal en-
trance to the building, a turret on the north and another on the
south side of the building.
The general plan of the church is convenient and architec-
turally good, but it has been suggested that it would have been
improved by extending the internal length so that it might be
exactly equal to twice its internal width, and by dividing it into
nineteen equal parts, devoting fourteen to the nave and five to the
chancel, that is to say, to make the nave seven bays in length and
the chancel two and a half.
The size of the church is surpassed by few* in the county,
probably two only ; viz., Saffron Walden, measuring 200 feet in
length by 82 in breadth, and Thaxted, which is 183 ft. by 87 ft.
The dimensions (taken internally) of our building are as
follows : Total length (excluding tower), 120 ft. 7 in., total width,
62 ft. 9 in. The chancel, to the centre of the western arch, is
51 ft. ii in. long and 28 ft. 3 in. wide. North chancel aisle, 51 ft.
1 1 in. long and 1 7 ft. 3 in. wide. South chancel aisle, 5 1 ft. j i in.
long 1 7 ft. 3 in. wide. The north aisle, 68 ft. 8 in. long 1 7 ft 3 in.
wide. The south aisle, 68 ft. 8 in. long 1 7 ft. 3 in. wide. The
tower, 13 ft. ii in. by 13 ft. 9 in. The nave is about 36 ft. in height
at the sides, rising somewhat higher in the centre. The aisles by
the arches are about 26 feet in height. The tower, from base to
top of parapet, 66 feet, thence to top of turret, 6 feet. The chan-
cel is elevated about 6 inches above the nave, from which it is
separated by a fine arch of the width of 20 ft. 10 in. having a hood-
moulding terminating with a floral decoration. The altar is ap-
proached by 3 steps. Each of the chancel aisles is separated from
the nave aisle, of which it is a continuation, by a plain arch.
The tower, nave, and porch are composed for the most part of
flint rubble, with some fragments of brick. The walls of the
chancel and its aisles together with the north turret are of Kentish
rag. The parapets, which surmount the north and south walls of
the chancel, are of brick of more or less modern date. The para-
pets of the other parts of the church are in keeping with the
walls upon which they are built.
The Porch. 21
The roof of the chancel is of pine and rests on oak rafters
supported by plain oak brackets standing upon stone corbels
carved in relief, most of them probably original but some of
recent date.
The roof of the nave is far richer than that of the chancel
and is entirely of oak. The beams are well moulded and have
floral bosses. The corbels are chiefly modern, of Bath stone,
carved in relief with figures of angels and saints. Most of these
were inserted shortly after the commencement of the latter half of
the present century when the restoration of the roof was effected.
The canopied figures, beautifully carved in oak and resting upon
the corbels, represent the twelve apostles, and were presented to
the church by Mr. John Parkinson Hall, of Yarmouth, who for
many years served the office of churchwarden of this parish.
The roofs of the aisles are ornamented with bosses of various
designs. The stone corbels are carved with heads of saints or
grotesque figures.
Under the East window outside was formerly a carved repre-
sentation of the Crucifixion, of which traces only now remain.
There is a stoup for holy water on the east of the priest's
door, the basin has, however, been cut off flush with the wall.
HP HE Porch is of flint rubble with stone quoins and dressings
* and is supported by a diagonal buttress at its south-eastern
and south-western corners. It is entered by a doorway of stone
with a pointed arch, over which is a dripstone terminating with
two heads crowned with a wreath. The doors are of oak. The
north doorway of the porch is a depressed arch of stone within a
rectangular frame, and over this there is a label, the spandrels
being filled with a shield within a quatrefoil.
The double door is of massive oak, beautifully carved by Mr.
Barley man about 35 years ago, in a design of perpendicular cha-
racter. [Mr. Barleyman afterwards went to New Zealand and
became a barrister-at-law.] There is an east and a west window
each of two lights. The floor is paved with inverted monumental
slabs, and the ceiling is groined, and in the centre is a boss, a
pelican in piety, but it is said that the original boss was the
Virgin and Child.
The room over the porch, which is known as the Record
22 Ecclesiastical.
Room, has probably at different times been used for various pur-
poses, and, from the fact that Thomas Howell, sexton, was buried
in the porch in 1680 (April 15), it is just possible that in his
day the room above was the private apartment of the sexton.
This room is entered by a door in the north-east corner, access
to which is gained by a narrow stone staircase approached from
the interior of the Church. In the north-eastern corner is a
modern fire-place ; on the south is a window of two lights, and
on the east and west a window of one light. The roof is sup-
ported by massive beams of oak. There is little of interest in
this room save the old oak parish chest with three locks, but this
is of no great size nor of handsomely designed character.
IN comparison with thp body of Church the tower is low. It
is of flint rubble with fragments of brick, and is supported
by four diagonal buttresses, the eastern two being now built into
the walls of the Church. The bells are rung from the ground
floor, above which is a disused chamber, reached by a staircase in
the turret at the south-eastern corner, and continued upwards to
the belfry and thence to the leaden roof.
There are eight bells, which bear the following inscriptions :
The 8th (Tenor) "Cast by John Warner & Sons, London, 1877.
This bell, cast in the year 1692, was re-cast June, 1877. C. P.
Greene, Vicar, J. S. Surridge and A. T. Warwicker, Churchward-
ens." The former inscription was "James Bartlet made me, 1692,
Thomas Keble, Robert Townsend, Churchwardens."
The 7th "Thos. Gardiner, fecit 1733, Isaac Potter, John
Tayler, C.W's."
The 6th "Tho. Gardiner, fecit 1757, William Moss, Church-
warden."
The 5th "Thomas Gardiner, Sudbury, fecit 1733."
The 4th "Miles Graye made me, 1681."
The 3rd "John Bryant, Hertford, fecit 1806, W. Swinborn,
T. Alleker, C.W's."
The 2nd "Cast by John Warner & Sons, London, 1876,
W. J. Dampier, Vicar ; H. T. W. Eyre, Curate ; J. S. Surridge,
A. T. Warwicker, Churchwardens, 1876."
The Treble " Cast by John Warner & Sons, London, 1876.
The Tower. 23
Through the exertions of the Rev. H. T. W. Eyre, Curate, this
peal was augmented to eight bells, Easter, 1876."
Button has the following notes anent the bells : " November
8th, 1 68 1, three bells were run in Mr. Ennow's barn, and the
other three, December 23rd, 1681."
"In September, 1682, the 6th bell and 3rd bell were new run
at Colchester."
"In April, 1683, the 5th bell was carried to Colchester and
there was made thereof a little bell less than the least before."
"In May, 1692, the great bell was earned to London to be
new shot, and was brought home again in July."
"In June, 1693, the 4th bell was carried to Sudbury to be
new shot, and the rest were chipped to make them tuneable."
"In Jan. 1693-4, the 4th bell was split and carried to Sudbury
to be new shot and brought home about May 7, 1694. Then it
was made too little, and was carried to Sudbury to be new shot
and made bigger, and was brought home about June 18, 1694,
and were first rung after that June 22, 1694."
The bells are in the key of F ; the tenor weighs 20 cwts., the
treble 5f cwts.
The following items, concerning the bells, are said to have
been in the churchwarden's accounts (Dale's Annals of Cogges-
hall\ but these accounts have never been seen by the present
churchwardens, nor have they any knowledge as to what has
become of them. The only accounts and books kept by these
officials which are now extant are those of more modern date :
" 1807 Sept. loth. To Briant, for recasting bell, ^"17 IDS.
" 1808 April 17. To Thomas Hughes' bill for bells,
.15 175. iid.
" 1813 July 14. Paid the ringers for Lord Wellington, \.
July 22. Ditto, Anniversary. Aug. 3 Battle of Vittoria. Aug.
12 Prince Regent's birthday. Sept. 22 King's Coronation.
Nov. 4 Battle of Leipsic.
" 1814 April 7th. Allies entering Paris. April 9 Buonaparte
dethroned."
'TpHE east window of the chancel is a splendid specimen
JL of perpendicular work ; and, with regard to it, Hadfield
says, "A finer example of the style perhaps is not to be found in
24 Ecclesiastical.
England, there is decidedly nothing to compare to it in the
county." The window is of seven lights, and measures from the
sill to the spring of the arch, 12 ft. 6 in., thence to the apex n ft.
10 in., making a total height of 24 ft. 4 in.; its width, from jamb
to jamb is 14 ft. 8 in., and each light is slightly over i ft. 8 in.
This window was re-glazed in 1848, the glass of it having been
painted by the vicar, the Rev. W. J. Dampier. In July, 1866, it
was replaced by the beautiful stained glass of Messrs. Clayton &
Bell, inserted (according to a note in one of the parish books) by
Osgood Hanbury, Esq., and Osgood Hanbury, Jun., Esq., in me-
mory of Helen and William Hanbury, and it bears the following
inscription : " In memory of Helen Caroline Hanbury, wife of
Osgood Hanbury, Jun., died 5th April, 1865, aged 31, after giving
birth to her son, Osgood, who died, i4th May, 1865 ; also of S.
William D. Hanbury, H.M.S. 'Nerbudda,' lost off Simons Bay,
Africa, about nth June, 1855."
The pictures are representative of the principal incidents in
the life of Christ, the tracery lights being filled with figures of the
saints.
In this window, Holman says, there was in his day, " an es-
cutcheon Argent, 3 lions rampant, 2, i, gules, within a border
engrailed azure."
The east window of the north chancel aisle represents ' The
Agony,' 'The Crucifixion,' 'The Resurrection,' and 'The Ascen-
sion,' and bears the following : " To the honor and glory of God,
this window is erected in affectionate remembrance of Richard
Townsend, who died, August 4, 1852, aged 80 years, and of Mary
Johnson Townsend, his second wife, who died, 4th December,
1858, aged 69 years, by their children, G. Gretton Townsend and
Mary Ann Gretton Townsend."
The east window of the south chancel aisle was presented by
Thomas Sadler, Esq. ; subject, " The History of David ; inscrip-
tion, " Deo dedit et ecclesiae, Thomas Sadler, Anno Domini,
1863."
The east windows of the chancel aisles, the three windows in
the south chancel wall, and the easternmost window of the north
chancel wall, have four lights and are of a pattern different to the
other principal windows of the Church which are of three lights.
The clerestory windows are of three lights, those in the chancel
being of later date than those in the nave.
The Windows. 25
Proceeding from the east end of the Church, and taking the
north wall, the first window is at present plain, but will soon be
replaced with stained glass by the Young Women's Help Society, a
fund for which is being raised under the energetic secretaryship
of Miss Margaret Gardner. The subject will probably be the life
of St. Katherine, as this aisle is dedicated to that saint.
The next window is "To the memory of George Decks Skingley,
who died June i6th, 1888, erected by his widow, Mary Isabella
Ellison Skingley," and contains in the central light, ' The Good
Shepherd,' and in the side lights are quarries with the sacred
monogram and other designs. There are also appropriate texts
interspersed. This is the work of Messrs. Heaton, Butler & Co.
The third, a rich stained glass window, was inserted "In
memory of Susan Bowles, the wife of Major G. D. Skingley, who
died i gth October, 1878." [This is the date of her burial, she
died 1 4th October, 1878.] The subject is ' The Sermon on the
Mount.' In the centre is the figure of Our Blessed Lord in a
sitting posture, uttering to the listening multitude the eight Beati-
tudes ; below are the words of the sixth Beatitude : " Blessed are
the pure in heart for they shall see GOD." Among the multitude
are men and women, young and old, listening to the words of the
Saviour, whilst in the tracery lights are angels looking downwards
and adoring Him ; at His feet among the wild flowers is a lily
of thevalley, the emblem of purity. The window was designed
and executed by Messrs. Meyer, of Munich.
Leaving the chancel, the first window in the nave on the north
side is the gift of Osgood Hanbury, Esq., as a memorial to his
deceased father and mother. This work, of Messrs. Clayton &
Bell, represents 'The Presentation of our Saviour in the Temple;'
a label from the mouth of S. Simeon has on it, " Mine eyes have
seen Thy Salvation ;" and below is the inscription : " In memory
of Osgood Hanbury, died 4th November, 1873, aged 79, and of
Eleanor Willet, his wife, died 26th March, 1870, aged 75."
The next window depicts ' The Adoration of the wise men,'
and was presented " To the Glory of GOD and in memory of
William Appleford, who died 1874, and of Bithia, his wife, who
died 1 88 1 " by their children. This is also the work of Messrs.
Clayton &: Bell, and is similar in design to the last described
window, but of a more conventional character. In the centre
light is the Virgin Mother with the Divine Infant in her arms, the
26 Ecclesiastical.
side lights containing representations of the kings offering their
gifts, and beneath : " In Whom we have redemption through
His blood."
The principal window of the tower was given by "Ann
Skingley, in memory of her daughter, Ellen Brown, who fell asleep
in Jesus, October iv., MDCCCLII." Subject, the three Marys ; one
of whom bears a plate, another a lily, and the third a box of
ointment.
The window at the nave end of the south chancel aisle is of
four lights with several openings in the upper, or tracery, portion.
The eight pictures illustrate as many incidents in the life of St.
Peter, they are placed as follows ; viz. in the upper row : ' The
Call of St. Peter' 'The Gift of the Keys ''St. Peter and Malchus'
'St. Peter's repentance.' Underneath these, 'St. Peter and St.
John at the beautiful gate ' ' St. Peter cast into prison ' ' St.
Peter released from prison ' ' The martyrdom of St Peter.' The
spaces between are filled with canopy work. In the tracery
openings four angels fill the four largest pieces and they hold a
scroll upon which is inscribed the following lines : " In this
window is shown forth the life and martyrdom of St. Peter, a
servant and an apostle of JESUS CHRIST." Between the upper
and lower tiers is this text : Peter was kept in prison but prayer
was made without ceasing of the Church unto GOD for him." In
the other four tracery lights are emblems of St. Peter. At the
base of the window is the following : " To the glory of GOD
and in memory of Joseph Smith Surridge, 21 years churchwarden
of this parish, who fell asleep, 23 July, 1888."
The window was designed and executed by Messrs. Lavers
and Westlake, and cost about 200. It is certainly a work of
great merit, and a most suitable memorial to one who, for so many
years devoted such unceasing labour to the work of restoring and
beautifying the Church.
The only window in the south wall of the nave, which is of
stained glass, is the easternmost. This, the work of O'Connor,
portrays 'The Transfiguration of Our Blessed Lord," with the
superscription, " This is My beloved Son, hear Him ;" and an in-
scription records that the window was erected " To the Memory
of Arthur Gardner, departed Jan. 7, 1867, aged 21."
Some old glass was found during the restoration, about 1851,
under one of the benches, but it is not known what became of it.
Mural Decoration. 27
The glass of the two westernmost windows of the north clerestory
was painted by Mr. Charles Bonton. In the centre light of the
westernmost window are the arms of the Diocese of Rochester.
Arg., on a saltier gu., an escallop shell or., with the bishop's mitre
above. The middle light of the other window contains the arms
of the DuCane family, the patrons of the living. Arg., a lion ramp
sa., ducally crowned or., on a canton az., a chevron of the 3rd
between 3 acorns slipped and erect : Crest a demi lion ramp sa.,
ducally crowned or., supporting with the paws an anchor erect of
the same.
QHuraf ecoraftone.
THE first mention, regarding the colouring of the walls, is in
Bufton : " In the months of July and August, 1684, Coxall
Church was whited and painted." And here, perhaps, the follow-
ing from the same diarist may not be inappropriately quoted :
" In 1692-3, the new King's Arms and ye 10 commandments
were set up in ye church."
From a paper read before the Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects, by the Rev. Edward L. Cutts, sometime Curate of this town,
we learn that the walls of our church were not profusely decorated
with paint. There was a line of red in the moulding round the
edge of the window splays. The bell of the capitals of the pillars
was coloured red. The arches across the chancel and its aisles
had a few stripes of plain colour, chocolate, bright red and yellow.
The east walls of the chancel and aisles were formerly painted
over with a tapestry pattern of a character common about the reign
of Henry VII., which pattern returned a short distance along the
adjoining walls to form an enrichment above the altars. The sim-
plicity of this decoration Mr. Cutts attributed to the desire of the
decorators to give emphasis to the chief architectural features of
the building, and to act as a foil to bring out the brilliant colouring
of the windows, all of which were probably at one time filled
with stained glass.
There were formerly eight consecration or dedication crosses
painted on the walls, either in fresco or distemper, but these were
destroyed or covered over in the early period of the present res-
toration. Two were under the windows of the north wall of the
north chancel aisle, and one higher up on the right hand of the
east window of that aisle, one under the east window of the south
28 Ecclesiastical.
chancel aisle and four others under the windows in the south wall.
They were all of the same character, namely a cross patee, dark
red within a circular rim of dirty grey or perhaps faded green.
Before each of these, on the anniversary of the dedication and at
certain other times there was probably burned a taper, candle or
lamp.
In 1882, the first portion of the polychromatic decoration
which now adorns the chancel was commenced, and consisted of
a dado of chocolate on the east wall and the return walls of the
sacrarium. The work was continued, at the latter end of 1886, as
far as the apex of the easternmost arch. Early in 1889, the
painting was finished through the munificence of an anonymous
donor. The whole design was by Messrs. Clayton & Bell, by
whom also the work was executed. On the north of the great
window Our Saviour's Resurrection is beautifully depicted in
various colours. At his feet are the holy women and among them
an angel bearing the legend : " He is not here, but is risen."
Beneath this picture are the words : " I am the Resurrection and
the Life." On the south side of the window is a very fine repre-
sentation of the Ascension, with the inscription : " I ascend unto
my Father." It is impossible to give any detailed description of
this decoration, but it may be shortly stated that the coloring is
chiefly chocolate, with gold, green, red, blue, and other tinctures,
harmoniously interspersed. Immediately below the string course,
is the text : " Worthy is the Lamb * * * * for ever
and ever," and beneath this are cameos containing an angel hold-
ing a scroll, thereon "Alleluia."
QJerefcoe.
THE first stone of the reredos, which preceded the present one,
was laid on the 26th August, 1843, immediately after the
2nd lesson at morning prayer, by William Dampier and Maria
Elizabeth Dampier, two of the children of the vicar. The reredos
of 1843 was f stone in five bays, in the centre panel, I.H.S., the
other panels being filled with the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten
Commandments. At the date of its erection it was an ornament
to the dilapidated church, but, with the vast improvements effected
under the zeal and guidance of Mr. Dampier, it was considered
that its place should be supplied with one of nobler character and
richer design.
The Reredos. 2 9
On the 2oth November, 1878, at Ramsgate, the Rev. William
James Dampier entered into his " long home." He had often ex-
pressed a wish to see a new reredos in our church ; and, although
the wish was not consummated in his lifetime, his desire was not
forgotten, and, under the honorary secretaryship of the Rev. E.
Hall, rector of Myland, about ^300 was collected, with the result
that on the i8th October, 1880, the new reredos was unveiled.
The framework of the reredos, including the rich floriated cornice
and canopies, is of alabaster; the figures being in Caen stone,
carved in high relief. There are three principal panels, the central
one of which contains a representation of the Crucifixion of our
Lord, with Mary His mother, and Mary the wife of Cleopas, on
either side, and Mary Magdalene at His feet. In the left panel,
the sacrifice of Isaac is portrayed, while the right contains the
Feast of the Passover. Each of the four minor panels contains
the figure of an Archangel beneath a trefoliated canopy. The
whole work is beautifully designed and remarkably well executed.
A brass plate with these words inscribed was afterwards affixed :
"To the Glory of GOD, and in memory of William James
Dampier, vicar of this parish, 1841-1876, by his brother priests,
friends and parishioners."
ge font
/ TT V HE font is of early English date, and was originally in Pattis-
JL wick Church, from which it was removed, and for some
time used as a horse trough, and afterwards as a flower stand in
the garden of Mr. William Mayhew, who gave it to Mr. Dampier
in 1841, by whom it was set upon new pillars and completely re-
stored, and presented to the church in 1852. It was temporarily
fixed in the south chancel aisle, but afterwards removed to the
position it now occupies in the nave. In 1871, the shafts which
support the basin, were reduced a few inches in height, and the
brick steps were replaced by a stone base.
IS an arched niche of stone in the south wall, under the eastern-
most window. The drain consists of four holes ; the pro-
jecting part of the basin has been cut off flush with the wall. In
each spandrel there is a thistle.
3 Ecclesiastical.
was, until comparatively recent times, a handsome
JL screen in the chancel arch, and in the arches between the
chancel and the north and south chancel aisles. These were with-
in the remembrance of Mrs. White, of West Street, whom Mr.
Dampier, in 1863, interviewed with reference to the internal state
of the church when she first knew it in her youth. Mr. Dampier
states in his note, that this lady was then nearly 100 years old.
Mrs. White did not remember any screen filling the western arches
of the chancel aisles, but the carved oakwork found in 1863,
serving as joists of the pew flooring, seemed to Mr. Dampier to
be the screen work of those western arches.
The rood loft was reached by the turret, on the north side of
the church, the opening for the doorway on a level with the loft
being still plainly visible from the inside of the turret. Behind
the door leading from the church into the turret, may be seen a
small recess, the use of which is not quite apparent, but it may
have served as a stoup for holy water.
THE pulpit, which immediately preceded the one now in use
and which can be recalled by most of us, was painfully
plain and totally unworthy of a place in the fine old church. It
is almost unnecessary to say that it was not the pulpit of pre-Re-
formation days, but was of i8th century date, as we find from the
entry of the burial of its builder, which appears in the parish
register thus : " 1775, April 7th, John Morton, Carptr. & Joyner,
he made the pulpitt."
In August, 1871, the old pulpit was replaced by the present
structure, which is of oak, carved by Mr. W. B. Policy, of this
town. The central panel contains the figure of Saint Peter, with
the cross keys in his right hand, and a volume in his left ; and the
panels on the right and left are respectively occupied by the effi-
gies of St. John with a cup, and St. James with a sword. The
projecting cornice is handsomely carved with a flowing conven-
tional thorn. The woodwork rests on a stone base, whereon is
carved a wreath of geranium.
Organ.
HP HE Organ, which was built in 1819, stood in the gallery at the
* west end of the Church. It was replaced, in 1839, by one
The Organ. 3 1
given by Henry Skingley, Charles J. Skingley, Esqrs., and Major
George Decks Skingley, in compliance with the wish of their
deceased father, Henry Skingley, Esq. It remained in the gallery
till about 1852, when, on the demolition of its resting place, it was
removed and was afterwards placed in the position in the south
chancel aisle, in the rear of the middle bay, where the present
instrument stands. The fine instrument now in use, was built by
Messrs. Holditch. The subscription list was opened by Mr. Joseph
Beaumont, in 1865, but nothing further was done until 1870; in
this and the following years great activity was displayed, with the
result that, on the i8th December, 1873, the organ was opened,
Mr. C. Warwick Jordan, Mus. Bac., Oxon, presiding at the instru-
ment.
The Organ consists of three complete manuals, with a compass
of CC to F, 54 notes, and an independent pedal organ, from
CCC, 1 6 ft. to E, 29 notes.
The Great organ contains 10 stops ... 648 pipes.
The Swell organ 8 ,, ... 540
The Choir organ ,, 6 ... 312
The Pedal organ 3 .... 87
Couplers ... ... 6
Total ... 33 1,587
The case of the organ is of pine, ornamented with a conven-
tional pattern in chocolate. The pipes are partly diapered.
WE have no record of the earliest sitting accommodation
of the Church, but Bufton tells us something of the
pews of two hundred years back, thus: "In 1678, betwixt
Michaelmas and Christmas, 2 new pews were set up in our
Church one for Counsellor Cox, ye other for Mr. Thomas
Stafford. In July, 1679, there was a new pew, very fine and
large, set up in our Church by John Thorne and George Abbot,
and was pulled down againe in Aprill, 1680. In November, 1684,
a new pew was set up in the chancel, near ye door, by Samuell
Sparhawk and Samuel Smith. In November, 1685, a new pew
was set up againe in our Church, where there was one set up
before in 1679, an d pulled down in 1680."
The nave of the Church was re-seated in 1863, the old pews,
3 2 Ecclesiastical.
which were then removed, had existed for at least a century, and
were about 3 ft. 8 in. in height and constructed of deal.
The nave and its aisles are now seated with comfortable
benches of oak, the ends by the centre passage being carved with
heraldic shields, alternating with some floral or other suitable de-
sign. The shields represent, among others, the arms of the Sees
of Canterbury, and Rochester, and of the families of DuCane,
Hanbury, Dampier, Martin-Leake, Townsend, Sadler, Drummond,
Honywood, but they in no manner indicate that the seats to
which they are attached are appropriated to, or were ever even
occupied by the families bearing those arms.
The following notes, in the handwriting of the Rev. W. J.
Dampier, may be quoted here : " 1842 two old chairs presented
and placed within the altar rails, having high carved backs. 1843,
Passion week two benches substituted for the Vicarage pew, at
private cost, and with the Bishop's sanction. 1847 the free pews
extending from the chancel door, westward, to the arch, which
were high and of various sizes, &c., were taken down and replaced
by three rows of open sittings of the ancient pattern, low, uniform,
and looking north ; this was done with the sanction of the Incum-
bent, the Churchwardens, and the Archdeacon."
The chancel is seated with handsome benches of carved oak,
adorned with figures of angels. The carving of all the benches
was done by Mr. W. B. Policy.
RE three in number, cut in the south wall of the sacrarium,
and are all of the same elevation.
A
tin
Ornantente and Ifonaffer jfwntifure.
'""PHERE are two chalices or Communion cups of silver, 6|
in. in height, and bowl, 3 in. in diameter, one inscribed,
"Sacred to GOD and the Church of S. Peter, Coggeshall, 1783,
Richard White, William Walford, Chwns." Three patens of silver,
one 9 in. in diameter, inscribed, " Sacred to GOD and the Church
of S. Peter, Coggeshall, 1783;" another, 8|in. in diameter, in-
scribed, "In Mem., John Doane Forster, MDCCCLVII, " and the
third, 6 in. in diameter, inscribed, " S. Peter, Coggeshall, sacred
to the memory of Arthur Gardner, 7th June, 1867." One flagon
or cruet of silver, 13 in. in height, inscribed, "Given to S. Peter's
Restoration of the Church. 33
Church, Coggeshall, by Georgiana Ann Barnard, in memory of
her father, Abraham Lawkin Barnard, who died at White Notley,
July 1 7th, 1857." An alms bason of silver, measuring pin. in
circumference, and inscribed, " Sacred to GOD and the Church of
S. Peter, Coggeshall, 1783."
There are six altar frontals and five super frontals, fair linen
cloths, two brass and two oak candlesticks, moveable brass desk,
a credence table, two glass cruets for wine and water, a silver
spoon and a shell for baptisms.
The survey or inventory of church plate, jewels, vestments and
other ornaments, which was ordered to be made early in the reign
of Edward VI., is, so far as it concerned Coggeshall, believed to
be lost. After the Reformation, many of the valuable ornaments
of our Church were sold, and the proceeds expended in the gen-
eral restoration of the building. In the sixth year of Edward VI.
a further survey was taken, and, though in many cases it furnishes
a mine of information upon the subject of church furniture and
goods, yet, in the case of Coggeshall, we only learn that the cer-
tificate, as it was called, was made on 3rd November, 1547, by
Anthony Waynflet and Thomas Baker, Churchwardens; who state
that they had sold, by the assent of the town, so much plate
as cometh to the sum of ^10, whereof they had received 6,
and had bestowed the same, some in the reparation of the Church
and the highways next adjoining, and the other 4 remained in
the hands of Master Thomas Playter, Esquire.
SOME idea of the magnificence of our Church in pre-reform-
ation days, is to be gathered from the Paycocke wills, ex-
tracts from which appear on another page. It will be seen that
in the early part of the sixteenth century, there were, besides the
High Altar, an Altar of Saint Katherine, a Tabernacle of the
Trinity at the High Altar, and another of Saint Margaret in Saint
Katherine's aisle. Mr. H. W. King, the learned secretary of the
Essex Archaeological Society, who has made considerable extracts
from the Paycocke's Wills,* thus writes, " I, for one, do not doubt
that Coggeshall Church owes its architectural grandeur as largely
to the piety and zeal of the clothworkers of the town, as perhaps, to
* Paper read before the Essex Arch. Soc. at Coggeshall, on igth October, 1888.
D
34 Ecclesiastical.
the benevolence of the Cistercian fathers. We can only imagine,
we cannot realise, the ancient splendour of its internal decoration ;
the value of the sacred vessels and other ornaments of metal
work ; the richness of the woven and embroidered fabrics used in
the services, for the English embroidery excelled all other ; but we
do get just a gleam of light in the dedication, by Thomas Pay-
cocke, of the two tabernacles with sculptures of the Holy Trinity
and Saint Margaret, for which he bestowed, for the carving and
gilding of them, one hundred marks ; all else we must suppose to
be conformable in gilding and color." Mr. King has explained *
that the Tabernacle of the Trinity was a niche, with probably a
lofty canopy or spire, containing a sculptured representation of
the Holy Trinity; the Almighty Father or Ancient of Days, in
the form of an aged person, seated and holding a crucifix upon
which the emblem of the Holy Spirit is alighting ; these taber-
nacles were often so lofty that the spire reached nearly to the roof.
We have read elsewhere of the gift by Thomas Halle of ten
marks towards the making of a tabernacle for the Image of Saint
Peter, the apostle, in the choir of the Coggeshall Church.
But though so magnificent in the past, our Church, by reason
of the destruction wrought during the reign of Edward VI. and
in the days of the Commonwealth, and through the indifference
of the clergy and laity of later years, presented such an appear-
ance that Holman, in the beginning of the iyth century, was
doubtless justified in saying, " The inside has nothing of that
beauty and ornament which its outside promises to the transient
spectator, but is ill-kept and runs to decay." This running to
decay was not arrested until the late Rev. William James Dampier
was presented to the Vicarage in 1841. No sooner was he in-
ducted than he determined to " Gather of all Israel, money to
repair the House of your GoD,"f and, by Divine Grace, after thirty-
five years of patience, perseverance, and unceasing labour, he
might in his last hours have added, "And the work was per-
fected, and they set the House of GOD in His state and strength-
ened it." $ The restoration of the Church of S. Peter-ad- Vincula,
Coggeshall, is a standing memorial of the never-to-be-forgotten
WILLIAM JAMES DAMPIER.
* Essex Arch. Journal, Vol. Ill, N.S. p. 91.
t 2 Chron. xxiv. 5. + Ib. 13.
Restoration of the Church. 35
Among the notes he made in one of the Church books, we
trace some of his early works, and learn that, during Advent of
1842, the altar rails were fresh painted [carved oak rails with
angels, now take the place of the old rails], and in December fol-
lowing, two of the tower windows were brought out to view and
repaired, at the cost of two individuals. On 26th August, 1843,
the first stone of the reredos [not the present one] was laid, and
in the following year, on 4th October, two open benches of oak
with a front of open work, were placed in the chancel as his gift.
Then, in 1845, we find our great benefactor making memoranda
of " Things which I have projected to do if GOD bless me in
them (inter alia) : Have the Church re-seated (open if possible)
for the better accommodation of the parishioners, especially the
poor. Have the south porch restored to its former state. Re-
store the pinnacles and 4 crosses on the tower, the cross at the
east end, the west window of the tower, the entrance at the west
and open the tower arch."
In 1847, the chancel had been repaired by the lay-rectors, Mr.
Western and Mr. Skingley, the improvements comprising a new
roof and the opening of three north clerestory windows, and the
raising of the pavement 9 in., to the level of the floors of the
aisles.
On 9th January, 1848, Mr. Dampier notes that "a high wind
(the east window being still unglazed) blew down the woodwork
in the chancel, put to protect the reredos, breaking the lectern to
pieces and utterly destroying the old communion table, which was
very unworthy of its purpose and made of common deal, the
fragments of which were reverently burnt in the Church the next
day by the curates with the churchwarden's sanction."
The restoration of the nave commenced about 1851, and, from
the appeal issued by the committee and its most energetic hono-
rary secretary, the Rev. Edward L. Cutts, then curate of Cogges-
hall, we gather that the roof of the nave was defective in princi-
ple and its timbers insufficient permanently to support the weight
discharged upon them ; and it was considered that any further
settlements would cause the tie-beams to be drawn from the walls
and fall inevitably into the church, hence a new roof was found to
be indispensable. The roofs of the aisles were also unsafe, some
of the buttresses and the clerestory walls of the nave required re-
building, and new mullions, tracery, jambs, and arches were neces-
D 2
36 Ecclesiastical.
sary for the repair of the windows, and, such was the general
state of the building, that for substantial repairs alone, it was esti-
mated a sum of ^4,000 was required.
In 1863, the work of restoration had so far progressed, that
the committee could report that the fabric of the nave and aisles
had, under the directions of Mr. Ewan Christian, the architect,
been substantially restored, but there remained to be done the
benching of the nave and nave aisles, the lighting and warming of
the Church, to say nothing of a new organ, and the general deco-
ration of the building.
In 1875, it was estimated that no less than ^7,460 had been
expended upon the church, independently of the outlay upon the
chancel, which had been substantially repaired at the cost of the
lay-rectors. Since 1875, man y additions and improvements have
been made, and upwards of ^1,040 has been spent by the
Restoration Committee, to which must be added the private gifts
of many benevolent individuals, most of which gifts have already
been mentioned under their proper headings.
'TPHE earliest book is of parchment, in part a transcript, and
J_ commences as to baptisms, in April, 1584 ; as to marriages,
in October, 1561 ; and as to burials, in December, 1558. Each
page, up to the year 1599, is signed at its foot by "Laur New-
man " who was vicar, and " Richard Constantyne, * and Nicholas
Gray, churchwardens." Among the burials is the following note,
" 1597, May 15, Helen Robson, see the 'former register for her
end and manner of death.'" This volume was rebound in 1885.
The entries on many of the pages are totally obliterated, but
otherwise the book is in fairly good condition. The former re-
gister referred to above, has not been among the parish books for
many years, and nothing is known about it.
Registers were first ordered to be kept by Lord Cromwell,
Vicar-General, in the year 1538, but many parishes did not comply
with the order until some years later. A further order was issued
in 1558, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but the first of the now
existing registers, is the result of a mandate issued in 1597, when
the clergy of Canterbury, in convocation, with the approval of
* A house on Market Hill is called ' Constantines. '
The Registers. 37
Queen Elizabeth, commanded that every minister, at his institu-
tion, should declare that he would keep the register book accord-
ing to the queen's injunctions. The yoth canon of 1603, directed
that every parish should provide itself with a parchment book,
and that the entries from the old paper books should be tran-
scribed therein, each page being authenticated by the signature of
the minister and churchwardens, so far as the ancient books there-
of could be procured, but especially since the beginning of the
reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and that the parchment book should
be kept in a " sure coffer with three locks ;" and that for further
security against loss a true copy of the names of all persons
christened, married, or buried in the year before should be trans-
mitted every year to the bishop of the diocese within a month
after Easter, to be preserved in the episcopal archives. This
latter injunction was in very many, if not most cases totally
disregarded.
The other volumes are in a fair state of preservation, but, as
continuity has not been observed in keeping the books, space does
not allow the contents of each volume to be set forth here, but it
may be mentioned that particulars as to the dates, condition and
number of the registers should be found in a Blue-book, published
in 1833, and also in a return made to the Archdeacon of Colches-
ter, in 1887. This latter return, however, is not quite accurate.
Beside being a record of births, deaths, and marriages, the
registers frequently contain items of a quaint or noteworthy cha-
racter ; a perusal of the various books enables one to reproduce
the following entries :
"1558 Dec. 17. Robert Whelpsted, Undertaker " (Buried).
" 1558 Dec. 28. Jo. Lawrence, Sexton, of Coggeshall " (Buried).
The above are the first two entries in the burial register the
undertaker and the sexton !
" 1578 Aug. 10. Lore, the wife of Jo. Smith (buried).
" This Lore Smith was ye instrument the Lord used to bring
the infecon of the plague into this towne. She was the first
y l> dyed of that infectious sicknes, and the most of theise
that followed dyed of the same, until the cold winter time
came, when the Lord in mrcie stayed the same. The woman
was commonlie noted to be a notable harlot."
" 1580 Dec. 28. Thorn. Paycocke, who gave iicli [^200] to buy
lands for the use of the poor of Cogshall for ever " (buried).
3 8 Ecclesiastical.
" 1590 March 24. Nic. Coma, slaine in the stocke of the fulling
mill" (buried).
"1591 May 13. >jc Wm. Trewe [burd.] This Wm. Trewe and
all hereafter noted with this mark :Jc with mennie others dyed
of an extraordinarie which disease the
more the phisitions labore to cure the more sharpe and vehe-
ment it grewe."
There are 74 persons marked sf: buried between 25th Nov.
1597 and ist May, 1598.
" 1592 Aug. ist. Thomas Warner found murthered with a knife
in his throate in standing wheat in Great Windmill Fields,
for which murther Geor. Haven (?) of Coxall was executed."
" 1600 June 3. Peter Marcant was slain in campinge on Sun-
day " [buried].
C Between these dates the names of 7 persons
" 1603 Dec. ist. ) . . ,
f ,, , , < buried are followed by the remark
"1604 March 26- ) , ,
I "exfestc.
" 1606 Feb. 22. Robert Ennow, church clarke " [buried].
" 1608 May 30. Father Brewer " [buried].
" 1608 July 1 6. Mother Bruer " [buried].
" 1612 Oct. 22. Henry Vane and William Wentworth, slaine
both by the fall of a barne in a wynde."
" 1613 Aug. 24. Robert Clench [buried] eod [i.e. same day] ux
George Tailor dying exc. [excommunicate] was violently
brought and cast into the grave made for Clench."
At the end of Vol. I. " A true record of al such apprentices
which have been bound by Indenture according to law. Henry
Oliver bound with Francis Page by Indenture for the terme of
seven years, beginning at St. Michael, the Archangel, 1623, and
to expire 1630." " Daniel Byeby, bound with the sayd Francis
Page 7 years, beginning the 22nd day of May, 1626, and then
2 year of King (Kater?)" "Abigail Lennard taken as a Cove-
nant Servant by James . . . . of St. James' Parish, in St.
Edmund's Bury, for a year this 7th day of August, the sayd
Lennard giving three pence to the said Abigail for a covenant
to tye her, the said Abigail, to him the said Lennard and his wife,
for a yeare, in ye presence of Nehemiah Dodd and Nicholas
Northey. Dated the aforesaid 7th day of August, 1634, and the
loth yeare of King Charles."
The Registers. 39
In Vol. II. are the following entries :
" Persons who received certificates to be touch'd by his Majestye
for the Evill.
" 1683 March 21. Mary, daughter of John and Hesther Tayler.
24. Mary, daughter of Daniel and Katharine
Emmin.
25. Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. David Batty, ye
second time."
" 1707 April 15. Margaret Harrington, daughter of Jane Clifte."
Among the marriages in this volume :
" 1753 June 24. Thomas Coker, widower, and Susanna Nicholls,
spinster. These were the first couple married at the Com-
munion Rail."
" Marriages I doe approve and allow of ye choice made by ye
major part of ye inhabitants of Coggeshalls Create and Little
of John Brightwen being elected by them to be their parish
Register, according to a late Act of Pliament in that case
made and provided, and accordingly I have given him his
oath, this 3oth of September, 1653.
(Signed) D. WAKERINGE."
Marriages, between 1653 and 1656, were contracted in the
presence of either Jeremy Aylett, Esq., J. P., William Harlacken-
den, of Earls Colne, Esq., J.P., or Dionysius Wakeringe, Esq.,
J.P. In 1657, before Herbert Pelham, Esq., J.P.
QHonumenfaf
" T N the Floor of this Church and Chancell have been several
J. fair Grave stones with portraitures and inscriptions in
Brasse, which are torne off by sacrilegious hands or worn out by
frequent calcation, so that the remembrance of the persons interrd
had utterly perished if it had not been for some remains preserved
by Mr. Weever and Mr. Symonds in their collections." Thus
wrote Holman, and since his day how many more of these memo-
rials have either perished or been destroyed ? Weever, speaking
of some of the tombs, says, " I have not seen such rich monu-
ments for so meane persons."
The following memorials in italics are no longer extant. The
others still remain.
4 Ecclesiastical.
<8>uj>on
e.
A LARGE tomb of black marble, which formerly stood on the
^* 1 south side of the present entrance from the vestry to the
chancel, was some years ago moved further east to its present
position. On the western end of the
tomb are the arms of the Guyon family.
Ar., three bendlets az., on a canton sa.,
a lion passant guard or. Crest a demi
lion ramp guard or., gorged with a
collar per pale az., and sa., but the
tinctures are not depicted on the tomb,
they were, however, on a hatchment in
ARMS OF THE GUYON FAMILY, faz church many years ago. On the
south face are these words :
" Hie jacet corpus Thomae Guyon Gener, qui obiit 240. No-
vembris AO. Dom. 1664. ^Etatis suse 72. He bequeathed
two hundred pounds to be laid out in land, for a weekely
allowance of bread to the poore for ever."
In the south chancel aisle near the door was a grave-stone of
gray marble, at the head the Guyon arms, with this inscription
beneath : "Here lieth the body of Thomas Guyon, eldest son of
George Guyon, Gent., son of Thomas Guyon, Gent., he was
borne the i$th of June, 1652, and departed this life the
13 th of June, 1673."
Epitaphium.
Died he so young, then learn we all by this
To think of death and to prepare for bliss.
He died so we are sure and now injoies
The fruits of labore everlasting joy es."
A stone within the chancel, near the easternmost arch of the
south side, was covered by the new pavement in 1865, it bore the
Guyon arms and the following inscription :
"Here lieth t)ie body of Matthew Guyon, Gent., who died the $rd
day of March, 1678, and in the forty-sixth year of his age."
Holman described the position as on the south side of the
chancel by the partition, and says the gravestone was of black
marble enclosed with iron rails.
There is also another stone in the centre of the chancel, but
now covered by the pavement. It bears the following inscription :
Monumental Inscriptions.
" Here lyeth Sr. Mark Guy on, Knight.
Anno Domini, 1690."
Beneath the altar is a large black marble slab thus inscribed :
" Another Dorcas, or the remains of Dame Dorcas Guyon,
who departed this life October ye 2nd, 1714, aged 58
years, waiting the happy summons of ' Tabitha, arise.'
On her left hand lyeth Dorcas Boys, her daughter, who
dyed November ye and, 1714, aged 20 years."
On the wall of the south chancel aisle is a marble tablet
bearing the following :
" In a vault in the middle aisle of this church are deposited
the remains of Mr. Mark Guyon, late of White Colne,
who died May 3131, 1839, aged 47 years. This tablet
was erected by his beloved wife."
'T V HERE were formerly several memorial slabs of the Paycocke
family in the north chancel aisle, but two only, and one in
part destroyed, now remain. One is to the memory of Thomas
Paycocke, who was buried in the north
chancel aisle, his place of sepulture being
marked by a stone bearing the figure of
a man in a long civil gown, his hands
folded in the posture of devotion ; from
his mouth there was formerly a scroll
bearing the words, " Only fayth justifyeth,"
and round the edge of the stone was the
following legend engraved in brass, which,
except the italicised part may still be read :
" Here lyeth buried Thomas Peaycocke,
the sonne of Robert Peaycocke, who de-
parted this lyfe the xxvith day of Decem-
ber, 1580, and left behinde hym two
daughters, Johan and Anne, ivch Thomas
Peaycocke Dydd gyve CC pounds to buy
land for the continuall relief of the poore
of Coxall for ever." At the feet of the
effigy are the following lines :
THOMAS PAYCOCKE.
" Thou mortall man yt wouldest attayne
The happie haven of heavenly rest,
Ecclesiastical.
Prepare thyself : of graces all
Fayth and repentance are the best."
At each corner of this stone was an escutcheon, long since toin
off, and above the figure was a merchant's mark, which showed
him to be a clothier.
There is no account of this tomb-stone in Weever's Funeral
Monuments ; the next four inscriptions are recorded therein, but
the stones bearing the inscriptions are either covered over or
destroyed :
" Hie jacet Thomas Paycocke quondam Carnifex (i.e. butcher )
de Coggeshal, qui obiit 21 Maii, 1461, et Christiana uxor
ejus quorum animabus."
There was another large grave-stone of gray marble in the
north chancel aisle, which had engraved in brass this inscription :
" Prey for the soul of Robert Pay cock, of Coggeshall, Cloth-
maker, for Elizabeth, and Joan his wyfs, who died 21 Oct.,
ZJ2O, on whos soul . . . "
JOHN PAYCOCK. JOAN PAYCOCK.
In the north chancel aisle is a large grave-stone of grey marble
Monumental Inscriptions. 43
that had inlaid round the ledge a large fillet of brass, thereon the
Creed in Latin curiously insculpt, " Credo in Deum Patrem" &c.,
but this is gone. In the middle the effigies of a man and woman,
their hands folded in an attitude of devotion, still remaining.
The matrix shows that there were labels out of the mouths of the
two effigies. At the head of the stone the effigy of our Saviour ;
at each corner an escutcheon. Underneath, on a plate of brass
inlaid, was this inscription in Gothic letters :
" Orate pro anima Johannis Pay cock et Johanne uxoris ejus
qui quidem Johannes, obiit 2 Aprilis, 1533.
And beneath that a kneeling group on one side and a figure
kneeling on the other, and labels over them.
Another stone had on it :
"Here lyeth Thomas Pay cock, Cloth-worker, Margaret and
Ann hys wyfs : which Tho. died the 4 of September, 1518."
A BRASS plate of diamond shape was many years ago found in
** the Aylet vault, at the east end of the north chancel aisle.
It formed a coffin plate and was taken out of the vault by Mr.
Mathews, when he was vicar here. It is now fixed to the south
chancel wall, but was formerly on the north wall. It bears in the
centre the arms of the Aylet family : A fesse embattled between
three unicorn's heads erased ; Crest, a demi unicorn reguardant
issuing out of a helmet and beneath the following inscriptions :
"Primogenito suo Pr Chariseimo Thoma Aylet Hospiti
Lincolis Armigero Posuit Thoma Pater superetes."
" Ab hac migravit Luci Clariori, the 4th August, Anno Domi,
1638."
"With ynch of time hee to ye best impous
Of greater hopes, free loving and belovid :
His lose so soon us leaves all ful of sorow
Hee sets tonight, we follow him tomoroo
Who thus his couse doth finish in his prime
Runs through much bisnis in litel time.
Anno Domi 1638."
On a grave stone of blue marble there was formerly the
following :
44 Ecclesiastical.
"Here lyeth buried the body of Thomas Ay let f, Gent., Lord of
the Manor of Coggeshall, who departed this life the
day of October, 1650, in the 8ist year of his age."
ON the south side of the chancel there was formerly a slab
with the figures of a man and two females. On another
stone were the figures of a man and his two wives with two groups
of children below and a saint above ; scrolls proceeding from the
mouths of the females, and a horizontal scroll over the head of
the man, and this inscription at their feet :
" Orate pro anima Gulielmi Goldwyre et Isabelle et Christiane
uxorum qui quidem Gulielmus obiit * .... 1514.
" Mary Moder may den dere
Prey for me William Goldwyre
And for me Isabel his uyf
Lady for thy joyes fyf-'r
Hav mercy on Christian his second wyf
Sivete Jesu for thy wowndys fyf. \
In his will, dated 26th January, 1514-15 and proved on loth
March following, he directs " my body to be buried in the quere
of Saint Peter-ad-Vincula, there as the legende is redde by the
sepulture of my wif."
This is, probably the William Goldwer to whom, in 1488 (3
Henry VII) the Lord of the Manor of Coggeshall granted " a
tenement and garden in Church Street, called Cachpoles, to hold
by the rodde at the Lord's will, paying to the Lord yearly 125.
rent Fyne 2 capons."
I
N Symond's collection is recorded a memorial, which was in the
chancel in the seventeenth century :
" Orate p. aia Rid Farrington Quoadum vicarii istius ecdi qui
obiit 8 die Octob,
* The month and day of the month are blank in Weever, edit. A.D.
1631, and in Holman.
t The five joys and five wounds, not joyes syf as in Dale.
\ Weever.
Monumental Inscriptions.
45
Which may be translated
Pray for the soul of Richard Farrington, sometime vicar of
this church, who died 8th day of October, 1479.
Oiftattt and QtSrenwinge.
ON a brass plate, now in the chamber over the porch but
formerly embedded in a stone of grey marble, is the
following :
" For the memorye of John Oldam, of East Tilburye, Gent.
who dyed the 24 day of August in the yeare of our Lord
1599 and of his age the XXXth Frances ye daughter of
Richard Brewninge, of Wimeringe in the County of South-
ampton Esqvire and his late wife mother to one only
davghter by him named Marye, hath set this to remayne.
ARM s OF THE CARTER FAMILY.
ON the north wall of the north chan-
cel aisle is a large marble monu-
ment, bearing the following inscrip-
tions beneath arms, or., a chief sable
charged with 3 escollops : crest, a
lion's head erased or.
"In memory of The Honble Lieu-
tenant Colonel John Grime,
Esqr. (late Of this town) who
served in several campaigns in Flanders and the Spanish
Netherlands with His Grace the late Duke of Ormond.
He was a brave and experienced soldier, and King William
III. of Glorious Memory at his return from abroad gave
him a pension for his Life for his bravery and courage
which he enjoyed till his Death, which happened the 2nd
day of Novr. 1714, in the 74th year of his age.
" Also in memory of Samuel Carter, his Grandson, Esq.
(late of this town) who died the 24th day of October, 1773,
aged 73 years."
The Grimes family resided in the house in Church Street,
known as ' Plumbers,' belonging to Mr. E. T. Scott, midway
between Swan Lane and Bird-in-Hand Lane.
Col. Grime was baptised at Coggeshall, "4th Aug., 1640, John
sonne of Wm. Griem and Joane his wife," and buried here on 7th
Nov., 1714.
4 6 Ecclesiastical.
JttCfer,
"\ X 7ITHIN the chancel on the south pier of the large arch,
* * which divides the nave from the chancel, is a marble
tablet with this inscription :
" Memoriae Sacrum Gulielmi Fuller, Hujus Parochias
Generosi, cujus animi probitas, morumque integritas,
In Deum pietas, erga socios, aequitas, omnibus, qui
Ilium reapse norint, clarissime effulserunt. Has
virtutes fervidas (quod ipse maluisset) non flaminam
sed lucem eficientes, nos visuros Credite posteri.
Morti cessit Die May i 5 th Anno { S" 1 ^ 48
Hoc Marmor nitidum tarn charo capiti, grates
persolvens dignas Henricus Fuller, Filius ejus
superstes, humillime Dat. Dicat. Dedicat.
O
N a marble tablet, in the north-western corner of the chancel,
is a monument
" In memory of Henry Skingley who departed this life Aug.
3rd, 1793 aged 53 years, also of Mary his wife who de-
parted this life November 3oth 1815 aged 75 years."
On the south wall of the sacrarium is a marble slab bearing
the Skingley arms : Az., on a cross
engr ar., between 4 garbs or., an oakslip
fructed ppr between as many roses gu
barbed and seeded also ppr ; a chief
indented of the second, thereon three
lions ramp, of the fourth : crest : Be-
tween two branches of oak a demi lion
ppr charged with a bend ar., thereon
ARMS OF THE SKINGLEY FAMILY, two roses a.5 in the arms holding be-
tween the paws an escutcheon gu., charged with a garb or., [Mr.
Probert, 'Arms and Epitaphs of Essex,' Vol. i, Brit. Mus. 33,520-
29, says that Windsor Herald told him these arms were granted
by the College in 1827], and the following inscription :
" Sacred to the memory of Henry Skingley, Esqr. who died
July 5th, 1837, aged 68 years, and of Ann, his widow, who
after surviving him 23 years died August i4th, 1860, aged
Monumental Inscriptions. 47
79. Her remains rest in the vault of her family in this
churchyard. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."
On another tablet, below the last
" Sacred to the memory of Henry Skingley, son of Henry and
Catherine Skingley of Wakes Hall in this County who
died April ist, 1839, aged i year and 10 months."
On the north wall of the sacrarium is a marble slab with the
Skingley arms and the following lines :
" In memory of Charles Joseph Skingley, Esqr., second son
of the late Henry Skingley, Esqr., and Ann his wife, of
this parish, who departed this life on the 9th March, 1853,
aged 43 years. His remains are deposited in the chancel
of this church. This tablet is erected by his two surviving
brothers."
Another stone placed on the north wall of the sacrarium is :
" In memory of Susan Bowles, the beloved wife of Major G.
D. Skingley, who died, i4th Oct., 1878, aged 47."
also of
" Major G. D. Skingley, who died, i6th June, 1888, aged 76.
Buried at Kensal Green."
A
utoett an&
MURAL slab of marble in the north chancel aisle bears the
following inscription :
" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Duddell, Rector of
Wormington, Gloucestershire, and for thirty-three years
Curate of this town, who died, January 8th, 1826, aged 82
years. And also to Margaret his widow, who died the first
day of November, 1833, aged 85 years ; by whose daughter
Ann, the wife of Henry Skingley, Esq,, this monument
was erected."
~D ENEATH the arms of this family, (which were granted on 5th
*-^ June, 1718, Ar., on a chevron between three escalops az., as
many estoiles of the first : crest, on a mount vert a buck sejant
ppr attired or., supporting with the dexter foot, a lance erect gu.,
headed of the third,) is a large marble monument on the north
wall of the church :
48 Ecclesiastical.
"Sacred to the memory of the Honour-
able Robert Townsend, Esq.,
son of Robert Townsend, in this
town, Gentleman. He was an
officer in the seven ever-mem-
orable campaigns under the late
Glorious Duke of Marlborough,
and at the time of his death
Colonel in the King's first Reg- ARMS OF THE TOWNSEND FAMILY.
iment of Foot Guards In which posts, from faithful and
appoved services he merited the valuable character of a
brave and experienced soldier. The distinguishing quali-
ties of a gentlemen he possessed in so eminent a degree
that the esteem he justly deserved all who knew him libe-
rally gave, and if any were wanting in that esteem to them
he was not known.
Reader, may the particulars of his good character (as he him-
self would desire) live rather in thy imitation than his ex-
traordinary praises, and be thou an instance of his laud-
able worth and goodness. He died, Nov. 26th, 1728, aged
46, lamented by many friends by none more than by his
only surviving brother, Mr. William Townsend, who erect-
ed this monument."
On the south wall, beneath the Townsend arms :
" Sacred to the memory of William Townsend, Esq., Attorney,
who died, March 8th, 1789, in the 65th year of his age.
Also his brother, Charles Townsend, Gent., who died May
5th, 1777, in the 52nd year of his age. Also William
Townsend,' Esq., son of Charles Townsend, who died,
March 2nd, 1806, in the 48th year of his age; by whose
desire this monument is erected."
Also on the south wall is another monument to this family,
bearing the arms with a crescent, indicating that the deceased was
a second son or of the second house. The shield is also charged
with an inescutcheon bearing the Townsend arms :
"Sacred to the memory of Richard White Townsend, who
died July 7th, 1823, aged 32 years; also of Helen Emm
Townsend, who died Septmbr. 3oth, 1818, aged 8 months,
and of his son Arthur Townsend, died Novr. 3rd, 1879,
aged 63 years, Buried at Shalstone, Bucks."
Monumental Inscriptions. 49
On the same wall :
" This Tablet is placed as a small tribute of respect, esteem,
and regard to the memory of Mary Ann, the beloved and
affectionate wife of the Revd. N. R. Dennis, M.A., Chap-
lain to His Majesty's Forces, and eldest daughter of Mr.
Townsend, of Ferriers. She died near Villa de Conde in
Portugal, on the 8th March, 1827, aged 38 years."
HpHERE is a marble slab on the north wall, inscribed :
-*- " Sacred to the memory of Richard White, who died, March
22nd, 1806, aged 44 years.
GOD the supreme disposer of events,
In judgment ever righteous will'd it so,
His will be done.
This unadorned monument is erected by his widow, as a
small token of affection."
Beneath the above, on another stone :
"Richard Meredith White, died January 3rd, 1796, aged
58 years."
" He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord,
&c."
O
N the wall of the north chancel aisle, is a slab :
" Sacred to the memory of Thomas Andrew, Esqr., of this
town, Solicitor, whose mortal remains lie deposited in a
vault near this spot."
" He was removed from the midst of health, enjoyment and
prosperity, by an instantaneous death, without one previous
fear or moment's warning, on the 27th June, A.D. 1826, in
the 53rd year of his age."
" Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the
Son of man cometh."
T N the chancel, beneath the Communion table, on a large black
-* marble slab, bearing arms, a winged griffin rampant, passant
within a border :
"Exuvias hie deposuit Reverendus Vir Jacobus Boys, A.M.,
Hujus Ecclesise per XLIV. Annos Vigilantissimus Pastor,
E
5 Ecclesiastical.
Qui per totum sui Ministerii cursum vestigia premens
Apostolica assiduo conatus est.
' To give no offence in anything that the ministry be not blamed.'
II Cor. vi. 3. [In Greek]
Nat. vinvo Martii MDCL. Obt Xmo Octobris MDCCXXV."
On the north wall of the sacrarium is a marble tablet which
records quite a family history :
" Here lies (near the remains of his ancestors) the body of
Mr. William Boys, Gent, eldest son of the Revd. Mr. James
Boys, late Vicar of this parish. He married Hester, the youngest
daughter of John Cox, Esq., and Ann, his wife, who was the
daughter of Major-General Haynes, of Copford Hall, in this
county. John Cox, was of Emmanuel College, in Cambridge,
and of Grays Inn, London, Barrister-at-law, and (late) of Mount
Hall, in this parish. A gentleman justly esteemed and respected
as an eminent and able Councellour, an Honest and Upright man
and a good Christian. Hester, wife of the said Mr. William
Boys, departed this life, May 3oth, 1742, aged 53 years and was
buried in this chancel, where by his own desire his remains are
also interred, after a long life spent in piety and good works ; his
great care and study in particular was to instruct the poor and
ignorant in the knowledge of their Christian duty. Witness the
many good books he dispersed for that purpose. Witness that
charitable donation to the parish of Great Bardfield, to perpetuate
the same pious design to the end of the world. Thus lived this
good man, and thus he died, July 25th, 1768, aged 83 years.
" Beatus servus ille, quern quum venerit Dominus ejus invene-
rit ita facientem.
"The Revd. Mr. John Harrison, Nephew and Executor of the
deceased, to testify his respect to his memory caused this monu-
ment to be erected."
Near the chancel, on the north of the central passage, is a
stone with the following inscription :
"Jane Boehm born ye 8th of August, 1737, died ye igth of
May, 1738; she was daughter of Charles Boehm, of
London, and Jane, his wife, daughter of Richard DuCane
Esq., of Coggeshall.
Monumental Inscriptions. 51
Elizabeth, twin sister of the above Jane, died 26 Sep-
tember, 1738.
Jane Boehm, the second, born ye 4th December, 1738,
died 1 3th April, 1740.
Richarda Boehm, sister of the above, born 26 June,
died 27th September, 1742."
HP HERE is a stone of gray marble, in the north chancel aisle,
*- with the deceased's merchant's mark, and the following me-
morial inscription :
" Here lyeth buryed the body of George Lawrence, the sonne
of John Lawrence, sometyme Clothier of this towne,
which George died the xiii daye of November, in the
yeare of our Lorde God, 1594.
the floor of the north chancel aisle, partly concealed by
a pew, is a stone inscribed :
" In memory of Elizabeth, wife of John Gladwin, Gent., who
died, Feb. 8th, 1771, aged 73 years.
"Also in memory of John Gladwin, who died, Septbr
ist, 1773, aged 77 years.
" The hour .... and ....
As Flower fadeth so man dieth
O man be wise, consider now your latter end,
pray do."
a marble slab on the wall of the south chancel aisle is this
inscription :
" Hoc marmor, memoriam filioli hocce in templo conditi,
Edwardi Coldham Mathew, nati, Jul. 26, mortui, Dec. 21,
1820; in seternum proferre voluit pater hujus parochiae
vicarius. Necnon patruelis carissimae Helenes Mariae
Mathew quae a parentibus multum desiderata annos quin-
decim apud Anglos commorata in patriam tandem reversa ;
vix prius visa quam extincta, heu vitae nimia brevitas.
Anno aetatis undevicesimo, Calcuttae, Feb. 10, 1822,
animam efflavit.
E 2
5 2 Ecclesiastical.
" Germen flosque, novo suhsecti tempore veris ;
Caelo vos numen fronde virere sinat."
Among other memorials no longer extant are the following :
o<j<jee(ia{l
. . . . Coggeshal .... Coggeshal .... mil
MCCC."*
Weever says " For which of the name this broken inscription
should be engraven I cannot learne, but I find that these Cogges-
hals, in foregoing ages were gentlemen of exemplarie regard and
knightly degree, whose ancient habitation was in this towne, one
of which familie was knighted by King Edward the 3rd, the same
day that he created Edward his eldest son Earl of Chester and
Duke of Cornwall, Anno, 1336."
pro animabus Johannis Kebul et Isabel le et Johanne
ux ejus Quorum, &c. About the verge of the stone in
brasse a Paternoster inlaid : Pater Noster qui es in celts sancti-
ficetur nomen tuum, and so forth to the end of the praier. Upon
the middest of the marble this Ave Maria : Ave Maria gratia
plena ; Dominus tecum ; Benedicta tu in mulieribus ; et benedictus
sit fructus ventris tui Jesus. Amen. " f
" i~\RATE p. aiabj Petri Worseter de Coggeshall, Mercer, obyt
8 Sept., 1471.'' (Symonds).
"Here under lyeth the body of Thomas Sandford, late of this
parish, Gent., whoe departed this life ye eight day of May,
Anno Domini, i6j6."
In the church of Horndon on-the-Hill there is a slab recording
the death, in 1633. f Susan Sandford, daughter of Thomas Sand-
ford, late of Coggeshall.
In the north aisle there were formerly divers grave-stones with
the inscriptions gone. The clerk in Holman's time had it by
relation that they belonged to the Coleman's, who were clothiers.
* Weever. See further under the family of Coggeshall. t Weever.
The Churchyard.
53
THE LYCH GATE.
^ I A HE Churchyard is entered through a handsome lych-gate,
_L presented by Messrs. Charles and William Bonton, as a
memorial to their mother. It was designed by Mr. Edwin J.
Dampier, a son of the late vicar, and is of i5th century character.
It is of oak and is covered with tiles ; on the south side is the
text : " Through the grave and gate of death we pass to our
joyful resurrection."
54 Ecclesiastical.
The principal tombstones now remaining in the churchyard
are those to the memory of the Buxton family, ancestors of Sir
Thomas Fowell Buxton, and of Edward North Buxton, Esq.,
High Sheriff of this County, in 1888. The name occurs among
the earliest entries in our parish registers, the first record of the
family being that of the marriage of William Buckston with Ka-
therine Roche, on the 14 Dec., 1561, and from that day, if not
earlier, down to the present time the family has been connected
with this town either by residence or as owners of property.
Their arms are argent ; a lion rampant, tail elevated and turned
over the head sable, between 2 mullets of the second, and were
confirmed to them by the Herald's College, in 1634. Their crest
is a buck's head couped gules, attired or., gorged with a collar of
the last, therefrom pendent an escutcheon argent charged with an
African's head, sable. The African's head upon the pendent es-
cutcheon is doubtless commemorative of the philanthropic exer-
tions of Thomas Fowell Buxton for the abolition of the slave
trade. For his great services in this respect he was created a
baronet, on 6th July, 1840. He died in 1845 [A Memoir with
the correspondence of T. F. Buxton, was edited by his son,
Charles Buxton, in 1848].
To revert to the tombstones and their inscriptions, there are
the following in the churchyard. A marble slab covering a brick
tomb with this inscription :
" Here lyeth the body of Thomas Buxton, of Great Cogges-
hall, Cloathier " [The Clothiers or cloth manufacturers of
those days may be compared with the wealthy brewers of
the present time. In these districts their position was little
below the rank of the squire.] " Who departed this life
the 1 6th of October, 1713, and in the yoth year of his
age.
Here also lyeth the body of Elizabeth Buxton, the wife
of Isaac Buxton, of Coggeshall, Cloathier, who departed
this life the izth of December, 1713, in the 4oth year of
her age.
Here also lyeth the body of John Buxton, Esq., who
departed this life the 22nd of July, 1751, aged 49.
Also
Thomas Buxton, Esq., who died the 5th February, 1777,
aged 82 years.
The Churchyard. 55
Also
Ann Buxton, his 3rd wife, obt. Sept. 5th, 1782, get. 63."
A tomb of obelisk form, about 7 feet in height, has on it :
"In memory of Charles Buxton, Esq., of Great Braxted, in
this County, Citizen and Lace Merchant, of I -ondon, fourth
son of Isaac and Elizabeth Buxton. He died, 22nd Sept.,
1777, in the 74th year of his age."
On another marble stone over a brick pedestal :
" Here lieth the body of Judith, wife of Thomas Buxton,
Clothier, who died the i6th of September, 1719, aged 78.
As also the body of Isaac Buxton, Clothier, her son, who
departed this life, the 26th of December, 1732, aged 60."
On another similar tomb :
" Here lieth the body of Samuel Buxton, son of Isaac Buxton,
who was buried under the stone adjacent. He died, Sep-
tember the 1 5th, 1737, aged 26.
Here also lieth the body of Sarah, wife of John Buxton,
who died, February the 7th, 1736, aged 34.
Here also lieth the body of Miss Mary Buxton, daughter
of John Buxton, Esq., who departed this life the igth of
June, 1750, in the 2ist year of her age.
Also John Buxton, Esq., of Highbury Place, in the
County of Middlesex, who departed this life, May i6th,
1802, aged 69."
There are also the following inscriptions :
" Sarah Buxton, daughter of the late John Buxton, Esq., died
at Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, January the i5th,
1815, aged 41 years.
Also the remains of Mary Buxton, Relict of John Bux-
ton, Esq., and mother of the above Sarah Buxton, who
died, at Camberwell, December 29th, 1838, in the 95th
year of her age."
" Hannah Buxton, daughter of Charles Buxton, Esq., whose
remains by her desire were here deposited, died February
28th, 1780, aged 37. To her memory this monument, at
her request, was erected by Anna Unwin.
Why are friends ravisht from us ? 'Tis to bind
By soft affection ties on human hearts
The thot of death which reason too surpine
Or misemployed so rarely fastens there.
5 6 Ecclesiastical.
Here
Are deposited the remains of Anna, the daughter of
Thomas Buxton, Esq., late of this town, the wife of Jacob
Unwin Brewer, who died, 1763, she was born in the year
1737, married in 1761 and died in 1798.
Also are deposited the remains of John Buxton, Esq.,
of Denmark Hill, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,
who died, Nov. i6th, 1843, aged 72.
Also the remains of Hannah Buxton, Relict of the
above John Buxton, Esq., of Denmark Hill, who died,
Nov. 25, 1861, aged 95.
Also here was interred the body of Anne, daughter of
Josh. Bentley, of Leicester, and 2nd wife of Thomas
Buxton, Esq., who died, Aug. 19, 1747, aged 44 years.
This memorial was inscribed by her daughter, Anna
Unwin, 1780."
Another tomb has inscribed :
" Deposited in this vault are the remains of William Forbes,
Esq., of Camberwell, in the County of Surrey. He was
married at Coggeshall Church, on the ist of July, 1778,
and died there while on a visit, on the 2oth of Sept., A.D.,
1818, in the 65th year of his age.
Also the remains of Elizabeth Forbes, widow of the
above William Forbes and daughter of Thomas Buxton,
late of this town. She was born at Coggeshall, on the
22nd day of January, A.D., 1751, and died at Camberwell,
on the 23rd day of August, A.D., 1825."
There were also either in the church or the churchyard the
following inscriptions :
IJERE lyeth the body of William Carter, Gent., who died
1 2th Nov 178 (5 ?) aged 72 years. Also the body of Mary
his wife, who died 8th July, 1795, aged 80 years."
" T TF.RF. lyeth ye body of Mr. Ambrose Sutton, who departed
this life, the ijth day of May, A.D. 1688, aged 63."
. "Body of James Mullings, who dyed the jth of Jan.,
1726, aged 40 years"
The Churchyard. 57
..... " the body of Mr. John Chignell, who departed
this life the loth day of October, 1720, in the 3 2nd year of his age."
" TLJERE lyeth the body of Thomas Cockerel I, Yeoman, who died
2oth September, 1564" (Symonds).
There are also tombs of the families of Abbot, Appleford,
Bonton, Cable, Cox, Fuller, Gardner, Godfrey, Hall, legon, Rich-
ardson, Richmond, Sach, Tupper, and many others.
There are a few quaint epitaphs but of no particular merit.
A stone is still extant with these lines on it :
" Lord, Thy grace is free,
Why not for me ?
Death is to me no gloomy shade
While JESUS is in view.
Oh, may my ashes then persuade
Others to love him too."
This stone is to the memory of one Thomas Hance, a clothier,
who (The Excursion for Essex, dated 1818, says) died a bank-
rupt, and on his tomb one of his creditors wrote a reply to the
query contained in the first two lines :
" And the Lord answered and said
Because thy debts ain't paid."
In 1819, the churchyard was enlarged by taking in a piece of
Church Green, and the Parish Register has this entry, "1819,
June 20, Hannah Birles ist interred in ye new ground, consecrated
ye i yth of June, 1819, by William, Lord Bishop of London, age
51." A sketch of the ceremony is in the possession of Mr.
Thomas Simpson, whose wife's grandfather, Mr. William Swin-
borne, one of the Churchwardens, is a prominent figure in the
picture.
By an Order in Council, dated 2ist July, 1855, burials
were discontinued in the churchyard as from the ist February,
1856, an exemption being made in favor of the existing family
vaults on condition that such vaults should be opened without
digging up the soil of the churchyard, and that each coffin be em-
bedded in a layer of powdered charcoal, 4 inches at the least in
thickness, and be covered over with brickwork properly cemented.
5 8 Ecclesiastical.
In this year about 3 acres, part of Pitt or Overchurch Field, was
bought by the Burial Board, since which, with very few exceptions,
interments have taken place in the cemetery.
THE first mention we find of the Vicars of Coggeshall, is in
the taxation of the Borough of Colchester, 24, Edw. I. A.D.
1296.
"JOHN, THE VICAR OF COGGESHALL, has on the day
aforesaid, 3 quarters and a half of oats, price per quar., 2S.,
sum 75. Out of that the 7th,/i2d." Rol. Parl. Vol. I. p. 228.
RUSHENDEN, * Richard de, presented Ides, June, 1330.
SEW ALE, William, diac 6 Ides, May, 1333.
GALFRIDUS, dictus Chappell de Bury.
BROOKS, Stephen, Id. Oct., 1362, on resignation of Galfridus.
WEADLINGBURGH, John de, 12 Kal. May, 1369, on resig-
nation of Brooks.
BELTESFORD, John.
HYDE, Richard, 6 Feb., 1384, on resignation of Beltesford.
PHILPOTT, Roger.
BURGERSETH or BURGHWASH, Henry, 22 nd Sept., 1425,
on resignation of Philpott.
WHITE, Robert, i8th Oct., 1426, on resignation of Burgerseth.
HUBERT, Nicholas, 8th Oct., 1450, on resignation of White.
SPROTBURGH, Richard, presented Nov., 1456, on death of
last vicar.
SOUTHYN. John, 3rd July, 1461, on resignation of Sprotburgh.
FARRINGDON, -Richard, 26th July, 1475, on resignation of
Southyn. Buried at Coggeshall, see memorial inscription.
GYFFREY, John, presented i4th Oct., 1479, on death of Far-
ringdon.
BULGEN, John, A.M., 27th April, 1510, on death of Gyffrey.
MYTTON, Stephen, L.B., 5th Aug., 1534, on death of Bulgen.
VAUGHAN, Hugo, L.B., 2oth July, 1545, on death of Mytton.
Presented by Bishop Bonner, Vicar of Great Bardfield, 1533;
Rector of Gestingthorpe, in 1537; and Vicar of Halstead,
1537-40.
* A reference to Newcourt's Repertorittin will in most instances disclose
the name of the previous cure held by the incumbents.
The Clergy. 59
STOCKTON, Robert, 6th May, 1558, on resignation of Vaughan.
NEWMAN, Lawrence, A.M., roth Feb., 1575, on death of Stock-
ton. Fellow of Emmanuel Coll., Camb., B.D. of Oxford in
1610, afterwards D.U. Buried at Coggeshall, ist March,
1599. He was vicar here when the transcript of the earliest
register was made. His daughter, Martha, was baptised here,
1 3th July, 1588, and Elizabeth, 3ist Jany., 1590. In the
Register at Dr. William's Library, Somerset House, is record-
ed the burial on 2oth June, 1585, of his daughter, Rebecca ;
while the Parish Registers here record the following burials :
1621, July 23, Nathaniel Newman, son of Mr. Lawrence
Newman; and 1621, Jany. . . . Newman, widow of Mr.
Lawrence Newman, sometime vicar of Coggeshall.
DYKE, W'illiam, was preacher here at the time of Aylmer's Visit-
ation, but he is not mentioned in Newcourt's Rep. Brook,
in his Lives of the Puritans, in reference to this man, who in
error he calls Daniel (Neal, 1284), says, "Because he con-
tinued a deacon and did not enter into priests' orders, which
the Bishop supposed he accounted Popish, and because he
refused to wear the surplice, and troubled his auditory as his
grace signified with notions which thwarted the established
religion, he was suspended and at last deprived in the year
1589." The distressed parishioners being concerned for the
loss of their minister, petitioned the Lord Treasurer Burleigh
to intercede with the bishop in their behalf, but the Treasurer
did not meet with success. Dyke died in 1614. He had a
son baptised here, as appears from one of the earliest entries
in the Register: " 1584, Oct. 13, Hieremy, son of Wm. Dike,
Preacher of Coggeshall."
TUKE, George, was a preacher here in 1587, as appears from an
entry in the Register of baptisms : " 1587, Aug. 20, Elizabeth,
daughter of George Tuke, Preacher."
JSTOUGHTON, Thomas, presented i2th Dec., 1600, on death of
Lawrence Newman. He was deprived in 1606.
CUDWORTH, Ralph. S.T.B., presented 4th April, 1606, on de-
privation of Stoughton. Fellow of Emmanuel Coll., Cambs.
He died, 1624.
HEYLEY, John, presented 8th March, 1607, on resignation of
Cudworth. Resigned, 1609.
DODD, John, presented 5th May, 1609, on resignation of Hey-
60 Ecclesiastical.
ley. On the cover of one of Bufton's Books in my posses-
sion, is the following note : " I have often heard it reported
of holy Mr. Dodd, yt. when one, inraged at his close con-
vincing doctrine, pick't a quarrell with him, smote him on ye
face and dashed out two of his teeth, this meek servant of
CHRIST spat out the teeth into his hand and said, ' See here
you have knocked out two of my teeth and that without any
just provocation, but on condition that I might do your soul
good, I would give you leave to dash out all the rest.' "
The Baptismal Register for Coggeshall has :
" 1612 June n, Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. John Dodd,
Vicar. 1625 Dec. 4, John, son of Mr. Nehemiah Dodd
and Elizabeth his wife. 1628 Sept. 21, Nehemiah, son of
Nehemiah Dodd and Elizabeth his wife. 1632 May 13,
Robert, son of Nehemiah Dodd and Elizabeth his wife.
1635 Sept. 29, Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Nehemiah Dodd
and Elizabeth his wife." And in the Burial Register we find:
"1630 July 25th, Martha, wife of John Dodd, Vicar ; and
1639 April 1 8, Mr. John Dodd, Vicar of Coggeshall."
SEDGWICK, Obadiah, S.T.B., presented 6th July, 1639, on the
death of Dodd. Born at Marlborough, Wilts, 1600; edu-
cated at Queen's College, Oxford, afterwards tutor of Magda-
len Hall ; at a later period he was preacher to the inhabitants
of St. Mildred's parish in Bread Street. He preached before
parliament on several occasions. A print of one of his ser-
mons in my possession is thus entitled : " England's Preser-
vation, or a Sermon discovering the only way to prevent
destroying Judgements. Preached to the Honourable House
of Commons at their last Solemn Fast, being on May 25,
1642, by Obadiah Sedgewick, Batchalour in Divinity, and
Minister of Coggeshall, in Essex. Published by order of that
House." His induction is recorded in the Parish Register of
Burials, anno 1639, the entry, however, is much obliterated
by damp :
" Obadiah Sedgwicke .... Vicarius de Coggeshall,
Julie 15, Anno Dm. 1639, presentibus Nobilitiam . . .
doio & patron .... Robert .... Warwick
Nehemiah Sedg . . . doio, Tho. Aylet, c. . . .
Articules relig Anglian & ... public - - Testibus
Neh. Dod, Tho. Aylet, Rob. Crane, William Gladwine,
The Clergy. 61
Tho. Coxe, Guliel Tanner, Richard Shortland, Johi Allis-
ton, Johi Sparhawke, Benjamin Hawes, Jacob Aylet, Sam
Crane, Tho. Guyon, Ric. Shepheard, Joseph Scot, Jo. Pick-
ard (? Pickeld) ; and from the Register we also find that he
and his wife Priscilla had the following children baptised
here: Francis, on 2 July, 1640; Robert, on 19 October,
1641; Susannah, on 17 January, 1642; and Priscilla, on 7
Sept., 1645 ; and one child buried, viz : Robert, on 30 Oct.
1641.
OWEN, John, not mentioned in Newcourt's Repertorium, but,
it appears from the Journals of the House of Lords, that an
order was made by that House, on the i8th August, 1646,
authorising and requiring Dr. Aylett, or his lawful deputy, to
institute and induct Mr. Owen, clerk to the Vicarage of Cog-
geshall, in the Diocese of London, void by the resignation of
Mr. Obadiah Sedgwick, late vicar there, upon Mr. Owen pro-
ducing the presentation thereto under the hand and seal of
the Right Honble. Robert, Earl of Warwick, and others.
John Owen was the second son of Henry Owen, Vicar of
Stadham in Oxfordshire, and was born at the Vicarage, in
1616. Educated at Queen's Coll., Oxford. In his iQth year
he took his M. A. degree ; was a staunch puritan and an able
preacher ; was Vicar of Fordham, Essex. Married Mary
Rook, by whom he had eleven children, of whom one only,
a daughter, lived beyond childhood. His son, John, was bap-
tised at Fordham, on 20 December, 1644, and his daughters,
Mary, Elizabeth, and Mary, were baptised at Coggeshall, on
1 8th July, 1647, loth Feb., 1649, and i8th Feb. 1649, re-
spectively ; and one daughter (probably Mary, for the register
here is illegible in parts) was buried on 25th July, 1646 or 7.
He wrote several works, and on more than one occasion
preached before the House of Commons. He became Chap-
lain to Cromwell, retaining at the same time the Vicarage of
Coggeshall, from the dutes of which he appears to have ab-
sented himself, in favour of the apparently more congenial
companionship of Cromwell during his visits to Ireland and
Scotland. On the 18 March, 1651, Owen was made Dean of
Christ Church, Oxford, and ceased to be Vicar of Coggeshall.
He held very many different offices, and in 1654, sat in the
House of Commons as member for the University. His first
62 Ecclesiastical.
wife died in 1676, and shortly afterwards he married Michal,
widow of Thomas D'Oyly, of Chiselhampton, near Stadham,
by which alliance he received a considerable fortune, and
this, with his own property and a legacy that was left him
about the same time by his cousin, made his condition easy
and even affluent, so that he was able to keep a carriage
during his remaining years, and also a country house at
Baling, in Middlesex, where he died, on 24th August, 1683.
He was buried in Burnhill Fields. (See very full account of
this Puritan Divine in Davids' Nonconformity in Essex,')
JESSOP, Constantine, not mentioned by Newcourt, nor is the
date of his presentation known, but Anthony Wood, in his
MS. says, that " He closed with the Covenanters and suc-
ceeded Owen in the ministry of that factious town in Essex,
called Coggeshall."
SAMES, John, not mentioned in Newcourt, but as Vicar of Cog-
geshall, in April, 1654, he was appointed a trustee of Good-
ay's Charity. In 1656, Cromwell appointed him a Commis-
sioner of Religion, On nth July, 1656 "Deborah, daughter
of Jo. and Anne Sames, Vicar," was baptised. On 16 Dec.,
1672, "Mr. John Sames" was buried. Coggeshall Register.
LOWRYE, Thomas, not mentioned in Newcourt, but in the
Parish Register are these baptismal entries :
" 1 66 1 May i8th, Obadiah, son of Thomas and Bridgett
Lowrye, Vicar. 1662 Sept. 28th, Robert, son of Thomas
Lowrye, Vicar;" and these burials: "1662 Sept. 28, wife
of Mr. Thomas Lowyre. 1664 Sept. 29, Abigail, daughter
of Mr. Lowyre, Minister of Coggeshall."
RANEW, Nathaniel, rst. March, 1660.
JESSOP, Thomas, 3rd Oct., 1662. Bufton has preserved notes
of many of the occasions on which Mr. Jessop preached
funeral sermons, as also the greater part of many of the ser-
mons themselves, and these are now in my possession ; ex-
tracts from them will be found in a subsequent page. He
was buried at Coggeshall, 3ist January, 1679, without a ser-
mon, (Bufton). His first wife was buried at Coggeshall, I4th
Jany., 1672, "Mrs. Mary Jessop, wife of Mr. Tho. Jessop,
Minister of Coggeshall." On roth March, 167!, he married
Elizabeth Calandrine, of Marks Hall, (Marks Hall Register).
On 2ist Feb., 1674, their daughter Esther was baptised at
The Clergy. 63
Coggeshall. Mr. Thomas Jessop, citizen of London, who
was buried at Coggeshall, 6th April, 1670, was doubtless the
father of Thomas, the Vicar.
BOYS, James, M.A-, 16 Feb. 1679, on death of Jssop. He is
the last vicar mentioned in Neivcourfs Rep., published 1710 ;
by mistake he is called John Boys. He was a son of the
Rev. John Boys, Dean of Canterbury, whose family is said
to have come over with the Conqueror and settled in Kent.
The Rev. James Boys had a son, James, who was a barrister-
at-law, and the father of Lucy Boys, who married the Rev.
Charles Ley, Rector of Layer Marney, great grandson of the
Rev. Philip Ley ; descended from James Ley, of Westbury,
Wilts, created Lord Ley of Ley, in Devonshire, 22 James,
and Earl of Marlborough, i Charles [See Benton's Rochford
Hundred, 417]. Bufton's notes of several sermons preached
by Mr. Boys are in my possession.
The following entries relating to this family are to be found
in the Coggeshall Marriage Registers: "1683 Sept. 5, Mr.
James Boys and Mrs. Martha Bennett. 1688 Sept. 21, Mr.
John White and Mrs. Ann Boys. 1697 March 3, Richard
Boys and Mary White. 162! January 4, Mr. William Boys
and Hester Cox." And the Coggeshall Baptismal Register
has, "1681 Dec. 4, Rebecca, daughter of William and Jane
Boys. 1684 Aug. 3, William, son of James and Martha
Boys. 1693 March 24, James, son of James and Dorchas
Dame Guyon, born ye 2ist Feb. 1694 Aug. 9, Dorcas,
daur. of James Boys and Dorcas Dame Guyon. 1696
March 29, Martha, daur. of James Boys and Dorcas Dame
Guyon." And the Coggeshall Burial Register contains :
" 1725 Oct. 13, The Rev. Mr. Boys, late Vicar of Coggeshall.
1768 July 30, Mr. William Boys, interred in the chancel
within the communion rails, son of the Rev. Mr. James Boys,
vicar 44 years."
Bufton has the following notes concerning this family :
" 1682 Nov. 26, Mr. Boy's brother's son of n years' old
died at the vicarage, of the small pox, and was carried to
Colchester to be buried. 1683 Sept. 5. Mr. Boys was
married to a kinswoman of Mr. Thomas Keeble's; her
name was Bennet. Her father was a poulterer in London.
1685 Nov. n, Mr. Boys had a son buried three days' old.
6 4 Ecclesiastical.
1685 Nov. 1 8, the first wife of Mr. Boys was buried; 6
gentlewomen carried up ye pale with white hoods and white
veils, and Mr. Livermore preached at her funeral, and I was
gone to London. 1688 Sept. Mr. John White was married
to Mrs. Ann Boys. 1692 April 5, Mr. Boys was married
to the Lady Guyon.
BURNP^T, Gilbert, 1725, on the death of Boys. He was for
some time Minister of St. James's, Clerkenwell. Died at
Coggeshall, 28th January, 1746.
GULLIFER, Joseph, M.A., 1746, on death of Burnet. Heap-
pears to have been Curate here many years prior to his pre-
sentation to the Vicarage, for on ist April, 1739, he records
in the register, that Sacheverall, the son of Ernal and Mary
Dullen was "the first infant baptised by Jos. Gullifer, Curate."
The following entry is in Vol. II. of the Registers, "The
Rev. Joseph Gullifer. A.M., Corpus Christi College, in Cam-
bridge, was inducted into the Vicarage of Coggeshall, June
the 27th, 1746, at the presentation of Peter Du Cane, Esq.
He was inducted to the Vicarage of Burnham, February 16,
1749, at the presentation of the Right Hon Benjamin, Earl
of Fitzwalter, and one of his lordship's chaplains." Whose
son Joseph Gullifer was does not appear, but the family of
that name seems to have been connected with this place as
early as 1679, as on 22, 23, 24 March, 1679-80, a great many
persons were baptised the entry concluding with these words,
"by Mr. Gulliford baptised." The names of the god-parents'
are set opposite the several entries, an addition which is
exceptional. On nth July, 1682, Ann, daughter, of Josiah
and Ann Gulliver, was baptised here ; and the following
burials are entered in the Registers, "1713, Oct. 8, Mr. Joseph
Gulliver. 1754, Nov. 6, interred in the vestry about i in the
morning, Mrs. Rachel Gullifer, wife of the Rev. Mr. Jos.
Gullifer, Vicar, who died of the small pox, Nov. 3, 1754,
aetatis 41. 1767, March 22, The Rev. Mr. Joseph Gullifer,
Vicar, interred in the vestry, died 13 March, 1767."
Josiah Gullifer, who was Vicar of Messing, died 1704.
COTT, John, was Vicar in 1768 (See Baptismal Register)
DU CANE, Henry, son of Peter Du Cane, Esq., by his marriage
with Mary, only daughter of Henry Norris, Esq., of Hackney.
He married Louisa Desmadrille, and had issue the Rev.
The Clergy. 65
Henry Du Cane, of Witham Grove, Richard, Charles, Louisa,
Anna Maria, and Sarah, all of whom were baptised at Cog-
geshall. He lived at the Home Grange, but died at Witham ;
He does not appear to have taken active duty at Coggeshall,
but to have left the care of the parish with
DUDDELL, John, who was Curate here for 33 years (see Memorial
inscription) ; and afterwards with
BULL, John. He had a son, baptised here on 24th Nov., 1807,
by name Elijah Serle. His daughter, Susanna, was buried in
the churchyard here, and on her tomb was this inscription :
" In memory of Susanna, daughter of the Rev. John Bull,
sometime Curate of this parish, and Mary, his wife, who died,
3ist March, 1810, aged 7 years."
MANT, Richard, M.A., was inducted on 2nd May, 1810. Born
on 1 2th Feb. 1766, at Southampton, where his father was
Rector of All Saints; educated at Trinity Coll., Oxford;
Fellow and Tutor of Oriel ; ordained, 1 802 ; Bampton Lec-
turer, 1812. In 1813, he and Dr. D'Oyley were commis-
sioned by the Christian Knowledge Society to prepare the
'Family Bible with Notes,' which was first published in 1817.
In 1820, he was made Bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora, and
was, on 22nd March. 1823, translated to the See of Down
and Connor. He died, 2 Nov., 1848. A memoir of his life
was published by Archdeacon Berens, in 1849.
STEVENS, B. B., was Curate about 1813 ; he was afterwards
Chaplain to His Majesty's Forces.
MATHEW, Edward William, was instituted to the vicarage about
the year 1815, on the resignation of Dr. Mant ; he was after-
wards Reader at St. James's, Bury St. Edmunds, and is said to
have been of a most amiable disposition, and celebrated for
his extraordinarily beautiful reading. Died, 1834. He was a
grandson of James Mathew, of Bury St. Edmunds, and a son
of Colonel William Mathew (Norfolk Light Dragoons), by his
marriage with Elizabeth Maria, daughter of Edward Coldham,
Esq., of Bury St. Edmunds ; whose wife was a daughter of
Joshua Brise, of Cavendish, of the family of Ruggles-Brise,
of Spains Hall, Finchingfield. The Rev. Edw. Wm. Mathew
was born about 1790, married in 1815, Charlotte Olivia, eldest
daughter of Oliver Johnson, Esq., of Hay House, Earls
Colne, a descendant of Benjamin Johnson, Governor of Ports-
66 Ecclesiastical.
mouth, temp. Charles II. By this marriage, there was issue
several children, of whom was Edward Fisher Ruggles Ma
thew, architect of the Cathedral of St. George, Basseterre, in
the West Indies, who died, in 1858, at St. Kitts, leaving a son,
Edward Jermyn Mathew, who is now of St. Edmund Hall,
Oxford. Emily Brise Mathew, another child of the Vicar,
married in 1856, her first cousin, Oliver Johnson, Esq., eldest
son of Richard Oliver Johnson, Esq., doubtless the same
person as Richard Oliver Johnson, who, on I4th Aug., 1828,
married at Coggeshall, Mary Ann, daughter of Henry Sking-
ley, Esq., and Ann, his wife, n&e Decks. The arms of the
family are : Az., 3 lions ramp arg., on a chief of the second,
as many cross crosslets sa., crest a lion's jambe erect, holding
a cross crosslet sa. The Mathew family became possessed of
estates at Pentloe, Clare and Cavendish, through the marriage
of the Rev. E. W. Mathew with Miss Coldham.
FREELAND, William Coyte, was Curate 1830-4, during which
time he appears to have had sole charge of the parish.
SMITH, Percy, was presented to the living in 1834. He was a
son of Mary (the daughter of Peter Du Cane, Esq.), by
her marriage with Edward, son of William Smith, Esq., of
Horsham, Sussex. In 1835, he became Rector of Pattiswick.
A tombstone in Pattiswick churchyard has this inscription :
"Percy Smith, 41 years priest of this parish, fell asleep, 21
Feb., 1876.
WALLACE, Arthur Capel Job, M.A., was presented, on the re-
signation of Mr. Smith, in 1835, and remained here till 1838,
when he removed to Monks Eleigh, in Suffolk. He was a
son of the Rev.' Job Wallace, of Braxted, and was of Corpus
Christi Coll. Camb.
ARMSTRONG, William, was Curate in 1838.
ELEY, Henry, was originally engaged in commercial pursuits, but
afterwards went to Cambridge, graduated and was ordained
to the curacy of West Ham ; removed to High Beech, near
Epping ; vicar of Coggeshall, 1838-40, removed to Broomfield,
in 1841. On leaving Broomfield he took no more clerical
work. Was the author of " Geology in the Garden," and
one or two other minor works. He died at Brighton.
BENTLEY, Robert Henry was Curate, 1839-41.
DAMPIER, William James, was born at Hackney, on the gth
The Clergy. 67
May, 1803, and was the youngest son of Edward Dampier,
Esq., of Chase Gate House, Enfield, by his marriage with
Elizabeth Norris [Peter Du Cane, formerly patron of the
living, married a daughter of Henry Norris, Esq., of Hackney].
At the age of 1 7 he went to the West Indies (Dominica and
Trinidad) to study for the Bar, during which time he served
in the militia of the country, this being compulsory on all
above a certain age. After an absence of seven years he
returned to England and entered himself at the Inner Temple,
and kept all his terms but one. About this time he was im-
pressed with an irresistible desire to devote himself to the
ministry, he accordingly relinquished the profession of the
law for that of the church. He at once set himself to learn
Greek, of which he was at that time quite ignorant, and
made such progress with the language that shortly afterwards
he entered at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduated and
received ordination at the hands of the Bishop of Winches-
ter, in the year 1831. His first curacy was at Catherington,
afterwards he went to Ware as curate, and here he was mainly
instrumental in erecting the District Church of Saint Mary.
In 1839, he accepted the sole charge of Great Yeldham
during the incapacity of the rector.
In 1841, he was presented to the Vicarage of Coggeshall,
into which he was inducted, as he recorded in his own hand-
writing in the parish register, " on the 6th of August, by the
Rev. Charles Dalton, Vicar of Kelvedon, and Rural Dean,
in the presence of Charles Skingley and William Swinborne,
Churchwardens."
He married, in 1837, Elizabeth Isabella, only child of
John Martin-Leake, Esq., R.N., of High Cross, younger son
of the Rector of Wivenhoe, by whom he had two sons and
five daughters.
Mr. Dampier's early legal training was applied by him in
after life to many useful purposes. He had not been long
inducted here before he set himself the fulfilment of several
important works, an entry of which he made in one of the
parish books, and before he left Coggeshall he had the satis-
faction of writing opposite each resolution, " Done." Few
of us can properly realize the immense good that Mr.
Dampier did in this parish ; he was often misunderstood,
F 2
68 Ecclesiastical.
but, persevering in what he believed to be right, he was in
the later years of his ministry deeply loved and respected by
his parishioners.
Mr. Dampier was the author of a ' Memoir of John
Carter,' and ' The Sympathy of Christ.' He resigned the
living of Coggeshall, in March, 1876, after holding the bene-
fice for five-and-thirty years. For more than a year previously
he had, through failing health, become incapacitated.
He died, at Ramsgate, on the zoth November, 1878, but
was buried at Coggeshall ; his place of sepulture being marked
by a yew-tree, planted many years ago beside the grave of
his wife. The stones, beneath the shade cast by the per-
petual verdure of this emblem of the Resurrection, bear the
following inscriptions :
" In loving memory of William James Dampier, thirty-three
(it should be thirty-five) years vicar of this parish, died 20
Nov., 1878, aged 75."
" Elizabeth Isabella, the wife of William James Dampier,
M.A., Vicar of this parish, 2ist December, 1858, in peace,
aged 49 years."
" Elizabeth Maria, widow of John Martin-Leake, R.N.,
died at Honfleur, in France, nth January, 1862, aged 75
years."
The following were Curates here during Mr. Dampier's in-
cumbency :
WIGSON, William, 1841-44.
GRIFFIN HOOFE, Thomas John, 1844, B.A., Oxford; married Hen-
rietta Sophia, daughter of Henry Skingley, Esq., on 2nd
July, 1846.
IREMONGER, Frederick Assheton, 1845.
SUTTON, John, 1846.
BROWN, James William, 1847-8; married Ellen, daughter of
Henry Skingley, Esq., on 25th January, 1849.
HILL, Thomas Smyth, 1847-9, B.C.L., M.A., Oxford; now Rector
of Thorington, Halesworth.
JACKSON, William, 1849.
CUTTS, Edward Lewes, 1850-7, B.A., Cam., Hon. D.D. of the
Univ. of South, U.S.A. Many years hon. sec. of the Essex
Arch. Society, and was for some time, hon. sec. of the com-
The Clergy.
69
mittee for the restoration of Coggeshall Church, a work in
which he took a deep interest and rendered much valuable
service and advice, which he was so well able to do, by reason
of his extended knowledge of ecclesiastical architecture and
church furniture and decoration. He is the author of very
many works, including ' Turning Points of English Church
History,' 'Turning Points of General Church History,' 'A
Dictionary of the Church of England,' ' Constantine the
Great,' ' Charlemagne,' ' St. Jerome,' ' St. Augustine,' ' Monks
of the Middle Ages,' ' A History of Colchester,' &c., &c. He
is now Vicar of Holy Trinity, Haverstock Hill.
FRASER, William Francis, 1857-9, M.A. Cam. ; late of Hillgrove,
Stonehouse, Gloucester; now of Westbere Rectory, Canter-
bury.
BROWN, James William, 1859.
WALLER, Robert Plume, 1863, M.A. Cam. ; now Vicar of
Nazing, Essex.
HORROCKS, George, 1864.
PERTWEE, Arthur, 1864, M.A. Oxon. ; now Vicar of Brightlingsea.
ALLEN, John, 1864, B.A. Oxford; died 26 May, 1867, buried at
Coggeshall.
RAYMOND, Charles Andrewes, 1867 ; now Rector of St. Mary-
le-More, Wallingford.
Cox, Cecil Walker, 1868, B.A. Oxford; now Rector of Ather-
stone-on-Stour, Stratford-on-Avon.
CLARKE, D. L., 1871.
EAREE, Robert Brisco, 1871 ; now Chaplain at Sigismunder-
strasse, Berlin.
WHITTINGTON, Richard Thomas, 1872, M.A. Oxford; now Hon.-
Canon of St. Alban's and Rector of Orsett.
EYRE, Henry Taylor Williamson, 1873-7, M.A. Oxford; now
Vicar of Great Totham.
GREENE, Charles Philip, instituted, 14 May, 1876. Born 2nd
Oct., 1840, at Cotton House, Cotton, County Louth, Ireland;
son of William Pomeroy Greene, Esq., of the Royal Navy,
by his marriage with Anne Griffith, sister of Sir Richard
Griffith, Bart., well known as the author of ' Griffith's Valua-
tion.' In 1842, Mr. Greene with his wife and family went to
Port Philip (now Victoria), the family then consisting of six
sons and one daughter, Mary Frances, who afterwards became
7 Ecclesiastical.
the wife of the late Sir William Foster Stawell, K.C.M.G.,
Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, and formerly Chief-Justice
of that colony. Of the six sons, Charles Philip was the
youngest. He graduated at Melbourne University in 1862,
came to England in 1 864 ; was at Cuddesdon College for a
year, returned to Australia in 1867 ; Curate at the Cathedral,
Hobart, Tasmania, in 1868; Incumbent of Avoca in 1872;
Incumbent of St. John's, Hobart, 1873-5 > Vicar of Cogges-
hall, 1876 to 1885 ; now Rector of Clapham.
Curates during Mr. Greene's Incumbency :
EYRE, H. T. W., 1873-7.
BOWERS, John Philips Allcot, 1877-8, M.A. Cam. ; now Canon
designate of Gloucester, Missioner for the Diocese of Glou-
cester and Bristol, and Domestic and Examining Chaplain to
the Bishop of that Diocese. He married, i8th Feb., 1879,
Mary Louisa, daughter of Joseph Beaumont, Esq., of The
Lawn, Coggeshall.
MORTON, Henry James (1878-9), M.A., L.L.B., Cam.; now
Vicar of Cricklade, Wilts.
LEY, Gerald Henry Lewis, 1880-5, M.A., Oxon.; now Rector
of Chagford, Devon.
EVANS, Arthur Fitzgerald, 1880-5, M.A., Oxon; now vicar of
Great Maplestead.
PATCH, Hubert Mornington, inducted 27th Nov. 1885. Edu-
cated at Clare Coll. Cam., where he took the degree of B.A.
in 1862 and M.A. in 1865 ; ordained deacon, 1864, priest,
1865. His first curacy was at Lower Brixham, in the Diocese
of Exeter. In 1866-7, he was Curate of St. Luke's, Torquay ;
from 1867-9, Curate of Hungerford; from 1869 to 1885, he
was Curate-in-charge of the poor district of St. Michael,
Torquay, where he won much love and respect from all those
with whom he came in contact.
During Mr. Patch's Incumbency :
SCOTT, Frederick George, M.A., was Curate, 1885-6 ; he is now
Rector of Drummondsville, in the Diocese of Quebec. On
his resignation, Dec. 1887,
WHITE, Charles Lechmere, B.A., Oxon., from S. Peter's, London
Docks, was appointed Curate.
COGGESHALL CHURCH.
1889.
Rectory and Vicarage.
7 1
(Rectory
THE Rectory of Coggeshall, in early times, belonged to the
Abbot and Convent of Coggeshall, and although the evi-
dence is not conclusive, it supports the opinion that originally
there were two Churches at Coggeshall ; one in the larger parish,
and another in the smaller. Be this as it may, the Rectory or
Rectories became vested in the Abbey about the same time as
the Manors were conveyed to it, and so remained until the disso-
lution of the Abbey in 1538.
The abbots, as the possessors of the emoluments of the
church, discharged certain of the duties and obligations incum-
bent upon them, such as the entertainment of strangers and the
doling out of charity to the poor, but the cure of the souls of
the parishioners, they remitted to a vicar, (vicarius a substitute)
and for his services he was allowed some small portion of the
rectorial profits. All went well for a time, but in the first quarter
of the thirteenth century a controversy arose about the Church,
between Eustace de Fauconbergh, Bishop of London, and his
Chapter on the one part, and the Abbot and Convent of Cogges-
hall on the other part. This dispute was, by unanimous consent,
referred to John de Fontibus, Bishop of Ely, the Abbot and Con-
vent first resigning all their right in the Church into the hands of
the Bishop of London. The Bishop of Ely, in 1223, made a
final determination of the controversy, and ordained that the
Monks of Coggeshall should possess for the sustenance of the
poor and strangers, in perpetual right, all the tithes of corn of the
whole parish of the Church of Coggeshall (which in this document
is called the Church of Sunnedon), with all the land belonging to
it, except the chief mansion and nineteen acres in North Field
adjoining the same, and one acre in West field on the east side,
as far as the meadow, and all the meadow beyond the water-course
on the north side, and except the tenements which were held of the
same Church by Walter de Rustylford, John Gallicus, William de
Fonte, William Bore, John Delbroch, Widow Edith, with their
farmers, which, with all their tithes, obventions, and all other things
to the same Church belonging, the Vicar, who for the time being
should minister in the same Church, should receive by the name of
the Vicarage, and that he should sustain all burdens, debts, and
72 Ecclesiastical.
customs, and that the appointment and collation should belong to
the Bishop of London and their successors in perpetuity.
From this time (1223), the Rectory of Coggeshall was appro-
priated to the Abbot and Convent, and the Bishop of London
became patron of the Vicarage, and so continued till Dr. Nicholas
Ridley, Bishop of that See, on the i2th April, 4 Edw. VI., granted
the perpetual Advowson of this Vicarage to the King and to his
heirs and successors ; notwithstanding which, on the next vacancy,
Bishop Bonner, after he had been restored to the Bishopric, taking
no notice of his predecessor's grant, collated Robert Stockton to
this Vicarage in 1558. The advowson or right of presentation
was subsequently confirmed to Lord Riche, who died, possessed of
it in 1566, but without male issue, whereupon it devolved upon
his co-heiresses. Afterwards the advowson was possessed by Sir
Henry St. John, Bart., who was raised to the peerage as Viscount
St. John. He and his eldest son, Henry, Earl of Bolingbroke,
conveyed the right of presentation to Nehemiah Lyde, Esq.,
whose only daughter married Richd. DuCane, Esq., and in the
DuCane family it remains to the present day.
The Rectories of Great and Little Coggeshall, and the Vicar-
age of Little Coggeshall, with all tithes and appurtenances in
those parishes, were, in the 33rd year of Queen Elizabeth, granted
to John Wells, of London, Scrivener and Hercules Wytham, of
London, Gentlemen, who, on 8th Jany., 34 Elizth., sold them to
Richard Bettenson, of Coggeshall, Gentleman. He sold them in
the 2nd year of James I., to Richard Benyon, who died, i7th
Nov., in the 7th year of the same reign, leaving Richard his son
and heir, aged 4 years and 6 months. In the inquiry taken about
this time, the property is described as the Rectories of Great Cog-
geshall and Little Coggeshall, with the Vicarage of Little Cogges-
hall, held of the King, as of his Manor of East Greenwich, by
fealty as in free and common socage, and not in Coptic, nor by
Knight Service, and valued at S per annum clear.
Richard Benyan settled this estate, in 1629, on himself and
Margaret his wife for their lives. He, by will, dated i3th May,
1659, gave to Henry, his eldest son, all tithes of land in the Ham-
let of Little Coggeshall, part great and part small, and the tithes
of those grounds belonging to the Abbey, lying in Great Cogges-
hall, and the barn and ground in the Abbey Lane.
Henry Benyan. by his will, dated i8th Sept., 1673, gave his
Rectory and Vicarage. 73
brother Charles, in lieu of a legacy left him by his father, his tithes
in Little Coggeshall, except from a field called Horsepasture. The
residue of the tithes he gave to Thomas Stafford, Gentleman, with a
direction to sell them and his other estates for the payment of his
debts ; the balance he gave to Thomas Stafford for the mainten-
ance of the Chancel. A law suit arose about this gift, and on the
sale of the property by the sisters of Henry Benyan or Benion,
Thomas Cudmore became the purchaser of one moiety or half
part, and Henry Abbot of the other moiety.
Jones Raymond bought Cudmore's moiety, which afterwards
passed to Mr. Caswell and Mr. Thoyts, and it is now, and for
many years past has been, in the Western family.
Henry Abbot devised his moiety to his son Joseph, whose de-
visees sold it to Samuel Carter ; it was afterwards in the possession
of Ezekiel Wood and W T illiam Potter, then of Thomas Andrews,
by whom it was sold to Henry Skingley, Esq., and in this family it
continues to the present day.
Augustin Mayhew, of Great Coggeshall, Gent, in 1661,
purchased of Henry Benyan, the tithes issuing out of Hovels,
formerly the estate of Thomas Aylet, Gent. ; the tithes of a Farm,
formerly the estate of John Gurdon, Esq. (query Potash Farm) ; the
tithes of Thomas Guyon's, Stock Street Farm ; and of a farm at
Stock Street, formerly Robert Aylet's, afterwards his son's, Thomas
Aylet; of another farm at Stock Street, belonging to Robert
Crane ; of a field containing 5 acres in Blackwater Field, near the
bridge ; of a house called the Vyne, in the same locality ; of
Crowlands Farm, belonging to Nicholas Foster; and of Monk
Wood, and several other properties.
Augustin Mayhew, in 1675, when he is described as of Bore-
ham, settled these tithes on the marriage of his son and heir,
William Mayhew with Elizabeth Harrison, the only daughter of
Bridget Onge, of Colchester, Widow. In 1695, William and
Elizabeth Mayhew sold these tithes, or some of them, to George
Nicholls.
Z$t otmnufafton of t$t Zitfyte.
IN 1836, the Tithe Commutation Act was passed, but the tithes
of Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall were not commuted
until 1851. Prior to this year the tithe was liable to be rendered
74 Ecclesiastical.
in kind, and the following records bearing upon the subject are
taken from the cover of Vol. II. of the Registers :
"May 14, 1680 Memorandum that I, James Boys, Vicar of
Coxall, did, on the day and year above sayd, tith out 400 of
faggots in Monk Wood, in that part that belong to Hovels, it
being sold by Mr. Plum standing. Peter Harvey, of Coxall, John
Ellis, Richard Putner, of Sticestead, Henry Boltwood, of Passak
( Pattiswick), assuring that they can sware that Mr. Sedgwick and
Mr. Owen had tith there formerly."
"April 18, 1681 Memorandum that I, James Boys, Vicar of
Coggeshall, did on the day and year above written tith out 350
tilts and 124 hop poles in Monk Wood, in that part that belong to
Hovells, it being sold by Mr. Plum standing, Mr. Wilkins, of
Patteswick, being with me and Mr. Ellis. April the 2oth, 1681,
then did Housin Dale .... fetch home the 350 tilts and
50 of the poles."
The commissioner, who made the commutation award, found
that certain lands were by prescription totally exempt from the
payment of tithes, that the tithes of other lands were merged,
that no tithes were payable in respect of certain lands when in the
manurance or occupation of the owners, as such lands were part
of the possessions of the dissolved Abbey of Coggeshall, and
were so held discharged at the time of the dissolution of the
monastery ; that other lands were exempt from the payment of all
tithes, except tithes of corn, grain and hay, when in the manu-
rance or occupation of the owners.
The following are the principal properties in Great Coggeshall
which enjoy the Cistercian privilege, either of partial or total ex-
emption from the 'payment of tithes when occupied by their
owners : Raincrofts, Horse Pasture, Cowlees, Vincents Close,
the Monk Woods, the Gate House Farm, Grange Wood, Bowers
Grange, Bullocks Cross Farm and Monkdowns Farm. In Little
Coggeshall there are only two small properties which enjoy total
exemption from tithe when in the owner's occupation; these are
Tye Mill Pightle, and the houses and gardens on the south side of
the river by Long Bridge.
The total amount of .the tithes of Great Coggeshall as com-
muted, is ,1,136 i8s. 6d., of which the Vicar receives ^350 only,
the rest being payable to the Lay Impropriators ; in Little Cogges-
hall, the tithes are commuted at ^355 175. zd., the vicar's proper-
The Vicarage Augmentation of the Living. 75
tion being ^28. The amount payable to the vicar from both
parishes when the tithe is at par thus amounts to ^"378. This
sum fluctuates with the price of corn, and, in the year 1889, yields
only about ^300 gross ; and, as several of the lands which enjoy
the Cistercian privilege are in the manurance of the owners, this
sum is reduced to about 200, which is further reduced by rates,
taxes and costs of collection to about ^160 per annum.
In Newcourt's time, there was a terrier dated 1610, which set
the property of the vicarage down as follows : " A vicarage house,
a barn, an orchard, and a garden, and about 19 acres-and-a-half
and three roods of glebe land." In addition to this there is near
the river, and about a mile from the town towards West Mill, a
field, No. 320 on the Ordnance Survey and containing 3a. 2r. i5p.
which belongs to the vicarage.
HP HE first stone, south-east corner, of the present residence was
-* laid on the loth June, 1869, by Isabella, second daughter
of the Rev. William James Dampier, Vicar ; and a record of the
fact on parchment, with a piece of the current coin of the realm,
was deposited beneath the stone. The house was completed and
ready for occupation on the 9th April following. On the mantle-
piece in one of the rooms are the arms of the Dampier family :
or., a lion ramp sa., crowned gu., a label of five points of the
same. The residence including the outbuildings cost about
;i,ooo. This sum was advanced by the governors of Queen
Anne's Bounty, and is secured by a mortgage of the glebe, tithes,
and other profits of the living, and was originally repayable by 30
yearly instalments with interest at 4 per cent. The period of
repayment has recently been extended ; the instalment with in-
terest for the year 1889 amounts to
(ftugntenfafton of
T3Y his will, proved on the igth July, 1888, Major George
^~* Decks Skingley, directed his executors after the death of
his wife to invest ^3,333 6s. 8d. in consols or securities of a like
nature in the names of the vicar and churchwardens for the time
being of the parish of Great Coggeshall ; the income arising from
this fund, when invested, will be payable to the vicar for the time
being of the parish for his own use and benefit in perpetuity.
76 Ecclesiastical.
The gift is to be free of legacy duty and expenses. It is hoped
that Major Skingley's munificent gift will remind others that the
Vicarage of Coggeshall is not yet endowed as fully as it ought to
be considering the size of the parish and the work which a faithful
minister finds absolutely necessary to be done. .
anb )8ite,
CHANTRIES were certain portions of the. church in which
wealthy people set up and endowed additional altars for
masses in propitiation for the sins of the departed. A separate
aisle or transept was often added to the church for the purpose,
and this would be dedicated to the favourite saint of the founder.
An Obit was a service kept on the anniversary of the death of
some individual, and on the occasion of it, the endowment for its
maintenance was distributed among the priest, the sexton, and
such poor persons as were in attendance at the service, to pray for
the soul of the deceased. The money was generally secured by
a charge in favor of the churchwardens, upon a house or land
belonging to the founder.
It is probable that the north chancel aisle of our church was
erected by the Paycock family, as their wills * have frequent refer-
ence to Saint Katherine's Aisle ; thus, John Pecok of Coggeshall,
who made his will, on 2oth January, 1505-6 (proved yth April,
1506), directs that his body shall be buried in the parish church
of Saint Peter, in the north aisle, before the image of Saint Kath-
erine. He then orders a month's mind to be kept with lights and
other observances, " as belongeth to a dead corpse to be done ;"
a priest to say mass, when disposed for the space of five years,
for the deceased, his father and mother and all Christian souls,
having for his salary, 10 marks. He makes a bequest for the
maintenance of St. Katherine's light, for his name to be put upon
the Bede-roll of the church, and for his obit for five years.
THOMAS PAYCOCKE, of Coggeshall, (third son of John Pecok)
made his will, 3rd Sept., 1518 (proved i6th Feby., 1518-19). He
thereby directs that his body shall be buried in the Church of
Coxhall, before the altar of Saint Katherine ; he bequeaths to the
High Altar of Coggeshall Church, in recompense of tithes and of
all other things forgotten, ^4 ; he bequeaths to a tabernacle of the
* See ante page 33.
Chantries and Obits. 77
Trinity at the high altar, and another of Saint Margaret in Saint
Katherine's Aisle, " there as the greate lady stonds," for the carving
and gilding of them, 100 marks [13/4 each]; for the reparations
of the Church and bells, and for his lying in the Church, 100
nobles [6/8 each]. He gives 500 marks to a chantry, for the priest
to pray for him and his wife, his father and mother, John and
Eme, and for his father-in-law, Thomas Arrold, of Clare, and for
his friends' souls that he was bound to pray for, the purchasing
and mortessing * [query mortifying] to the King and also to the
same chantry, 6 poor men to keep the same mass 3 days in the
week, viz : Monday, Wednesday and Friday, to pray for the souls
before rehearsed, and therefor to have 18 pence among them every
week to fulfil this, and also every year, 100 wood apiece, and his
priest to sing in Coxhall Church, afore Saint Katherine's altar.
He willed that his executors should bestow upon his burying, 7th
day and month day, after this manner : At his burial to have " a
tryntal of prests and to be at dirige lawdes commendations, as
many of them as may be purveyed that day at service, the tryntall,
and if any lack to make it up the 7th day, and at the month day
another tryntall to be purveyed hoole of mine executors and to
keep dirige lawdes and commendations as is afore rehearsed, with
3 high masses be note, one of the Holy Ghost, another of Our
Lady, and another of Requiem, both burial and 7th day and month
day, and priests being at this observance and singing of their
tryntals, to have -/i2d. every time, and other priests being there
and not singing the tryntalls, to have -,/4d., and every other man
being at this observance -/4cL every time, and children at every
time -/2d. ; with torches at the burial -/i2d., and -/6d. at the 7th
day, and -/i2d. at the month day, with 24 or 12 small children in
rochets (surplices with short sleeves) with tapers in their hands,
as many as there be of them let them be my godchildren, and
they to have 6s./8d. apiece, and every other child -/4d. apiece,
and every man that holdeth torches at every, he to have -/ 2C U
apiece, and every man, woman, and child that holdeth up hand
at every of these 3 days, to have -/id. apiece, and also every
godchild beside 6s./8d. apiece, and to the ringers for all 3 days,
* A License from the Crown was requisite before property could be con-
veyed to charitable uses; for, by such conveyance, the estate became vested in
a corporation, with perpetual succession, and so the feudal rights of the lord of
the fee were seriously prejudiced.
7$ Ecclesiastical.
ios./; and for meat, drink, and 2 sermons of a Doctor [i.e. of
Divinity], and also to have a dirige at home, or I be borne to the
church, 50." He then wills that his lord abbot and convent
should have a broad cloth, 4 in money for to have a dirige and
mass and then bells ringing at his burial when it was done ; at
church likewise, the 7th day and month day with 3 trentalls upon
the same days, if they could serve them, or else when they could
at more leisure, 10. There are several other bequests for tren-
talls and other objects, including ,40 to the foulways in West
Street, from Haresbridge to a field of unmentionable name near
the ist milestone on the Braintree road, and a like sum for the
foulways between Coxhall and Blackwater.
SIR THOMAS MONTGOMERY, Knt, by his will dated 28th July,
1489, gave to the vicary of Coggeshall and to the vicars of other
places in this neighbourhood 8s./4d. each, " so that they or their
deputies remembre to pray for my soule and my wife's, ev'ry Son-
day two yere after my deceasse, at the bedys bydding, and to pray
for me and my wifes oon day in the weke aftre the custome is."
The bedys bydding or bidding of the beads was the reading
of the Roll of names of persons living and dead, whose souls
were to be particularly borne in mind by the congregation, during
the prayers which followed. A bead means something bid or
prayer for, in its original sense.
JOHN FABYAN, who was a citizen and draper of London, made
his will on the 7th May, 1477, and directed that if certain of his
children died before they were of age or married, part of the
monies which he bequeathed to them should be employed by his
executors to sustain and find an honest priest to sing and pray for
his soul, and for the souls of his father and mother, and all his
children, and good doers, and all Christian souls in the parish
Church of Coggeshall, wherein his father laid buried, in the county
of Essex, by the space of 20 years next ensuing after the death
of that child of his said children that last died. He also be-
queathed one hundred marks therewith to ordain, sustain, and find
an honest priest to sing and pray for his soul and for the souls
aforesaid in the parish Church of Coggeshall for 10 years next
ensuing his own decease. He gave to William Heysand, his ser-
vant, for to pray for his soul ^20, or he was to have a tenement
with the appurtenances in the town of Coggeshall, in which the
widow Sterling then dwelt. It was doubtless from this family of
Chantries and Obits. 79
Sterling that the name of the pastures on the north side of East
Street had its origin.
In the 37th year of Henry VIII. the collegiate and chantry
endowments of the kingdom were, by Act of Parliament, declared
to belong to the King. They were, however, only partially appro-
priated in this reign, but, in the first year of King Edwd. VI.,
another statute was passed which granted to the crown the reve-
nues of all chantries, fraternities, hospitals and colleges still re-
maining.
The following certificate shows to some extent what properties
were possessed by the church or the abbey for religious purposes :
"CERTIFICATE of Chantry Lands, 2 Ed. VI., for Essex.
" Coggeshall, in Lexden Hundred.
" Lands and tenements there put in feoffment by divers and
sundry persons to the maintenance of a priest for ever, the said
priest to sing mass in Coggeshall aforesaid, and also to help serve
the cure. And one, Sir Thomas Francys, Clerke, of the age of
56 years, having no' other promotion, and teacheth a school there,
of good usage and conversation, is now Incumbent thereof. And
the said Incumbent celebrateth in the said Church of Coggeshall.
The yearly value of the same doth amount to the sum of ^7.
Rent resolute null. Goods and chattels none. Memorandum : it
is to be considered that the same town of Coggeshall is a populous
towne, and having in it to the number of 1,000 of howseling
people, and have no more but the Vicar and the said Chantry
Priest to minister there, who is not able to serve the same without
help.
" One tenement given by one HAMPSER for one yearly obite
for ever, in the tenure of Robert Miles, worth by the yere 25. gd.
whereof to the poor, 8d. Remainder clear. i2d.
" Vere, widow, holdeth 5 crofts of land with one meadow for
2 obites, one of PEACOCK and the other of COLDWIRES, worth by
the year i6s., whereof to the poor, 45. Rem. clear, 125.
" 7 crofts of land and one meadow for the obite of ROB. PEA-
COCK, in the tenure of John Hilles, worth by the year i6s., where-
of to the poor, 6s. 8d. Rem. clear, 95. 4d.
" One garden called Godanfs Garden, given by one NESFIELD,
for one obite for ever, in the tenure of John Gooddaie, 23. 6d.,
whereof to the poor, nd. Rem. clear, ipd.
Ecclesiastical.
" CLARKE, Taylor, gave one tenement for one obite for ever
in the tenure of John Amye by Indenture, worth by the year,
35. zd.
" THOS. RANDOLPH gave a tenement with certain lands, called
Roodes land, for the obite of the same Thomas, in the tenure of
Thomas Clerke, and payeth by the year for the same us. 4d.,
whereof to the poor people, 33. 4d. Rem. clear, 8s.
" One tenement given to the finding of one obite for ever, in
the tenure of Wm. Lawrence, worth by the year, 33., whereof to
the poor, i2d. Rem. clear, 25.
" One tenement given by one, WIMBORNE, for one yearly obite
for ever, worth by the year, 33., whereof to the poor, i2d. Rein,
clear, 23.
" One tenement given by one GRANGER, for one yearly obite
for ever, in the tenure of John Heyward, worth by the year, 2od.,
whereof to the poor, 8d. Rem. clear, izd.
" One messuage and a garden given by one OLD TRUE, to the
maintenance of the lamp light for ever, in the tenure of Henry
Warde, by Indenture for term of 80 years yet to come, worth by
the year, 35.
" Given out of a tenement with a cottage and a croft of land,
called Vincents, in the tenure of John Peacock for one yearly
obite for ever, by Indenture for term of 100 years yet to come,
by the year, 6s.
" Item, one old Chaple in the street there, with a little garden,
which is worth by the year, 45.
" Item, one house there called the Geildhall, and is worth by
the year, 55.
" Item, one tenement decayed, called the Priest's Chamber,
with one orchard, worth yearly 55."
From a Particular of divers lands granted by Letters Patent
to several persons in fee farm, in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth
and King James I., further information may be gained with regard
to properties held for religious purposes at the time of the reform-
ation.
The following estates were granted to Jeffery Morley, on i8th
March, in the i8th year of Queen Elizabeth (A.D. 1576), at the
fee farm rents set opposite thereto respectively :
" An acre of land in Nether Church Field [being the greater
Chantries and Obits. 81
part of the garden known as ' The Lawn,' occupied by Mr. Joseph
Beaumont]. Rent, 35. gd.
" A farm called Stockman's, and a tenement called Tripps [now
part of the Hanbury Estate]. Rent, 2 135. 4d.
"A house called Sorell [east of Windmill or Highfield's Lane
in West Street]. Rent, is. 4d.
"A house called Drapers [in East Street, now belonging to
Mrs. John Sach and in the occupation of Mr. Richard Browning
Smith, Butcher]. Rent, 35. 4d.
"A house called Plummers [in Church Street, owned and
occupied by Mr. E. T. Scott]. Rent, is. 4d.
" Cowlees or Horselees, containing 7a. ar. or. [No. 331, Ord-
nance Survey ; belongs to Messrs. Pfander Swinborne, situate in
West Street, bounded on the south by the Back Ditch]. Rent,
5s.
" Pope's Lees, or Horsepasture, containing 2 acres [situate in
East Street, belongs to Mrs. Mayhew, No. 334, Ordnance Survey],
Rent, 43. 8d."
The undermentioned properties were granted to Ralph Wolley,
citizen and Merchant Tailor of London, and Thomas Dodd,
citizen and Grocer of London, on aoth Oct., in the 2nd year of
King James I. (A.D. 1604) :
" The Dairy House at the Holme Grange in Little Coggeshall,
then in the occupation of John Cowell, with the Shepenhouse nigh
the Gatehouse on the north side of the King's Highway. Rent,.
24 6s. 8d. [This property comprises the lands between Curd
Hall Lane and the river, and was purchased by Nehemiah Lyde,
of Hackney, Merchant, in 1701, from Edward Bullock, Esq., of
Faulkborne Hall, who at the same time sold to Mr. Lyde the fee
farm rent of ^24 6s. 8d. charged upon it]
" The Watermill and Chambers to the same, and the garden
called Love's Garden, and one other garden called Sand ford garden,
and the waste ground within the Monastery. Rent, 5. [Love
and Sampford were Abbots shortly before the dissolution, and
these properties were probably part of their possessions. This
rent is not now payable, having probably become merged by
unity of ownership.]
" The Mansion House within the Monastery, formerly demised
to Mathew Bacon. Rent, 2 2s. 2d. [This is doubtless the
Abbey Farm].
82 Ecclesiastical.
" The land and marsh called Coggeshall Hay, formerly demised
to Richard Poulter. Rent, ^3 135. 4d. [These lands form part
of the Hanbury Estate and lie near Pattiswick.]
"A croft called Buskett, with the rest of the premises formerly
demised to William Enewe. Rent, \ us. 8d. [This property
contains, according to the Morden College Survey of 1740, about
37 acres of land, lying between Tilkey Road and Tilkey Brook,
and now belongs to various owners.]
" The woods, called Monkwood and Little Monkwood, late de-
mised to Thomas Dockwray. Rent, 2.
" One tenement, one garden and shop, late demised to Richard
Todd. Rent, 75. o|d. [Now belong to Mrs. John Sach, situate
in Church Street, abutting west upon the Bull Inn, and north
upon Back Lane.]
" Two pieces of land demised to William Trewe. Rent, -/8d.
[In Church Street, and now belongs to Mr. Thomas Simpson ;
one of the houses thereon being used as a surgery.]
"The tenement called Through-Inn, late demised to George
and John Ansell. Rent, 123. and a pound of pepper. [The Ib.
of pepper is compounded for at is. 6d. Now called the Bird-in-
Hand, and situate between Church Street and East Street.]
"A tenement demised to Richard Constantine. Rent, us.
[At the corner formed by the juncture of Church Street with East
Street.]
"A farm called Griggs farm. Rent, $ 155. [Still so called
and situate on the south side of Braintree Road.]
" Two tenements in Stoneham Street. Rent, is. 8d. [Known
as The Limes, belongs to Mr. Doubleday, occupied by Mrs. Gor-
belL]
"The house called the Brewhouse, with the pasturage for 2
cows in the Old Park. Rent, 8s. [Houses and gardens adjoining
the river towards the north, and the road leading to Kelvedon
towards the west. This property belongs to Messrs. Green and
Hart.]
" One tenement on the north side of Longbridge, together with
the meadow containing 3 roods. Rent, 45.
" A piece of land called Pound Pasture in Little Coggeshall,
on the north side of the Grange Barn. Rent, 25. [Evidently so
named from the Pound which formerly stood on the west side of
Grange Hill.]
Chantries and Obits. 83
" A tenement in East Street, late in the occupation of William
Gray. Rent, 35. 4d.
" Three tenements with the close called Vincents Close, with a
dovehouse late in the occupation of John Gray. Rent, 6s. 8d.
[Now the property of Messrs. Pfander Swinborne and situate on
south side of West Street.]
"Two tenements in Church Street, late in the occupation of
William Rodley. Rent, 8s. [On the south side of Church Street.]
"One tenement in West Street, late in the tenure of Elizabeth
Richold. Rent, 45. [Belongs to White's Trustees.]
"Three acres called Butfs Pasture near the Church Yard,
late in the tenure of Joane Rivers, widow. Rent, 35. 4d. [No.
364, Ordnance Survey.] ,
"One tenement with a messuage in West Street, and two
gardens, and one croft, called King's Croft, at the west end of
West Street. Rent, i8s. 6d. [Now belongs to Messrs. Pfander-
Swinborne.]
" Lands and pasture in Windwill Field, late in the tenure of
Jeremy Arnold. Rent, i. [Part of Highfield's Farm.]
"Land, called Pope's Lees and Pope's Meadow, otherwise Horse
pasture, late in the tenure of Thomas Guyon, containing 4 acres.
Rent, 45. 8d. [No. 333, Ord. Survey.]
" A messuage with a garden, called Gotiers, and one croft ad-
joining to a tenement called Brookemans, at Bissing Gutter, in the
West Street ; one parcel of land in Earleswell, in Windmil Gate
Lane, containing half-an-acre ; and one parcel of land, called
Church Pond,* with a little cottage thereupon built, late in the
tenure of Robert Litherland. Rent, IDS. 4d. [This comprises the
gelatine factory of Messrs. Swinborne and other property to the
east of it.]
" Two parcels of land called Litleyards, late in the tenure of
trie-said Robert Litherland. Rent, 55. 4d. [This is the Rood
House, abutting west upon Long Bridge and south upon the
river. ]
"A tenement in Church Street, called Algors, with an orchard
and two other tenements, and two gardens to the same lying
against Coggeshall Church, late in the occupation of John Gray.
* The names ' Earles Well ' and ' Church-pond,' are interesting in con-
nection with the Roman Cemetery, referred to on p. 7.
G 2
8 4 Ecclesiastical.
Rent, 55. i id. [Part of Mr. Beaumont's orchard opposite the
Church.]
"A tenement in Church Lane, late in the tenure of Doctor
Giggens or Joane Rivers, widow. Rent, 25. 6d. [This property is
situate east of Wayne Lane and north of the cloth factory, which
stands on the north side of Church Street. Here was the resi-
dence, if not the birth-place of Dr. John Jegon, afterwards Bishop
of Norwich, a short biography of whom will be given in a subse-
quent page.]
"One messuage with 2 crofts in Little Coggeshall, in Pointell
Street, late in the tenure of John Leazwell. Rent 45. [At the
Hamlet.]
"Two tenements at Starling Lees Stile, late in the occupation
of William Fuller. Rent, 25. [The south east corner of Starling
Lees].
" One tenement, called Kemmers, in East Street, late in the
occupation of William Lawrence. Rent, 45. [On the east of the
Swan Yard, and now belongs to Mr. Marten.]
" Two tenements in Church Street, late in the occupation of
Daniel Larke. Rent 8s. [Nearly opposite the Mechanic's Institute.]
" Two other tenements in Church Street, in the tenure of
Henry Stedman. Rent, is. [Now a cloth factory, north of Church
Street and east of Wayne Lane ; has projecting upper floors, and
is ornamented with carved woodwork, the frieze in Wayne Lane
having on it ' Richard White, 1736.']
" Two acres in Pointell Street, in Little Coggeshall, late in the
tenure of Nicholas Merrill. Rent 6s. [Hamlet House is built
upon part of this property, now occupied by Mrs. Sheldrake.]
" One tenement, called a Mill-house, in Church Lane, contain-
ing one acre with a dove-house and pond, late in the tenure of
Thomas . . . and William Sanders. Rent, 8d. [Belongs to
Mrs. E. V. Gardner, and is situate in Church Street and Back
Lane].
" One parcel of land called Clappers, lying on the west side of
Stoneham Street, adjoining upon the west side of the Cock;, late
in the tenure of Robert Fuller. Rent, 6s. 6d. [Now belongs to
Messrs. Durant.]
" One tenement called Frances, with the appurtenances, late in
the tenure of John Mann. Rent, 35. 4d. [In East Street]
"One little tenement containing one acre called Scriveners
Chantries and Obits. 85
barne, in East Street, late in the occupation of Thomas Bridges.
Rent, 4<i. [Abbey View House, abutting east upon Starling Lees.]
"One parcel of land, called Le Pond Garden, in Church Street,
late in the occupation of Joan Rivers, widow. Rent, id. [Abuts
east on Wayne Lane, north on Back Lane, and west upon a pass
age leading to St. Peter's Well]
" All that land or pasture, parcel of the Grange or farm called
Hovells. Rent, 1. [No. 53, Ordnance Survey.]
" A parcel of land called Crowchers, behind Stoneham Street,
late in the tenure of William Fuller. Rent, 6d." [Nos. 294 & 295,
Ordnance Survey.]
The following property was granted to Edward Newport and
John Crompton on 25th March, 5 James I. (A.D. 1608) :
" The Grange called Coggeshall Grange, and the buildings be-
longing thereto, lying on the south part of the Holme or Holme
Grange, and all those fields called Culies Beninshether Westfield
and Further Westfield, and all those 16 acres of meadow near
Bradwell. Rent, 24. 35. 4d." [This property now belongs to the
DuCane family, and comprises Home Grange and Curd Hall.
The Rent was purchased by Nehemiah Lyde (subject to the life
interest therein of the Dowager Queen Katherine) of Sir John
Banks, Bart, in 1694.]
The following properties were granted to Sir Edward Phillips
and John Seward, on the 26th January, 5 King James I. (A.D.
1608) :
" One parcel of land within the field called Monkdowne, lying
near Colchester Highway on the south part, containing by estima-
tion, 30 acres. Rent, i 135. od.
"Another parcel within the said field, containing by estimation,
27 acres. Rent, i 75.
"One other parcel of land in the said field, containing 20
acres. Rent, 1 IDS.
" One parcel of land in Great Coggeshall, containing 7 acres
[a word or two illegible] . . of land belonging to the
Manor of Coggeshall aforesaid. Rent, i 53. lod.
" One parcel of land, called Jackletts Hawkes, containing 20
acres. Rent, i.
[The above are now known as Great Monk Downs.]
" One other parcel of land, called Little Monkdowne, contain-
ing 51 acres. Rent, 2 75. i|d.
86 Ecclesiastical.
"One croft of land, called Raine Croft, containing 32 acres.
Rent, ;i i2s." [Nos. 401, 402 & 403, Ordnance Survey.]
On the 29th April, 7 James I. (A.D. 1610), a tenement called
the Cocke, in Coggeshall, was granted to Peregrine Gastrell and
Ralph Lownds, with other property. Rent, i 133. 4d. This is
probably part of the property belonging to Mrs. J. K. King, sit-
uate on the Gravel, and the land in the rear upon part of which
Messrs. Durant's factory stands. It is still called Cock Orchard.
The Courts for the Manor of Great Coggeshall appear to have
been formerly held here. Opposite the Cock was the butcher's
shambles.
On the loth July, 21 James I. (A.D. 1624), the Manor of
Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall, with the appurtenances,
was granted to Sir James Fullerton, Knt., and James Maxwell,
Esqr. Rent, 42 6s. 8d. This property belongs to the Du
Cane family. The rent of ^42 6s. 8|d. charged thereon, was
purchased by their ancestor, Nehemiah Lyde, in 1694, subject to
the life interest therein of the Dowager Queen Katherine.
Most of the foregoing rents, with others, were, on i3th Sept.,
1672, conveyed by the Right Hon. Francis, Lord Hawley, Sir
Charles Harbord, Knt, Surveyor to His Majesty King Charles II.;
Sir William Hayward, Knt. ; Sir John Talbot, Knt. ; and Sir
William Harbord, the Trustees thereof for the Crown, to Sir John
Banks, Bart., and others. These rents afterwards belonged to Sir
John Morden, of Ricklemarsh, Kent, Bart., who, by his will, dated
1 5th Oct., 1702, gave them to his trustees, for the sustenance of
poor, honest, sober and distressed merchants of not less than 50
years of age, and such as had lost their estates by accidents,
damages and perils of the seas, and otherwise; each of them was
to have ^20 a year, with right of residence in the College he had
already built at Charlton, near Blackheath, in Kent.
THE ABBEY.
| HE monks that settled in Coggeshall, sometime between
the years 1137 and 1142, were of the Cistercian Order,
and not of the Cluniac, as stated by Weever, whose
error is quoted but not rectified by Newcouit. The
Clunies were black monks, whereas the Cistercians wore a white
gown and hood over a white cassock, and it is pointed out in
Dugdale's Monasticon that there is such evidence as cannot be
shaken that the Monks of Coggeshall were of the Cistercian
order.
This order was esteemed so highly, and received such support
from the people of this country, and especially from Queen
Matilda, that within three years after their first settlement no less
than eighteen houses were established, founded, endowed and
peopled, and of these it is said the Abbey of Coggeshall was fifth
in order of time. Among their other houses were the magnificent
piles of Tintern, Netley, Kirkstall, and Furness, the extensive
remains of which throw some light upon the situation of the
various departments of our abbey here.
The exact date of the foundation is uncertain. Parco Lude
speaks of 1137 ; Weever, from the Book of St. Austin, in Canter-
bury, says 1140; Leland, 1141 ; while Tanner mentions 1142 as
the date, and in this he is followed by Dugdale, who quotes from
88 The Abbey.
a chronicle of Coggeshall in the Cottonian Library (sub effigie
Neronis, D 2) to the following effect : " In year 1142, the Abbey
of Coggeshall was founded by King Stephen and Matilda his
Queen, who also founded the abbeys of Furness, Lungvillars and
Favresham, where their bodies were interred. In the same year
the convent came together at Coggeshall in Nones of August."
The greatest benefactor of the abbey was Queen Matilda, who
endowed it with the Manor of Coggeshall, one of the estates she
inherited as heiress of the house of Boulogne. This Manor, at
the time of the Domesday Survey belonged to Earl Eustace, and
was held by him in demesne having been held in the time of
King Edward the Confessor by Colo, a freeman, for one manor,
and for three and a half hides and thirty-three acres. The survey
continues, " Always iii teams in the demesne, and when he got
possession i team ; then (i.e. temp. Edw. the Confessor) xvi teams
of the homagers afterwards and now (circa 1086, A.D.) xiv; then
xi villeins, afterwards and now ix ; then xxii bordars now xxxi ;
now iv serfs ; then wood for dc swine now for d ; xxxviii acres of
meadow. As much pasture as is worth x pence. Always i mill,
i horse, xv swine, iv goats, iv hives of bees. To this manor
belong xi socmen, and i priest, and i swineheard, and i hired
servant. To this manor have been added xxxviii acres which i
freeman holds of the king. Then this manor was worth x pounds,
now xiv ; but yet it yields xx pounds and the above-mentioned
xxxviii acres are worth x shillings."
Such is probably the estate which passed to the abbey, as in
the charter or deed of gift the manor is granted to the abbot and
convent of Coggeshall, as freely and peaceably as "Count Eustace,
my father, and we afterwards more freely and peaceably held it
free from scots, aids, shires, hundreds, Dane gelt, and all things
of the army and horsemen, from work of the park, from work and
custody of the castle, from all other works and all kinds of service,
from murder and all other things, and all fines, with sacha and
socha, and toll and team, and power to punish crime, and all
customs and liberties."
The grant was confirmed at Coggeshall by King Stephen in
the presence of his Queen, their son, Eustace, Count of Boulogne,
and others, and was subsequently further confirmed by William,
Earl of Boulogne and Warren, another son of Stephen and
Matilda.
Grants and Endowments. 89
Matilda also granted to the monks at Coggeshall an exemption
from toll and other customs throughout all the lands belonging to
her and her son, Eustace, both in England and at Boulogne.
King Henry II. confirmed to GOD and to the Holy Mother of
GOD, Mary, and to the Cistercian monks " all the Manor of Coke-
shale, where the abbey is situated, and to the same church what
they have at Toleshunt of- the fee of Geofry de Tregoz, of the fee
of Geofry de Magnaville, at Neweshales ; of the fee of Baldwin
de Rouet, and what they possess in the lands of Moldeburne, and
in the marshes of Hely." This grant was confirmed by Henry II.,
in the eighteenth year of his reign.
William Filiol, with the consent of Emme his wife, and Bald-
win his son, gave to the Abbey of Coggeshall, and the monks
there serving GOD, in pure and perpetual eleemosinary for the souls
of his son Ralph, and of his own heirs, one acre, one rood, and
four perches of pasture on this side of the rivulet, from the spring
of Stokewelle on the east of the abbey, for which, before the
death of his son Ralph, they were accustomed to pay 12 pence
per annum. The name of Filiol, or Foliole, occurs on the Roll
of Battle Abbey, 1066, among the names of the warriors who
fought under the banner of the Conqueror.
On the seal of the grant by William Filiol to Coggeshall
Abbey, 'is a representation of a font, with a king on one side, and
a bishop on the other, holding a child as in the ceremony of bap-
tism, from which it is supposed that the family had a tradition of
this surname (fileul, a godson) having been given at the time of
baptism to one of their ancestors, by one of the kings of England.
Baldwin Filiol had an estate at Kelvedon, in or about the reign of
King Stephen, and it continued in the family of that name for
several generations, and from Filiols Hall it is supposed that the
present name of the property, P'elix Hall, is corrupted, but it is
possible that Felix Hall is associated with much earlier, namely,
Roman times.
King Richard I., by charter, commanded that the brethren of
this abbey, and all their men and things, be quit at fairs and sea-
port, from toll and passage, portage and pedage, and every other
custom and secular exaction, for all things which they should buy
or sell, or cause to be carried away, throughout every place under
the king's authority, by land or by water, to their proper use ; and
no one was to vex or disturb them, for the king acknowledged
9 The Abbey.
that he held them and theirs in his protection and custody, and
any who should vex or injure them or theirs could not look for
his Majesty's protection.
Ralph the Vintner, between the years 1154-89, gave to the
Abbey of Coggeshall, and to the monks there serving GOD, an
annual rent of half a mark, which they were to receive from the
rent of the cellar next to the chapel of Saint Thomas the Martyr,
in London, namely: forty pence at the Feast of the Passover, and
forty pence at the Feast of St. Michael. This rent he gave, and
by his charter confirmed to them, to buy wine for saying masses
for the souls of all his ancestors, and for the welfare of himself,
his wife, his children, and all his benefactors. Shortly afterwards,
William, the son of Ralph the Vintner, by charter confirmed the
gift of his father. Later on, we read that Ralph, Abbot of Cog-
geshall and the convent of Coggeshall, sold to the Abbot and
convent of St. Peter, Gloucester, all the rent which they formerly
held of the gift of Ralph the Vintner, arising from a certain cellar
near the Church of Saint Martin of Bermanchurch, in London,
and for this sale the Abbot and convent of Gloucester gave to
the Abbey of Coggeshall, five marks sterling. (See the Car-
tulary of the Monastery of St. Peter, Gloucester ; M.R. Series,
Vol. i, p. 390.)
King John, on xoth January, 1243, gave the monks of Cog-
geshall leave to enclose their wood in the Manor of Coggeshall
(doubtless the same as is now called Monk Wood), with a ditch
and hedge of pales, and with gates, and to convert it into a park,
with liberty to fell therein whatever they wished, and of having
their dogs, and the dogs of their men unbound for which they
paid the king an acknowledgment of forty marks.
Robert Hovel, and Margaret, his wife, in 1249, g ave to tne
Abbot and monks of Coggeshall the advowson of Childerditch,
and they presented to it, as a rectory, till 1370.
King Henry III., in 1251, granted a license for the monks to
enclose their woods and heaths at Tolleshunt Mayer (Major),
Tolleshunt Tregoz, Inneworth, Chiltenditch, and Warlegh Setmoll,
with a small ditch and low hedge, according to the rule of the
forest, so that the deer with their young, might have free ingress
and egress, and that the foresters, both horsemen and footmen,
might also have ingress and egress to survey and keep the deer
there abiding; but the commoners were not to be deprived of their
Grants and Endowments. 91
rights of common, by reason of the grant. This King also con-
firmed, in 1247, to the Abbot and convent of Coggeshall, that
they might have free warren in all their demesne lands at Cogges-
hall, so that none might enter their lands to hunt in them, or to
take anything which belonged to free warren, without the license
of the abbot and convent, upon forfeiture of 10. Three years
afterwards (1250), King Henry granted to the Abbot and convent
that they might have one fair for their Manor of Coggeshall every
year, to continue for eight days, on the eve and on the day of
St. Peter ad Vincula and six days following unless that fair was
prejudicial to neighbouring fairs.
It will be noticed that the fair commenced on the feast day of
St. Peter ad Vincula (ist August), the patron saint of the parish
church. The annual fair, in 1728, was held on Friday in Whit-
week ; it is now held on Whit-Tuesday. Then again, Henry III.,
in 1256, granted to the Abbot and convent of Coggeshall the
right to hold a market at Coggeshall every week, on Saturday,
with all liberties and free customs belonging to such market, unless
that market were damaging to neighbouring markets.
The market, such as it is, is now held on Thursday, the day
having been probably changed on account of the presentment, in
the loth year of Edward II., that the abbot held a market on
Saturdays, at the village of Coggeshall, to the detriment of that at
Colchester.
In 1270, Herbert de Markeshall received a license from the
crown to give 60 acres of arable land in his Manor of Markeshall
to the monastery here. He died at Markeshall about 1274.
In 1276, Ralph de Coggeshall also gave the monks here, 60
acres of arable land.
Ralph, the son of Laurence, of Coggeshall, gave to the Church
of St. Mary, of Coggeshall, and to the monks there serving GOD,
a tenement which the same Ralph had in the town of Markeshall,
of the gift of Herbert de Markeshall, and this gift was confirmed
by King Edward I., in 1279.
In the i Qth year of his reign, the charters of the Abbey were
confirmed by King Edward II.
King Edward III., in 1344, in consideration of a promise by
the Abbot and convent of Coggeshall to find a monk as Chaplain
to celebrate divine service each day in their conventual church, in
honour of GOD and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and for the safety
92 The Abbey.
of the king and queen, and of their children while they lived, and
for their souls when they died, granted to the same Abbot and
convent, one pipe of red wine to be received each year at London,
at Easter, by the hands of the Gentlemen of the Wine Cellar.
In the loth year of Edward III., John de Kelvedon and others
gave to the Abbot of Coggeshall, 3 messuages and 2 tofts, in Cog-
geshall. Eighteen years later, Galfridus de Stocktone gave to the
Abbey one messuage and certain lands in Coggeshall, Stisted,
Peering and Pattiswick. In the 34th year of the same reign,
Matilda, the wife of John Cachpol, gave to the Abbot and con-
vent of Coggeshall, one messuage and half an acre of land, with
the appurtenances, in the town of Coggeshall.
William de Hamberstane, with other persons, in the 5151 year
of Edward III., gave to the monastery here, the Manor of Tilling-
ham Hall, in Childerditch, Dodingherst and Southwelde, to sup-
port a light before the principal altar of the church of the convent,
when high mass was celebrated.
From a license, granted by King Hen. IV., on the 27th January,
1407, it appears that a chantry was founded here by Joan de
Bohun, Countess of Hereford, Margaret, the wife of Sir Hugh de
Badew, William Bourchier, William Marney, Nicholas Hunt,
Robert Rikedon, Edmund Peverell, Henry Frank, clerk, Geoffry
Colvill, and John Norman, chaplain, for one monk to pray daily
for the souls of Hugh Badew, and Margaret, his wife, and Thomas
Coggeshall; the endowment, consisting of a rent-charge of ;io
per annum, issuing out of two messuages, a fulling mill, 240 acres
of arable, 1 1 acres of meadow, 46 of pasture, and 2 acres of wood,
in Springfield and Sandon, called Springfield Barnes and Sand-
ford Barnes.
The value of the estates of the Abbey, in 1291, appears from
a taxation of Pope Nicholas, to have been^n6 los. per annum
a very large sum in those days derived from the following
sources : In Berkewye de redd, 8 : In Alflameston de red, 8s.
6d. : In Northon, 45. : In Springesfend, 2. : In Lega Magna,
is. lod. : In Chelmersford, is. : In Parva Waltham, 55. : In Bor-
ham, is. : In Muslesham, IDS. : In Estorp, i i8s. : In Birithe
Magna, is. : In Messing, 155. 6d. : In Inneworth, 6 135. 4d. :
In Coggishale, ^67 us. lod. : In Markishale, i is. nd. : In
Feringge, ^3 55. 4d. : In Goldhangre, 5 95. : In Tholishunte
Mangers, 14 33. 2d. : In Tholishunte Trogoz, ^3 35. 4d. : In
The Seal.
93
Bracstead Magna, 45.: In Colcestria, 1 38 2d. Total,
i os. nd.
Unfortunately, the Ecclesiastical Survey, which was made in
the a6th year of King Henry VIII. is lost, so far as it concerned
the county of Essex, but the Liber Valorum gives the clear value
at ^251 2S. ; although Speed, who doubtless was referring to the
gross value, gives the income at ^298 8s.
The abbey was surrended on the 5th February, 29 Henry
VI II., and in the History of the Reformation it is thus mentioned
" Coxhall, Cisterc the Abbot, Essex, 5th February, Regni, 29 ;
but Newcourt gives the i8th March as the date.
The seal of the abbey, attached to the surrender in the Aug-
mentation Office, is round, and bears the Virgin seated in a
THE SEAL OF THE ABBEY.
canopied niche with crown, the Child with nimbus, on her right
knee. In a smaller canopied niche, on each side, a group of six
kneeling monks. In base, under an arch on the left, a shield of
arms : quarterly, i . 4, France modern ; 2, 3, England. The
corresponding shield on the right, is broken away ; in an impres-
sion referred to by Dugdale, Mon. Angl. Vol. V.,p. 452, it bears :
three cocks Coggeshall Abbey, SIGILLVM COMVNE ECCL'IE MON-
ASTER DE COGGESHALE. [Catalogue of seals in British Museum,
94 The Abbey.
No. 2972, [15 century] Sulph cast from imperfect impression, 2^
in. [Ixiii., 5].
V^ j> Among the MS. notes at the end of
Salmon's History of Essex, presented to
the Colchester Museum by the Revd.
Jenkins, is a copy of the seal of Cog-
geshall Abbey, temp. Henry IV. : the
Virgin bearing the Child, at her feet are
two cocks, but the armorial shields are
not added.
The Cistercian order is generally considered to owe its reputa-
tion, in some degree, to Stephen Harding, an Englishman, but
more especially to St. Bernard, who joined it in 1113. The
name of the order is derived from Citeaux, (Latin, Cistercium),
about 14 miles north-east of Beaune, in France, the place where
the foundation was first established in 1098. The founder is
said to have been St. Robert, Abbot of Molesme, sometimes
known as Robert de Thierry. The manner of life of this re-
formed order was of the simplest possible character, their fare
consisting generally of only one substantial meal a day, while
their labor was manual rather than mental, their chief occupation
being the cultivation of the soil and the manufacture of woollen
articles. When not so engaged, the brethren would be employed
in prayer and contemplation.
The picture which lay before the monks as they entered their
new abode, whether by the ancient way from Verulamium to Cam-
ulodunum or by a detour from the London Road, must have
been a pleasant one. At their feet were the fertile pastures bor-
dering the ancient little river Blackwater, soon to be diverted into
another channel for their milling operations,* while on the north,
extending far afield, were the arbor clad slopes which to this
day are known as Monk Woods and Monk Downs.
Their monastic buildings, as was the rule of this order, they
erected on the low ground adjoining the river. The general plan
of most of the Cistercian monasteries was of the same design,
varied only by the peculiar circumstances of the situation, and,
* In the days of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror, there
was a mill at Coggeshall, and it is probable that it occupied the site of the
Tye Mill, the heading of water for which was derived from the Marks Hall
watershed.
Monastic Buildings. 95
such being the case, we may to some extent learn the ichnography
of the conventual buildings here.
The Abbey is reached by the road leading from the town of
Coggeshall to Kelvedon and the lane which at the top of Grange
Hill strikes out at right angles to the east. At the end of this
lane the gatehouse doubtless stood, with the almonry and chamber
above for the lower class of guests on the south side, while on the
north was, and still is, the little chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas,
and described in detail later on.
Forming the north side of the plan was the church, dedicated
to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the western fagade of which presented
itself to the traveller as he passed along the abbey lane. This
magnificient building was opened for divine service in 1167, for
the Chronicle of Ralph, Abbot of Coggeshall, tells us that in this
year, at Coggeshall, the great altar was dedicated in honor of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, by Gilbert Foliol, Bishop of London, who,
on the same day on that altar, solemnly celebrated mass ; Simon
de Toni being abbot of that place.
Although no fragment remains of this great building, its
foundation lines may be easily traced in a dry summer, and were
plainly visible in 1888. It was stepped by the Rev. W. J.
Dampier, on 2Qth June, 1865, and he estimated the nave to be
141 feet by 24 feet ; the chancel, 34 feet by 24 feet ; and the north
and south transepts, 31 feet by 24 feet each ; and the lady chapel
beyond the chancel, 31 feet by 24 feet. Mr. Dampier conjectured
that there was a lean-to on the north and south sides, measuring
about 10 feet internally. The foundation walls were about 5 feet
wide. I have in my possession a large brick found on the Abbey
Farm, and having a circular face ; if this brick formed part of a
pillar of the church, it gives the columns a diameter of about 4
feet. The tower was probably a central one, low, and without
turrets and pinnacles. There was a crucifix, but no other carv-
ings or representations of saints were allowed, the windows were
of plain glass, and the candlesticks of iron ; precious metal and
ornamentation being avoided by this order as far as possible.
After the dissolution of the monastery, St. Mary's Church was
pulled down, and tradition, in Holman's time (nearly two centuries
ago) said that the bells were carried to Kelvedon. The materials
of this grand building, even to the foundations, were doubtless
utilized for road mending and similar purposes.
9 6 The Abbey.
On the north side of the church the graveyard was generally
located ; a fact which demonstrates that the superstition as to burial
on the north side, which prevailed among the ignorant classes, did
not extend to the inmates of the convent.
On the south side of the church was the cloister, around
which were clustered the buildings connected with the daily
routine of the monastic life. One of the most important of these
buildings was the chapter house, which invariably was entered
from the east walk of the cloister, in a line with the south transept,
and was a square building, generally divided by pillars and arches.
South of the chapter house was usually the calefactory or apart-
ment, warmed with flues, and forming the undercroft of the dor-
mitory or sleeping chamber of the brethren. The dormitory was
generally a long apartment running over the calefactory and
chapter house, and had an approach at the north end by a flight
of steps, into the church. At the south end of the calefactory
were the lavatories and the other necessary houses of the establish-
ment, built with scrupulous regard to health and cleanliness. The
supply of fresh water was doubtless obtained from the hill sides
on the east of the river, as these abound with an inexhaustible
store of the purest quality, and it would seem that it was conveyed
to the conventual buildings through socket and spigot pipes of
red brick earth, 4 inches square tapering to 3^ inches at the spigot
end, and having a circular bore i| inches in diameter. Some
pipes (two in the writer's possession) of this description were
found in Claypit Field (No. 341, Ord. Survey), during the drain-
age operations which were effected in 1887, and it may be that
here was the "spring of Stoke well on the east of the abbey,"
referred to in the grant by William Filiol, mentioned in a previous
page. On the south side of the cloisters, running north to south,
was the refectory or dining hall, while along the entire length of
the west side of the cloister quadrangle ran the cellars and store-
houses, with the long dormitory above for the lay brethren. The
abbot's house was usually detached from the other monastic
buildings, as also were the mill, farm buildings, workshops and
outhouses.
Such then were the general arrangements of the buildings of
the Cistercian houses, and an admirable arrangement it was ; the
neighbouring land and buildings served for the purposes of the
monks as cultivators of the soil, grinders of corn, manufacturers
Monastic Buildings.
97
of clothes, shoes and other articles of a domestic nature. Nearer
home were the buildings devoted to hospitality and storage, while
beneath the shadow of the church, were clustered the apartments
connected with the spiritual life and discipline of the order, and
those used for refection and repose.
The monastic buildings at Coggeshall must have covered a
large area, the extent of which can in some degree be gathered
from the foundation lines of the church, and the few buildings
THE AMBULATORY.
which still remain, and among these may be noticed the principal
walls of the present Abbey House, about 30 inches thick. In the
kitchen, a pointed or transition Norman arch, forming part of an
arcade, attracts the attention, and over it may be seen the sill of
one of the clerestory windows thus leading one to suppose that
we have here a portion of the Chapter House, similar in fact, to
the Chapter House which figures in the plan of the Cistercian
monastery of Fountains Abbey, except, perhaps, the arch is a little
H
98 The Abbey.
too much to the south of the church. The wall, of which this
arch is a continuation, runs from west to east. The respond has
angular corners and is built of brick, but the column, which is also
of brick, is round, and is surmounted by a Norman limestone
capital.
Forming the southern portion of the eastern side of the
cloister-quadrangle is a long vaulted apartment with chamfered
brick arch and groin ribs with spandrils composed of rounded
blocks of chalk. This was probably the calefactory or ambulatory,
where the monks warmed themselves, and above is what was
doubtless a dormitory. In the west wall of this building, as also
in the north wall of the building next described, may be seen the
capitals from which sprung the groin ribs of another apartment or
series of chambers, the western facade of which, continued north-
ward, would concur with the western wall of the south transept of
the church, and thus the eastern side of the quadrangle would be
complete.
To the south of the last mentioned buildings is a parallelogram
of two stories, with an entry to the upper story from the dormitory
over the calefactory, and to the ground floor from the ambulatory.
It is difficult to conceive what this building was used for, but it is
certainly one of interest, and the coloring, plain though it was,
which decorated the Avails, shows that it was of some importance.
The doorway at the east end of the north wall in the upper floor,
has a round arch of moulded brick, and above this, but not imme-
diately over the centre of the arch, was a circular window, the
lower part of which only now remains. In this upper chamber, at
the east end, are two lancet shaped windows, and between them is
a large recess, which appears to have been used for a seat. There
is another recess or seat, the occupant of which commanded a
view along the dormitory over the calefactory.
To the west of this building, according to the Cistercian
arrangement, the refectory would stand, and, with other buildings,
would form the southern side of the cloisters.
Near to the south-east corner of the building just described,
and close to the bridge over the river, is what is known as the
Monk House, but why so called is not known. It has an open
timber roof, and around the sides below are a number of recesses,
five in the east wall, a Irke number in the west wall, and two
beside the doorway in the north wall. It would seem that these
Monastic Buildings.
99
were intended for sedilia. On each side of the building are four
lancet windows splaying inward.
Such of the abbey buildings as remain are composed princi-
pally of flint rubble with brick dressings. Thin tiles are used
unsparingly for bonding purposes.
Beside the large Norman capital in the Abbey House, there
are two smaller capitals of coeval date with that in the house.
One of them is in the garden and forms part of a bordering of a
flower bed, and the other is built into the east wall of the building
locally known as the Monk House; the sketch shows to some
extent how it is embedded in the rubble work. Purbeck marble
was used for the smaller shafts and capitals.
NORMAN CAPITAL.
On the north of the site of the monastery church, the contour
of the ground indicates that there was a large square enclosure,
but there are no signs of the foundation of a wall or other build-
ing. The Ordnance surveyors have erroneously marked this spot
as the site of St. Mary's Church.
H 2
100
The Abbey.
woodcut represents the condition of the little Abbey
JL Chapel of St. Nicholas, in the early part of the year 1889.
It has since been partially restored by repairing the roof and other
parts of the building.
Saint Nicholas, who is the patron saint of mariners and of
schoolboys, was made bishop of Myra, in Lycia, a province of
Asia, by Constantine the Great. He died, A.D. 343.
Holman, writing more than a century and a half ago, and
quoting from the Villare Essexia, says, that " Little Coggeshall
was formerly reputed a parish, and had two churches, the one built
by the abbot for himself and monks, and stood in the field called
the Parke, on the left side of the abbey, and dedicated to Saint
Mary the Blessed Virgin, is entirely demolished. The other was
built for the inhabitants of this Hamlet and stands on the left
hand of the lane leading from the king's highway to the abbey
and not far from it, 'tis called the chapel of Little Coggeshall, and
is now converted into a barn or hay-house and most of it is exist-
ing at this day."
Whether the church secondly referred to and illustrated above,
St. Nicholas' Chapel.
101
was the parish church of Little Coggeshall, as some have con-
tended, or was built for the inhabitants of that parish by the
monks, as stated in the Villare Essexce, seems open to question.
It is more probable that it corresponds with the chapel s"hown on
the plan of the Monastic Establishment of Citeaux as close to the
Gate House ; and, if such was the case, we may picture the wel-
come traveller of past ages being led thither by the Lord Ralph,
6th abbot of Coggeshall, or by one of the succeeding abbots, for
the short prayer which was accustomably said before the guest
was the recipient of the hospitality generously accorded by the
brethren ; but having regard to the dedication, it may be suggested
that the chapel was built for the scholastic department of the
abbey.
The plan of the building is of a simple quadrilateral design
without aisles or transept, and measures internally from east to
west, 43 feet ; and from north to south, 20 feet. It is constructed
of rubble, consisting principally of flints and fragments of early
English brick and tiles, while the quoins and dressings are of
bricks, varying from i| to 2 inches in thickness, and being about
12 inches by 6 inches in length and breadth. It is considered a
remarkable example of early English brickwork, and especial atten-
tion is directed to the mouldings of the bricked mullions of the
east and west windows. // is one of the earliest instances, if not the
earliest, of moulded brickwork i?i the kingdom.
The walls rest upon a concrete bed and are about 3 feet thick,
and it would seem were originally coated with plaster or stucco,
both inside and out. The building is entered by a door on the
102 The Abbey.
south side near the west end. On each side of the door is a lancet
window, with exterior dimensions 6 feet 4 inches high and 2 feet
broad, splaying inward to a height of 8 feet and a breadth of 4
feet 7 inches. There are two other windows on the south side,
but their sills are elevated to give height to the sedilia and piscina.
In the north wall there are four lancet windows, similar to those
east and west of the doorway. The windows in the east and west
walls are triple lancets within a containing arch ; these windows
are of remarkably graceful proportions, and the curve of the con-
taining arch with the hood moulding over the western window
is particularly worthy of notice.
Round the interior of the chapel, just beneath the windows,
there is a string course of semi-circular faced bricks projecting
about i^r inches, each of which is about 12 inches long by 2 inches
in thickness. At the east end of the south wall the string rises
and runs along the top of the sedilia, three in number, the arches
of which are composed of brick and spring from limestone sup-
ports. To the east of and adjoining the sedilia is an arched recess,
and there were formerly the remains of two square drains pierced
through the bricks which formed its sill ; the sill is gone, but the
drains are still extant. This recess was doubtless a double piscina.
Between it and the east wall is a niche, 23 inches wide, 2 feet 6
inches high and recessed about 13 inches, formed of limestone
and having a trefoil-shaped arch-heading. It is still in good pre-
servation and most probably served as a credence. The aumbry
with its new oak sill and top, restored as far as was practicable to
its original state, is to be seen in the north wall near the east end.
A small part of the original moulded oak wall-plate, with its some-
what singular stop,- remains at the east end of the north wall.
The roof is high pitched, the eastern half being raised slightly
above the other portion.
The plastering of the interior, above the string course, was
relieved by coloring of a simple character, consisting of double
chocolate one-eighth inch lines three-eights of an inch apart.
These ran round the building at horizontal intervals of five inches,
divided vertically so as to represent stone work. The pattern may
still be seen, and there may yet be traced the emerald green which
gave colour to the string course, and there is enough of the flow-
ing foliage pattern which filled the spaces between the lancets and
containing arch of the east window to show its early English
S. Nicholas 1 Chapel. 103
character. In the upper part of the central seat of the sedilia
there remains part of the original cruciform nimbus of reddish
colour.
Many years ago this sacred building was converted into a barn,
part of the south wall being removed and a wing attached. The
unsightly addition was demolished shortly after the conveyance
of the building and the surrounding three roods and thirty-five
perches was made to the vicar of Coggeshall, the late Rev. William
James Dampier, and his successors in the vicarage. Through the
energy of this good man a partial restoration was effected. The
property was purchased from Mr. Jonathan Bullock, on 3rd Janu-
ary, 1860, for ^100 the proceeds of the sale of one rood and
five perches, part of the glebe land of the vicarage, sold as a site
for Sir Robert Hitcham's School. This statement will remove the
erroneous impression, which has prevailed with some, to the effect
that the piece of ground was given to the vicar of Coggeshall for
the maintenance of the fabric of the building. The land belongs
to the vicar of Coggeshall as part of his glebe.
On the igth March, 1860, the ground was fenced in; and, on
the 2ist April, 1863, the first stone of the restored doorway was
laid by Miss Ellen Bithia Appleford, daughter of the late Mr.
William Appleford, of the Abbey Mills, and possibly a descendant
of Richard Abberforde, who farmed the woods of Coggeshall
Manor in the 22nd year of Queen Elizabeth ; and it is parentheti-
cally suggested that this family derived its name from the fact that
they resided hard by the Abbey-ford. The doorway was finished
on the nth May following, and in November of the same year
the building was new thatched, and some of the quoins and
dressings were about the same time restored with bricks of the
original type specially moulded for the purpose.
During this partial restoration, fragments of coloured glass,
pieces of the Purbeck marble shafts of the sedilia and part of the
font or of the stoup were found, also the base of the font nearly
opposite t the door and close to the north wall, and with these
remains were associated pieces of the pavement, which was of tile }
coloured black, yellow, or buff and green. The bricks which form
the step of the doorway appear to have been part of the jambs of
the original doorway.
The Abbey.
of
THE following brief notes concerning the Abbots are chiefly
extracted from the Chronicle of Ralph de Coggeshall
(Stevenson's Edit., Master of Rolls Series, 1875), these excepts,
translated into English, appear in inverted commas ; the further
details are principally from Dugdatis Monasticon.
(i.) WILLIAM was the first abbot. He occurs as a witness to
a deed, about 1 144, in the Chartulary of Colne Priory.
(2.) SIMON DE TONI was the next abbot. "1168, Lord
Simon, the second abbot, retired from Coggeshall, and returned
to his monastery at Melrose."
(3.) "1169; to whom succeeded LORD ODO, third abbot of
the same place." " 1172 ; the ordination of Lord Simon, Bishop
of Moray (Maraviensis), loth Kalends of February, sometime
Abbot of Coggeshall." "1176; died, Lord Odo, of pious me-
mory, third Abbot of Coggeshall :
(4.) To whom succeeded LORD PETER, Monk of Valle Uei,
brother to Master Stephen, Chancellor of the Church of Lincoln."
" 1194 : died Lord Peter, fourth Abbot of Coggeshall :
(5.) To whom succeeded LORD THOMAS, a monk of the same
place." " 1207 : died Lord Thomas, fifth Abbot of Coggeshall :
(6.) To whom succeeded, LORD RALPH, a monk of the same
place, who wrote this Chronicle, from the taking of the Holy Cross
to the nth year of King Henry III., the son of King John ; and
took care faithfully to note down certain visions which he heard
from men worthy of respect, for the edification of many."
Of Ralph de Coggeshall much has been written; Dr. Cutts
translating Bale (Script Brit, centuria, j, cap. 88), says, he was " a
Monk of the Cistercian Order, a man of polished erudition, as
well as of temperance, and arrived at such a degree of excellence
in literature as to be esteemed by far the first of the brethren of
his convent. He was trained in liberal studies even from boyhood,
and by means of his great industry he obtained the honor of
intimacy with the most eminent men ; whence, at length being
found worthy to govern others, he was preferred to the abbacy of
Coggeshall, in Essex ; being the 6th abbot from its foundation.
In this office he scarcely suffered one day to pass entirely free
from some useful study, but would always be learning something,
The Abbots of Coggeshall, 105
either from humane letters or from history, or from the Sacred
Scriptures. He made an Appendix to Ralph Niger's Chronicle
concerning the distinguished deeds of the Emperors and Kings
of France and England, from the Capture of the Cross as is
therein stated, or from the year of grace, 1113, to the eleventh
year of Henry the third, the son of King John ; which work he
calls, ' Additions to Ralph Niger, in one book, beginning in the
year of grace, 1 1 14, King Henry.' He also wrote, ' A Chronicle
of the Holy Land, in one book, beginning Quantis pressuris et
calamitatibus,' ' Concerning certain Visions, in one book,' ' Certain
Sermons, and many other things.'"
For further information concerning the Coggeshall chronicler,
the reader is referred to Dunkirfs Edition of his works, pub-
lished in 1857, one part of which, viz.: "A Chronicle of the
Holy Land" by Ralph, Abbot of Coggeshall, was translated by
the Rev. E. L. Cutts.
Now with regard to this " Chronicle of the Holy Land," which
so many writers have attributed to the same authorship as that of
the "Chronicle of Ralph, Abbot of Coggeshall," Mr. Stevenson
has pointed out * that there is no direct evidence for this assump-
tion, either external or internal ; there is a marked difference
between the two in respect to style and the general treatment of
the narrative, and in some instances the facts recorded in the one
are inconsistent with the corresponding statement in the other.
The assertion that they are to be ascribed to the same pen has
probably arisen from the circumstance that they both occur in the
same volume, but to whatever source it be referred it would
appear to be untenable.
The Chronicon Anglicanum contains very few notes of local
interest; it however tells us that "In the year 1216, on the day
of the Circumcision of the Lord, at Coggeshall, while the third
hour was said, they (i.e. the knights and attendants of King John)
violently entered the church and led away 22 horses which were
the property of the Bishop of London and his brother the Trea-
surer, and others."
"1218. In the same year, Lord Ralph, sixth Abbot of Cog-
geshall, having now for eleven years and two months administered,
about the feast of Saint John the Baptist, against the will of his
* No. 66 M.R. Series of Chron. of Great Britain, xviii.
io6
The Abbey.
convent ; of his own accord renounced the pastoral cure, suffering
from frequent indisposition. To him at once succeeded, by the
choice of the same abbot and convent, Lord Benedict de Straford?
a venerable man and vigorous in acting; who formerly, for 19
years, actively presided over the same Abbey of Straford, and in-
creased it in many ways with large rents and possessions, as well
in benefices as in lands and marshes."
"In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord, 1223, died Lord
Benedict, Abbot of Coggeshall ; to whom succeeded Lord Geoff-
rey, prior of the same place."
The lists of Abbots is unfortunately very incomplete.
William Joldayn was abbot in 1341.
John Taseler from 1437 to 1449, when he was succeeded by
Simon Pabenham.
John Samford resigned in 1527, when
William Love was elected to succeed him.
Henry More was abbot at the time of the surrender.
A CISTERCIAN MONK.
The Abbey Farm. 107
THE king did not long retain possession of the Abbey, for, in
the same year as the dissolution (A.D. 1538), he granted the
"principal or chief site of the monastery" to Sir Thomas Sey-
mour, brother of Sir Edward Seymour (afterwards Duke of
Somerset and Lord Protector of the Kingdom), who, on i2th
May, 1541, exchanged it for other property belonging to the
Crown. In the same grant reference is made to the Rectory and
Advowson of the Churches and Vicarages of Childerditch and
Coggeshall, the Manors of Coggeshall, Childerditch, Tillingham
and Kewton Hall, Lions, Tolleshunt Major, Chedingsell, Tutwyke,
Bonsey alias Bouseys, Holfield Grange and Bushey Gate House.
The present farmhouse has on the porch a freestone inlaid
with these initials: R B A and under them the date, 1581. The B
is probably the initial letter of the surname of the owner or occu-
pier, who may have been a Bacon, a Benion, or a Bettenson.
Matthew Bacon had a lease in 1598, of the Mansion house pre-
viously held by Sir John Sharpe, lying within the monastery, and
later on, the Benyans and Bettonsons were owners or tenants of
some importance in respect of lands in this locality. The R and
the A would doubtless be the initials of the Christian names of
the husband and wife, and possibly are those of Richard Beniyam
generosus, whose wife (H)anna was buried in the parish church-
yard, 1 6th Jany., 1603.
The Abbey Farm was afterwards possessed by Sir Mark Guyon,
who died in 1690, leaving no male issue, but two daughters as his
co-heiresses, one of whom, Elizabeth, married Edward Bullock,
Esq., son of Edward Bullock, Esq., of Faulkborne Hall ; she had
one child only, who, with its mother, died within a month of its
birth. Rachel, the other daughter of Sir Mark, was first married
to Thomas Guyon, Esq., and afterwards to her brother-in-law,
John Bullock, Esq., of Dynes Hall, Great Maplestead. They had
issue John, who died, unmarried, at the age of 23 years, and was
buried in the chancel of Faulkborne Church, and Rachel, who
survived her father, but died in 1765, a spinster and intestate.
Josiah Bullock was for a time entitled to the Essex Estates of
the family, and on his decease, on 29th February, 1751, his widow
Hannah, the youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Cooke, Kt, was in
possession. By her he had issue two sons, Edward and John,
io8 The Abbey.
and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Jonathan Watson, Esq.,
of Ringshall, Suffolk. Hannah Bullock died, 8th April, 1783,
whereupon the Faulkborne, Radwinter and Coggeshall Estates
passed to Jonathan Josiah Christopher Bullock, Esq., eldest son
of Jonathan Watson, Esq. In the year 1810, he took the name
of Bullock, by permission of King George III., and in compliance
with the will of his maternal uncle, John Bullock. J. J. C.
Bullock died, 22nd January, 1832, aged 82 years, having married
Juliana Elizabeth, daughter of Anicetus Thomas, Esq., of Chelsea,
niece and heiress of Elizabeth Bullock, wife of John Bullock.
They had thirteen children, several of whom predeceased them.
Jonathan Bullock died, 3oth Sept., 1860, possessed of the Abbey
and other estates at Coggeshall. He was succeeded by his son,
the Rev. Walter Trevelyan Bullock, by whose trustees the abbey
was sold in 1879. Arms of Bullock: gu., a chevron, erm.,
between 3 bulls' heads cabosed, arg., horned or., crest, on a torse,
ar., gu., five bills or staves sa., bound with an escarf knot, tasselled
gu. The family first appear in Coggeshall in 1566, in which year,
on 1 5th October, Robert Bullock married Elizabeth Trewe.
The purchaser of the Abbey was Sidney Pattisson, Esq., who
resided there for a short time. He is the eldest son of Jacob
Pattisson, by marriage with Emily Elizabeth Hawkes, of Bishop
Stortford. Jacob was the son of Fisher Unwin Pattisson, who
married Eliza Houston. Fisher Unwin Pattisson was a son of
Jacob Pattisson and Elizabeth (Unwin), who were married at Cog-
geshall on 24th August, 1785. Jacob was a son of Joseph and
Elizabeth (nee Wallman). Joseph was a son of Robert and
Rachel (nee Todd). Robert was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(nee Bidwell). Jacob was a son of Jacob, who died in 1709.
The father of the last-named was William, who lived at Ulting ;
and William was a son of John Pattisson, who lived at Heybridge
near Maldon, in the reign of Elizabeth. For some further ac-
count of this family see Benton's Rochford Hundred, and the
memorials of the family in Witham parish church. Their arm's
are : An elm tree eradicated between 3 pelicans in their nests,
with their young vulning themselves. Crest : a pelican, in her
nest with her young, vulning herself, collared ringed and chained ;
the chain reflexed over her back.
The Abbey Farm now belongs to the Law Union Life Insur-
ance Company.
MANORIAL.
HE Manors of Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall
which originally were but one Manor, known as the
Manor of Coggeshall, belonged in Saxon times to Colo,
a freeman. At the time of the Domesday Survey (vide
page 88), it was possessed by Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, from
whom it descended to his only daughter and heiress, Maud, who
brought it in marriage to Stephen, Earl of Blois, afterwards King
of England. Stephen and his queen granted the Manor to the
abbot and convent of Coggeshall about 1139, and it remained
one of the monastic properties until the surrender of the house in
1538. Soon after the dissolution, Henry VIII. granted it to Sir
Thomas Seymour, who, in 1541, released it to the Crown in ex-
change for other properties. In the first year of Queen Mary's
reign, the Manors of Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall, a
grange or farm called Home Grange, a water mill and the fishery
of the river, were, with other estates in the parish, granted by the
Queen to Dorothy, wife of Thomas Leventhorpe, for life, if it
pleased her Majesty she should so long enjoy it. The Manors
were afterwards possessed by Sir Henry Bromley, by virtue of a
grant made on 2nd September, 1604, and at his nomination they
were conveyed on the^ 24th January following, to Cyprian Warner
and others. In the i2th year of King James I., they were
granted to Sir James Fullerton and James Maxwell, at a rent of
^42 6s. 8|d. "
Augustine Mayhew, Esq. was subsequently possessed of these
Lordships. He married Alice, daughter of John Wells, but when
Manorial.
he sold the manor to Nehemiah Lyde, Esq., of Hackney, on gth
May, 1693, his wife's name was Elizabeth. He then resided at
Witham, and his son and heir was William Mayhew, of Pattiswick.
Bufton says, "In 1693, Mr. Mayhew sold Coxall lordships to Mr.
Nehemiah Lyde. May nth He first came for his rent, and June
5th being Whitsun Monday, kept Court, and Counsellor Cox was
his steward, ist Sept. Old Mr. Augustine Mayhew was carried
through Coxall to be buried at Passwick."
Nehemiah Lyde, by Priscilla his wife, had an only daughter
Ann, his heiress, who married in 1710, Richard DuCane, Esq., of
London, the only child and heir of Peter DuCane. Nehemiah
Lyde died in July, 1737, but the first General Court of his son-in-
law, Richard DuCane, was held on the i4th June, 1735.
Richard DuCane, by his will, dated 1743, gave his Manors and
other estates at Coggeshall to his son " Peter DuQuesne alias Du
Cane " and his heirs. Richard died in 1 743, leaving Peter Du-
Cane his only surviving son (his other son, Richard, having died
on 4th Feby., 1743). Peter DuCane died in March, 1803, having
devised the Manors to his son Peter, for life, with the remainder
to his grandson Peter. Peter DuCane the younger, of Braxted
Park, Essex, married in 1769, Phoebe Phillips Tredcroft, eldest
daughter of Edward Tredcroft, Esq., of Horsham. Captain
Charles DuCane succeeded to the Manors in 1841, and on his
death in 1850, his son, the late Sir Charles DuCane, K.C.M.G.
became entitled to the Lordships, and on his death on 25th Feby.,
1889, his eldest son, Charles Henry Copley DuCane, Esq., suc-
ceeded and is the present Lord of these Manors.
The Court Rolls of the Manors, in the custody of the present
steward, do not date earlier than 1693. If the ancient rolls could
be discovered they would throw considerable light on the past
history of the town. Fortunately there is preserved in the Public
Record Office (Duchy of Lane. Court Roll, Bundle 58, No. 727),
an extract of a Court held upwads of 300 years ago, and from this
we are enabled to form some idea of the ways in which our Eliza-
bethan ancestors conducted their sanitary and other affairs ; we
shall see for instance, that a fine was imposed on such of the in-
habitants as were wont to dig sand and gravel out of the highways,
or to throw their refuse into the street, or to allow their ditches to
become choked. Roger Jegons is ordered not to allow his hogs
to pollute the church-pond ; we have mention of the brook which
Great Coggeshall.
ran from the Church-pond to Haresbridge, a state of things which
continued till comparatively recent times many of the older
inhabitants well remember the stream flowing in its open course
down Church Street ; the sewers in the principal streets were also
uncovered ; and Church Lane, at the upper end, was nothing more
nor less than a wide ditch with a footpath on one side of it.
Those who persisted in keeping open their shops on Sunday, after
the bells had rung two peals, were to be fined is. There were
regulations also as to fishing and the keeping of dogs, ferrets, &c.
The whole extract is of so interesting a nature, and is written in
such quaint style, that it is here reproduced in extenso, save that
one or two items are for decency's sake omitted.
" The extracte of the Corte there holden the Mondaye, beinge
the sixte day of October, in the nyneth yeare of the reigne of or
Sovreigne Lady Elizabeth, by the grace of GOD, of England,
Ffraunce and Ireland, Quene, defender of the faythe, &c., as
followeth That is to saye
Imprimis of Willam Coates for his admysson to one~)
garden called Starres, witche he had by and after the death > xijd
of Willam Coates his father, deceased. j
Item of Elizabeth Wade, for hir admysson to one )
close wyth an ortyard, whitche she dyd recover by her V ijs. vjd.
wryte of Righte ayens Christopher Wade. J
Sum of this Corte - - iijs. vjd.
vnde allocat : in expense Se li.
yt ys comaundyd the Baylif to warne all the inhabytans of this
Lordeship that they hereafter digge no lome, claye, sand or gravell
in the Quene's highe waye, upon payne to forfette for eury lode
so taken iijs. iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd that no maner of pson or psons shall
from hence forthe caste their duste or fylthe owte of their houses
into the streate, upon payne to forfet eury tyme xijd.
Also yt ys ordered and decreyd by thole homage that no Inhi-
tant of this towne shall let from henceforthe his tenement to anye
comon fetchers of woodde or breakers of hedges, or cutters and
destroyers of springes, but that sutche an owner shall wythin one
qter of a yere put owt the same Tenant so offendynge, upon good
proofe made in that behalfe, upon payne eury owner so offendinge
shall forfette xv., and that eury Subtenant so convicted shall for-
fett eury tyme xxd.
H2 Manorial.
Also yt ys comaundyd that no Inhitant from hence forthe
shall let their logges or wood lye abrode in the Quene's highe
waye, and the same not to be layde wythout his Evesdrop upon
payne to forfet eury tyme iijs. iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd the Baylif to warne the landeholders
betwene Heres brydge and th ' ende of John Webbe's garden to
make their brookes as brode and as depe as they have bene in
olde tymes, whitche be by or estymacon sixe or seaven foote, and
the same to be done before michelmas next comynge, upon payne
to forfet for eury Rodde not so done xijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne John Webbe to cutte and take
awaye his bancke next adjoyninge vnto th ' old Ryver, in bredth
one yarde and in lengthe two Rodde, and to make the same as
depe as it hath bene in owlde tyme and to make all the rest to the
wynge of the brycke that cometh from the arche thre qters of an
yearde in like maner of depthe, before the feaste of Pentecoste
next ensuynge, upon payne to forfet for eury Rodde not so done
iijs. iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne all the landeholders betwene
the vpper ende of John Webbe's garden and the drawe brydge, to
scower the backe Ryver and to make the same as depe and as
brode as yt hath bene of olde tyme or at the lest twelfe foot wyde,
before Michelmas next comynge, upon payne to forfet for eury
Rodde not so donne ijs.
Also yt ys comaunded to warne all the landeholders from
Shorte brydge vnto the drawe brydge to drawe up all the hassocks
and Rere roosshes before the feaste aforesayd, upon payne to for-
fet for eurie rodde not so donne iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne the landholders of the Crowne
to take vp the gate in the water lane and to wyde the sayd lane
before the sayd feaste, upon payne to forfette iijs. iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd that no Inhitant from henceforth permyt
or suffer his or their cattayle to goe in the highe waye wythowt a
folower, vpon payne to forfet for every offence so comytted iijs.
iiijd. And further that eury person from henceforthe kepe their
hogges in their owne grownde and not to go comonly in the highe
waye wythowt a kepar, upon payne to forfet for eury hogge xijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne Roger Jegons to take awaye his
hogg coate and to sarve his hogges no more at the churche ponde
in the Churche lane, vpon payne to forfet evry tyme iijs. iiijd.
Great Coggeshall. "3
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne all the landeholders between
Alets Crosse and Tylkell to scower their dytches on both the sydes
of the way before the feast of Pentecoste next comynge, vpon
payne to forfet for eury Rodde not done iiijd:
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne Thomas Clerke th ' elder to
caste downe his bancke and to fyll vp the ditche that he hathe
made in the highe waye, agenst his pale, betwene the house of
Willam Sutton and Sterlinge leaz Style, before Christmas next,
vpon payne to forfet vs.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne Thomas Tyll to open the
comon dytche at his gate in Churche Streate, and to receve the fall
of the water of the streate vpwarde, and Hilliary Johnson to re-
ceve the same of Thomas Tyll, and Willam Tyll to receve the
same of Hillary Johnson, and Rychard True to receve the same
of Willam Tyll, and Willam Saunder to receve the same of
Rychard True, and Thomas Clerke th ' elder to receve the same
of Willam Saunder, and so the sayd comon dytche to goe
throwghe owte the said Thomas Clerke's grownde tyll yt come to
Sterlinge leaz dytche, as yt hathe done tyme owte of mynde, and
this to be done before the feaste aforesayd, vpon payne eury one
offendinge herein shall forfet xxs.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne Thomas Clerke th ' elder to
reforme his encrochment that he hath made in Starlinge leaz
comon. dytche ; that is to saye at the elme fyve foote, at the pere
tre fyve foote, and at the comynge owte of the comon dytche
nere a gardeyn sometyme in the occupacon of John Clerke, sixe
foote and a halfe, and to sett his newe pale on the bancke where
his oulde pale stode before, and to open and make the sayd
comon dytche the lenghte of his newe pale, and so to go into
Starlinge leaz comon dytche as yt was wont to doe next to the
highe waye, before the feaste aforesayd, vpon payne to forfet for
eury Rodde not so donne xs.
Also yt ys comaundyd the Baylif to warne the sayd Thomas
Clerke that he doe reforme his encrochement made wyth his newe
pale in Sterlinge leaz dytche, from the ende of the garden of the
sayd John Clerke vnto the garden nowe in the tenure of Rychard
True, nyne foote, and to sett his fence where it was wont to be of
oulde tyme, and further to receave all the fall of the water from
George Cokerel into the same dytche, and further to make and
scower the sayd dytche that the water mighte avoyde through the
I
tT 4 Manorial.
same as of olde tyme yt was wonte to doe, before the feaste
aforesayd, vpon payne to forfet for eurye rodde not so donne
xs.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne that no maner of persons shal
have or kepe open their shope wyndowes on the Saboth daye in
selling, uttering, or putting awaye any kinde of their victayles or
wares after that hit hath ronge two peles, ether to morning service
or evenyng, vpon payne to forfet eury tyme xijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd that no maner of person shall take
fysshe in the Ryver wyth nets, baskets, angels, or with any other
kynde of engyne, vpon payne to forfet eury tyme ijs.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne that no maner of person kepe
any greyhounds, hownds, spanells, except he maye dispend xls.
by yeare on freholde, vpon payne to forfet iijs. iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd that no maner of person shall kepe any
hayes, ferrets, or presenets, onlesse they have game and grownde
of their owne, upon payne to forfet eury tyme so offendinge vs.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne all the landeholders betwene
Batfeld and nighe vnto Clement Button's gate to skouer their
dytches in Churche lane, and then Willam Saunder to receve the
water from the sayd dytche and to skoure his dytche, ayenst the
next corte, upon payne to forfet for eury rodde not so donne
iiijd.
Also yt ys comaundyd to warne all the landholders betwene
Rychard Coxcheif's howse and the churche ponde to scower the
comon dytch wyth in their yeards and not to permit any pry vie
over the sayd dytche, vpon payne eury one so offending shall
forfeit ijs.
Also yt ys comandyd to warne all the landholders betwene the
churche ponde and Heres bridge to skower brookes and to
amende them where nede ys, and not to cast on them any kinde
of filth, vpon payne eury one so offendying shal forfette iijs. iiijd.
The following is a specimen of a Court held nearly two cen-
turies ago :
Great Coggeshall, 1693. View of Frank pledge with the
first Court Baron of Nehemiah Lyde, Esquire, held for the Manor
aforesaid on Tuesday in Whitsun week, being the 5th day of
June, in the 5th year of the reign of William and Mary, by the
grace of GOD King and Queen of England, Scotland, France
and Ireland, and in the year of our Lord, 1693 ; and from thence
Great Coggeshall.
adjourned to the 6th day of the said month of June, and held
before John Cox, Esquire, Steward, there :
John Wilbore
John Taylor
Joseph Whitacre
Benjamin Pemberton
John Abbutt
John Cockerell
John Tunbridge
The ^ Thomas Buxton x
Capital
John Cooke
Pledges
Isaac Dawes
with the
John Cable
Homage
Robert Nicholls /
John Thome
Anthony Jepps
v John Ilger
Sworn.
Sworn.
who say upon their oaths that they give to the Lord for a Com-
mon Fine always on this day due by ancient custom, twelve pence.
On this day any inhabitant within this leet making default in
his attendance is amerced [i.e. fined or put in mercy].
At this Court it is presented that all the inhabitants within this
leet shall remove their trees lying in the king's way within 28 days
after notice to them given by the Bailiff of the said Manor, and
that in future no more trees placed in the said king's way shall
remain beyond 28 days after notice thereof given by the bailiff of
the said manor, under penalty of forfeiting for every load not
removed for every week id.
Also it is presented that the inhabitants within this leet shall
remove their manure \sterquiliand\ lying in the king's way within
6 days after notice to them given by the bailiff of the said manor,
and that in future no more manure placed in the same king's way
there, shall remain beyond 6 days after notice thereof given by
the bailiff of the said manor, under pain of forfeiting to the lord
for every offence in the premises 55.
Also the Jury present that the water running from the ditch of
William Enew now flows in the street called Stoneham Street,
within this leet, to the annoyance of the people of the Lord and
Lady the King and Queen, which said water ought to flow in
\strobe\ at Robins Bridge. Therefore it is presented that the
said William Enew shall divert the water, running as aforesaid, to
Robins Bridge aforesaid, under pain of forfeiting to the lord xos.
Also they present that William Cox, Senior, James Warley,
Elias Reynolds, Thomas Smith, James Gardiner, Thomas Bel-
champ, John Harvey and Anthony Jepps have not scoured their
ditch leading from Buttfield to Stoneham Street. Therefore it is
I 2
"6 Manorial.
presented that they, well and sufficiently, scour their said ditch
within 14 days after notice thereof, under pain of forfeiting for
every rod not scoured i2d.
Also they present that Anthony Jepps, Thomas Beckwith,
John Wilbore, Isaac Benthall and Martha Keble, widow, have not
scoured their ditch near the yard of the said Martha Keable.
Therefore* it is presented that they well and sufficiently scour the
said ditch within 14 days after notice thereof, under pain of for-
feiting to the lord for every rod not scoured i2d.
Also it is presented that Henry Creeke shall remove and carry
away earth and manure lying in his ditch near Starling Leeze
within 12 days, under pain of forfeiting to the lord for every rod
of ditch aforesaid i2d.
Also it is presented that Charles Guyon, Gent., Mark Guyon,
Nash, widow, Hull, widow, William York, John Good-
ay, - Turner, widow, Richard Shortland, Gent., Elizabeth
Guyon, widow, John Bowyer and William London, well and
sufficiently, scour the Back ditch near adjoining their several yards
within 10 days after notice thereof given, under pain of forfeiting
for every perch not scoured, per week us.
Also the Jury humbly pray that the lord of the manor will
deign to erect a pound for the leet aforesaid.
At this leet, Robert Cooke, John Hatton and Thomas Phil-
bricke are elected to the office of Constable of this leet, and it is
presented that they be sworn in that office before a Justice of the
Peace for the county of Essex within 10 days next following the
date of this Court.
And also John Cockerell, John Gooday and Isaac Dawes are
elected to the office of Taster of Beer (Gustator Cerviciae) and
they are sworn well and faithfully to execute that office.
And also Thomas Picknett and Thomas Hance are elected to
the office of Water Bailiffs.
And lastly, Thomas Overall and Jeremiah Huke are elected to
the office of Leather Sealers.
Now of the Court Baron. At this Court it is presented by the
Homage that according to the custom of the manor aforesaid,
fines for whatsoever admissions to customary lands and tenements
held of the manor aforesaid, either after death or upon alienation,
are double the annual value of the rent payable to the lord of the
manor aforesaid for the lands and tenements aforesaid, and no
Great Coggeshall. 117
more for any particular admission. [This however is not the case
with certain pieces of land, formerly waste of this manor ; these
being subject to fines arbitrary].
Then follow the admissions which have become due by the
deaths of copyhold tenants, or by reason of the sales of properties
held of the manor.
Among various other matters presented at the courts, the fol-
lowing may be mentioned as some of the most interesting, or as
tending to elucidate the past history of the town :
1694 May 28. Thomas Cox ordered to repair his ditch in
Stock Street.
Anthony Jepps ordered to open up the footpath in Crouches
field, which he had obstructed.
1695 May 13. John Radley was ordered not to wash fish in
the brook adjoining his mansion house in Church Street, and not
to throw fish water in the brook. . Penalty, 25. per week.
John Bales was ordered not to throw scouring suds \aquas
fullonicas\ in the king's way. Penalty, is. for every offence.
Nicholas Foster was ordered to amend his gutter opposite his
house in Stoneham Street.
Anthony Jepps required to place a " wholve " or bridge next
Hart Field.
George Larke to remove his hogs-sty \fiara\ being near the
highway and a common nuisance.
1696 July ist. Anthony Jepps to repair his ditch adjoining
Crouches.
Henry Abbutt to scour his ditch in Dead Lane.
John Knew to scour his ditch adjoining Church Field.
Thomas Guyon and others, inhabitants of New Row, to repair
their ditch.
John Hance presented for pouring scouring suds in the stream
in Church Street.
^98 June 1 3th. Peter Everett ordered not to throw scour-
ing suds in his yard so that they run in the pond called Church
Pond. [This was a very common offence].
Hares Bridge being decayed, and Thomas Attwood being
found liable to repair it, was presented that he was in mercy, 53.
1699 May agth. Several persons presented for allowing
filth to flow into the Church Pond and in the stream running
thereupon.
"8 Manorial.
1700 May 2oth. The constables ordered to repair the bridge
adjoining Mans Green.
Presented that the gutters adjoining the Bird-in-Hand were
not scoured.
John Barnard having erected a post and rail across "The
Causy," was ordered to remove it.
1701 June Qth. John Cockerell, Matthew Fenn, Isaac Ellis-
ton, Mark Guyon and very many others required to scour the
stream leading from Church Pond to Hares Bridge.
1706 May i3th. Certain of the inhabitants within the leet,
presented for selling unwholesome meat.
1709 June 1 3th. Presented that the Back ditch, leading
from the Wash or Wain of John Ludgater be scoured.
Presented that the Back ditch, from the Great River up to the
Stone Bridge, and within the jurisdiction of the leet, was not
scoured.
Presented that the Brick Bridge (Pons Lateritius), which sepa-
rates Great Coggeshall from Little Coggeshall, is in great decay
and defective repair; and ordered that the bridge aforesaid, within
the jurisdiction of the leet, be well and sufficiently repaired before
25th July after the court.
Presented that the ditch running from Hares Bridge to the
Brick Bridge adjoining and being within this leet was unsecured.
1711 May 2 1 st. Presented that the Stream under the new
market of the lord of the manor, up to "le Grate," within the
leet, is not scoured.
1715 June 6th. Presented that John Fryitt, being a com-
mon baker of man's bread (comunis pistor humani panis] within
this leet, at divers times in the month of May last, broke the
assize of bread by making light bread and selling and uttering the
same bread to divers persons within this leet, contrary to the form
of the Statute. Fined 6s.
At this Court, a Taster of Bread and Ale was appointed ;
the previous appointments having extended to beer only.
1716 May 2ist. It was ordered that William Cox, William
Clarke and Mark Belsham Grimes, who at this court were ap-
pointed constables of this leet for this year following, well and
sufficiently repair the stocks and cage (Cippos et carsarem calatha-
riu) being within this leet within 40 days after notice thereof
under pain of forfeiting to the lord in default thereof ^5.
Great Coggeshall. 119
Robert Sutton, sen. presented for selling meel by false weight.
Fine, 25. 6d.
Several persons presented for breaking the assize of bread.
Fines, 153. in each case.
1720 June 6th. Presented that the hedge lately surrounding
a place called Le Wayne Yard, of Mary Cox, widow, in Back
Lane adjoining Peter's Well within this leet is in great decay, &c.
1730 May 18. Presented that the stream or Tye Mill brook,
leading from Hares Bridge to the Old Ditch in the river of Great
Coggeshall is unscowered, &c.
1731 June 7th. Presented that the Bridge, called the Turn-
pike Bridge or the Short Bridge, within this leet, is in great decay
and that the surveyors [Supervisores Regie vie] ought to repair
the same bridge. Order accordingly.
Presented that the water-course running from the workhouse
in Stoneham Street is out of repair.
1733 May 14.* John Mount and Henry Turner are pre
sented for not cutting the boughs hanging over the Church Pond
within this leet to the annoyance of the water there, &c.
Several persons presented for not cleaning the brook leading
from Church Pond to Hares Bridge, as well as for setting their
necessary houses over the same brook.
Presented that the constables of this leet have constantly
cleansed and scoured Church Pond and Peters' Well within the
leet and the same being foul they were ordered to cleanse the
same.
The last View of Frank Pledge and General Court Baron of
Nehemiah Lyde, Esq., was held 26 May, 1735.
The first View of Frank Pledge and first General Court Baron
of Richard DuCane, Esq., was held on the i4th June, 1736, and
of Peter Du Cane, of 3rd June, 1745.
Henry Turner (Baptist teacher), presented for emptying
stagnate water out of the Baptist Meeting House into Church
Pond.
1747 June 8. The surveyors presented for not repairing the
bridge, the wharfage and passage for the water out of the road at
Mans Green, and also for not opening and repairing the Brook
watercourse by the Fishmarket.
* This is the first Court the proceedings of which are entered in English.
i2o Manorial.
1759 June 4th. Constables presented for not setting up a
post of correction.
1765 May 27th. Constables presented for suffering shaving,
fishing, and selling goods on the Lord's Day.
The cage and post of correction found to be out of repair.
1775 June 5th. The Lord of the Manor presented for
permitting the drain belonging to the Old Hall, otherwise the
Shambles, to run into Shambles Lane.
The last View of Frank Pledge was held for this Manor on
24th May, 1779. There were fifteen Capital Pledges, who on
their oaths say " that they give and have always given to the Lord
of the Manor at the leet day, always in certain, as well for every
head of the tenants of this Manor as of the Capital Pledges and
Deciners within the precincts of this leet, one penny each, amount-
ing this year to 15 pence." They then chose three constables,
three persons as Ale Tasters and Bread Weighers, and two Water
Bailiffs who were ordered to take care that the brooks and water
passages were always cleansed, and that the water should not be
turned out of the ancient courses, or impeded, under a penalty of
2os. for every neglect. They also chose two Leather Sealers.
They presented several persons for permitting filth to run into the
Church Pond, and others for not cleaning their ditches.
Little Coggeshall. The first view of Frank Pledge with the
first Court Baron of Nehemiah Lyde, Esq., for the Manor of
Little Coggeshall, was held on the 5th June, 1693. Twelve per-
sons were sworn as the ' Capital Pledges with the Homage.'
The principal presentments are with reference to the cleansing
of ditches. Two constables were appointed.
1730 May 1 8th. The Brick Bridge which divides the
parishes of Great and Little Coggeshall is presented to be in de-
cay, and the Surveyors of the King's highway ordered to repair
the same.
1734 June 3rd. Presented that the Stocks * and Cage within
this leet were out of repair, and the Constables were ordered to
repair the same.
1738 May 22nd. Presented that the Pound was out of
repair. Also that the Stock House was out of repair.
* These were on the top of Grange Hill, on the east side. The field, No.
71, O. S., is called Stock Field.
Great and Little Coggeshall.
1741 May 1 8th. Presented that Isaac Ludgater had obstruc-
ted an ancient watercourse leading from the well called Cockerells
Well, adjoining to the Grange Hill, and he was commanded to
remove the obstruction and open a free passage to the water run-
ning from the said well, so that the same might be conveyed with-
in and through its usual channel, as anciently it had been, without
any obstruction, into the Great River.
The last View of Frank Pledge was held on 24th May, 1779,
when fifteen persons were sworn as the " Capital Pledges with the
Homage ; " two Constables were chosen ; Edmund Wood was
presented for carrying on the trade of a wheelwright in the king's
highway, and for suffering his timber, &c. to lie on the highway ;
and it was also presented that the water running out of the ditch
on the south-east corner of a field called Hare Field, into the
ditch on the opposite side of the road, overflowed the road, and
was a nuisance, and the Surveyors and Constables were ordered
to make a drain for the water.
The following items are reproduced from Mr. Dale's Annals.
The original document was formerly in the late Mr. Charles
Smith's possession ; the writer made every effort to learn from Mr.
Smith what had become of the document, but could not obtain
any information.
"Abstract taken out of the Court Rolles of the Manners of
Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall, of all such surrenders
and deaths of customary tenants, wherein are expressed as well
the yearely rent, paiable for their customary lands and tenements,
as the fynes, which they respectively paid to the lord for their ad-
mittances to the same. 17 Rd. II. to 38 Hen. VIII. and 9 to 14
Eliz.
17 Richard II. William Fuller surrended into the lord's
hands, two parts of a tenement once called Herings' tenement, to
the use of Richard Parker, to whom siesin is granted to hold to
him and his heires, at the will of the lord, by the antient suites
and customes. And he gave to the lord for a fyne, 2od. [In
Church Street, occupied by Mr. U. Mount, between Swan Yard
and Plummers.]
20 Richd. II. At this court came Richard Dodding, and did
take of the lord one parcel of land in litle Cherchfeild, over
against his tenement, and also a footway from his garden to the
lord's pond, called Cherch pond, to drawe water there. To holde
122 Manorial.
to him and his heires, paying yearely to the lord, 6d. Fine, per
donation.
1 Hen. IV. (1399.) The lord granted to Walter Hares a
peece of land lying at the Short bregge nere the floudgates of Tye
Mill, to hold from Michas. last for 100 years, paying to the lord
yearly, Rent, i2d. Fine, 4d.
13 Hen. IV. The lord granted to Robert Cardinall one
messuage, with a little croft of land adjoyning, called the Gate
House, To hold from Michas. last for 8 years, paying yearly to
the Ranger of the Home Grange, 8s.
7 Hen. V. (1420.) The lord granted to John Brooke and
Mary his wife, a messuage, to hold from Michas. last for 10 years,
paying to the Priest of the Abbey, yerely, Rent, 8s. Fine, 4d.
4 Hen. VI. (1426.) The lord granted to John Cressing and
Christian his wife, a messuage in Church Street, to hold from
Easter next for 1 2 years, paying to the Hog-heard of the Abbey,
yerely, Rent, us. Fine, 3d.
The lord granted to John Sawbyn, a messuage in Church
Street, to hold from Midsummer next for 12 years, paying yearly
to the Singer of the Abbey, Rent, 73. Fine, 4d.
The lord granted to John Lawford a decaied cottage, with a
pcell of a garden adjoining in Stonhey Strete, called the Crouch
House, to hold from Easter next for 40 years, paying to the lord,
yearly, Rent, i2d, Fine, 4d.
The lord granted to Walter Hares a messuage and a peece of
meadow, lying next Sir William Coggeshall's meadow, called
Polerds Mead, and one shoppe in the market, to hold from
Michas. last for 20 years, paying yearely to the lord, Rent, 295.
Fine, per donation.
2 Edwd. IV. (1462.) Richard Bullocke died, seised in fee
of one customary tent called Moises, holden by the rodde at the
lord's will ; and that Richd. is his sonne and heire, and 7 yeares
old, who, by Robert Fabian and John Fabian, is admitted tenant,
and paies to the lord for a fine, 2od. ; and they pray to occupy
the land untill his full age, and for that license they gave to the
lord for a fine, 6d.
10 Edwd. IV. The lord granted to Thomas Clerke and
Christian his wife, 2 tents, lying together over against Cogshall
markett, and a cottage within the market-place, called the Castell
of Gynes, and a garden thereto annexed, Rent, 325. Fine, 2od.
Great and Little Coggeshall. 123
12 Edwd. IV. The lord granted to Richard Chapman, Sen.,
a messuage and curtilage adjoining, as it is enclosed, called
Lavender, lying over against the markett of Cogshall, betweene
the lord's tent called the Cocke, on the east, and the messuage of
Wm. Doreward, Esq., west, paying to the lord, yearly rent, 133. 4d.
Fine, i3d.
21 Edwd. IV. The lord demised to John Trewe, a field
called Starlings Lese.
21 Edwd. IV. John Windlove died, seized in fee of a tene-
ment called Vernolds, alias Heyivards, in Cogshall magna, after
whose death noe herriott falls to the lord, because hee had noe
living creature ; but hee surrended it to the use of Christian his
daughter.
7 Hen. VII. (1492.) The lord, upon John Turner's surrender,
admitted John Paicock to a garden and pcell of land, pcell of
Nether Church Field, paying yearly, i dove gilly floure, 2 capons.
13 Hen. VII. The lord granted to Thomas Cavill one piece
of pasture, pcell of a field called Ingring-downe, betwene the
lord's bankes, called Robin's brooke and Ingring-downe, paying
to the lord, yearely, 95. and 61. pepper.
4 Hen. VIII. (1513.) The lord granted out of his lands one
peece of land or garden called pcell of Old church.k\\&, lying in
Church Street, one head abutting upon Over-church-feild lane,
and the other upon the garden and messuage of Agnes Clerke,
wid., by the antient rent of 6d. Fine, one capon.
5 Hen. VIII. The lord granted, out of his hands, to John
Bland, a cottage and customary yard adjoining, once John Sweet-
ing's, in Gallow Strete.
38 Hen. VIII. Robert Whepsted surrended one messuage
with a garden, adjoining Cogshall market."
124
Manorial.
(NUncr of
'TpHE Manor of Coggeshall Hall seems to have comprehended
J_ what in Domesday Book is mentioned thus : " In Cogges-
hala tenuit Sancta Trinitas * iii virgates terre, tempore regis
Edwardi et modo similiter. Semper ii carucate. Tune i bord-
arius, modo viii. Tune iii servi, modo i. viii acres prati. i mo-
lendinum. Et valuit Ix solidos in dominio, iv runcini, iii animalia.
xx oves, vii porci;" which is translated: "The Holy Trinity
held in Coggeshall 3 yard lands, in the time of King Edward
and now likewise. Always two teams. Then one bordar, now 8.
Then 3 serfs, now one. Eight acres of pasture. One mill. And
it is worth 6os. In the demesne. Four horses, three beasts,
20 sheep, seven swine."
This estate was held by the Cathedral Church of Canterbury
for the sustenance of the monks.
* The grant to the Cathedral Church of Canterbury was in these words :
"Ego Godwinus et Wolgith, concedente et consentiente Domino meo Rege
Edwardo, donanus Ecclesise Christi in Dorobernia partem terre juris nostri
nomine Stigestede et Coggashael in East Sexia, liberas ab omni seculari servi-
tute, sicut Ego a prefato Domino meo Rege Edwardo et a Patre ejus hactenus
tenui. Si quis erit a jure ejusdem Ecclesiae abstuleiit, auferat ei Deus gloriam
suam." Ex. M.S. in Bibl Col., Corp., Cant. It is extant, though in a
somewhat different manner, in W. 77iortte, Decent. Script, Col., 2224; and in
the Antiq. of Canterb., p. 39, Append., where Wolgith is stiled " relicta
Elfwine," i.e. widow of Elfwine, most probably some great Saxon lord, in
whose right or in her own, Wolfgith had an interest in these lands. (Morant.)
Coggeshall Hall. 125
Domesday Book also mentions that " Tedricus tenet i hidam
et dimid' pro escangio de Cogeshala quod tenuit Tiselinus.
Tune ii carucate, modo nulla. Tune tres bordarii, modo nullus.
Silva iii porcis, xii acre prati. Tune valuit xx solidos, modo x ; "
or in English : Tedric holds one hide and a half by exchange,
for [or of] Coggeshall, which was held by Tiselinus. Then two
teams, now none. Then 3 bordars, now none. Wood for 3 swine.
12 acres of meadow. Then it was worth 20 shillings, now ten.
It may be that the Manor of Coggeshall Hall comprised the
estate of Tedricus [Tedricus Pointell], and it is worthy of note
that the way leading from the Grange Hill to the Hamlet is known
as " Pointell's Street," and Mr. Barnard's Mill is called " Pointells
Mill."
The Manor of Coggeshall Hall was held in the i3th century
by a family surnamed De Coggeshall, and possibly much earlier,
for there was a Sir Thomas de Coggeshall living in the reign of
King Stephen, and this Sir Thomas held large estates in the
county of Essex.
Sir Ralph de Coggeshall died in the 33rd year of King Edw.
I., possessed of Coggeshall Hall, which he held partly of John
Filoll and partly of the Abbots of Coggeshall and Westminster
and of William atte Napleton.
John de Coggeshall, the son and heir of Sir Ralph, died in
the 1 3th year of King Edw. II., seized of a capital messuage, a
water mill, 8 and a half acres of wood, 203 acres of arable land,
6 acres of meadow, 3 acres of pasture, and 6s. 8d. rent ; which
property he held of John Filloll, by the service of half a knight's
fee and the yearly rent of 645. 4d. He also held of the Abbot of
Westminster, by the service of i6s. per annum, 33 acres of arable,
i acre of meadow, 4 acres of pasture, a grinding house with a
barrel or wheel, a pond, and 25. yd. rent. And of the Abbot
of Coggeshall, by knight's service, 44 acres of arable with 35. rent.
And of the same abbot in socage, 2 granges, 2 chambers, a garden
and 5 acres of arable, by the service of i ys. 2d. per annum.
Sir John de Coggeshall,' son of the before-mentioned John,
held this property at the time of his decease in 1361, and he was
succeeded by his son and heir,
Sir Henry de Coggeshall, who died in 1375 ; from him the
estate devolved upon
Sir William de Coggeshall, who, dying at Codham Hall,
126 Manorial.
Wethersfield, in the early part of the reign of King Henry VI.,
left four daughters his co-heiresses, viz. : Blanch, who married
John Doreward ; Eleanor or Alice, who married Sir John Tyrrell ;
Margaret, who married William Bateman, Esq., and afterwards
John Roppeley, Esq. ; and Maud, who married Robert Dacre,
Esq., and afterwards John St. George.
John Doreward, Esq., by his marriage with Blanch Cogges-
hall, became possessed of Coggeshall Hall, and on his death,
about 1426, his eldest son,
John Doreward became the owner, and so remained till his
death in 1476, when it descended to his son,
John Doreward, then aged 21 years. He held the Manor of
Coggeshall Hall, with two water mitts called Pointell Mell and
Estford * Mell, also 200 acres of arable, 100 acres of meadow,
and 10 acres of wood in Coggeshall, Markeshall, Colne, Feering,
Kelvedon, Blackwater, Inworth, Stisted and Fordham-forth ; and
32 messuages, with the appurtenances, in Coggeshall. John
Doreward died in 1495, having been married to Margaret Lyhert,
by whom however he had no issue, and on her death the estate
passed to his neices, daughters of his sister Elizabeth, viz. :
Margaret, the wife of Nicholas Bewpre, aged 19. Elizabeth, the
wife of Henry Thursbie, Esq., aged 18; and Christian, wife of
John de Vere, aged 14.
Ralph Chamberlayn and Edward Chamberlayn, the trustees of
the property, on the 2;th Ayril, 1513, sold the reversion, after the
death of Margaret Doreward, (afterwards the wife of Sir James
Hobert, Knt.,) for ^172, to
Sir Robert Southwell, of Filiols Hall or Felix Hall in Kelve-
don, who died 3oth March, 1515, leaving as his heir his nephew,
Richard Southwell, (son of his brother Francis), then aged 10
years ; but as Sir Robert died without male issue, this estate and
Filiols Hall escheated to the Crown.
Henry VIII., on the 2oth April, 1539, granted the same
properties to Richard Long, Esq., but as his son, Henry Long,
died without issue, they passed to his four sisters, of whom the
eldest, Elizabeth, brought them in marriage to her husband,
Sir William Russell, by whom, on i8th May, 1584, they were
sold to
* Easterford, the old name of Kelvedon.
Coggeshall Hall, 127
Henry, Earl of Kent; George, Earl of Cumberland; and
Robert, Earl of Sussex, as trustees for Sir Thomas Cecill, fifth
and youngest son of Thomas, Earl of Exeter. Sir Thomas
married Ann, daughter of Sir Robert Lee, Alderman of London,
by whom he had Benjamin, Charles, Dorothy and Anne.
Dorothy, the eldest and last surviving daughter, brought the estate
in marriage to Thomas Cudmore, Esq. (son of John Cudmore,
Esq., of Kelvedon, Barrister -at-law). Their son, Thomas, married
Anne, daughter of John Anger, Esq., of Boxted, and had by her,
John Cudmore, Esq., who died, 8th December, 1630, holding
this Manor of the king, in capite by knight's service, at which
time it was worth 6 135. 4d. John, his eldest son and heir,
dying without issue, was succeeded by his next brother,
Thomas Cudmore, Esq., who died, 25th July, 1637. Thomas,
a posthumous son, born 3rd January following, inherited next.
By his will he devised this Manor to one Latham, subject to some
power vested in his two daughters, who jointly with Latham, sold
this estate to
- Blackmore, Esq., of Lincolns Inn, and he in turn sold it to
Hugh Raymond, Esq., a Director of the South Sea Coy., from
whom it passed to
Jones Raymond, Esq., who owned it about 1768.
The Hall and demesne lands have for many years been part of
the estate of the Western family, whose seat is at Felix Hall, Kel-
vedon. Their arms are : Sable, a chevron between 2 crescents
in chief and a trefoil slipped in base. Crest a demi lion, or., in
its dexter paw a trefoil slipped vert. Motto Nee temere nee
timide. The present representative of the family is Sir Thomas
Charles Callis Western, 3rd Baronet ; he succeeded on the death
of his father, Sir Thomas Sutton Western, in 1877. The present
baronet married, in 1883, Elizabeth Ellen, eldest daughter of the
late T. Newton, Esq.
The lordship of the Manor of Coggeshall, otherwise Cogges-
hall Hall, consisting of the seignory, was severed from the
demesne lands during the latter part of last century or the begin-
ning of the present. About 1775, the Manor belonged to Daniel
Mathew, Esq., and on his death a few years later, it was sold by
order of the Court of Chancery, by, among others, Edward
Mathew, Esq., and the Right Honourable Lady Jane Mathew, his
wife, Mary Mathew, widow, Daniel Byam Mathew, Esq., George
128 Manorial.
Mathew, Esq., Mary Mathew, spinster, Louisa Mathew, spinster,
Samuel Gambier, Esq. and Jane his wife, late Jane Mathew,
spinster, and Brownlow Mathew, Esq. ; the purchaser being
Samuel Tyssen, Esq., who, in 1786, sold it to Abram Newman,
Esq.
Newman made his will in 1796, and gave the Manor to his
daughter Jane, the wife of William Thoyts, whose trustees sold it
in 1842, to James Cuddon, Esq. His sons, Francis Thomas
Cuddon and James Cuddon, Esqrs., succeeded to it on the death
of their father. It was sold by them to the Rev. Walter Trevelyan
Bullock, in whose family it remained until 1879, when it was sold
to C. J. Daintree, Esq., of Petworth, Sussex, the present lord.
The following is an epitome of an extract of the Records of
the Courts held for the Manor in the time of King Henry VIII.
The extract [a copy in the writer's possession], is on parchment,
and is bound with some records relating to the Manor of Felix
Hall, and is now in the Public Record Office, Bundle 58, No.
726 Duchy of Lancaster Court Rolls.
Court held on Wednesday in Whitsun week, 17 Henry VIII.
The jury were John Copscheff, Richard Peverell, in right of his
wife, Robert Goldwire, John Clerk, Robert Dawes, John Ayle-
ward, Christopher Pyper, John Borle, William Bery [John Porter
struck through and marked dead], John Waleis, Andrew Turvy,
Thomas Clerk, Robert Rande.
The bailiff is ordered to distrain John Fabian, of Bekenham,
so that he may be at the court to show in what right he holds
one tenement in Poyntell Street, held of the Lord by the rent of
, and in what manner he holds two crofts there, held by the
rent of 45. per annum, after the death of John Fabian, of London,
his father, so that he may satisfy the relief fealty, and other
services.
The bailiff is also ordered to distrain the lands, tenements,
and tenters in Poyntell Street, called Guiles, late of Sir John
Sharp Knight, deceased, and before that of Christopher Sharp,
his father held of the Lord by the rent of ^i 8s. lod. per
annum.
The death was presented of John Porter, who held a field
divided by a fence, and called Longlond, containing by estimation
22 acres and 3 roods adjoining land called Shadwell, and it was
stated that John Porter was his son and heir, and he being a
Coggeshall Hall. 129
minor, of the age of 13 years or thereabouts, was admitted by his
mother, Margaret Purcas, the wife of John Purcas.
Robert Goldewer died before this court, possessed of a tene-
ment near Hare's Bridge [Breg], held of the Lord by the rent of
43. per annum, also a piece of pasture in Braxted Mede by the
rent of 2s. per annum.
Thomas Waleys, who had also died before this court, held
one tenement called Geno . . . s, held by the rent of 25. and
also certain land called Bancroft, by the rent of 6d.
The bailiff was commanded to distrain John Paycock upon a
garden in Galoiostrete (Gallows or East Street), late belonging
to John Chapman Senior, held of the lord by the rent of 8d. per
annum ; and also upon a tenement and garden late in the tenure
of John Paycock, cousin of his father, lying next the orchard of
William Garrard, held by the rent of i2d. so that the services due
to the lord of the manor might be duly performed.
Court held 14 Henry VIII.
The bailiff was ordered to warn the Abbot of Coggeshall to
show in what manner he held all his lands and tenements in Great
and Little Coggeshall, and to be at the next court to produce his
documents of title.
Court held 17 Henry VIII.
There is a reference to a mansion in Stoneham Street, which
appears to have belonged to William Glover, of Thaxted, and
Isabel his wife, late the wife of Richard Leman. They surren-
dered the property to Robert Lamberd.
Thomas Paycock, aged 12, was the son and heir of Robert
Paycock, deceased, who died possessed of Maykynes, then late
belonging to John Paycock, his cousin, adjoining the inn called
The Dragon, on the one part and a tenement, then of Richard
Fellex, formerly of Wm. Sponer, called Mabsons, on the other part.
The rental of the copyhold and freehold tenants of the Manor,
dated in 1789, contains much valuable information and is consider-
ed well worthy of reproduction in these pages, and from it it will
be seen that the Manor was of considerable extent, and comprised
the seignory of lands in Great Coggeshall, Little Coggeshall, Brad-
well, Markshall, Feering, Kelvedon and Inworth. The copyhold
tenure of nearly all the properties in the Manor has been extin-
guished by enfranchisement, and the value of the Manor has con-
sequently been reduced to a minimum.
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messuage or tenement with a barn, stable, and
Blest End, in Bradwell, next Coggeshall, adjoi
wo closes of arable land containing four acres
and adjoining to No. 3.
ullmore meadow containing three acres, adjoini
called Cross path field, belonging to Coxall
towards the east in Little Coggeshall.
hree crofts of arable land formerly called Gulls
Springfields, and Six Acre Piece, in Little
adjoining to Gullmore meadow towards the
Pointoll river towards the east, containing toj
acres.
. cottage, barn, and twenty-two acres of arable
at Cuthedge, in Little Coggeshall, called Cutle
. croft of arable land called Rands, containing
in Little Coggeshall, adjoining to the road
Kelvedon towards the east, and to the road
Cuthedge towards the north, and to lands b
Scrips farm towards the west and south.
. cottage made into two tenements, in Pointwell
and a parcel of arable land adjoining theret
called Samsonsfield now Tainter Plott and
arable land adjoining thereto, next the river,
together nine acres.
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garden plot, lying before the messuage call
No. 43, containing about ten rods of grou
messuage situate in Great Coggeshall, in
the Gravell, adjoining to No. 36, on the p;
welve acres of arable land, formerly par
farm, in Kelvedon, adjoining to No. 29.
tenement called Simons, in Stoneham Stn
geshall, adjoining to No. 27.
messuage, barn, and four closes of arable
Coggeshall, formerly called Sherleys nov
House, containing fifteen acres.
pantry, yard, and entry, laid to and
messuage of the sd. Robert Evans, in Marl
Coggeshall, formerly part of the premises ]
ive acres of land called Brookmans oth<
situate at Stock Street, in Great Coggeshal]
farm called Marigolds, at Marks Hall, cont
croft of land called Shermans, containin
Peering, part of the farm called Herrings.
messuage and premises called the White .
Coggeshall.
messuage adjoining to the White Hart calle
messuage adjoining to the Trueblue form
Green Dragon.
messuage and divers outhouses and buildi
Cellar, adjoining to the Green Dragon, noi
and storehouses.
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Peering, and containing twenty-eight acres,
barn and four closes of arable and woodland, called
Greensteds, adjoining to Mockbeggars, lying in Peering,
and containing twenty-eight acres,
small piece of ground used for a garden, belonging to a
freehold messuage, situate in Gt. Coggeshall, opposite the
White Hart.
cottage called Goldevers, situate at Hares Bridge, in Gt.
Coggeshall.
messuage now divided into several tenements, called
Durdens, in East Street, Gt. Coggeshall.
wo tenements in Stoneham Street, in Great Coggeshall,
adjoining to No. 14.
ands in Inworth, called Longlands, Messingfield, and Oynes
Mead, containing twenty-six acres, with a potash office
thereon.
ands called Dobernelh and Bancrofts, with a barn thereon,
belonging to the farm called the Watering farm, in
Kelvedon, containing acres, and adjoining to No. 13.
toft and garden at Hares Bridge, in Gt. Coggeshall,
adjoining to No. 27.
messuage called Wilcocks or the Cornerhouse (part thereof
the Redlion Alehouse), at Market End, Gt. Coggeshall.
messuage called the Dyehouse, in East Street, in Gt.
Coggeshall (part thereof was formerly pulled down to
make a gateway to his dwellinghouse), and adjoining to
No. 28.
ands called the Mount lands, in Gt. Coggeshall, whereon a
dovehouse lately stood, containing eight acres, more or
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DESCRIPTION OF THE FREEHOLD PREMISI
messuage now divided into several tenemen
Shogels, in East Street, in Gt. Coggeshall.
mill called Pointell Mill, in Little Coggesha
parcel of meadow ground,
wo tenements adjoining to Pointell Mill, in Littl
hall.
wo tenements called G*^, in Pointell Street
adjoining to No. 43.
he Swan Inn and Premises, in Kelvedon.
tenement and yard laid to the Swan Inn.
messuage called Newhouse, in Pointell Street, wi
stable, orchard, and three crofts of arable ani
land, containing twelve acres,
messuage divided into two tenements, with a g;
orchard, called Mills, lying opposite Pointells
adjoining to No 9.
messuage called Grangers, in East Street, in Gi
hall, adjoining to No. 66.
messuage and premises, called the Green Man, \
Street, in Gt. Coggeshall, formerly Wybers.
mpQciinorf rnllprl thp .QVi/* nwst i-i TTnr.4- C;
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Coggeshall, adjoining to No. 57.
messuage called Mabsons, in Market End, Grea
hall, adjoining to No. 20, sold to Unwin.
messuage and six closes of land, at Stock Stre
Coggeshall, called Widowsons.
tenement formerly called the Unicorn, in Kelvedi
down to widen the road.
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DESCRIPTIO
messuage called
hall, adjoining to
wo tenements, adj
ne tenement, adj
Clarke.
ne other teneme
Robert Clarke.
messuage and m;
messuage and t
near Cuthedge, i
acres,
messuage called
hall, adjoining to
messuage and pr<
moiety of a messi
now divided.
moiety of same p
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tenement called
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NONCONFORMIST CHAPELS.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL.
|HE Independents are a religious denomination whose
distinctive ecclesiastical principle is that the individual
congregation is a society strictly voluntary and self-
governing. Among the nonconforming bodies in this
town the Independents; or Congregationalists, have for upwards of
two centuries held the leading position.
The Acts of King Charles II. by their severity did much to
increase the spirit of nonconformity, the seeds of which may be
said to have been sown in the reign of Queen Elizabeth by the
puritans a religious body of persons who, severing themselves
from the Catholic church, Roman and Anglican, desired to be
conformed in doctrine and polity to those churches of the Conti-
nent that were by them considered to be pre-eminently reformed.
The first Independent of any prominence was one Robert
Brown, son of Anthony Brown, of Tolthorp, in Rutlandshire.
He was born in 1550, educated at Cambridge, and afterwards
The Independents. 137
followed the profession of a schoolmaster in Southwark. His de-
nunciation of the Established Church was of a most virulent
character, and for his conduct in this respect he was excommuni-
cated by the Bishop of Peterborough. The solemnity of the
censure effected his reformation, and about 1590 he was rector of
a parish in Northamptonshire. Here, however, his passionate
disposition lead him into trouble with the parish constable over a
question of rates, resulting ultimately in blows, for which offence,
combined with his insolence to the magistrates before whom he
was charged, he was committed to gaol, where he died, in 1630,
at the advanced age of 80 years ; a great part of his life having
been spent in confinement in no fewer than 32 prisons.
Robert Brown has been thus shortly alluded to as the parish
registers show that he had some followers here ; for instance, we
find under baptisms, " 1615, Aug. 13, Elizabeth, daughter of
Christopher Pennock, a Brownist excommunicate contemptuous ";
"1615, Nov. 5, Mary, daughter of Moses Ram, an obstinate
Brownist"; " 1615, Dec. 24, Martha, daughter of Daniel Pennock,
a Brownist."
The first houses at Coggeshall to which licenses were granted
under the Declaration of Indulgence, issued by King Charles II.
in 1672, were those of John Croe, Thomas Lowry, Matthew
Ellistone and William Grove ; the licensed teachers being John
Sammes, Thomas Lowry, Matthew Ellistone, William Grove and
Thomas Millaway ; the last of whom was licensed to be a general
congregational teacher.
The first meeting house of a public character appears to have
been a converted barn in East Street, mentioned in the records of
the Independents. In this document mention is made of Mr.
Sammes having been ejected from his position in the parish
church, and, as his followers " could not meet where they formerly
did, they hired a barn in East Street, which they converted into a
Meeting House."
In the early years of last century the Independents, who inclu-
ded among their number some of the wealthiest inhabitants of the
place, having outgrown their humble edifice in East Street, raised
a fund and purchased from Henry Ennew and Elizabeth his wife,
for ^"77 i os. two messuages built under one roof with the
gardens, &c., called " Old Ales," situate in Stoneham Street. The
property was conveyed to Isaac Buxton, of Great Coggeshall,
Nonconformist Chapels.
clothier, and Thomas Nicholls, yeoman, and William Brown,
gentleman, of Little Coggeshall, on the 2oth April, 1710. The
conveyance contains seve r al genealogical items relating to the
Ennew family. By another deed of the same date the fee farm
rent of ji us. 8d., payable to Morden College, which was
charged on this and other property, was to be thenceforth payable
out of a close of land containing about two acres, also parcel or
reputed parcel of the property known as " Old Ales." The cottages
were pulled down, and on the site there was erected the present
chapel. The building proceeded with such expedition that on
the 3ist August, 1710, the chapel was registered in the Bishop of
London's Registry " as a meeting house for religious worship of
Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, commonly
called Independents."
The Deed of Settlement, declaring the trusts of the property,
is dated the Qth of March, 1715, and is made between Isaac Bux-
ton, of Great Coggeshall, clothier; Thomas Nichols, of Great
Coggeshall, yeoman, and William Brown, of Great Coggeshall,
gentleman, of the one part ; and Nehemiah Lyde, of Hackney,
Esq., Richard Ducane, of the City of London, Esq., Edward
Bentley, of Great Coggeshall, clerk, John Taylor, Senior, of Great
Coggeshall, glazier, John Barnard, Sen., of the same place, draper,
John Cooper, of Kelvedon, gentleman, William Leppingwell, of
the same place, gentleman, Thomas Potter, Sen., of Messing,
gentleman, Moses Richardson, of Pattiswick, gentleman, Richard
Brewer, of Great Coggeshall, yeoman, William Barrick, of Peering,
yeoman, and Jeremiah Raven, of the same place, yeoman, of the
other part. The Trust Deed declares that the trustees shall hold
the property in trust, to permit the building or meeting-house to
be used as a meeting-house or meeting-place for the worship of
Almighty GOD by the people of that congregation or society for
the time being, of which Edward Bentley was then pastor or
minister, and whereof his successor and successors for the time
being shall be pastor or pastors, and for such other persons as
should attend the ministry there. There is power for the trustees,
or the major part of them, to make orders and agreements for de-
ciding controversies arising between members of the congregation
concerning the pews. W r hen the number of trustees should be
reduced to five the continuing trustees were to appoint new
trustees.
The Independents. 139
In 1716, the congregation consisted of 700 hearers, of whom
43 were voters for the county, and 19 came under the denomina-
tion of gentlemen, as appears by a return made by Lord Barring-
ton.
The trustees, appointed in 1727, were John Brooks (Feering),
Thomas Buxton, John Buxton, Joseph Thetford, George Abbot,
John Savill (Feering), Edward Sach, Abraham Cook, Robert Sal-
mon, George Brett, Thomas Porter (Inworth), Isaac Buxton, Jun.,
(Feering) and John Willsher (Marks Tey).
On the i6th of October, 1765, the only surviving trustees, viz.
Thomas Buxton, George Abbott, John Savill, George Brett, and
Isaac Buxton, the younger, appointed as the new trustees, Robert
Salmon, Sen., Thomas Unwin, Sen., William Unwin, Sen., Thomas
Unwin, Jun., William Unwin, Jun., William Sandford, Edward
Powell, John Abbott, Jonathan Peacock, Edward Sach, Thomas
Babbs, Sen., William Newton, Sen., Thomas Lay, Edward Wai-
ford, Ephraim Willsher, Daniel Halls, and George Jay, Jun. This
deed contains special provision for setting apart pews to members
of the congregation.
On the 1 3th of May, 1777, John Godfrey, William Babbs,
Habbakuk Layman, Fisher Unwin, Jordan Unwin, Stephen
Unwin, Edward Sach, John Wright, Henry Shetelworth, Sen.,
John Raven, Thomas Babbs, Thomas Powell, Henry Shetelworth,
Jun., George Willsher, Thomas Willsher, John Everett, Haddon
Rudkin and Edward Evans were appointed new trustees of the
meeting-house property.
On the 24th of May, 1794, the trustees purchased for ^21 a
piece of ground, whereon formerly stood a cottage, lying between
the meeting-house and Church lane.
The next appointment of new trustees is dated the 24th of
September, 1802, and by this deed the trust property became
vested in John Archer, Jacob Pattison, John Godfrey, Samuel
Sach, Thomas Andrew, Sen., Thomas Andrew, Jun., Anthony
Blackbone, John Davey, James Francis, John Gurton, Peter Good,
Stephen Unwin, Thomas Unwin, Jun., Thomas Johnson, John
Wright, Jordan Unwin, Thomas Willsher, Jun., Thomas Brown
and William Potter.
On 3oth August, 1845, Fisher Unwin Pattison, Jordan Unwin,
Stephen Unwin, Sen., Samuel Sach, Anthony Blackbone, Stephen
Unwin, Jun., Thomas Chalk Swinborne, Jacob Unwin, Harold
14 Nonconformist Chapels.
Giles, Fisher Unwin, William Beard, George Beard, Jun., Charles
Moore, Sen., Henry Moore, Thomas Kettle, Alfred Denny, Joseph
Denny, William Lemon Oliver, Joseph Sach, Matthias Gardner
and John Appleford Clemance were appointed trustees.
The last appointment of trustees is dated the iyth August,
1884, when twenty-four of the leading members of the congre-
gation were elected.
In 1834, the Chapel was considerably enlarged at a cost of
about ;i,ooo, and it was further improved in 1865, by throwing
out an apse behind the pulpit for the organ and choir. In 1882,
the interior of the building was entirely reconstructed, at a cost of
;i5-
The present manse in East Street was purchased and enlarged
by the congregation, and conveyed in trust for their minister, in
1870.
The following is a list of the ministers :
LOWREY, Thomas, has already been noticed on page 62. He
was ejected from the Church of England. He purchased the
property now known as the Woolpack Inn, in Church Street,
in 1665 ; made his will, 12 March, 1680, and gave his resi-
dence and ^900 to his son, Jeremy Lawrey (his name is
variously spelt, but in his will he adopts this form) ; gave his
daughter, Rebecca, the wife of Samuel Grossman, among
other things a silver tankard, and one silver wine cup ; men-
tions his grandchildren (then infants), Samuel Grossman and
Thomas Grossman, children of his daughter, Rebecca; ap-
pointed his son, Jeremy, to be the guardian of his son, Rich-
ard, during the latter's minority ; gave $ for division among
certain nonconformist ministers, viz. Robert Gouge, of Great
Coggeshall, 205., William Lyle, of Witham, 205., Mr. Legg,
of Ipswich, IDS., Richard Rand, of Marks Tey, ios., Mrs.
Stulham, of Terling, ios., Mr. Chadley, near Yeldham, ios.,
Mr. Crow, near Hundon or Clare, ios., Mr. Clarke, of Raine,
ios ; gave $ to the poor of the society or church with whom
he was in fellowship ; and the residue of his estate he gave to
his three children, Jeremy, Richard and Rebecca ; appointed
his friend, Isaac Hubbard, of Great Coggeshall, grocer, super-
visor of his will. The will was proved by his son, Jeremy,
on 2nd August, 1681. Jeremy Lowrey, the son, sometime a
citizen and apothecary of London, was dead in 1708, when
The Independents. 14 J
his son, Jeremiah, also a citizen and apothecary of London,
sold the residence, which had then lately been converted into
an inn called ' The Woolpack,' to George Long. Thomas
Lowrey's funeral sermon was preached by Robert Gouge. A
John Lowrey [query of this family] was M.P. in the time of
the Long Parliament, and sat with Cromwell not long after
the general election. He was appointed one of the King's
judges, but did not act ; was living in 1659 [vide East Anglian
Notes and Queries, N.S. vol L, p. 78.]
SAMES, John (ante p. 62), was probably of the family of Sames
or Sammes, of the Totham, Tolleshunt and Goldhanger dis-
trict (see Morant, vol. I, pp. 386-392). .Is said to have resided
for a time in New England ; vicar of Kelvedon, 1 647 ; vicar
of Coggeshall, 1654, from which vicarage he was ejected at
the time of the Restoration ; died at Coggeshall, and was
buried in the churchyard on i6th December, 1672. His
funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Lowrey, who spoke of
his deceased friend as the jewel of the town," " the salt as it
were of the town," and " the light of the town ;" and, from
this discourse, he appears to have been a tender-hearted, pa-
tient, conscientious and godly man.
ELLISTONE, Matthew, GROVE, William, and MILLAWAY,
Thomas, were also nonconformist ministers here about this
time. Matthew Ellistone was buried at Marks Hall, on 3rd
May, 1693.
GOUGE, Robert, who was a congregational minister here from
1674 till his death in 1705, appears to have been a man of
some property, as he was the owner of a farm in Stock
Street, occupied by one Robert Cornell ; he also had three
houses in Stoneham Street, in one of which he resided.
When he made his will on i4th April, 1703, he described
himself as Robert Gouge the elder, of Great Coggeshall,
Clerk ; his wife's name was Katherine ; he had a son, Robert,
and a granddaughter, Sarah Gouge. He was buried at
Coggeshall, on i6th October, 1705. He was a native
of Chelmsford ; educated at Christ College, Cambridge ;
sometime a schoolmaster at Maldon ; in 1658 was a congre-
gational minister at Ipswich. Bufton has a few notes about
some members of this family: "1680, April 27, Mr.
Thomas Gouge was married to a rich gentlewoman of
Nonconformist Chapels.
Chelmsford; 1689, Oct. 31, Mr. Thomas Gouge brought
home his second wife from London; 1689, May 19, Mr.
Samuel Gouge, a lawyer, was buried."
BENTLEY, Edward, succeeded Gouge in 1706, and continued
pastor until his death on the gth June, 1740. He was
buried at the foot of the pulpit stairs in the Chapel. His
successor was
FARMER, John, from whom the pastorate devolved upon
HUMPHREY, Nicholas, who after two years duty resigned, and
was followed, in 1751, by
PEYTO, Henry, who died at the age of 74 years, on 7th
November, 1776.
ANDREWS, Mordecai, was the next minister. He resigned in
1797, and was succeeded by
FIELDING, Jeremiah, who, however, failed to work in harmony
with a large portion of his congregation, which resulted
in some of the principal members forming a separate meet-
ing in East Street, where they continued to assemble until
Fielding's retirement in 1818. On the i2th January, in
which year
WELLS, Algernon, was appointed pastor. By his kindly dis-
position and strict devotion to duty he reunited the severed
congregation, and ably ministered to his flock until his
resignation in 1837.
KAY, John, was the next minister, and served that office for
fifteen years, namely, till his death on the i4th of October,
1854. His successor was
DALE, Bryan, of Western College, Plymouth, and London
University. He was ordained on the i8th October, 1855,
and continued here till 1863. He is well known as the
author of the " Annals of Coggeshall" a work of considerable
research and varied interest. The history of nonconformity
occupies a large portion of the volume, and the detailed
biography of most of the Independent ministers is there set
forth. He is now Secretary of the Yorkshire Congregational
Union. The present minister is
PHILPS, Alfred Downing. He entered Hackney College in
1860. During his college course he gained the first Holmes
Jubilee Prize. He was ordained pastor at Coggeshall, aoth
September, 1864, and among those present at his ordination
The Society of Friends. 143
were the Rev. Samuel McAll, President of Hackney College
(afterwards his father-in-law), and the Rev. S. W. McAll,
M.A., of Finchley.
Society of
ontmon% caffed QuaRere.
f I A HE members of this society who. Fox says, were first called
JL Quakers by Justice Bennet, of Derby, because " I (Fox) bid
them tremble at the word of the Lord, and that was in the year
1650." They had some followers here as early as 1655, who are
thus mentioned by the founder of the society, (born 1624, died
1690), in his journal: " After the meeting at Reading I passed
up to London, where I stayed awhile and had large meetings, and
then went into Essex and came to Cogshall, and there was a meet-
ing of about 2,000 people, as it was judged, which lasted several
hours ; and a glorious meeting it was, for the Word of Life was
freely declared, and people were turned to the Lord JESUS
CHRIST." And, writing again in 1661, he says, "having now
stayed in London some time I felt drawings to meet friends in
Essex, so I went down to Colchester where I had very large
meetings, and from thence to Coggeshall, not far from which there
was a priest convinced, and I had a meeting at his house."
Among the early quakers was one James Parnell, who
acquired notoriety in the year 1655. This enthusiast in the
cause of religious liberty, during a service held in the parish
church, on the 4th of July, and at which a collection was made for
the poor and persecuted protestants of Piedmont, occasioned a
disturbance, which resulted in his being taken before the local
magistrates and ultimately committed to prison. He was subse-
quently imprisoned in the castle at Colchester, where he died
in the month of April, 1656. The following account of his
sufferings is extracted from a lecture by William Beck :
"This youth (barely twenty when he died) was actually
brought up to trial with chains upon him like a felon ; and had
to take his stand among murderers, and the city (Colchester)
authorities left him when sentenced to live as he could in a hole
144 Nonconformist Chapels.
in the castle wall. To this he had to clamber by a piece of rope
that hung above the ladders, so difficult of access that he injured
his health, by refraining to come down for his meals ; and one day
as he clutched at the rope, that hung dangling above the top
round of the ladder, his victuals in one hand and the rope end in
the other, his enfeebled grasp loosened and he fell down on the
rough stones below and lay there as if dead. He revived, but
not to receive any better treatment from his gaoler ; his friends
were denied access, all comforts they brought never reached him,
the hard-hearted gaoler seemed determined to have his life and
in a few days more the end was reached. Unable now to ascend
the ladder, they had him laid in a hole near the ground, so
small it was called " the oven " ; and, on one occasion, when
cramped and weary, he had crawled for a little fresh air to the
yard, his cruel keeper locked him out all night, though it was
cold, snowy weather. It was the last suffering his life could with-
stand, and James Parnell was no more ; but the people, who saw
him die, heard his song as of victory even in that hour of death ;
and the men of Essex thought all the more of the quakers and
the truth of their views through the calm, patient sufferings of
that gallant-hearted, spiritually-minded youth."
On the 2ist April, 1673, Nathaniel Sparrow, of Stisted,
tanner ; Richard Pemberton, of Great Coggeshall, clothier ;
Robert Adams, of Little Coggeshall, miller ; Robert Ludgater,
Jun., of Great Coggeshall, fellmonger ; William Sewell, of Great
Coggeshall, maltster ; Robert Harvey, of Little Coggeshall,
gardener ; John Roddley, of Great Coggeshall, woolcomber ;
John Clark, of the same place, yeoman ; and John Garrett, of
the same place, tailor ; who were probably the leading members
of the Society of Friends which met at Coggeshall, purchased
from John Raven, of Peering, yeoman ; Daniel King, of Castle
Hedingham, woolcomber ; a house in Stoneham Street, contain-
ing 25ft. by the rule in length and 24ft. by the rule in breadth,
with an entryway thereto.
On ist March, 1706, Robert Ludgater, Robert Harvey and
John Garratt, the only surviving trustees, conveyed the property
to William Cooke, baker, Matthew Dollow, clothier, Robert
Evans, maltster, John Perry, grocer, John Stacey, woolcomber,
W 7 illiam Stacey, woolcomber, William Mast, tailor, John Evans,
maltster, Robert Purcess, tailor, all of Great Coggeshall ; and
The Society of Friends. 145
Isaac Ludgater, of Little Coggeshall, fellmonger, but no trusts
were declared.
New trustees were again appointed by deed dated 1747,
wherein are the names of Ludgater, Greenwood, Bott, Hart,
Evans, Woodward, Corder, Bell, Docwra and Candler.
On 5th March, 1792, Robert Evans, as the surviving trustee,
conveyed the house and premises, with certain additions which
had recently been made, to Osgood Hanbury, of Lombard Street,
banker, and others, bearing the surnames of Bott, Brightwen,
Docwra, Raven, Hills, King, Dell, Greenwood, and Kirkham,
upon trust to permit the same to be used for a meeting house for
the people called Quakers for their worship of GOD.
Bufton tells us, that "in April, 1693, the Quakers made a new
burying-place in Crouches," this they did by acquiring a lease, for
480 years, from Joseph Drywood and others, of a piece of land,
part of Ayworth's or Crouch's, abutting upon an orchard belong-
ing to a messuage called ' Sewal's ' or the ' Chapel,' and upon a
pond there. The ground was to be used as a burying-place for the
people called Quakers who should die in or near Coggeshall.
Osgood Hanbury (the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Osgood
Beauchamp Hanbury) having heard that the burial-ground be-
longing to the Friends was nearly filled up, in 1783, voluntarily
offered the Society a portion of his land adjoining their property,
at the same time declaring that he had no intention of being
reinstated in membership.
The first-named, who died at the age of 51 years, was buried
in this piece of ground, on the 2oth January, 1784. His son
Osgood, who died, i8th February, 1852, aged 86, was also buried
there, and since his decease two more of the same name, grand-
son and great-grandson, have passed away, but they were both
buried in the churchyard at Pattiswick.
Mr. Osgood Beauchamp Hanbury, aged 22 years, married on
the 1 7th, died on the 25th, and was buried on the 3oth of the
month of October, 1889. He married Flora Tower, of Takeley,
and was buried at Pattiswick.
In 1856, a new burial-ground was made at Tilkey and the old
one has not since been used.
The Society is also possessed of a row of cottages on the
north side of Crouches Alley, purchased from the parish autho-
rities when the old workhouse was abolished. Some cottages in
146 Nonconformist Chapels.
Little Coggeshall, adjoining the bridge over the old river or back
ditch also belong to the Friends.
The present Meeting House was erected in 1878, at a cost of
about ;8oo.
It is not generally known that the marriages of the paternal
as well as the maternal grandparents of William Edward Forster
took place at Coggeshall. This notable politician will ever be
remembered by his pre-eminent connection with the Elementary
Education Act, 1870, an association which led to his being
nicknamed 'Education Forster.' So remarkable a man was Mr.
Forster that, on the day following his death, which happened on
the 5th April, 1886, The Times devoted no fewer than six columns
of its space to his obituary. William Edward Forster was born
at Bradpole, Dorset, nth July, 1818; his grandfather was \Villiam
Forster, of Tottenham, who married at Coggeshall monthly meet-
ing, in September, 1781, Elizabeth Hay ward, of Kelvedon. Of
this marriage there were eleven children, of whom was William
Forster, of Tottenham, land agent, born 1784 ; he married in
1816, Anna Buxton, daughter of Thomas Fowell Buxton, Esq.,
of Earls Colne, whose wife was Anna, the daughter of Osgood
Hanbury, Esq., and whose marriage took place at Coggeshall in
1782. Here are some extracts from the Society's minutes relating
to the marriage of the paternal grandparents of this statesman :
" 1781, 8 Mo. 6 Monthly meeting at Halstead. Wm. Forster, of
Tottenham, and Eliz. Hayward, of Kelvedon, declared their
intentions of taking each other in marriage if the Lord per-
mits. He produced a satisfactory certificate from Tottenham
mo. meeting, also of his mother's consent. Her parents
being present, we appointed Jos. Docwra to give notice of
such intended marriage at Kelvedon meeting on a first day.
1781, 9 Mo. 3 Monthly meeting held at Coggeshall, William
Forster and Elizabeth Hayward now declared the continu-
ance of their intention of taking each other in marriage if
the Lord permits, this meeting leaves them to consummate
their marriage according to ye good order of friends.
1781, 10 Mo. i Mo. meeting held at Kelvedon. The friend
appointed to attend the marriage of Wm. Forster and Eliz.
Hayward, reports the same was conducted orderly. Ye
certificate is in ye hands of Jos. Docwra, who is desired
to deliver it to J. Bott to be recorded."
The Society of Friends. M7
And from the same source is extracted a reference to the
marriage of his maternal grandparents :
"1782, 3 month 4th Coggeshall monthly meeting. Friends of
Coggeshall meeting report that Anna Hanbury, a member
of Devonshire House mo. meeting, was lately married at
Coggeshall, by a priest, to T. Buxton, a person not of our
' society ; ' we appoint Jos. Docwra to enquire whether she
now resides within the compass of this meeting, and if so
to visit her thereupon, and in case she is removed to com-
municate the circumstances to some suitable members of the
mo. meeting wherein she resides, in order that she may be
duly visited, requesting such friend would report to us the
effect of such visit, in order that she may be dealt with
agreeably to the rules of the society."
The following refers to a member of the Buxton family :
"The general deportment of Anna Buxton, a member of this
meeting, having for several years past manifested a disregarded
to divers testimonies, which we as a religious society believe it
incumbent on us to support, particularly in the attending of
places of diversion and other vain amusements, on which
account much private labour hath been extended, which proving
ineffectual, she has been divers times visited by appointments
of men and women Friends in order to endeavour to convince
her of the inconsistency of her conduct and thereby induce more
circumspection in future, which labour hitherto does not appear
to have answered the desired end having in the last opportunity
acknowledged that her conduct was in some respect irreconcilable
with the principles which we profess without a prospect of its
being otherwise at present; and having entered into an engage-
ment for marriage with a person not of our society, which she is
not at all disposed to relinquish, this meeting apprehends an
individual thus circumstanced as calling for the exercise of the
rules of our society to the full extent, and accordingly hereby
declares the said Anna Buxton is no longer considered a member
thereof. Yet seeing that it is the nature of our discipline to
embrace the offers of those, who having subjected themselves to
its operation in separating them from the body, when from a right
sense of the loss they have thereby sustained they are engaged
to apply for re-instatement, should Anna Buxton hereafter evince
a disposition of this sort accompanied with conduct correspon-
L 2
Nonconformist Chapels.
dent therewith, her restoration to membership would be acceptable
to us.
Signed in and on behalf of Cogges-]
hall monthly meeting, held aUWM. DOUBLEDAY, Clk."
Halstead, 5th of 5th mo., 1806.)
IT will have been noticed (p. 119) that there was a Baptist
Meeting House in this town nearly 150 years ago, and
further, that it was in close proximity to Church pond, and that
Henry Turner was the minister, or baptist teacher, as he is called
in the court rolls of the manor of Great Coggeshall.
From Josiah Thompson's MSS. in Dr. Williams' Library,
' Dissenting Interest in England and Wales, 1713 to 1773,' are
extracted these notes under date 1772 : "
"Crouch Green. There is a little congregation of general
baptists, which together with Coggeshall is supposed to be as
ancient as any of the dissenting congregations in the county."
" Coggeshall. There is a meeting house with a baptistery in
it. Their numbers are but small and ye people poor."
Some additional information is gleaned from the books of the
Eld Lane Chapel at Colchester :
"In January, 1782, Samuel Britton and Richard Rand, late
members of the Independent Church at Coggeshall, under the
pastoral care of Mr. Richard Andrews, and Gooday Pudney, a
hearer of Mr. Duddje, the church minister at the same town, and
till now a communicant with him, gave a circumstantial and
convincing relation of their experiences and very satisfactory
reasons for embracing believer's baptism, and of their wish to
join with us, making this provision, that they should choose to
be dismissed from us if in any future period a Baptist Church
should be established at Coggeshall. They were all three
baptised a week before at Mr. Pudney's house, by Mr. Hitchcock.
Testimony was borne to their character and they were received
into the fellowship of Eld Lane Church."
"June 26th, 1791. Notice was given that a new Meeting
House was to be opened, and Mr. Hutchins ordained to Cogges-
hall the first week in July."
The Wesley an Methodists. 149
In Nippon's Register, Vol. I, p. 519, is contained an account of
the services held at Mr. John Hutchings ordination at Coggeshall,
on 7th July, 1791. The service was opened by Mr. Richard
Hutchings, the father of the future minister.
On 2oth September, 1796, the Essex Baptist Association was
formed, Mr. John Hutchings being in the chair ; it was resolved
that until the general meeting in May, 1797, the place for trans-
acting the business of the Association should be at Coggeshall.
On the last Tuesday and Wednesday in May, 1797, the first
annual meeting of the Essex Association was held at Coggeshall
(put up at Swan Inn). The rules of the Association were attended
to ; Mr. Stevens spoke on the design of the Association, and
addressed Mr. Pilkington who had been appointed an itinerant
preacher. The meeting on Wednesday was held in the Indepen-
dent Meeting House.
For many years the baptists met at a house adjoining Hares
bridge.
On the 28th April, 1825, a piece of land on the north side of
Church Street was purchased by Thomas Rowland, John Collis,
Thomas Wheeler, James Potter, and Jephthah Threadkell, from
Charles Smith for ;i8o, and thereon was erected a suitable
building, which has since been used as the Meeting House of the
society.
OGGESHALL was formerly in the Colchester circuit of this
society or connection, but a few years ago was transferred
to the Chelmsford circuit. The first mention of the Wesleyans
at Coggeshall is in 1811. For some time they assembled for
worship at a house in Stoneham Street, since converted into an
Inn called the ' Foresters.' Afterwards they had a chapel in East
Street.
On the 25th January, 1883, the new Wesleyan Methodist
Chapel on the west side of Stoneham Street was opened, the
first sermon being preached by the Rev. Ebenezer E. Jenkins.
For this building, which is of white brick, a sum of ^1,200 was
collected. It is constructed to seat about 250 persons.
THE CHARITIES.
|HIS School was founded in 1636, by Sir Robert
Hitcham, who was born in the I4th year of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth (A.I). 1572), at Levington, in
Suffolk, where his father and grandfather carried on
the business of cutting heather and carrying it about for sale as
material for the manufacture of brooms and brushes.
The family of Hitcham derived its name from the village of
Hecham or Hitcham, near Bildeston, in Suffolk ; and there is
mention, in records dated 1355, of a Ralph, son of John de
Hecham, who recovered certain lands in Hecham from a Robert
de Hecham, but whether Sir Robert Hitcham of the i6th century
Sir Robert Hitchairis School. 151
was of this family or not is not known. An old manuscript
" History of Suffolk families," written upwards of two centuries
ago by Robert Ryce, of Preston, in the neighbourhood of Hitcham,
says that Sir Robert " was not born to ^200 per annum, and rose
to an estate of about ^"1,500 per annum ;" but a marginal note
of great antiquity but written in another hand, referring to the
^200, says, " Nor to 20, nor to 2." ( Vide Green's History of
Framlingham).
Be his birth what it may, Sir Robert was undoubtedly a good
man, of a somewhat passionate disposition, clear in intellect and
an admirable speaker. He commenced his education at the
Free School at Ipswich, afterwards removing to Pembroke Hall,
Cambridge, where he entered as a student. He next entered
himself at Gray's Inn for the purpose of pursuing the study of
the law, in which profession he was evidently destined to attain
a high position. In 1596, he was elected member for the borough
of West Looe. In 1603, he was appointed Attorney-General to
Queen Anne of Denmark, the consort of King James I. of
England. A year later, he was appointed Lent reader at Gray's
Inn. King James appointed him his senior Serjeant-at-Law on the
4th of January, 1616, at the same time conferring upon him the
honour of knighthood. On several occasions he acted as a judge
of Assize, and in the 22nd year of King James I. was Recorder
of Hadleigh. In 1623, he was elected member for Orford, near
Woodbridge, for which borough he was again returned at the two
subsequent elections. He represented that place as member of
parliament until 1628. Sometime during the reign of King
Charles I. he purchased a house in the parish of S. Matthew's,
Ipswich, known as Seckford House or the Great House.
About the year 1635, Sir Robert purchased of the Duke of
Suffolk, for ; 1 4,000, Framlingham Castle and the Manors of
Framlingham and Saxted, in Suffolk, and held the first court for
his Manor of Framlingham in the nth year of King Charles I.
The title to his estate was so complicated that it is said, had he
not been possessed of a strong brain and a powerful purse, he
could not have cleared it ; which he was so sensible of, that in
thankfulness to GOD for his wonderful success, he settled it upon
Pembroke Hall, in Cambridge, for various charitable uses ; among
other objects of his bounty were the poor of Coggeshall, a know-
ledge of whose destitution he obtained though the wealthy family
152
The Charities.
of the Guyons of this town, with whom he was familiarly ac-
quainted.
The^arms of Sir Robert Hitcham were :
Gules, on a chief or, three torteaux ; Crest a
buck salient ppr, attired or, among leaves,
andjhe trunk of a tree also ppr.
Sir Robert died the isth of August,
1636, and was buried in the south aisle of
Framlingham Church in a magnificent tomb,
consisting of a table of black marble sus-
tained on the shoulders of four angels of white marble, their
hair and wings gilded, each having one knee to the ground.
Under the table is an urn after the Roman fashion enriched
with a mantling and two cherubim. At the west end is this
inscription in gold letters upon black marble :
SIR ROBERT HITCHAM's TOMB.
" Reader
" In expectation of the coming of our Lord Jesus, here
lyeth ye body of Sr. Robert Hitcham, Kt., born at Leving-
ton, in ye County of Suff., Schollar in the Free School
at Ipswiche, and sometime of Pembroke Hall in Cambridge;
and after of Grayes Inne ; Attorney to Queen Anne
in ye first yeare of King James, then Knighted; and
Sir Robert Hitcham's School. 153
afterward made ye King's Senior Serjeant at Law, and
often Judge of Assize : aged 64 years. Dyed
the i$th day of August. Anno
1636.
" The children not yet borne with gladness shall
Thy pious actions into memory call ;
And thou shalt live as long as there shall bee
Either poore or any use of Charitie"
At the east end of the tomb are the arms of Sir Robert.
The following is a copy of his will, which is of so interest-
ing a nature that no apology is needed for its insertion in
extenso :
"In the NAME of the Glorious and Incomprehensible
TRINITY. I Sir ROBERT HITCHAM of Ipswich, in the County
of Suffolk, Knight, the King's Majesties Serjeant at Law, this
present Monday, being the 8th of August, 1636, in the i2th
Year of King Charles, Do make this my last Will and Testament
in Writing as followeth. First, I will, after my death, that all my
debts be first paid, and the profits of all my lands and heredita-
ments be committed only to that use, my debts being only
^3,000, the remnant of my purchase of my Lord of Suffolk ;
other debts, I do not know that I owe ,20 ; saving ^500. which
is in my hands in trust for my sister. Item, I will, for the pay-
ment of my debts and legacies, that my Lease of the Manors of
Walton and Felixtow, and my Houses in Ipswich, all my jewels,
household stuff, and plate, there and elsewhere, and all other my
goods and chattels whatsoever, be sold for the payment of my
debts and legacies, by my Executors hereafter named, and the
survivor of them. My Manor of BurvalPs, in Levington, the
Impropriation mill, fish-ponds, park, and other roialties whatso-
ever, and all my lands and tenements whatsoever there, or in any
Towns thereabouts, or thereunto used, now leaton to Mayhew,
(except the Farm called Watkins, and that therewith leaton, as it
is now ye lease) I give unto my nephew Robert Butts, and his
heirs, upon condition, and to the intent and purpose, that he pay
unto my sister, ^1000. that is to say, ,500. a year yearly after
my decease ; and for my Farm, Watkins, I give the same unto my
sister and her heirs, the one presently after my decease, to release
and convey their right in either of the other part to the other,
and their heirs, and if either of them fail so to do, then this my
1 54 The Charities.
devise to him so failing, to be void ; and then I devise the same
unto the other, and his or their heirs.
" For my Castle and Manors of Framlingham and Saxted, and
all other the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which I and
my Feoffees, purchased of my Lord of Suffolk and his Feoffees,
I will, that my Feoffees and their Heirs, and the survivors of
them, after my debts paid, Do presently stand seised as in Trust,
to the Use of 'the Master and Fellows of Pembroke-Hall, in
Cambridge, and their Successors, according to their incorporation,
and that upon Request, to be made by them, my Feoffees, and
their Heirs, and the survivors of them do make good and perfect
assurance unto them accordingly. Of which said Castle, Manors,
and Premises, my meaning is, and I will, that the said College
shall only have to the Use of them, and their Successors for
themselves, only the Castle, Royalties, and Rents of Tenure, with
the Mere, and all other Fish-ponds, the advowson of the Church,
the Hundred of Loes, and the Fairs and Markets there ; but no
part of the other Lands or Hereditaments : and this my Legacy,
I will, shall be employed for the Good of the College, as my Gift
alone by itself, and not to be employed to the Increase of their
Fellowships, or Buildings, or of any other Thing, belonging to
their House. And all the Demeans of Lands, of the said
Manors, and all other the Hereditaments, and Lands purchased
of my Lord of Suffolk, and his Feoffees besides, and whatsoever
parcel thereof, or belonging thereunto, I do give unto them, only
in Trust, to be committed by them, to the Uses and Intents
following, and they to have no manner of other Benefit thereby.
Item, I will, that presently after my decease, all the Castle,
(saving the stone-Building) be pulled down, and the materials
thereof coming, to be converted as followeth : First, I will, that
the said College do presently after my death, erect and build at
Framlingham, One House to set the Poor on work, the Poor and
most needy and impotent of Framlingham (and) Debenham, (in
Suffolk) and Coxall, (Coggeshall) in Essex first, and after them, of
other Towns, if they see cause ; and to provide a substantial
Stock to set them on work, and to allow to such needy Persons of
them, so much as they shall further think fit : and likewise I will,
that they do build One or Two Almshouses, consisting of Twelve
Persons, (viz.) Six a piece, for Twelve of the poorest and
decrepid People there ; which I will, shall have Two Shillings a
Sir Robert Hitcham's Schools. 155
Week, during their lives, and also Forty Shillings a Year for a
Gown and Firing every Year, the said Two Shillings to be paid
weekly, and the other yearly. Item, I will, that a School-House
be built there at Framlingham, and a Master appointed, whom I
will, shall have Forty Pounds by the Year, during his life, to
teach Thirty, or Forty, or more of the poorest and neediest
Children of the said Towns of Framlingham, Debenham, and
Coxall, to write, read, and cast accounts, as the said College shall
think fit ; then to give them, Ten Pounds a piece, to bind them
forth Apprentices, at the discretion of the Four Senior Fellows of
the said College : and the said School-master not to take any
other, upon Penalty of loosing his Place and Stipend. Item, I
will, that there be presently built after my decease, One Alms-
house at Levington, for six Female Persons, of the poorest and
impotent of Levington and Nacton, the same to be built upon
my Tenement near the Street there, and they to have the like
allowance in all Things, as the poor of Framlingham are appoin-
ted to have : to begin First, with the poor of Levington, and so
successively. Item, I will, that there shall be for ever One that
shall read Prayers in the Church of Framlingham daily, at the
Hours of Eight in the Forenoon, and at Four in the Afternoon,
unto whom I give Twenty Pounds by the Year ; and to the
Sexton, Five Pounds yearly : and such of the Poor People afore-
said, and the School-master, or Scholars there, as shall make
Default in coming to hear Prayers there, I will, that their
Allowance shall be proportionally abated for the same neglect,
(except their excuse be allowed by the Minister of the Parish of
Framlingham, for the time being). And whatsoever shall or may
further come of this which I have formerly given and devised in
Trust to the said College, I will, that they convert the same to
the like Use or Uses, to continue as before for ever.
"First, I give unto my honourable friend the Lord Keeper,
;ioo and to his Lady, ,50 and to my Lord Privy-Seal, ^50,
to be bestowed by my executors in such pieces of plate, as they
shall think fit. Item, I do give to every of the children of my
Brother Butts, that he had by my sister, which shall be unmarried
at the time of my decease, 200 a piece, and to them which
shall be married, ;ioo a piece; and to my sister, ^100 to her
former ,500 and whatsoever I have heretofore by this my Will
given unto her, to be by her put out into some trusty friends
The Charities.
hands, and her husband to have no medling with the same ; and
her children married and unmarried, to have like legacies my
brother Butts his children by my sister have. Item, I do give
unto Samuel Ward, of Ipswich, ^20 and 20 to the son of him
of whom I bought my house and lands at Tannington, he being
a cripple. Item, I give all my servants that have served me
above a year, 10 a piece, and a mourning cloak or gown; and
to my other servants, ^5 a piece, and a mourning gown or cloak.
Item, I will, that Gyant, my gardener shall dwell where he now
dwelleth, and keep my house until it be sold, and have for the
same keeping, & by the year, and the profits of all the gardens
and orchards ; and I wish and desire that he may so have it
afterwards during his life, with a reasonable allowance for his
diet ; and if he shall not have his dwelling, and gardens, and
orchards, with his allowance during his life-time, then, I will,
he shall have the other tenement next thereto during his life,
freely to dwell in. Item, I will, that all my servants shall have
reasonable allowance for their diet for one month next after
my decease. Item, I do give unto the Poor of Levington, 50,
and to the poor of Nacton, ^50 as a Stock, to be put out for
them for ever ; and to the Poor of Framlingham, ^50, and to
the Parish where I now live, 20, to be distributed amongst
them : and whatever I have else, I will, shall be bestowed in such
like Charitable Uses as before. And whatsoever I have given,
the same to continue for ever. And of this my last Will and
Testament, I do make Matthew Wren now Bishop of Norwich,
my Supervisor ; and Richard Keeble, and Robert Butts, my
Executors, giving them my Supervisor, and Executors, 50 a
piece. And if the said College shall wilfully refuse to perform
this my Will : Then, I will, that this my Devise unto them shall
be void ; and I do devise the same unto Emanuel College, in
Cambridge, in the same manner and form, as it is formerly
devised unto Pembroke-Hall, and to the same Uses, Intents,
Trusts, and Purposes. And so I commit my soul into the hands
of the said Holy and Blessed Trinity, believing to be only saved
by the death and passion of JESUS CHRIST, and my sins to be
washed away by His blood ; and my body to be privately buried
in the Church of Framlingham, in one of my Isles there, only
with a fair Stone, and such like over it ; the same to be buried
ten feet in the ground, and the same not to be stirred, or hurt.
Sir Robert Hitcham's School. 15 7
And I give to my servant John Wright, ;io more, if he be my
servant at my death. And to my Feoffees ^20 a piece, and a
mourning cloak or gown."
By deed under the common seal of Pembroke College, dated
1 4th August, 1666, after reciting Sir Robert Hitcham's will, and
that the poor of Coggeshall could have no benefit by what was
therein devised to them, and was then done at Framlingham, and
to the intent that the poor of Coggeshall might partake of the
charity intended for them by Sir Robert Hitcham, Robert Maple-
toft, Doctor of Divinity, Master or Keeper of the said College
and the fellows of the same, thereby covenanted with the
inhabitants of Coxall, alias Coggeshall, to pay out of the rents
of the demesne lands to trustees by them to be appointed for
the poor of the town of Coxall, ^150 yearly, at the ' Corn Cross'
in Framlingham, upon the first Tuesday in September and the
first Tuesday in March, to be employed for providing a work-
house and a substantial stock to set the poor and most neediest
at work, and to allow such poor persons such relief as the
trustees should think fit, and also to provide a School House and
to allow the schoolmaster 20 yearly, to teach twenty or thirty
of the poorest children of Coxall to read, write, and cast
accounts, and then to allow them such sums of money to 'bind
them apprentices as the said trustees should think fit, not
exceeding ;io. The college reserved to themselves the right to
appoint the schoolmaster and to audit and settle the accounts.
The college accordingly paid ^150 per annum to the inhabitants
of Coggeshall till the year 1722, when the lands being of
insufficient value to pay ,150 per annum to Coggeshall, the
towns of Coggeshall and Debenham, with the consent of the
college, agreed to a partition of the charity lands, which was
effected by an indenture dated the i8th of September, 1722,
and made between Robert Townsend, of Coggeshall, gentleman,
on the part of the inhabitants of Coggeshall, and John Turner,
of Debenham, apothecary, on the part of the inhabitants of
Debenham ; the allotment to Coggeshall consisting of lands at
Saxstead, Suffolk, known as Old Frithwood, Bradley Wood, and
Newhall Wood. This agreement was afterwards by deed, dated
2 Qth September, 1722, confirmed by William Townsend, Isaac
Potter, Isaac Buxton, William Fuller, Thomas Burr, John Ar-
mond, John Sparhawke, John Gladwin, Samuel Carter the elder,
The Charities.
John Taylor, John Mount, Matthew Guyon, and Ambrose
Hayward, chief inhabitants of Coggeshall.
On 2Qth September, 1779, the college appointed the Rev.
Henry Du Cane, clerk, William Carter, Richard White, William
Moss, Jeremiah Dixon, John Decks, John Totman, Isaac
Whitaker the elder, William Walford, Thomas South, John
Guyon, John Cardinal, Henry Skingley, John Durrant, Thomas
Whitaker, John Olive, Thomas Rolfe, John Stafford, Robert
Chaulkley, and Richard Cable, trustees for managing and dis-
posing of the charity.
The government of this charity is now regulated by a scheme
of the Charity Commissioners, which was approved by Her
Majesty in Council, on the 2Qth June, 1878, and provides that
the endowment for Coggeshall shall consist of the present School-
buildings and master's house, and five-sixteenths of the net
residue of the Income of Sir Robert Hitcham's Charity, to be
paid yearly by the master and fellows of Pembroke College,
Cambridge.
The governing body consists of nine governors, five of whom
are appointed by the college, three by the vestry of Great Cogges-
hall, and one by the vestry of Little Coggeshall.
The present governors are the Rev. H. M. Patch, chairman,
the Rev. A. D. Philps, vice-chairman, Dr. E. A. Applebe, Messrs.
G. F. Beaumont, Robert Curzon, F. H. Gardner, Rev. H. F.
Rackham, Messrs. Thomas Simpson, and F. W. Pfander-
Swinborne; and the head master is Mr. Edw. Edgar. The
tuition fee, including books, is 4. per annum, but if two or
more boys are sent from the same family the fee for each boy
is ^3- z i s annually awarded in scholarships which entitle
the holders to a free education. Other scholarships are tenable
at this school, as to which see the account of Paycock's Charity.
^30 per annum is also applicable to the maintenance of Exhi-
bitions, tenable at some place of higher education to be selected
by the governors.
Provision is also made by the scheme for the education of
girls, but no school has yet been established.
Under another scheme Pembroke College has a right, in
preference to all other persons, of free nomination for admission
to the Albert Middle Class College, at Framlingham, of one boy
from the parish of Coggeshall, either as a day scholar free of all
Sir Robert Hitcham's School. *59
charge, or as a boarder free of charge for education, but charge-
able with a reasonable sum per annum for board and mainten-
ance, such boy to be nominated on the ground of merit, to be
determined by free and open competition among those qualified
for the nomination, according to such regulations as the college
may make from time to time (Scheme No. 112].
The funds of the charity have been augmented by grants
from Paycock's and Swallow's Charities (as to which see pp. 164
and 169, also Schemes No. 827 and 828).
The present school and the master's residence were built in
1858, on a piece of the glebe land purchased for the purpose for
;ioo, which sum was received by the vicar and laid out by him
in the purchase from Mr. Bullock of Saint Nicholas Chapel,
and one acre of ground adjoining. The school was opened on
the 24th June, 1859.
Mr. Henry Emery, who died on the 4th November, 1844, in
the ySth year of his age, was master of the school for 49 years,
and during his time the scholars assembled for instruction in a
large room in Stoneham Street, part of Crane's Charity.
Mr. Thomas Hyde was the first master who taught in the
present building, he was succeeded, in 1863, by the Rev. George
Horrocks, who resigned the mastership on 24th June, 1864.
One or two temporary appointments followed, and ultimately the
present head master, Mr. Edward Edgar, was elected on the gth
January, 1865.
I(5 The Chanties.
THOMAS PAYCOCKE, was a wealthy clothier or cloth
manufacturer, residing in Great Coggeshall, in the middle
of the sixteenth century. His residence, situate immediately
opposite the vicarage grounds in West Street, is one of the most
interesting houses in the town, being rendered attractive by its
ancient gateway of carved oak, at the top of the jambs of which
are two carved figures on brackets ; the gates are of the linen
pattern. At the base of the upper floor, which projects about
1 8 in., is an oak frieze running the whole length of the building,
and richly carved in relief, of a continuous floral design of quaint
character with recumbent figures. On this frieze can also be seen
Paycocke's Merchants' Mark, between the initials T.P. The ceil-
ing of the ground floor is also of oak beautifully carved, and is
probably unequalled by any in this part of the country.
Thomas Paycock made his will, on 2oth December, 1580,
and was buried on the 28th of the same month, in the north
chancel aisle of Coggeshall Church (see Memorial Inscriptions, p.
41). By his will he ordained that his executors should purchase
so much free lands and tenements, as with the sum of ^200 they
could procure, the yearly profits thereof to be bestowed amongst
the poor people of Much and Little Coggeshall for ever; and
that his executors should convey the premises so purchased to
ten of the headboroughs of Coggeshall or more and their heirs
upon the said trusts. And he willed that the rents and profits of
the lands and tenements when purchased should be given amongst
the poor dwelling in Much and Little Coggeshall, by the consent
of the collectors of the poor and the churchwardens, in manner
following, viz. : one-half of the said rents should be expended in
wood to be distributed indifferently to the poor of the same
parishes always betwixt Easter and ist August, and the other half
should be expended one month before Lent in the purchase of
white and red herrings to be distributed equally among the said
poor always in the beginning of Lent.
The sum of ^156 135. 4d., part of the ^200, was laid out by
Richard Benyon, one of the executors, in the purchase of lands,
at Halstead, Essex, known as " Sparkes Croft," containing twelve
Paycocke's Charity.
161
ANCIENT GATEWAY.
M
1 62 The Chanties.
acres ; " Gyles Croft," containing six acres ; " Tanners Croft,"
containing three acres ; and " Gerrards Meadow," containing three
acres ; and the same were conveyed to Mr. Benyon, by an inden-
ture of bargain and sale, dated 2oth June, 24 Elizabeth (1582).
By deed, dated the xyth March, 26 Elizabeth (1584), Richard
Benyon conveyed the above-mentioned property to William Fuller,
Robert Litherland, Cyprian Warner, Thomas Dammett, Thomas
Till, Robert Aylett, Henry Purcas, Robert Brittle, George Law-
rence, Thomas Hopper, Peter Ryse, and Edward Warner, inhabi-
tants of Coggeshall, upon the trusts of the before-mentioned will.
From time to time new trustees were by deed duly appointed, and
the trust property conveyed to them, the last of such deeds being
dated the 26th December, 1851, by which the following persons
were constituted trustees : The Rev. William James Dampier,
Messrs. Osgood Hanbury, Fisher Unwin Pattison, Richard Mere-
dith White, William Swinborne, Harold Giles, Charles Moore,
William Gentry Dennis, Matthias Gardner, Joseph Sach, Henry
Whitmofe, Richard Meredith Kirkham, William Appleford, and
William Doubleday; of whom, in June, 1887, two only survived,
namely Mr. Dennis and Mr. Gardner.
By an Order of the Charity Commissioners, sealed on the
1 5th June, 1887, the following persons were appointed trustees
for the administration of the Charity, viz : The Rev. Hubert
Mornington Patch, vicar of Coggeshall, the Rev. Alfred Downing
Philps, Congregational Minister, Joseph Smith Surridge, Junior,
(since dead), George Frederick Beaumont, John Shuttleworth,
Thomas Simpson, Frederic Henry Gardner, James Simmons,
William King, and Edward Doubleday, all of Coggeshall, in ad-
dition to and jointly with William Gentry Dennis and Matthias
Gardner, the continuing trustees.
By the decree of Sir John Sammes and others (Commissioners
of Charitable Uses), dated the 2oth May, 1613, it appears that
the balance of the sum of 200, which remained after the pur-
chase of the lands at Halstead, viz : ^43 6s. 8d., at the date of
the decree had by some means been augmented to four score and
thirteen pounds (^93) or thereabouts, which was then "employed
in a beneficial course and yieldeth an annual profit, which hath
also been employed to the use of the poor people aforesaid ;"
and it was then intended to lay out such balance in the purchase
of land ; but, from the report of the Charity Commissioners, in
Thomas Pay cockers Charity. 163
1837, it does not appear that the intention was ever carried out,
and the Commissioners were unable to obtain any information
upon the matter.
In 1837, "Sparkes Croft," in two fields, containing twelve
acres, and adjoining the Sudbury Road, in Halstead, was in the
occupation of Jonathan Nash, on lease expiring Michaelmas, 1844,
at 2 S P er annum. "Gyles Croft," containing about five (query
six) acres of pasture, situate close to Halstead, was in the occu-
pation of William T. L. W. Pole, as a yearly tenant, at ^15 per
annum. "Tanners Croft" and "Gerrard Meadow," situate near
the Silk Mills, in Halstead, and containing about six acres of
garden ground, were in the occupation of John Cook, as yearly
tenant, at ^18 per annum. It will thus be seen, that in 1837,
the income of this Charity amounted to ^58 per annum.
In 1864, the trustees sold and conveyed to the Halstead and
Colne Valley Railway Company, the six acres of garden ground,
called "Tanners Croft" and "Gerrards Meadow," for 1,500,
which, on the 22nd June, 1864, was invested in Consols. In
1868, the trustees, with the consent of the Charity Commissioners,
sold " Sparkes Croft," containing twelve acres fifteen poles, to Mr.
George de Home Vaisey, for ^1,600, and this sum was subse-
quently invested in Consols.
The trust property now consists of .3,364 125. 8d. Consols,
standing in the names of the Official Trustees of Charitable
Funds, and the before-mentioned piece of land called " Gyles
Croft," containing six acres or thereabouts, in the occupation of
Jacob Evans, at a rent of 12 per annum, the fee simple of which
field is, by virtue of the order of the Commissioners, dated the
iSth June, 1887, vested in the Official Trustee of Charity Lands ;
but the right to sue for, recover and receive, and to give receipts
and discharges for all sums of money, rents in arrear, and choses
in action, due to or recoverable for the benefit of the Charity, is
vested in the trustees, their executors, administrators and assigns,
in trust for the Charity.
By way of scheme, the Commissioners, by the before-mention-
ed order have directed that
1. The trustees shall consist of twelve competent persons,
residing in or near the parish of Coggeshall.
2. Any trustee who ceases to be qualified as aforesaid, or is
adjudicated a bankrupt, or is incapacitated to act, or communi-
M 2
l6 4 The Charities,
cates in writing to the trustees his wish to resign, or fails to attend
any meeting of the trustees for a consecutive period of two years,
shall thereupon cease to he a trustee.
3. Future trustees shall be provisionally appointed in each
case by the trustees, by a resolution passed at a meeting specially
called for the purpose, and of which at least three clear days
notice in writing shall have been given to each trustee, and to be
held after the lapse of one calendar month from the occurence of
the vacancy to be filled up.
4. Every provisional appointment of a trustee shall be forth-
with notified by or under the direction of the trustees to the
Charity Commissioners, at their office, in London, and no provi-
sional appointment shall be valid until it has been approved by
the said Commissioners, and their approval certified under their
official seal.
5. There shall be a quorum when five trustees are present at
any meeting.
A dispute having arisen between the inhabitants of Great and
Little Coggeshall, as to the distribution of the income of the
Charity, and the question having been referred to the Commission-
ers of Charitable Uses, it was by the before-mentioned decree,
dated the 3oth May, 1613, ordered that the churchwardens and
overseers of Great Coggeshall, or the feoffees of the Charity,
should for ever pay to the overseers of Little Coggeshall, the
yearly sum of ^3, at Michaelmas and Lady-day, by equal portions
to be deducted out of the profits of the Charity, and to be em-
ployed for the relief of the poor in Little Coggeshall, at the dis-
cretion of the overseers of that parish, according to the true
meaning of the Will of Thomas Paycocke, deceased.
The income of the Trust is usually distributed early in Febru-
ary, in sums varying from is. to i.
By a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, approved by Her
Majesty in Council, on the i3th May, 1887, after declaring that it
was desirable to apply for the advancement of education a sum
of ,500, part of the endowment of Paycocke's Charity, it was
ordered that, from the date of the scheme, the sum of ^500
should be part of the Foundation governed by a scheme made
under the name of Sir Robert Hitcham's Schools, at Coggeshall,
on condition that, in addition to the scholarships to be maintained
by the Governors under the Hitcham School Scheme, those
Thomas Guy 'on 's Charity. 165
Governors should maintain three other scholarships, to be called
Paycocke's Scholarships, each of a yearly value of ^"5, tenable at
the Boys' School maintained under that scheme, to be competed
for by boys who are and have for not less than three years been
scholars in any of the Public Elementary Schools, in the parishes
of Great Coggeshall and Little Coggeshall, but to be subject to
the like conditions as made with regard to other scholarships, in
clause 60 of the Hitcham School Scheme, that is to say, that the
scholarships are to be given as the reward of merit, to be freely
and openly competed for, to be tenable only for the purposes of
education, and to be liable to determination for misconduct, idle-
ness, failure to maintain a reasonable standard of proficiency, &c.
Of the before-mentioned sum of ^3,364 125. 8d. Consols,
the Charity Commissioners have transferred to the Governors of
the Hitcham School, ,487 45. 2d. Consols, equivalent to ^500
sterling, to be applied in maintaining the before-mentioned scholar-
ships.
THOMAS GUYON, of Great Coggeshall, gentleman, father
of Sir Mark Guyon, made his will, bearing date the aist
November, 1664, and thereby, after appointing Sir Mark Guyon
sole executor, gave 200 to be laid out in lands and tenements,
by Sir Mark, to and for the use and benefit of the most honest,
aged poor people of Great Coggeshall, and the yearly rents and
profits thereof arising, his mind and will was, should weekly, upon
every Lord's Day, after the sermon in the forenoon, be bestowed
in bread for their relief. And further, his mind and will was,
that the settlement of such lands as should be purchased with the
said ^200, should be made to the said Sir Mark Guyon and
eleven of the chief inhabitants of the said town of Coggeshall
(by the nomination of the said Sir Mark Guyon), and their heirs ;
and that, by such deed of purchase, the trust should be declared
to the use aforesaid, and when so many of the said trustees should
be dead that there should be but six of them living, his will was,
that they should raise a new deed to twelve more of the principal
inhabitants of Great Coggeshall aforesaid, for the better continu-
ance of the said trust.
1 66 The Chanties.
Sir Mark Guyon, of Great Coggeshall, knight, by deed, dated
the 22nd of January, 1676, granted to Matthew Guyon, Isaac
Hubberd, John Cox, Sen., Richard Shortland, Joseph Drywood,
gentleman, John Guyon, Richard Sheppard, William Cox, Thomas
Buxton, John Cockerell, Symon Richold, and Thomas Keeble,
clothiers, all of them of Great Coggeshall, one annuity or clear
yearly rent-charge of ten pounds and eight shillings, to be issuing
and going out of all that messuage or tenement, outhouses, edi-
fices, buildings, barns, stables, yards, gardens, orchards, and eight
closes or parcels of land and pasture, with the appurtenances,
anciently called or known by the name of 'Windmill Fields,' and
then (1676) called or known by the several names of 'Garden
Field,' 'Great and Little Cross-path Fields,' Windmill Fields,'
' Long Pitch Shott,' ' Potters Field,' ' Middle Eight Acres,' and
' Upper Eight Acres,' all of which premises are expressed to be in
Great Coggeshall, and to contain together, by estimation, three-
score and fifteen acres, more or less, and were then in the posses-
sion of Sir Mark Guyon, his assigns or under-tenants. The annuity
was made payable on the four usual quarter days for the payment
of rent, and is expressed to be held for the use and behoof of the
poor of Great Coggeshall, according to the true intent of the will
of Thomas Guyon, viz. : weekly, upon the Lord's Day in every
week, after the sermon or prayers in the forenoon, the sum of 43.
thereof, to be bestowed in good wholesome 3d. bread, and the
same bread to be equally distributed and given to sixteen of the
most honest, aged poor people of Great Coggeshall aforesaid.
The deed contains powers of distress for non-payment after
demand, and has also provisions for the appointment of new
trustees.
The deed is signed by Sir Mark Guyon, and bears his seal :
a shield with three bends, on a canton a lion passant guardant.
This property belonged to Mr. William Townsend, in 1740,
and was occupied by him.
The Rent-charge has from time to time been vested in new
trustees, the last appointment being by deed dated the i4th April,
1 T&3> when Osgood Hanbury the elder, of 'Oldfield' Grange,
Esq., Richard Meredith White, clothier, and Fisher Unwin,
brewer, the three surviving trustees, appointed Henry DuCane,
clerk, Vicar of Great Coggeshall, Osgood Hanbury the younger,
of 'Oldfield Grange,' Esq., Richard White the younger, clothier,
Thomas Guy on 1 s Charity.
167
William Walford, farmer, Thomas Unwin, gentleman, Stephen
Unwin, clothier, Joseph Bott, clothier, Habakuk Layman, gentle-
man, Ephraim Willsher, farmer, William Dixon, surgeon, John
Godfrey, surgeon, and William Potter, Junior, gentleman, all of
them principal inhabitants of Great Coggeshall.
The last survivor of these trustees was Mr. Osgood Hanbury,
who was living in c837.
The present trustees are the Vicar and Churchwardens of
Great Coggeshall, who were appointed by an order of the Charity
Commissioners, dated 4th November, 1862.
Bread of the value of ^10 8s. per annum is distributed in
3d. loaves at the church, on Sundays, after afternoon service,
among poor parishioners of Great Coggeshall.
As it is important that the identity of the land out of which
this rent-charge is payable should be maintained, the following is
extracted from a survey made for Morden College, Blackheath, in
the year 1740.
No. on
Morden
Coll. Sur.
Name of Field.
Quantity.
No. on
Ord.
Survey
Quantity per
Ordnance Sur.
5
Garden Field ...
6
o 34
310
5 2 21
6
Hither Crosspath Field
7
I 2
34
7121
7
Further ditto ...
10
i 7
33
10 I 24
8
Lower Eight Acres ...
8
o 32
266
9 o 12
9
Upper ditto
9
I 32
220
9 o 18
10
Thomson's Field ...
13
2 l6
267)
14 O 22
ii
Loam Pit Field
12
2 O
302
12 3 4
12
Windmill Field ...
9
3 2
3S
9 o 16
77
i 5
77 2 18
BY Deed, dated ist May, 1678, and made between Sir Mark
Guyon, who is described as then late of Great Cogges-
hall, but afterwards of Dynes Hall, in Great Maplestead, Essex,
Knight, of the one part, and Matthew Guyon, Isaac Hubbard,
Joseph Drywood, Richard Shortland, gentlemen ; Richard Shep-
168 The Charities.
pard, Ambrose Sutton, William Cox, Thomas Buxton, Thomas
Keeble, George Nicholls, Simon Richold and Jacob Cox, clothiers,
all inhabitants of Great Coggeshall, of the other part ; Sir Mark
Guyon gave and granted one annuity or yearly sum of ^13 to be
issuing and going, and to be perceived, received, levied, and taken
out of all that messuage, farm and lands, called Highfields and
Windmill Fields, or otherwise situate and being in Great Cogges-
hall, and then in the tenure of John Cox, upon special trust and
confidence, and to the intent and purpose that the trustees should
for ever thereafter dispose of the annuity of ,13, and employ and
lay out the same in bread, and distribute the same bread upon
every Sunday or Lord's day for ever, after Divine service or ser-
mon, namely, to twenty of the most aged poor and necessitous
persons inhabiting within the parish of Great Coggeshall, to each
of them a three-penny loaf, the same bread to be placed upon a
shelf to be set up for that purpose over or near to the seat of the
said Sir Mark Guyon, then standing in the chancel of the parish
church of Great Coggeshall. The deed contains provisions for
the appointment of nine new trustees when the number should be
reduced to three, such new trustees to act conjointly with the con-
tinuing trustees. And it is declared that the annuity should be
payable at or in the south porch of the parish church of Great
Coggeshall, upon Michaelmas day and Lady day, by equal portions
without any deduction. Power for the trustees to distrain when
the rent-charge should be in arrear for twenty days after day fixed
for payment, the rent however, being first lawfully demanded.
By deed dated the 2Qth June, 1819, Richard Meredith White,
of Great Coggeshall, clothier, the owner of the High field's Estate,
granted and confirmed the said annuity of ^13 unto Osgood
Hanbury, Esq., Henry Skingley, Esq., the Rev. E. W. Mathew,
clerk, Isaac Brightwen, merchant, Thomas Andrew, gentleman,
William Swinborne, currier, John Durrant, saddler, Robert Bright-
wen, brewer, Richard Townsend, gentleman, John Godfrey, sur-
geon, and Francis Eagle, surgeon, all of them inhabitants of Great
Coggeshall.
The present trustees are the Vicar and Churchwardens of
Great Coggeshall, by virtue of their appointment by an order of
the Charity Commissioners, dated the 4th November, 1862.
The annuity is distributed in bread, in the same manner as
Thomas Guyon's Charity.
Swallow 's Charity . 169
IN or about the year 1520, Christopher Swallow, who was
Vicar of Messing, conveyed to the Right Hon. John de Vere,
Earl of Oxford, and other persons, lands at Coggeshall and in
other parishes in Essex, to the intent that from thenceforth for
ever an honest, learned and godly man should be maintained to
execute the office of a schoolmaster at Earls Colne, in Essex, who
should be learned in the Latin tongue and skilful in grammar and
able to instruct children in the grammar there, and that the same
schoolmaster should in respect only of the profits of the said
lands, without any other reward, instruct in grammar the number
of 30 children, whose parents should be dwelling either within
the parish of Earls Colne or in Coggeshall, Ardleigh, Stisted,
Messing and Marks Tey, &c., and that the schoolmaster should
hold and keep the school during the space of three years at Earls
Colne, and during the space of other three years immediately ensu-
ing at Coggeshall, and then again at Earls Colne, and so alternis
vicibus in each of the said towns.
For very many years, probably centuries, the town of Cogges-
hall derived no benefit whatever from this Charity, and had it not
been for the unceasing perseverance of the late Rev. William
James Dampier, the beneficent intention of the quondam Vicar of
Messing would have been entirely lost to the parish. Under the
direction of Mr. Dampier, a petition to the Lord Chancellor was
drawn up by Mr. Malins (afterwards Vice-Chancellor Malins).
This interesting document sets forth the whole history of the
Charity, and covers five large skins of parchment.
The claim of Coggeshall to participate in this trust was ulti-
mately recognised by the Charity Commissioners, and in their
scheme, dated i3th May, 1887, they directed that a sum of ^500
out of the Earls Colne Grammar School Foundation should be
paid to the Foundation known as Sir Robert Hitcham's Schools,
at Coggeshall, and they provided that if there was not room in the
Earls Colne Grammar School for all boys found fit for admission,
preference should be given to such of them as were of poor in-
habitants of either of the parishes of Great Coggeshall and Little
Coggeshall.
170 The Chanties.
BY her will, dated in 1618, Jane Gooday, of Peering, widow,
directed her executor to lay out ^30 in the purchase of a
house, to be estated to some of the parishioners of Great Cogges-
hall and their heirs, to the intent that the profits thereof should
be laid out at the discretion of the vicar and overseers to buy need-
ful clothing for the aged poor of Great Coggeshall for ever.
John Gooday, as the executor of his mother's will, in April,
1618, laid out the sum of .30, with ^20 of his own money, in
the purchase of a house with a garden in Church Street, Cogges-
hall, called Pagetts, and by deed, dated 3rd Oct. 1619, conveyed
the same unto the then Vicar of Coggeshall and nine other inha-
bitants and their heirs upon trust, to permit the vicar and over-
seers to receive the rents and profits and apply them according to
the intention expressed in Jane Gooday's will, with provisions for
the appointment of new trustees.
About the year 1714, the house being very much decayed, and
part having fallen down, and the rent not being sufficient to keep
it in repair, the trustees sold it for 28 to Daniel Cooke, of Cog-
geshall. The ground is said to have been laid to the Swan Yard.
By indenture, dated i3th February, 1718, made between
William Townsend, of Great Coggeshall, of the one part ; and
Robert Townsend, Samuel Sparhawke, Isaac Buxton, Sen., Isaac
Dawes, Thomas Buxton, John Sparhawke, John Armond, Joseph
Cox, John Mount, John Gladwin, Isaac Potter, Ambrose Hay-
ward, Jun., and Richard White, all of Great Coggeshall, of the
other part; William Townsend, in consideration of ^28 paid to
him by the said Robert Townsend, Samuel Sparhawke, Isaac
Dawes, and John Barnard, of Great Coggeshall, who were the
surviving trustees of the old property in Church Street, granted an
annuity of 325. to be issuing and going, and to be received, levied,
and taken out of all that messuage or tenement situate in East
Street, otherwise Gallows Street, in Great Coggeshall, commonly
called by the name or sign of the King's Arms, and the garden
and yards thereunto, belonging then or then late in the tenure of
Robert Sutton, or his assigns, upon trust, that the trustees should
dispose of the annuity and employ and lay out the same in linen
Land in West Street.
cloth upon the 24th June in every year, for the benefit of the
most aged poor and necessitous persons inhabiting within the
parish of Great Coggeshall, with provisions for appointment of
new trustees, and with power of distress and a covenant by the
grantor to keep the premises in repair.
The last appointment of new trustees was by deed dated i4th
April, 1783, the last survivor of whom was Osgood Hanbury, Esq.,
who died in 1856.
The property, subject to the annuity, was sold by auction in
1870 by the trustees of the will of the late Mr. William Swinborne,
and then consisted of a range of five cottage tenements with gar-
dens in East Street, adjoining the Swan public-house towards the
east, and then in the occupation of French, Keys, Thurgar and
Evans, and one unoccupied.
The cottages were purchased by the late Mr. Matthias Alfred
Gardner, whose representatives regularly pay the annuity.
In 1837, the Charity Commissioners suggested that the annu-
ity should be henceforth paid to the vicar and overseers, to be
expended as directed by Jane Gooday's will, in needful clothing
for the aged poor.
The annual sum of 325. is received by the vicar and church-
wardens, and given away by them in flannel to eleven aged poor
persons, chiefly widows.
n
THERE is a small piece of ground in West Street, lying
between the Gelatine Factory on the east and a plot of
garden ground (No 316, Ordnance Survey) on the west. It was
formerly let at los. a year, but 75. 6d. only is now paid for it by
the occupiers, Messrs. Pfander Swinborne.
This may be the site of the " two almes houses at the upper
end of West Street, going to Braintree, given by Sir Mark Guyon
to this parish in lieu of two alms houses yt were pulled down
neare his houses," referred to in Holman's MS.
The income of this small property is generally given to the
Clothing Club.
I 7 2 The Charities.
ANN RICHARDSON, by her will (the date of which in the
Parliamentary Returns of 1786 is stated to be 1726) gave
to Thomas Wilsher and his heirs, a freehold messuage or farm
called Romans, with the lands thereto belonging, situate at East
Hanningfield and Rettendon, in Essex, upon trust yearly and for
ever to pay to the overseers of Little Coggeshall 8, to be by
them distributed in bread, weekly, to the poor husbandmen and
widows of husbandmen belonging to the said parish, who should
take no collection, but there being no church in Little Coggeshall
her will was that the bread should be given in the church of Great
Coggeshall.
The property, subject to the annuity, belonged, in 1837, to a
Mr. William Cook, and was occupied by his tenant, Whitamore.
On the i4th March, 1842, in a suit, the Attorney-General v.
Cook and others, a scheme was settled by one of the Masters in
Chancery and provided inter alia, that the overseers and church-
wardens of Little Coggeshall shall keep a list in each year of the
names of all the deserving poor husbandmen and poor widows of
husbandmen who are parishioners of Little Coggeshall not receiv-
ing parochial relief, from which list they shall select the persons
who are to partake of the charity, but such persons shall and may
be removed from such list when and as such overseers and church-
wardens shall see occasion, who are to distribute rateably and in
rotation to and amongst such persons, so that all on such list may
in their turn partake of the advantage of the Charity; that the
persons who shall be entitled to partake of the Charity shall be
such persons only as are inhabitants or belong to the parish of
Little Coggeshall, and are poor husbandmen or widows of poor
husbandmen not receiving parochial relief, preference to be given
to the most aged and infirm ; that there shall be five trustees
appointed of the Charity who shall receive the annuity or rent-
charge of ;8 per annum, and lay out the same in the purchase of
bread, weekly, by 35. at a time, except in Christmas week when
there shall be expended 73., and which bread, when purchased,
shall be distributed to and amongst poor husbandmen and poor
widows of husbandmen not receiving parochial relief; that if at
any time there shall be no trustees of the Charity, the officiating
Ann Richardson 's Charity. 173
minister for the time being and the churchwardens and overseers
shall be considered and taken to be trustees of the Charity, and
entitled to receive the annuity and give a receipt for the same, and
to distribute the bread until trustees shall be duly appointed.
By a subsequent order on further directions, in the year 1842,
the scheme was varied by appointing the officiating minister and
churchwardens and overseers of the parish to be trustees of the
Charity.
Further information concerning this Charity may be obtained
by an inspection of the proceedings in Chancery in 1835, Good-
son v. Cook.
Mrs. Richardson was probably the same person as Ann, the
wife of Mr. John Richardson, and daughter of Mr. John Willsher,
of Scripps Farm, Little Coggeshall. John Richardson died, 2oth
November, 1693, aged 33, and was buried in Coggeshall church-
yard, where also was laid his only daughter, Anne, who died,
September, 1712, aged 18 years.
COMPRISING
or
or
Cfjaritp, or
tftc CiHmrp 2Srcab St^oncp, ano J!Hb&en'
Cottage^.
T is proposed first to consider each of these Charities in the
order indicated above, and subsequently to deal with them as
one combined Charity.
ueee or
HP HE site of these houses, for they have long since been de-
^ molished, is well known to the inhabitants of Coggeshall.
It comprises about twelve rods of ground, lying at the southern
extremity of Stoneham Street, and at its junction with Church
Street. At the time of the report of the Charity Commissioners,
I
174 The Charities.
about 1837, there were posts under ground which defined the
exact extent of the property. The posts having decayed, the
parish in vestry assembled, on the i5th June, 1865, adopted a
plan of the property, which (with the concurrence of the trustees
of the Charity) was submitted to them by the surveyors of the
highways. This plan was reproduced by the writer, in a paper on
the Amalgamated Charities, published in 1888.
The first record we find of this property is in the report of the
Commissioners, appointed in the 2nd year of King Edward VI.,
to make enquiries concerning Chantry properties, and in which is
the following : " Item, one old Chapel in the street there, with a
little Garden, which is worth by the year, 45." It may be that this
is the chapel to which reference is made in the will of Thomas
Halle, of Coksale, dated isth January, 1499-1500, and proved on
5th February, following : " I bequeth towarde the edifying and
making of a Chapell within the said towne of Coksale, XX s to be
paid when the said Chapell is in werkyng,"
King Edward VI. gave the old chapel, &c. to Ralph Agard
and Thomas Smyth, from whom it passed to Reginald Holling-
worth, and descended to his son, Lawrence Hollingworth, and
from him it was conveyed to Robert Wordsworth, of Great Birch,
Essex, gentleman, who on the 7th October, in the 3oth year of
Queen Elizabeth's reign (A.D. 1588), for divers good causes, &c.,
granted the same chapel to certain inhabitants of Coggeshall, by
the description of " Totam illam veterem Capellam modo usitat p
le Come Markett howse ac unu pvu gardinu eid Capelle adiacen cu
ptin scituat et existen in Coggeshall pred" or to render it in English,
" All that old Chapel now used for the Corn Market House, and
one small garden to the same Chapel adjoining with the appur-
tenances situate and being in Coggeshall aforesaid."
From an inquisition, taken by Sir Henry Maxey and Sir
Thomas Wyseman, knights, and others, in the nth year of King
James I., it appears that the purchasers from Robert Wordsworth
were persons representing the trades of the fullers and weavers
at Coggeshall. These persons converted the chapel into a market
house or place of mart or meeting, with rooms for stowage and
other uses, and a clock and watch-bell were there kept for the
better ordering of apprentices of the two trades. The Commis-
sioners, after making enquiries into the charity generally, proceeded
to decree the manner in which the charity should in future be
The Amalgamated Charities. J75
administered, which was, to put it concisely, that the property
should be let to a fuller or weaver, that the house and rooms with
the clock and watch-bell should for ever be kept repaired, renewed
and maintained with the rents and profits of the premises, and the
surplus profits paid to the fullers and weavers and to the poor of
Coggeshall generally.
From 1635 tiU I 7 I 9 ^ e property is referred to as the Corn
and Butter Market Houses; in 1774, as the Market Houses. *
In 1776, the trustees of the charity let part of the property to
Richard White, by the description of the Wool-hall over the
Market Place, reserving to themselves the chamber or room
wherein the town clock of the parish then stood, with the staircase
to the same belonging, with free liberty to go to and from the
same to repair and wind up the town clock.
The trust deed of 3rd August, 1795, records the following
facts, viz. : That the old chapel used for market purposes having
become so ruinous and out of repair as to be incapable of being
repaired, the trustees (with the consent of the parishioners) caused
the old buildings to be pulled down and the material thereof to
be sold, and with part of the proceeds they built a turret or clock
house upon other premises belonging to the poor of Great Cogges-
hall (Crane's Charity), and placed therein the said clock and
watch-bell for the use of the parishioners of Great Coggeshall.
The surplus of the proceeds of sale was employed in building two
almshouses on Greenwood's charity land, south of Buttfield,
near the church.
The exact date of the pulling down of the Market Houses
was recorded by Henry Emery, of Market Hill, who died in 1844,
aged 78; his note is, "Began pulling down the Market Cross of
Great Coggeshall, i6th June, 1787 23rd, finished pulling."
In Bufton's Diary is the following note anent the clock, " 3oth
September, 1686, a new clock was set up at the Market House,
made at London, said to cost ,23."
In 1837, the Charity Commissioners directed that the profits
arising from this plot of ground, and which consisted of rents
amounting to less than i per annum, paid for stallage when fairs
were held near the spot, should be applied by the trustees in the
same manner as the income of Paycocke's Charity. It has not,
* 1679 Moses Love, weaver cryer, clerk of the market was buried (Bufton).
The Charities.
however, been so applied for very many years past, but is devoted
to the general purposes of the charity, as to which see post.
AMUEL CRANE, of Great Coggeshall, gentleman, made his
will, in November, 1669, and thereby gave the rents and
profits of his messuage, in Stoneham Street, Great Coggeshall,
then in the occupation of Elizabeth Starling, widow, to the use of
the poor of Great Coggeshall for ever, to be laid out in bread and
delivered to them every five and twentieth day of December, and
so continue for ever. And he authorised his executors to make
a feoffment of the said premises to twelve, at least, of the most
substantial inhabitants of the town of Great Coggeshall, and he
appointed William Cox, the elder, and Isaac Hubbard to be his
executors.
William Cox, the elder, and Isaac Hubbard, as such executors,
on the 8th December, 1671, conveyed the house and premises to
Matthew Guyon, John Cox, the elder, Richard Sheppard, John
Bufton, the elder, John Cox, the younger, Thomas Buxton,
Samuel Sparhawke, Thomas Cox, Paul Pemberton, William
Guyon, William Cox, the younger, John Willbore, the elder, Isaac
Cooke, John Cockerill, John Bower, Roger Mullings, John
Willbore, the younger, Benjamin Sampson, Richard Shortland,
Ambrose Sutton, Simon Richold, Robert Sampson, Thomas
Keeble, George Richold and John Bufton, the younger, all
substantial inhabitants of Great Coggeshall, aforesaid. The deed
contained provision for the appointment of new trustees when
the number is reduced to seven.
The property was from time to time conveyed to new trustees.
In 1837, according to the report of the Charity Commission-
ers, the trust premises were divided and let as follows : Two
rooms were let to James Potter, at 2 per annum ; two rooms to
Henry Emery, the schoolmaster of Sir Robert Hitcham's School,
at j^2 i os. per annum; one large room over the master's
residence, used as a schoolroom for the Hitcham School, the
passage leading to Potter's rooms and the staircase, were let to
the master, fellows and scholars of Pembroke College, Cambridge,
as trustees of Sir Robert Hitcham's Charity, from Michaelmas,
Amalgamated Charities. 177
1787, for 500 years, at a peppercorn rent. The consideration for
which, however, was not known, but it appeared that 60 is. id.
was laid out by the Hitcham School trustees in extensive repairs
to this property, about the time the lease was granted. The lease
was surrendered upwards of twenty-five years ago.
There was also the clock turret, which, it will have been
observed from the preceding account of the market houses, was
supplied out of the fund arising from the sale of the materials of
the old market houses.
A free rent of 8d. per annum is payable to the lord of the
manor of Great Coggeshall in respect of this property.
The trust premises are now in the occupation of John Cook,
at a rent of 8 8s. per annum.
One penny per annum was formerly paid by Mr. William
Denney, for the use of a pipe laid down in Stoneham Street by
sufference of the trustees.
The income of this charity goes towards the general expenses
of the amalgamated charities.
or
As to two of the Almshouses :
Joseph Greenwood, of Great Coggeshall, by deed, dated 2nd
August, 1795, granted to the then surviving trustees of the Market
Houses, namely, Thomas Bridge, David Crumpton, William
Dixon, Richard Meredith White, Stephen Unwin, Fisher Unwin,
Haddon Rudkin, Henry Shetelworth, and William Walford, a
piece of ground, parcel of a close of land, called " Buttfield,"
situate in Church Lane, otherwise Back Lane, in Great Coggeshall,
containing in length from east to west, 31 feet, and in breadth
from north to south, 14^ feet, and abutting on Church Lane
towards the south, upon trust for the poor of the parish for the
purpose of erecting thereon two cottages or tenements for the use
of the poor.
The trustees spent the sum of ^50, part of the fund produced
by the sale of the Market Houses, in building two cottages or
tenements on the piece of ground before-mentioned, in order as
far as in them lay to continue the charitable provision of the
decree of the commissioners for charitable uses, mentioned under
the preceding account of the Market Houses.
N
1 78 The Charities.
As to the remainder of the Almshouses :
The Joseph Greenwood, before-mentioned, by deed, dated nth
December, 1795, conveyed another part of " Buttfield," contain-
ing in length from east to west, 62 feet, and in breadth from north
to south, 144 feet, and abutting upon Church Lane towards the
south, to Osgood Hanbury, upon trust for the parishioners and
inhabitants of Coggeshall, to the intent that they should build
thereon four cottages, for such poor persons belonging to the
parish to reside in, who should be incapable of providing habita-
tions for themselves, to be selected by the churchwardens and
overseers in such manner as they should think most beneficial.
Four cottages were subsequently built with some monies left
by the will of the late Mr. Osgood Hanbury, and the proceeds of
the sale of an old Pest House and perhaps of some almshouses,
which Morant, writing in 1768, mentions thus, "There are three
almshouses adjoining to the churchyard without endowment."
The six tenements comprise twelve rooms, which are occupied
by a corresponding number of old people.
or e
(THoneg.
"D Y her will, dated 2ist April, 1601, Johan Smith, of Londo^
*-^ widow, directed her executors to pay to her son, Sir William
Smith, 400, therewith to purchase the sum of 40 marks yearly,
to be bestowed and employed for the relief of the poor in Coxall
and Bocking, the same to continue and be as her free gift unto
them for ever ; twenty marks ( 1 35. 4d. each) to be bestowed
upon the Poor of Coxall yearly, by fs. in Bread every Sunday,
the distributors thereof to have for their pains yearly, 6s. 8d.
And the other 20 marks to be bestowed upon the poor of Bocking
in like manner.
By deed, dated 25th November, 3rd James ist (1605), Sir
William Smith, of Lound, Leicestershire, Knight, in consideration
of ^400 then come to his hands and in due performance and
execution of the before-mentioned will, and in discharge of
the confidence and trust reposed in him by his mother, Johan
Smith, so far as concerned the town of Coggeshall, did grant unto
Thomas Fuller, Thomas Aylett, Henry Warner, George Cockerell,
The Amalgamated Charities. J 79
Thomas Bridges, Thomas Shortland, Nicholas Richold, Thomas
Gray, John Gray, Jun., Thomas Guyon, William Gladwin,
Thomas Alleston, Robert Fuller, Jun., William Bufton, Clement
Gymlett, William Clark, Jun., John Clemence, William Fuller,
Jun., Thomas Shortland, Jun., and Robert Crane, all inhabitants
of Coggeshall, one yearly rent of twenty marks, to be issuing out
of a house and the site of the monastery or priory of Lound, in
Leicestershire, and the lands thereto belonging, to be paid at lady
day and michaelmas day, upon condition (inter alia) that if the
said Sir William Smith should convey one other like rent-charge
of twenty marks to the trustees, to be issuing out of lands of
adequate value near London or Coggeshall, then the rent-charge
on the estate at Lound should cease.
By deed, dated 6th June, i5th James I. (1617), the said Sir
William Smith and Humphry Smith, the grantees from King
James I., of a fee farm rent of \$ issuing out of the rectory
and church of East Tilbury, in Essex, conveyed the same fee
farm rent to the before-mentioned trustees, as a full recompence
and satisfaction of the said yearly rent of twenty marks, charged
on the estate at Lound, but upon trust for the poor of Coggeshall
according to the true meaning of the said will, and with a proviso
for the appointment of new trustees.
In 1837, the rectory of East Tilbury belonged to the Rev.
Edwin Lloyd, and at that time the income of the charity (after
payment of expenses) was distributed in bread made up into
thirty twopenny loaves, which were given away at the Church
every Sunday after service, amongst poor parishioners selected by
the churchwardens in equal shares.
Thirteen pounds per annum is still given away in bread in
thirty twopenny loaves at the church every Sunday.
or
T^ROM the Parliamentary Returns of 1786, it appears that
-*- Anthony Hibben, alias Weaver, by his will gave to the
poor of Coggeshall land then producing ^5 per annum.
A deed of appointment of new trustees, dated i4th April,
1783 (after reciting that neither the will of Anthony Hibben nor
any title deeds to the trust property could be found, and that
Richard White was then possessed of the property thereinafter
described), the said Richard White conveyed to Osgood Hanbury
N X
l8 The Chanties.
and twelve others, all that messuage or tenement with the yards,
gardens and hereditaments, in Church Street, in Great Coggeshall,
abutting upon Church Street towards the south, upon trust that
they should dispose of the rents and profits amongst poor
inhabitants of Great Coggeshall yearly, upon the ist of January,
for ever, in such parts as they should think fit. The deed con-
tained provisions as to the appointment of new trustees.
In 1837, the property of this charity consisted of three
tenements under one roof, and a small yard in Church Street,
Coggeshall, then let to William Clarke, John Raven and the
Overseers, as yearly tenants, at rents amounting to 9 43. per
annum, which was distributed with Paycock's Charity.
The trust property is now (1889) in the occupations of
Robert Evans, Elijah Fairs and Jacob Rowland.
The income is exhausted by the general expenses for repairs,
rates, &c.
HP HE before-mentioned charities are collectively known by
* this name.
The first appointment of trustees of these charities by the
Charity Commissioners, was made by an order, dated 7th August,
1863, and by it the incumbent and churchwardens and their
successors in office, and thirteen other inhabitants of Great
Coggeshall, were appointed trustees, and the legal estate in the
trust properties was vested in the official trustee of charity lands
and his successors in trust for the charity.
The new trustees thus appointed took steps to obtain a scheme
for the future management of the charity ; but the scheme, which
was drafted in 1863, was not proceeded with.
The present trustees are :
The Rev. Hubert Mornington Patch, Vicar of Coggeshall.
Joseph Smith Surridge, j Churchwardens.
George Frederick Beaumont, )
William Gentry Dennis.
John Shuttleworth.
Edward Alexander Applebe,
John Beard,
Edward Edgar,
John Bruff Frith,
Thomas Simpson,
Appointed by order of the Charity
Commissioners, dated i ith Octo-
ber, 1887, to act jointly with the
before-named, who were the con-
tinuing trustees at the date of
the Order.
The National Schools. 181
By the order of nth October, 1887, the Commissioners
directed that :
The right to sue for, recover, receive and to give receipts and
discharges for all sums of money, rents in arrear, and choses in
action due to or recoverable for the benefit of the charities,
should vest in the trustees thereby appointed individually, jointly
with the continuing trustees, their executors, administrators and
assigns, in trust for the said charities.
As there is no scheme for the administration of the charity,
it follows that the intentions of the several donors must be
observed as far as possible.
1. The income derived from the Market Hill, should be
applied for the relief of the poor, for instance, in the insurance
and repair of the almshouses.
2. The income from Crane's Charity, after deducting the
necessary outgoings, should be laid out in bread for the poor, to
be delivered to them every Christmas Day.
3. The Almshouses should be used as such.
4. Bread of the value of ^15 per annum, less 6s. 8d. for
distributor (Johan Smith's Charity), should be given away every
Sunday in equal portions.
5. The net income of Hibben's Cottages should be applied
for the benefit of the poor.
IN the years 1838-9, two pieces of ground on the west side
of Stoneham Street, where the old workhouse stood, were
conveyed to the vicar and churchwardens of Coggeshall, as a
site for a building to be used as a school for the purpose of
educating the children of the poor according to the principles
of the National Society. In 1847, a si te was acquired for the
residence of the master and mistress of the schools, and, in 1875,
the premises were further extended by the purchase of an adjoin-
ing cottage and garden. The buildings consist of two spacious
rooms in separate enclosures, one for boys and the other for girls ;
there is also a suitable residence for the schoolmistress. The
schools are maintained by voluntary subscriptions, government
grants, school-pence, and collections at church.
The Chanties.
THESE schools adjoin the Independent Chapel, and are
built on a piece of land purchased in 1841. They are
held in trust to provide education for the children of the poor,
subject to the rules prescribed by those who provide the funds for
their support, but no child is to be excluded by reason of any
religious or other matters of distinction of sect or party. Their
maintenance is provided for in the same manner as the National
Schools.
MANUFACTURES.
|NE of the earliest trades of 'the country was that of
manufacturing wool into cloth, and the statutes of the
realm abound with enactments giving encouragement
to the clothworkers and regulating the manufacture.
Thus, King Henry II. directed that if any cloth were found to be
made of Spanish wool mixed with English wool the mayor of
London should see it burnt, and in the nth year of King
Edward III. we find it ordained that no cloth should be worn
but such as was made in England; and in the same year another
statute encourages the foreigner to settle here, by enacting that
"all the clothworkers of strange lands of whatsoever country
they be, which shall come into England, Ireland, Wales and
Scotland within the King's power, shall come safely and surely,
and shall be in the King's protection and safe conduct to dwell
in the same lands choosing where they will, and, to the intent
the said clothworkers shall have the greater will to come and
dwell here, our Sovereign Lord the King will grant them franchises
as many and such as may suffice them." This statute and the
advantages which followed induced many Flemish manufacturers
to settle in England, especially in the eastern counties.
Fuller's Church History describes the attractions offered by
Edward III. to the foreign manufacturers in graphic language :
"Here," says he, "they shall feed on beef and mutton till
nothing but their fulness shall stint their stomachs ; yea, they
shall feed on the labor of their own hands enjoying a propor-
tionable profit of their pains to themselves, and the richest yeo-
l8 4 The Manufactures.
men in England would not disdain to marry their daughters unto
them, and such the English beauties that the most curious foreign-
ers could not but commend them. Happy the yeomen's house
into which one of these Dutchmen did enter bringing industry
and wealth along with them. Such, who came in strangers within
doors, soon after went out bridegrooms and returned sons-in-law
having married the daughters of their landlords who first enter-
tained them, yea those yeomen in whose houses they harboured
soon proceeded gentlemen, gaining great estates to themselves,
arms and worship to their estates."
In 1557 (4 & 5 Philip and Mary, c. 5) especial mention is
made of Coggeshall as a cloth manufacturing town, and there is
no doubt that at this date the trade was well established here.
This statute, after reciting that the Act 5 and 6 Edward VI., which
provided for the true and perfect making of woollen cloth, was
oppressive to divers clothiers and could not be observed in all
points, enacted among other things that " Forasmuch as many
persons do counterfeit the making of Cocksal, Bocking and Brain-
tree Clothes, commonly called Handywarps, adding thereto such
like lists as the makers of such clothes do, to the great deceit of
the King and Queen's Majesties' subjects, therefore no person or
persons from the first day of May next coming shall add unto any
cloth or clothes any such like list or lists except the warp thereof
be spun upon the rock or distaff upon pain of forfeiture of the
same cloth or clothes or the very value thereof," &c. The 34th
section of this statute provided that persons dwelling in certain
counties, or in the town of Goddelmine, in Surrey, might make
cloth outside a city borough or market town as they had formerly
done notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, but Coggeshall
and other towns in Essex were not granted this privilege, and,
consequently, the trade was seriously affected in these places and
would probably have become extinct much earlier than it did but
for the statute passed in 1558 (i Eliz. c. 14), which recites and
enacts that " Forasmuch as the towns or villages of Bocking,
Westharfold, Dedham and Cockshall, in the county of Essex, be
fair large towns and as well planted for clothmaking as the said
town of Goddelmine or better, and few towns in this realm better
planted for that purpose, and have been inhabited of a long time
with clothmakers, which have made and daily do make good and
true cloth to the great commonweal of the country there, and
The Cloth Trade. 185
nothing prejudicial to or for the commonwealth of this realm, Be
it therefore ordained and enacted by the authority of this present
Parliament that it shall be lawful to all and every such person and
persons which now do inhabit and dwell or hereafter shall dwell
in the said towns or villages of Bocking, Westharfold, Cockshall
and Dedham, or in any of them now using or exercising, or that
hereafter shall use or exercise the feat or mystery of making,
weaving, or rowing of cloth or kersie by the space of seven years
at the least or have been prentice thereto by the said space of
seven years to inhabit and dwell in the said towns and villages of
Bocking, Westharfold, Cockshall and Dedham, and in every or
any of them, and to use the making, weaving or rowing of cloth
or kersie as before this time they might have done if the said Act
had never been made, anything in the said Act to the contrary
thereof made or any other Act, statute or law heretofore made or
hereafter to be made to the contrary hereof in anywise notwith-
standing."
The following petition (State Papers Domestic, Eliz., Vol. 106,
No. 47) was presented by the woollen manufacturers of this town
in the year 1575 : "To the Right honorable Lorde and others
of her Majesties most honorable pryvie Counsell, Humbly com-
playning shewe unto your honors her Majesties poore tenauntes
of the towne of Coxhall and other poore clothiers inhabyting there
aboute That whereas oppon complaynt lately made by them
unto her highness against John Hastinges, Esquior, touching
manye wronges and oppressions offred to them by color of her
majesties letters patentes granted to him for the making of ffreesa-
does after the maner of Harlam yt pleased her Majestic oppon
pytie of their poore estate to commytt th' examination and ending
of the same cause unto your honors to th' intent that your poore
orators might receive some ende of their troubles and more peace-
ably hereafter use their trade. Nowe for information unto your
honors of the troathe they say that those woollen cloathes called
Bayes which they usually make and whereby they and many hun-
dred people lyve and are maytayned be nether within the letter or
meaning of the aforesaide letters patentes being an other kinde of
clothe differing many wayes from the ffreesadoes of Harlem making
as shall appeare; ffirste in name they differ for that th'one are
called ffreesadoes and the other broade bayes ; in breadthe they
differ one halfe quarter of a yarde for that their bayes conteyne but
1 86 The Manufactures.
vij quarters and his ffreesadoeves by the letters patentes muste
conteyne vij quarters and one halfe quarter. In lengthe they
differ for that his ffreesadowes are dosens and their bayes com-
monly contayne ffortye yards in lengthe. In waighte they differ
greatly for that their bayes being far more sufficiently made doe
contayne at the least one pounde waighte in everye yarde more
then is in the ffreesadowes. Also bayes are made altogither by
hande warpe, but his ffreesadowes were made by roell warpe ontill
nowe of late Maister Hastinges did learne the hande warpe of
certayne clothemakers in Essex. Also bayes are nether died nor
rottened by your orators to be ffreesadowes but are left whyte to
bee wroughte to such use as the Drapers please either for blanck-
ettes, carpettes or otherwise as other whyte cloathes are (for al
manner of woollen broade cloathes, being white may be wroughte
into ffreesadowes and so all cloathes should be within the com-
passe of his letters patentes by Mr. Hastinges' pretence) And
beside those differences and many others it is very true and so to
be proved by the othes of many ancient men of creditt whose
names are subscribed that this maner of bayes now used in Essex
was usually made in that countrye above Thirtye yeares before the
date of his letters patentes. All which said premisses upon occa-
sion of diverse suites of Mr. Hastinges in her Majesties Courte of
Exchecker and els where have bene proved and made knowne
bothe to him and many others of good calling and creditt and
yett notwithstanding your poore orators have been so contynually
vexed by the said Mr. Hastinges and his servauntes and their
clothes taken from them and some of their clothes torne in pieces
by Mr. Hastinges servauntes against all right and equitye so that
poore men being undone by that occasion have bene forced to
give over their trade and others have bene compelled against their
willes to subscribe to articles made according to his will and
desire Wherein if by your honors good meanes they be not
spedily relieved it will turne to the utter undoing of your poore
orators and of many pore men their wyves and famylyes who are
sett on worke only by that trade.
NYCKELUS CHASSEY (? Chaffey) hys marke
by me WYLL A. DENE, 65.
JOHN SUTTON being LXXXVIII yers
JOHN BOTHEM being LXX yers
by me ROBERT SANDER being LXXII yeres
The Cloth Trade. 187
WILLIAM TYLL being LXVI yeres
RICHARD EMENG being LXXV yeres."
In connection with the Spanish Armada, it may be mentioned
that the bailiffs of Colchester on the i6th April, 1588, presented
a petition to Sir Thomas Heneage, Vice-Chamberlain, desiring
that the inhabitants of Coggeshall, Dedham and East Bergholt,
might not be excused their contribution towards the furnishing of
the ship charged upon them for the Queen's service.*
"A true note and certificate (under date 6th July, 1577) of
such wull as hath bene bought by the clothiers of Coggeshall
aforesayde synce the first day of August, Anno 1576'^ shows that
the following persons were at that time engaged in this the staple
business of the town : Thomas Tyll, William Armond, John
Gooddaye, John Pierceson, Robert Draper, Robert Lytherland,
Robert Jegon, Thomas Annsell, Edmond Tyler, William Trewe,
John Sweeting, Richard Larke, Christopher Watson, Thomas
Graye, Robert Pitchfourd, William Gyon, Wm. Clarke, John
Saunder, Wm. Saunder and Thomas Canon, the last of whom
" bought, as is supposed, not lesser than XL toddes, for he being
from home we could not know the certaintye ;" and the certificate
ends by stating that " all these parcells of wull in ye cast being
broken hath bene bought of Mr. Freeman, stapeler, and yet a
maker of bayes at Mauldon (to ye hindrance of all clothiers) or
of his deputye by those whose names folowe, Thomas Dammat,
Robert Larke, Thomas Graye, John Watson, Thomas Cole, Tho-
mas Sutton, Thomas Lawrence."
Coggeshall is mentioned by Norden, in 1594, as one of the
" especial clothing towns " of the County of Essex, and he goes
on to tell us that " Cogshall is specially famous for the most rare
Whites there made exceeding any cloth in the land for rare fine-
ness and therefore called Cogshall whites. It is governed by 24
head-boroughs of whom are chosen two constables for the time
being chief governors of the town."
The following extracts from the State Papers, Domestic temp.
Commonwealth (Vol. 25, Nos. 51 & 52) are of sufficient interest
to admit of their being set out verbatim, for they give much valua-
ble information, concerning not only the trade here but the times
generally :
* State Papers Dom., Vol. 209, No. 93. t Ibid, Vol. 114, No. 47.
1 88 The Manufactures.
" 1652, 29 Oct. To the honble Councell for Trade.
The Humble Petition of the Clothiers of Coggeshall in
the County of Essex
Humbly shewing
That whereas in their General Peticon many Grievances have
byn presented to this Honble Councell And yor Petrs had free
accesse and diverse hearings with promise of redresse with best
expedition
And for that the Ingrossers of wooll are now as active in buy-
ing so soon as the same is shorne, or before it is of from the
sheepes back as heretofore
Therefore your Petrs. most humbly pray this honoble. Councell
to expedite their redresse And also to graunt yor. Petrs. full power
to elect officers amongst themselves for regulating the making of
manufacturyes in the aforesaid towne And that they may be
graunted a distinct seal -with a cocke upon the same to distinguish
their true making for the honor and benefitt of this Common-
wealth ; not prohibiting other townes or places from making the
like sort, they having also their particular scale, or from enjoying
the same scale they observing the same Rule and Government
with yor. Petrs.
And yor. Petrs. shall pray, etc.
Officers to be chosen yearly by the Inhabitantes (using the
trade) successively and first to be- established by the persons here-
under written for Rules and Orders : Thomas Guyon, Wm. Glad-
wyne, Richard Shortland, John Sparhawke, William Tanner, Sen.,
Edmond Coxe, Henery Johnston, Ambrose Browning, Robt. Hills,
William Guyon, Richard Sheppard, John Cockerell, John Sampson,
Wm. Coxe, John Coxe, Wm. Tanner, Jun., John Bufton, Samuell
Coxe, John Cooke, John Grey." (No. 51)
" 1652, Nov. 3, To the right honourble. the Councell of State
for the Commonwealth of England sitting at Whitehall, the hum-
ble petition of the Clothiers at Coggeshall in Essex.
Humbly shews that whereas by the making of Coggeshall
bayes many thousands of poore people are employed, which bayes
have been exported by merchants into parts beyond seas called
the Straights which for a yeare past have bin obstructed and of
late wholly prevented since the Hollander is turned against us in-
somuch as that without strong Convoyes (to bee granted by this
state) the merchants will not adventure their goods whereby for
The Cloth Trade. 189
sixe moneths past your Petitionrs. have had no sale for their bayes,
their stocks and credits are improved to the uttermost, and with-
out some vent of their goods they are no way able to proceed in
their trade or to set their poore on work which are already become
so numerous that without worke they must bee kept or starved,
which yor petitionrs. are not able to prevent for the charge of col-
lection in this place exceeds all other, every 20 li. per an. paying
5 li. yeerely to the poore and so answerably and the rather because
yor petitionrs. have bin and are still much disenabled for that in
1642 in their ardent affection to the Parliamt. they did upon the
publike faith lend greater summs of money than any place in the
nation (they could ever heare of) even . . . . n times beyond
men of equal estates and indeed beyond their own ability joyning
together in Bonds for sums of money upon interest, the which for
great part is held at interest to this day by which meanes many
persons with their families have bin undone, being not able to pay
a quarter of their debts and others endamaged by their bonds to
pay for their neighbours alsoe the time of ten years being now ex-
pired they are necessitated to represent their undoing condition
and all the premises considered yor Petitionrs doe humbly pray
this honble Councell to commiserate their distresse and to grant
them speedy reliefe.
1. That the merchants for trade may have all encouragement,
that they may know of forraine nations who are friends and not
have their estates suddenly surprised as in Portugale, Holland and
Denmark in which hazards the richest merchants have bin caused
to surcease merchandizing and to purchase lands.
2. That sufficient Convoyes of ships for warre may be with
speed granted to the Straights and other countreys.
3. That forasmuch as your Petitioners in general are so ex-
tremely disenabled and discouraged for want of their money lent
upon the publicke faith which amounts to above 6000 li. in this
poore towne and that yor Petitioners have bin constantly faithfull
and usefull by setting out forces at their owne charges to assist
the Parliamt. farre beyond their abilities that some way may be
prescribed whereby yor petitioners may be paid ther true debts in
the first place and that with speed before your Petitioners are
wholly undone.
And your Petitioners shall ever pray, etc.
Robert Crane, Thomas Guyon, William Gladwine, John Digby,
i9 The Manufactures.
John Sparhawke, John Huntsman, Henry Johnson, John Cocke-
rell, Michaell Richolds, Ciprian Streett, John Streete, Nicholas
Street, Thomas Cooke, Josiff Clarke, John Till, Wm. Tanner,
William Cox, John Cox, Samuel Cox, John Bufton, William Ar-
nolds (? blotted), William Costered, Willyam Motos, Paull Pember-
ton, Thomas Shortland, John Lees, Thomas Swan, Edmond Cox,
Richard Shortland, John Gray, John Sampson, Ambrose Sutton,
William Tanner, Thomas Nicholls, Ffrancis Page, Roger Sturges,
John Bowyer, William Raulinson, William Emen (? Ennew),
Richard Pemberton, John Sloman, Edward Bond, Thomas
Nicholls, John Nicholes, Enoch Hinting, Henry Warner, Henry
Hinting, William Asly, Robert Asyle, Robert Mills, John Alegant,
Jacob Watson, Thomas Branwood,* Robert Sebroke, Jeremiah
Ferryman, Hennery Frost, John Lyance, John Smith, Sen.,
Thomas Braddye, John Brightwen, Robert Barwell, William
Dimbleby, William Hills, Abraham Cooke, Thomas Bringest,
Edward Lees, John Till, Jun., John London, Robert Wheeler,
John Royce, George Irland." (52)
In or about 1664, certain orders were drawn up for the trade
and mystery of the clothiers, fullers, bay makers, and new drapers,
in the town of Coggeshall, and were confirmed by the Quarter
Sessions of the Peace. These orders provided that none should
use the trade unless they had been apprenticed seven years, that
none should be apprenticed unless one of their parents had 403.
a year freehold, that one journeyman should be kept for every
three apprentices. Fines were imposed on those who absented
themselves from the guild; and warrants were issued by the
magistrates requiring the wardens of the company, and the con-
stables of the town to prosecute all intruders into the trade, and
offenders against the orders. The signatories to the orders were
Richard Shortland, Mathew Guyon, Mark Guyon, John Guyon,
William Gladwin, William Cox, Jo Cox, Jo Gray, Jo Sampson,
Sen., Benjamin Sampson, Paul Pemberton, Robert Nicholas,
Peter Pridmore, K. Neele, T. Purcas, J. Rodley, Sen., T. Keeble,
R. Sheppard, W. Clarke, S. Harvey, Ambrose Sutton.
The warders for the fullers, in 1659, were N. Gladwin and
Wm. Hatton; in 1698, Robert Nicholas and John Andrews; in
* A query appeared in East Anglian Notes, N.S., Vol. II., p. 255, as to
this family, a member of which, tradition says, settled in Hartford, Connecti-
cut, U.S.A., about 1650.
The Cloth Trades.
1710, John Hatten, Jun. and John Philbricke; and in 1799,
William Mayhew and Mark Cowell.
The feoffees for the fullers, in 1659, were John Rodley and
Willm. Clark, Junr., and the stock 22 us. 6d. ; in 1799, F.
Lay and J. Seex, who are the last-named feoffees in the book of
orders, divided the remaining stock among about thirty persons,
on 1 4th November, 1800.
The old Wool Hall is noticed elsewhere, under the head of
' The Charities.'
The Guild Hall, which was probably connected with the
woollen manufacture of the place, may be referred to here. The
earliest record concerning it is contaihed in the Certificate of
Chantry Land for Essex, 2 Edward IV., under Coggeshall in Lex-
den Hundred " Item, one house then called the Yield Hall, and
is worth by the year, 53." The situation is ascertained by an
abuttal reference in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Great Cog-
geshall, contained in the admission of Thomas Ludgater, who,
A.D. 1693, on the surrender of William Till, and Maria, his wife,
became possessed of the property which adjoins the site of the
Guild Hall towards the west, and is described in the abbre-
viated Latin of those days which, for the benefit of the general
reader, may be translated and rendered in the following anglicised
form: All that his parcel of customary land with the house or
cottage thereupon built lying and being in Church Lane in Great
Coggeshall, abutting upon a tenement sometime since called the
Guild Hall over against the west ("on the part of the east" in
subsequent admissions), which premises were sometime in the
occupation of George Ireland and are now in the occupation of
the said William Till.
The Guild Hall may be found on the south side of Church
Lane, commonly known as Back Lane, about 80 feet or there-
abouts eastward of Wayne Lane. It is a dwelling in two tene-
ments, measuring about 36 feet by 14 feet. It was probably
originally devoid of partition wall or flooring, and thus adapted
for an Assembly Room or Hall, and that it was used for this pur-
pose is somewhat confirmed by the fireplace, which consists of an
opening on the east side, and measures 6 ft. 10 in. in width by
4 ft. 7 in. in height. In the north wall of the fireplace is a recess
2 ft. wide and 9 in. deep, with an oak seat almost concealed by the
layer or two of brickwork above it ; on the left (i.e. on the east
192
The Manufactures.
wall), in immediate proximity to the recess and 3 ft. from the floor,
is a niche with an angular top and having a base 6 in. in width ;
from base to apex it is n inches and it recedes into the wall to
the extent of 8 in. This small aperture may have been originally
intended for the crucifix or the image of the patron saint of the
guild ; in later days, however, it has doubtless served as a recepta-
cle for the host's refreshment.
It was the custom of the clothiers to have an annual proces-
sion in honor of Blaize, or Blasius, Bishop of Sebaste, in Arme-
nia, who is said to have invented the art of wool-combing, and
was put to death in the persecution under Diocletian, in the year
289, and orations were delivered on these occasions. Thus we
find, in 1699, our local poet, Bufton, writing the following verses
for the Bellman for the Guilding Morn :
" This day there will a noble feast be made
For all amongst us of the Fuller's trade
This ancient custom they do still uphold
Which hath been used from the days' of old :
Their wardens for next year will chosen be
By voice of those who of the trade are free."
And again he tells us that in August, 1688, he wrote the fol-
lowing verses of his own composing :
"As in all ages have been some that stood
Most nobly to promote the public good
So in the present age some are inclined
The good of this our Fulling trade to mind."
******
The processions, appear to have been continued till the close
of last century, and below is given the Programme of a Procession
exhibited by the Weavers of Coggeshall, on Wednesday the i5th
of June, 1791.
" Order of the Procession
Two Leaders
Two Ensign Bearers
Flemings two and two
Two Orators The Union Jack Two Orators
Two Garlands
Drums and Fifes
Captain of the Guards
Guards two and two
The Cloth Trade. 193
Lieutenant of the Guards
King Henry the Second with his attending Lord on horseback
Guards two and two
Band of Music
The Shepherd and Shepherdess
A Slay-maker
A Shackle-maker and Loom-maker
Two Ensigns of the Trade
Jack of Newberry and Fleecy care
Two Tappers
Platform
With Britannia and her children, Bezaleel and Aholiab, with
several branches of the trade at work, viz. : Spinning, Winding,
Warping, and Weaving and the Weavers' Arms
Two Pendents of the Manufacture
Lads and Maids two
Attending two with Garlands
Lads two and Maids two
Attending two with Banners
Lads and Maids two and two
Two Orators
Followed by the Cavalcade two and two
^^ The Procession will set out precisely at Eight o'clock from
the Bird-in-Hand
The Procession will not move out of town."
One of the original orations is headed by prints representing
A Woman Spinning. King Henry II. A Man at the Loom.
Then follows :
"An Oration
For the Procession of the Weavers at Coggeshall
On Wednesday, the i5th of June, 1791.
From ancient Times our useful Art we trace
As sacred Writ records in many a Place ;
All those whose Skill could curious work devise
Wove Coats for Aaron and his Sons likewise ;
The Ephod's Robe was woven all of blue
For Israel's Priest, who holy was and true.
Wise-hearted Women too spun with their hands,
The various Ornaments (by GOD'S commands)
o
J 94 The Manufactures.
To inclose the Ark Divine with Curtains made
Of cunning Work, as 'tis in Scripture said
Britons were once a naked, painted Band
But since the nimble Shuttle bless'd the Land
By just degrees the social Arts arose
Polish'd our Hearts and taught the use of Clothes
Long, long may peace extend her pleasing smile
And commerce flourish in our happy Isle
Long may the labors of the British Loom
Clothe distant climes and ages yet to come.
In the latter half of the iyth century tokens, or small copper
coins, payable at the place of business of the issuer, came into
vogue in Coggeshall and other places. The following is believed
to be a complete list of those which were issued by the clothiers
and other traders of this town :
Obverse, * Benjamin Samson Samson.f
Reverse, In Coggeshall, 1665 B. E. S.
Obverse, * Samuel Cox of In centre a hand holding a quill.
Reverse, Coggeshall, In Essex. S. C.
Obverse, * Robert Purcas The Grocer's Arms.
Reverse, In Coggeshall R. A. P.
Obverse, * Thomas Guyon In A. Rose.
Reverse, Coggeshall, 1667 T. G.
Obverse, William Guyon, 1670 A fleur-de-lys.
Reverse, In Coggeshall, In Essex His Half Peny. W.R.G.
Obverse, Thomas Beckwith, In The Tallow Chandler's Arms.
Reverse, Coggeshall, In Essex His Half Peny. T. A. B.
Obverse, * Henry Benyan of A Griffin holding a key.
Reverse, Coggeshall in Essex H. B.
Obverse, John Digby A fleur-de-lys.
Reverse, Cogsall Grocer. J. D.
Obverse, John Lark, of St George and the Dragon.
Reverse, Coggeshall, 1667 J. M. L.
* In the possession of the writer.
t Samson is represented holding the jaw-bone of an ass in his right hand
and with a robe over his loins and left shoulder.
Miscellaneous. 195
Obverse, Francis Lay, at the a Swan.
Reverse, In Coxhall this for Half-a-Peny. F. D. L.
Obverse, Moses Love, Slay a shuttle
Reverse, Maker, of Coggeshall M. L.
Obverse, Edmond Spicer a sugar loaf
Reverse, In Coggeshall a device of two interlaced ovals
Obverse, Ambros Sutton a greyhound's head collared with a
coronet.
Reverse, In Coggeshall, 1665 A. S. S.
TAMBOUR Lace, or the embroidering of net in cotton, silk,
beads, and gold and silver tinsel, is manufactured here,
several hands being engaged in the trade, working generally in
their own homes. Some of the workers are remarkably skilful
and their laces find a ready sale in London and on the Continent.
Exquisitely wrought dresses and shawls have been manufactured
by the Coggeshall toilers, and have been worn at Her Majesty's
Drawing-rooms and at other state assemblies.
trade, which once found work for several hundreds of
JL men, women and children, has now become extinct. It is
said that there were 700 hands employed at the principal mill in
the year 1863. This mill belonged to the well-known firm of
Durant & Co., the business there being carried on by Messrs.
Hall & Son. About twenty years ago this large establishment,
which cost many thousands of pounds to erect and furnish, was
closed and since then a great part of the population has migrated
to find work in the neighbouring towns of Halstead, Braintree,
Bocking and elsewhere. Silk velvet is manufactured in the town,
but this trade has not been extensively adopted.
ISINGLASS and Gelatine works were established here many
years ago by Messrs. Swinborne, Wallington & Co., and the
business is now carried on by the Messrs. Pfander-Swinborne.
The articles manufactured by this firm have now a world-wide
O 2
The Manufactures.
reputation, and Lord Coleridge in a recent case in which the Cog-
geshall manufacturers were called upon to justify their use of the
words, " Patent Isinglass," in giving judgment remarked, that it
had been found that the isinglass sold by the Messrs. Swinborne
was the most concentrated and perfect form of isinglass, and was
well known in the trade having been used for over 30 years. The
works are at the upper end of West Street, and many hands are
there engaged.
OGGESHALL is noted for the remarkable quality of its
ales. This is due to the excellent supply of water obtain-
able here. There are several important breweries, the beers from
which are carried over an extensive area. The principal businesses
taking them in alphabetical order, are those of Mr. John Beard,
Messrs. Beard & Bright, Messrs. E. Gardner & Son, and Mr.
John Kemp King. Messrs. Gardner's firm had the satisfaction of
being awarded a Diploma of Honour for their pale ale, or bitter
beer at the National Brewer's Exhibition, in 1888.
THE seed-growing industry is extensively carried on in this
neighbourhood, and in the spring and summer months of
the year the fields of garden-flowers, including acre after acre of
sweet pea, nasturtium, aster, mignionette, &c., contrasting with the
green and yellow corn, are the subject of frequent comment by
the traveller in the district. The seed-growing business established
by the late Mr. John Kemp King is now well known throughout
the country.
NOTABLE FAMILIES AND MEN.
| HE arms of this ancient family
are Argent ; a cross between
four escallops sable. The
family does not appear to
have had a crest until John Coggeshall,
of Fornham, St. Genovese, Suffolk, pro-
cured of Robert Cooke, Clarencieux, on
the 5th September, 1576, the right to
bear " Upon the helme on a wreath argent, a buck couchant sable
horned and cleved or., mantled gu., dubled silver " (see Holman's
MSS.) ; a boar's head is given as the crest of the family, in Add.
MS., 1746, page 23, and in the Rhode Island Magazine, Vol. V.,
p. 173, the crest appears as a dexter arm embowed holding a
sword.
The arms are decidedly typical of pilgrimage, one of the em-
blems of which is the escallop shell, and another the cross. Carry-
ing the mind back to the days of Richard I., may we not picture
an early knight of this family at the Crusades clad in his coat of
mail, bearing on his breast a cross, in the beautiful language of
Spencer :
" The dear remembrance of his dying Lord
Upon his shield the like was also scored."
The following is the pedigree of the early members of this
family :
i. Sir Thomas Coggeshall, of Coggeshall, Knight, was living in
the reign of King Stephen (1149), ar >d had a son,
T 9 8 Notable Families and Men.
2. Sir Thomas Coggeshall, also of Coggeshall, Knight, who was
living, 1188 and 1194. He had issue Sir Ralph (3) and Sir
Roger, who was living 28 Henry III.
3. Sir Ralph de Coggeshall, of Codham Hall, Wethersfield, Knt.,
was living 1233, died 1305. By his wife, Elizabeth, he had
issue
4. John de Coggeshall, who died, 1296, leaving (in addition to the
son from whom descended the Coggeshalls of Hundon, Forn-
ham, &c., Suffolk),
5. Sir John de Coggeshall, of Coggeshall, Knight, who was living
in 1302, and married Sara, daughter of Jordan le Brun,
Knight. Sir John died 1319, leaving
6. Sir John de Coggeshall, Lord of Coggeshall, knighted 1337;
High Sheriff of Essex for several years. Aged 18 in 1320,
proved his age, 1322, died 1361 ; married Mary (? Margery),
daughter and heiress of Henry (? Humphrey) de Stanton of
Essex. She died, 1342. (It is this Sir John's monument
that is given in Weever. See Holman's MS.) He had issue
Sir Henry and Thomas.
7. Sir Henry Coggeshall, Knight, was 30 years of age in 1361,
died 1375, buried at Coggeshall ; married Joane, daughter
and heiress of William de Welles of Exning ; she died 1375.
They had issue Sir William, of whom hereafter, and Thomas
of Sandon, who held Newhall, in Boreham, in 1391, and died
in 1422, having had issue one son and one daughter, Richard
the heir, aged 13 in 1422, and died without issue in 1432,
and Elizabeth, the daughter married Thomas Philip.
8. Sir William de Coggeshall, of Codham Hall, Wethersfield,
Knight, was aged 18, in 1375 and died 1424. High Sheriff,
1391, he married Antiochia, daughter and heiress of Sir
John Hawkwood, Knight, the celebrated Captain of Condot-
tien, whose residence was at Sible Hedingham, Essex. Her
second husband was Sir John Tyrrell, Knight, of East Horn-
don, Essex. Sir William, by his wife, Antiochia, had issue no
sons but four daughters
9. i. Blanch, who married John Doreward, Esq., of Bocking.
ii. Eleanor (? Alice), who married Sir John Tyrell, of Herons,
Knight,
iii. Margaret, who married, first, William Bateman, Esq., of
Little Samford, and, secondly, John Roppeley, Esq.
The Coggeshalls. 199
iv. Maud, who married, first, Robert Dacres, Esq., and,
secondly, John St. George.
This Sir William Coggeshall held considerable estates in Essex,
which for want of male heirs were divided amongst the daughters.
He was living at Coggeshall in the 6th year of the reign of King
Henry V., as the lease of his Manor of Codham Hall, Wethers-
field, is tested at Coggeshall.
The Manor of Coggeshall Hall, as has been noticed (p. 125),
was for several generations one of the possessions of this family,
and it is probable that it was their principal seat. There were
also branches of the family settled at Boreham and Sandon, some
of whom were buried at Maldon and others in Boreham Church.
Weever preserves the following inscription, which was formerly
on a gravestone in the body of All Saints' Church, Maldon :
"Here lies Richard (Henry) Coggeshall, son and heir of Thomas
Coggeshall, son of Thomas Coggeshall, Esq. who died 9 Jan. 1427.'
Others were citizens of note in London, and were buried in
the Parish Church of St. Margaret, on Fish Street Hill, and in St.
Nicholas, Cold Abbey (see Weever's Funeral Monuments). Con-
siderable information relating to the Coggeshalls, chiefly of a
genealogical nature, is contained in the Davy MSS., vol. 48, in
the British Museum, and some notes may be looked for in the
Histories of Essex by Morant and Wright, also as to the later
members of the family in ' Suffolk Records.'
From a younger brother of Sir John Coggeshall descended
John Coggeshall, of Hundon, in Suffolk, whose posterity lived at
Gosfield and then at Fornham Saint Genovese, in Suffolk ; of this
branch was Henry Coggeshall, a man of great ingenuity. He im-
proved the art of mensuration, and in 1677, published a work,
" Timber Measure by a line of more ease and exactness than any
other." He also invented a Sliding Rule which was called after
his name. He had a son, William Coggeshall, of Diss, in Norfolk,
and a stone in Diss Church records that this William was born at
Stratford, Suffolk, and died, Aug. 9th, 1714, aged 48, and that
he, by Elizabeth his wife, had a son, John, who died, April i3th,
1706, aged 6.
In Framlingham Church, level with the floor of the aisle, at
the head of Sir Robert Hitcham's tomb, there was, when Green
wrote his ^ History of Framlingham] in 1834, a range of three
marble slabs to the memory of John Coggeshall, two of his wives
200 Notable Families and Men.
and a daughter. Above the inscription on his slab were Quarterly
Coggeshall i and 4, a cross between 4 escallops ; Dover, 2,
ermine, a cinquefoil ; Sheppard, 3, a fess between 3 talbots pas-
sant, in their mouths a bird bolt, impaling Cotton, a chevron
between 3 cotton hanks. Helmet, mantle, crest, a stag couchant
" Here lieth the body of John Coggeshall, Gent., who died
i3th of Novem., 1.752, aged 86 years. Also the body of
Mary his second wife, who died 2ist October, 1729, aged
41 years."
In a lozenge, the arms of Coggeshall as before, with helmet,
mantle, and crest as above.
"Here is interred the body of Mary, the daughter of John
Coggeshall, Gent., by Mary his wife, who departed this life
the ist. of August, Anno. Dom., 1726, setat 17."
On the third stone
"Here lieth the body of Elizabeth, the third wife of John
Coggeshall, Gent., who died 2Qth of October, 1741, aged
48 years."
John Coggeshall, Gent., in 1742, gave to the Church of Fram-
lingham, a large silver flagon, weighing about 53 ounces, also a
brass branch for 20 lights.
The following notes are from the Herald's College, "John
Coggeshall, of Gosfield, in Essex, Gent., married and had issue :
Roger, sone and heire; Richard, 2; John, 3; William, 4 ; Roger
Cogshall, of Fornham St. Martin, in Suffolk, married Elizabeth,
ye daughter of Smith, of Boxley, in Essex, and had issue :
John, sone and heire.
"John, sone and heire of John, married to his first wife,
Elizabeth, ye daughter of George Bacon, of Hesset, in Suffolk,
and had issue : Edmond ye first who died yonge, 2nd after he
married to his 2nd wife, Ann, ye daughter of John Bene (? Reeve)
of Thwaite in Suffolk, and by her had issue : Elizabeth, married
to John Bacon, ye younger, of Hesset.
" George, ye sone and heire of John, married Ann, ye daugh-
ter of Edmond Orange, of Berry St. Edmonds, and as yet hath
no issue. Died without issue, 1615."
From another pedigree in the same College we learn that a
Roger Coggeshall, of Fordham, Suffolk, had a son, John, who
resided at Orford, Suffolk, and married Elizabeth, daughter of
Robert Beversham, of Orford. They had issue : Thomas (4th
The Coggeshalls. 201
son), who married Sarah, daughter of Edward Scott, of Glemsford,
Suffolk; Henry, of Benham (PBenhall), Suffolk (2nd son), 1664,
married Ellinor, daughter of John Geoffrey, alias Spooner, of
Tanington ; James, of Carson, married Barbara, daughter of
Anthony Yorke, and John of Melton, Suffolk, Gent., 1664, who
married Elizabeth, daughter of Philip Boone, of Saxted, Suffolk.
Henry and Ellinor Coggeshall had issue John, sone and heire,
aged about 9, anno 1664, Henry, Thomas and Mary.
There is among the Harl. MS.S. (1136, p. 62), this pedigree :
" John Coggeshall of Hundon, Co. Suffolk, had issue John
Coggeshall, of Gosfield, Co. Essex, who had issue : Richard, John,
William and Robert (? Roger) of Fornham St. Martyn, Co. Suf-
folk, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Smith, of Burley.
They had a son, John, who married Anne, daughter of John Reeve,
of Suffolk, and Elizabeth, daughter of George Bacon, of Hesset.
By his marriage with Elizabeth he had a son, Edmond."
The following extracts are from the Coggeshall Registers :
MARRIAGES.
1572 Aug. ii. John Coxill (? Caxill) and Joan Damat.
1574 April 22. Thorn. Coxill (? Caxill) and Cicelie Freeman.
1603 Feb. 2. William Hull and Sarah Coxall.
1610 Feb. 25. Jhon Rogers (PKeyes) and Annis Coxall.
1626 July 3. Nathaniel Greeve and Annis Coxal.
BURIALS.
1585 Oct. 8. Anne, daughter of Jo. Coxill.
1600 Jany. 9. Joane, wife of Ralphe Coxall.
A search of the Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
from their commencement down to the present time has been
made, but no other entries than the above have been found.
There is only one entry under this name in the Gosfield Re-
gisters, and that is of the marriage of Alice Coggeshall with
Robert Wilton, in 1548. This information was kindly furnished
by the Rev. Elliot, Vicar of Gosfield, who also wrote that the
arms of Coggeshall are found quartered with those of Baker
Cotton, Gent, Greene, Ingowe, Strangman, Thursby, Tyrell and
Wentworth.
At St. Andrew's, Halstead, there is a mural brass to " Eliza-
beth, the wife of John Watson, the daughter of John Coggeshall,
Gent., who was buried, February the 23rd, Anno Dmi. 1604."
There is the figure of a lady kneeling at a desk facing, to the left
202 Notable Families and Men.
in front of the desk two boys, and behind her three girls all facing
as the mother ; and, in the foreground, under the daughters a
chrysom child, but there are no armorials.
(g^union of t$
ON the Qth September, 1884, some 400 or more descendants
of one, John Coggeshall, assembled at Newport, Rhode
Island, America, to hear the address of the Hon. Henry T. Cog-
geshall, of Waterville, New York, upon their family history. This
John Coggeshall appears to have been born in England about
1591, having died on 27th November, 1647, aged 56 years, at
Newport, Rhode Island. He was a puritan and was among those
who, seeking to escape the persecution of the times, sailed from
their native country in the ship "Lyon," on the 23rd June, 1632,
arriving at Boston on Sunday, the i6th September following.
His business is believed to have been that of a silk merchant,
and it is probable that he was born in Essex or Suffolk, and
although his father's name is not known we know that his mother's
name was Ann, and that when she made her will, on i6th April,
1645, she was residing at Castle Hedingham. By her will, she
gives to her son, John Coggeshall " now," as she says, " dwelling
in New England, my house and lands at Sible Hedingham, to-
gether with the legacy given him by his uncle, John Batter, with
remainder in event of John's not claiming them to Henry Ray-
mond, my grandchild, son of Richard Raymond, deceased. She
also gives certain parts of her property to John, Anne, Mary,
Joshua, and James Coggeshall, children of her son John. Her
will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 171
Essex, on i6th April, 1645. The emigrant wife's name was Mary,
and when they left England they took with them their three child-
ren, John, born about 1618, Joshua, born 1623, and Ann, born
1625 ; and from the records of the First Church, Boston, Massa-
chusets, it appears that they subsequently had daughters, Hana-
niel, baptised 3rd May, 1635, and Wait, baptised n Sept. 1636,
and a son, Bedaiah, baptised 3oth July, 1637.
Shortly after his arrival at Boston, John Coggeshall was made a
freeman of the colony, and was about the same time elected a
member of the church in Roxbury. He afterwards settled at
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where, after starting a settlement, he
with others removed to the southern part of the island of Aquid-
The Coggeshalls. 203
neck, where the town of Newport now stands. When the four
towns of Newport, Portsmouth, Providence and Warwick were
united, John Coggeshall was elected to the honourable position
of first President. He died on 27th November, 1647, aged 56,
and was buried on his own land in Newport, where his descend-
ants have erected a monument to his memory, and enclosed the
little family burial ground with a neat and substantial stone wall ;
it is situate in Coggeshall Avenue, near Victoria Avenue. His
son, John, who was, as we have seen, born in England, was a
Major of the Militia in the new country.
For further information as to John Coggeshall, the emigrant,
and his descendants, the reader is referred to the Rhode Island
Magazine for October, 1884, which contains, in addition to the
address of the Hon. H. T. Coggeshall, occupying 28 pages, a con-
tribution towards a genealogy of the family extending over 17
pages, the greater part of which is fraught with interesting narrative
or detail.
The address of the President of the Re-union concluded in
this appropriate strain : " Thus have we reviewed the Coggeshalls
of the past. Their high aspirations and proud achievements illu-
mine with credit the page of your family history. That the Cog-
geshalls of to-day deserve honorable mention it is needless here
to say. * * * * Of the Coggeshalls yet to come, could the
future be unfolded, we should see whether distinguished by
science or art, literature or politics a long line of deserving men
and women, law, abiding, liberty loving, trusting in man, brave, in
war, sincere in friendship, fond of home and its associations, for
these are characteristics which do not die."
The name of Coggeshall as a personal name is almost extinct
in England, but there are Coxalls in Essex and elsewhere, and the
persons with this corrupted patronymic are doubtless derivatives
from the former possessors of Coggeshall Hall.
THE arms of this family are argent, a lion rampant sable,
crowned or. ; on a canton azure, a chevron between three
acorns of the 3rd, crest a demi lion rampant sable crowned and
supporting an anchor erect or.
204 Notable Families and Men.
The first English representative of the present Lord of the
Manors of Great and Little Coggeshall was
1. John Du Quesne, of Canterbury, afterwards of London, who
came out of Flanders on account of the persecution of the
protestants by the Duke of Alva, temp. Elizabeth. He had
a son,
2. John Du Quesne, born in London; married 22nd January,
1599, Sarah de Francqueville, and died in 1612. He had
a son,
3. Peter Du Quesne sometimes called Du Cane, of London,
Esquire, born 1609; was elected Alderman, 1666, and dis
charged upon payment of a fine of ,500 and 20 marks.
He died, 7th February, 1671, aged 62. Buried in a vault at
east end of St. Pancras, Soper Lane. He married Jane,
daughther of Elias Maurois, of Canterbury, by Elizabeth,
daughter of Laurence Desbouverie, of Sandwich, Kent.
They had a son,
4. Peter Du Cane, of London, Esquire; born the i7th March,
1645 ; married on 6th January. 1675, Jane, eldest daughter
of Richard Booth, Esq., who was elected Alderman of Lon-
don in 1668, and discharged on payment of ^520. Peter
DuCane died, i6th September, 1714, and was interred in the
family vault at St. Pancras, Soper Lane. He had an only
child
5. Richard Du Cane, of London, Esq., born, i3th October,
1 68 1, served in the first Parliament of George I. for the
Borough of Colchester ; arms granted to him 6th February,
1730; married, in 1710, Anne, only daughter and heiress of
Nehemiah Lyde, Esq. Lord of the Manors of Great and
Little Coggeshall. She died 21 Sept. 1722, aged 33. Her
husband died 3 Oct. 1744, aged 63, leaving issue,
Peter, of whom hereafter. Richard, who died, 4 Feb.,
1743. Jane, only daughter, born 22nd June, 1711 ; married
27 March, 1735, Charles Boehm, Esq., son of Clement Boehm,
Esq., one of the Directors of the Bank of England. She
died 9 January, 1756, aged 45. Had issue (i.) Jane, born 8
Aug. 1737, died 19 May, 1738 ; (ii.) Elizabeth, twin sister of
Jane, died 26 Sept., 1738; (iii.) Jane, the 2nd, born 4 Dec.,
1738, died 13 April, 1740; (iv.) Richarda, born 26 June,
died 27 Sept., 1742 (issue buried at Coggeshall, seep. 50).
The Du Canes. 205
6. Peter Du Cane, eldest son and heir, born the 22nd of April,
1713; married 27th March, 1735, Mary, only daughter of
Henry Norris, Esq., of Hackney, Middlesex. Died 28th
March, 1803, buried at Braxted, Essex. He was High
Sheriff of Essex, a Director of the Bank of England, and of
the East India Company. They had issue among others,
Peter, of whom hereafter, and Henry, Vicar of Coggeshall,
who was born 2ist Sept., 1748 ; married Louisa Desmadrill,
and had issue (i.) Rev. Henry Du Cane, of Witham Grove,
Essex, born in 1785, and had issue, (ii.) Richard, a Major in
2oth Regt. of Dragoons, born in 1788, died leaving issue,
Col. Sir Edmund Frederick, K.C.B. vide Debrett ; (iii.)
Charles, born 1789, of whom hereafter; (iv.) Louisa, born
1781 ; (v.) Anna, born 1783; (vi.) Sarah, born 1791; (vi.)
George, who died without issue.
7. Peter Du Cane, Esq., of Braxted Lodge, Essex, born the
2oth April, 1741, died in 1822, buried at Braxted; married
in 1769, Phoebe Phillips Tredcroft, eldest daughter of
Edward Tredcroft, Esq., of Horsham, Sussex. They had
issue, Peter, of Braxted Lodge, Esq., Sheriff of Essex, and
M.P. for Staining, Sussex, born i9th August, 1778, died
23rd May, 1841, without having been married; Henry, who
died young; Mary, born 7th September, 1770; married
Edmund, son of William Smith, Esq., of Horsham, and had
issue (i.) Edmund Smith, died aged about 23, unmarried;
(ii.) Rev. Percy Smith, Rector of Pattiswick, Essex (iii.)
Frederick Smith, Esq., married Isabella daughter of Rev.
James, and five other children; Sarah, born i6th June,
1772, died 2ist June, 1782; Charlotte, born October, 1774.
8. Charles Du Cane, a Commander of the Royal Navy (cousin
of Peter No. 7, son of Henry and grandson of Peter, No. 6)
born 1789, died i?th November, 1850; married Francis,
daughter of the Rev. Charles Prideaux Brune, of Prideaux
Place, Cornwall. Had eight children, of whom was,
9. Sir Charles Du Cane, K.C.M.G., of Braxted Park; he was
born 1825, educated at Charterhouse and at Exeter College,
Oxford, B.A. 1847, Hon. 4th Class Classic and Mathematics
M.A. in 1864; was a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, 1866-8;
Governor of Tasmania, 1868-74; and a Royal Commis-
sioner to inquire into the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1875 >
206 Notable Families and Men.
in 1878 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Cus-
toms, which position he retained till his death. He was a
staunch Conservative and was M.P. for Maldon, 1852-3, and
for North Essex, 1857-68; a Justice of the Peace and a
Deputy-Lieutenant for Essex. He married in 1863, the
Hon. Georgiana Susan Copley, daughter of the ist Baron
Lyndhurst, and died 25th February, 1889, leaving two sons
and three daughters, the eldest son being (i.) Charles Henry
Copley Du Cane, born 25th May, 1864 (ii.) John Philip Du
Cane, born 5th May, 1865 (iii) Edith Georgiana Sophia,
born 4th February, 1867 (iv.) Florence Gertrude Louisa,
born 2ist May, 1869, and (v.) Ella Mary, born 4th June,
1874.
An account of the family Du Quesne and especially of the
branch which settled in England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
has been compiled by Lieut.-Colonel Edmund Frederick Du
Cane, C.B., and is a remarkably complete genealogical record.
It was published by Messrs. Harrison and Sons, in 1876.
THE Hanbury family for upwards of a century and a half
have been settled at Holfield or Oldfield Grange, Cogges-
hall. The first of the name who settled here was John Hanbury,
who, Morant says, was a rich Virginian merchant. He married
Anna, the daughter of Henry Osgood, the owner of this estate,
who was probably a descendant of John Osgood a merchant of
the city of London in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
John Osgood had two sons, the eldest Salem married Ann, who
was afterwards the wife of Joshua Gee, of London citizen.
Salem had two daughters, Rebecca and Ann. He made his will
on 10 June, 1703, and when he died he was possessed of a share
of a 2ooth part of New Jersey, in America, which he inherited
under the will of his father, dated 17 May, 1694. Burke, in his
Armory, speaks of the Hanburys, of Holfield Grange, as ' a great
commercial family of the City of London,' and gives the arms as
or., a bend engrailed az, cotised sa ; crest, out of a mural crown
gules charged with two estoiles or, a demi lion ramp guard erm
holding in the dexter paw a battle axe ppr. This family, as bank-
ers, brewers and merchants, is allied to business firms of great
repute.
The Hanburys. 207
The John Hanbury before mentioned appears to have died
about 1750 ; on his death the estates passed successively to his
son, grandson, and great-grandson, all of whom bore the Christian
name of Osgood. The great-grandson died on the 3rd May, 1882,
at the age of 56, leaving an only son, Osgood Beauchamp, and
three daughters. Mr. Osgood Beauchamp Hanbury attained his
majority in 1888, and then succeeded to the estates. On the i7th
October, 1889, he married Flora, the only daughter of Major
Francis Tower, of Thremhall Priory, Takeley, Essex, but hardly
had the " mellow, wedding-bells golden bells " rung out their
joyous peal than the tolling of the "iron bells" announced that
the young squire had passed away. His death, resulting from an
attack of scarlet fever, took place, on the 25th October, 1889, at
Leamington, where he was spending his honeymoon. He was
buried in the vault at Pattiswick, in which his grandfather and
father were laid to rest in 1873 and 1882. (The father of the for-
mer having been buried in 1852, and the grandfather in 1784, in
the Friends' Burial Ground, at Coggeshall.) With the demise of
the youthful bridegroom the name of Osgood Hanbury has be-
come extinct, and the estates have passed to the Tower family.
Mr. Hanbury had three sisters, one of whom was married on 26
February, 1884, to Capt. Heron-Maxwell; another sister, Con-
stance, was married on 26th September, 1888, to Henry Charles
Sloane Stanley, Esq. ; and the third sister, who was unmarried,
died of fever at Cairo, on 7th March, 1886, aged 22.
The old residence (Holfield Grange) was pulled down by the
late Mr. Osgood Hanbury about ten years ago, and a large red
brick mansion with stone facings erected on the same site. This
estate, which was formerly one of the granges of the monastery,
shortly after the dissolution was granted to Sir Clement Smith, of
Little Baddow, Essex, on whose death it descended to John, his
son and heir, who sold it to Robert Gurdon ; he, dying in 1578,
was succeeded by his son, John Gurdon, who sold the property to
Henry Osgood, whose daughter became allied in marriage to John
Hanbury, and in this family the estate continued till 1889.
MEMBERS of this family will be found noticed in several
parts of this work. Their name is variously spelt Pecock,
Peacock, Paycock, Peaycocke, &c. The first of the family of
208 Notable Families and Men.
whom we have touch was the Thomas Paycocke who died 2ist
May, 1461, and whose memorial inscription is recorded in
Weever's ' Funeral Monuments (ante p. 42).
John Pecok (presumably the son or grandson of Thomas Pay-
cocke above-mentioned) made his will on 2oth January, 1505-6, a
great part of which appears on pp. 75 and 76, but there are a few
genealogical items which more appropriately find a place under
this general reference to the family. From this will we gather the
following facts, namely that John Pecok had two sons, Robert and
Thomas, and a daughter Alice, and his wife's name was Emma ;
he left his house in Church Street, and the house he dwelt in, and
the land called 'Braziers' (No. 355, Ord. Sur.), also his house
between the Bridge and Little Coggeshall to his wife for life, and
then to his eldest son John.
Some part of the will, dated 1518, of Thomas Paycocke, son
of John Paycocke above-mentioned, has been set forth on pp. 76
and 77. The document itself is of considerable length, but the
genealogical items have been summarised by Mr. H. W. King,
and the following notes are derived from his paper read before the
Essex Archseolgical Society, at Coggeshall, i gth October, 1 888 :
Testator mentions "Anne my wife, my brother John Paycocke,
Thomas Paycocke, son of my brother Robert Paycocke, and
Robert his brother, Robert and Margaret Upcher, my sister's
children " ; he gives directions for the laying down of his sepul-
chral memorial, with the brass effigies of himself and his two
wives, in Coggeshall church (see p. 43), and the cost of it ; and of
another in memory of his father-in-law, with brass effigies in Clare
church, Suffolk, his wishes being expressed in this manner : " My
executors to purvey a marbill stone with myne image and both
my wif's, and they to bestow ^5 thereon. I will also that they
purvey and order a stone to be laid in Clare church, and laid on
my father-in-law, Thomas Harrold, with his pycture and his wife
and children thereupon." The testator gives several legacies to
the Goodays, a family whose name is of constant recurrence in
the Coggeshall Parish Registers. These entries have been ex-
tracted, and with the information contained in Mr. King's paper,
would enable any one interested in the family to construct a fairly
good pedigree. It is hoped that Mr. King's valuable paper will
appear in extenso in the Transactions of the Essex Archaeological
Society. In Messing church the arms of Peacocke are quartered
The Paycockes. 209
with those of Haselfoot ; i and 4 quarterly, or. and sa., a cross
of four lozenges counterchanged, Hazelfoot ; 2 and 3 gu, on a
fess engrailed arg. between 3 bezants, each charged with a pea-
cock's head erased proper impaling arg., on a fess gu., 3 eagles
displayed wings inverted or., Peacock : Crest, a demi-peacock or.,
wings expanded az., holding in the beak a snake proper entwined
round the neck. \East Anglian Notes and Queries, Vol. II, 244.]
The following notes from the Coggeshall Registers, up to the
year, 1653, are believed to be the only entries relating to the
family, at any rate the only items that are legible : Baptisms, none.
Marriages 1563, June 24, Thomas Till and Joan Peaycocke ;
1563, Nov. 6, Edward Rand and Margerie Peaycocke. Burials
1562, June 14, Grace Paycocke, 1580; December 28, "Thorn.
Peaycocke, who gave ijc li. (^200) to buy lands for the use of the
poore of Cogshall for ever;" 1584, Sept. 7, Margaret, wife of John
Peaycocke; 1584, Feb. 14, "John Peaycocke, the last of his
name in Coggeshall;" 1590, Nov. 30, Joan Peaycocke, wid.
THIS family was very numerous here in the i6th and i7th
centuries, as appears from the Parish Registers. Some of
them attained great wealth, notably Thomas Guyon, the rich
clothier, who, it is said, amassed no less a sum than ^100,000.
He was probably the same person as Thomas, son of Thomas
Gyon, who was baptised here on 24th, Dec. 1592 ; as it will be
seen from the memorial inscription on his tomb, that he was 72
years of age at the time of his death in 1664, and his mother was
doubtless a daughter or the widow of one Gray, as the marriage
register has "1591, January 23, Thorn Gyon and Margerie
Graie." His wife's name was Annis, by whom he had several
children ; among them George, baptised, 3rd. Aug., 1628 ; Rich-
ard, baptised i4th Nov. 1630; Mathew, baptised, loth March,
1632, and Mark, baptised i5th Nov. 1635.
The Guyons were possessed of considerable estates at Cogges-
hall and elsewhere in Essex. In 1667, Sir Mark Guyon bought
Dynes Hall, Maplestead, and made it his residence. Morant says
he took down a great part of the old house and rebuilt it in a
very substantial manner, but did not live to see it finished.
With this family the families of the Bullocks, the Abdys and
p
210 Notable Families and Men.
the Skingleys are connected. The first two are mentioned by
Bufton in the following notes relating to Sir Mark Guyon :
" 1678, July Sir Mark Guyon was made Justice of the Peace.
"1679, June 19 The Lady Abdy, of Kelvedon, died. June
24 The Lady Guyon, Sir Mark's second wife, daughter of Sir
Thomas Abdy, died, and was buried on 26th late in the evening,
by torches without a sermon.
" 1682, Dec. 14 Sir Mark Guyon was married to Mrs. Augurs,
his waiting maid, and kinswoman of Mrs. Andrews, of Peering.
" 1690 Squire Bullock married Sir Mark's eldest daughter.
1691 Mr. Thomas Guyon married Sir Mark's second daughter.
1693 >Mr. T. Guyon was brought down from London and buried
here. Mr. John Bullock married to Mr. T. Guyon's widow."
The Skingleys became allied to this wealthy family by the
marriage, on the 25th May, 1765, of Henry Skingley, Esq. (great-
great-grandfather of Henry Percy Chevallier Skingley) with Mary
Guyon, daughter of John and Ann Guyon, born 5th March, 1739.
The extracts from the Parish Register, Court Rolls and. other
documents which the writer has made from time to time would,
with a little patient research of the old wills at Somerset House
and at the Ipswich and Bury Registries, enable anyone interested
to construct an elaborate pedigree of the Guyon family.
Fabians were a family of some note in this county and
. in the city of London in the i5th and i6th centuries.
Stephen Fabian held under lease from Robert Sewalle, of Cogges-
hall, a water mill in Stisted, as early as 1404. In 1426, he
purchased from Sewalle the manor of Jenkins, in Stisted. Morant
says this Stephen Fabian was a cordwainer at Coggeshall, but
undoubtedly a man of substance ; his posterity became consider-
able and flourished in Stisted parish in plentiful circumstances.
Stephen had a son, John, who was succeeded by his son bearing
the same name. The last-mentioned John had a son, Edward
Fabian, Esq., who died on 4th February, 1561, possessed of the
Manor of Jenkins, and other lands in Stisted, Pattiswick and
Coggeshall. He was succeeded by his son William. In 1462,
Robert and John Fabian were living at Coggeshall. This family
gave name to a farm lying north of the church (see Ordnance Sur-
vey). There are but few entries relating to them in the Registers ;
The Fabians and Ayletts. 211
among the marriages these occur: 1569, May i4th John Fabian
and Elizabeth Ambrose ; 1570, Nov. 5th John Fabian and Joan
Daniel; 1591, May i6th John Sweeting and Joan Fabian; no
baptisms, but these burials : 1565, Feb. lyth Agn Fabian ; 1570,
June loth Elizabeth, wife of Jo. Fabian; 1590, Feb. 6th John
Fabian.
IN the latter half of the i6th century, and in the beginning of
the 1 7th, some members of this family were resident here;
the earliest record relating to them is the registration of the birth
of William, son of Robert Aylett, on 7th February, 1584. As the
baptismal register commences in this year it is not possible to say
definitely whether or not was born here Robert Aylett, LL.D., the
English poet, who is supposed to have been born about the year
1583. This Robert Aylett was educated at Cambridge where he
took his degree ; he was afterwards appointed to a Mastership in
the High Court of Chancery. In the year 1654 he published
" Divine and Moral Speculations in Metrical Numbers upon
various subjects." He is said to have been buried at Great
Braxted.
Boydin Aylett is the earliest ancestor of the family who can
be traced in this county. He had lands at Bradwell, near Cog-
geshall, in the reign of Henry II. Richard Eylotte, who was
returned among the chief gentlemen of Essex in 1433, was of
this family. Some of the descendants of Boydin Aylett settled
at Rivenhall, then at Hovells, in Coggeshall, and from them
sprung the Ayletts of Braintree, Stisted and Braxted.
The Coggeshall Registers record the marriage, on 2nd Sept.,
1595, of Dorothy Aylet with Robert Riddlesdale. She was pro-
bably the daughter of Robert Aylett, who married Miss Thorow-
good and who died in 1603 ; her grandfather appears to have
been William Aylett, Gent., of Stisted, who died in 1583, leaving
as his eldest son and heir, Richard, then aged 40. She had a
brother, Thomas, who resided at Hovells. Thomas had issue,
who were baptised at Coggeshall on the following dates : Anne,
31 August, 1600; Dorothy, 24 May, 1604; John, 8 September,
1607; Elizabeth, 25 May, 1613; Nicholas, 16 March, 1614;
James, 10 June, 1617; Alice, 10 June, 1619; and Jeremy,
6 August, 1621; the last entry has the mother's name Anne
P 9
212 Notable Families and Men.
A Robert Aylett had three children baptised here between
1584-9; there are also records of the burials of some of the
family at Coggeshall.
One of the possessions of this family, as we have seen, was
Hovels, an estate which has several synonyms such as Holvill,
Holfield, and Holvil. It was, according to Morant, the Manor
House of Great Coggeshall. This seems very probable, for the
name appears to imply that it is the site of the old-ville or the
old-field, an allusion to which has already been made (p. 10). The
estate belonged to the Abbey prior to its suppression, since which
time the seignorial rights, which are incident to the freehold and
copyhold lands of the manor have been severed from the demesne
lands.
Thomas Aylett, of Great Coggeshall, gentleman, purchased
the demesne lands of the manor from King Charles I. and re
mained in possession of them until his death on the igth October,
1650, at which time he was 80 years of age. He lies buried in
Coggeshall Church, and on his gravestone, not now extant, he
was described as Lord of the Manor of Coggeshall.
The family did not long possess Hovells, for one of them
shortly after the death of Thomas, in 1650, sold the estate to
Thomas Lovett, Esq. ; who sold it to Thomas Guyon, the wealthy
cloth manufacturer, who gave it to his grandson, George Guyon,
captain of a company of the Trained Bands, who died at Hovells,
in October, 1676 ; on whose death it passed to Anne, the wife of
Thomas Forster, Esq., ancestor, it is believed, of the late noted
politician, William Edward Forster, Esq. ; and from the Morden
College Rentals it is found that the estate belonged to John
Forster, in 1740; Susan Forster, in 1749; Elizabeth Forster, and
the widow Lamplow, in 1750-3 ; Catherine Forster and the widow
Lamplow's son, John Foster Lamplow, in 1766-8 ; Elizabeth Bur-
der and J. F. Lamplow, in 1772 ; Elizabeth Burder and Osgood
Hanbury in 1776-9. From 1782 to 1889 it was possessed by
successive Osgood Hanburys. The connection between the Han-
bury and Forster families has already been noticed (p. 146).
THOMAS HAWKES, gentleman, was one of the retainers
of John, Earl of Oxford, at Earls Colne Priory. It is
probable that he resided on part of the property called 'Con-
Coggeshall Martyrs.
213
stantines,' abutting upon the Market Hill. He was first brought
into trouble by his refusal to have his child baptised in accordance
with the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion. The
dialogues which ensued upon this and other questions, between
Bonner, Bishop of London, and Hawkes, are fully set forth
in Foxe. Hawkes, notwithstanding the Bishop's persuasions
BURNING OF THOMAS HAWKES.
remainded firm, and replying to the exhortation to return again
to the bosom of the mother church, said " No my lord, that I
will not, for if I had a hundred bodies I would suffer them all to
be torn in pieces rather than I will abjure and recant." Hereon
followed the sentence of death and though condemned on the
9th February, 1555, he was not committed to the flames till loth
June following, on which day having been consigned to the
charge of Lord Rich, he was brought with six other fellow prison-
ers down to Essex to suffer martyrdom. Of these Hawkes only
was burned at Coggeshall, tradition says in the Vicarage field,
in West Street, and it is related, that " when he was led to the
place appointed for the slaughter, he there mildly and patiently
Notable Families and Men.
prepared himself for the fire, having a strait chain cast about his
middle, with a multitude of people on every side unto whom he
spake many things. At length after his fervent prayers first
made and poured out unto GOD, the fire was set unto him ; in
the which when he had continued long and when his speech was
taken away by the violence of the flame, his skin was drawn
together and his fingers consumed, so that now all men thought
that he had expired, when suddenly this blessed servant of GOD
(being mindful of a promise secretly made to his friends) reached
up his hands, burning on a light fire over his head, to the living
GOD and with great rejoicing as it seemed struck or clapped them
three times together, and so the blessed martyr of CHRIST
straightway sinking down into the fire gave up his spirit, June
loth, 1555."
BESIDES Hawkes there were others of this town who were
sufferers during the Marian persecutions. Three of them,
Thomas Osmond, a fuller, William Bamford alias Butler, a
weaver, and Nicholas Chamberlain, also a weaver, were sent
down from London to Essex to be burned; Osmond, at Man-
ningtree, Bamford, at Harwich, and Chamberlain, at Colchester.
It is said that they were not executed at the place where they
lived for fear of an insurrection among the people. Chamber-
lain perished on the i4th June, 1555, and Osmond and Bamford
on the following day.
Cicely Warren and Christianna Pepper, of this town, were
sent with about twenty-two others from Colchester, and it is said
that they also would have been burnt had it not been for the
clemency of Cardinal Pole.
William Flower, of Snow Hill, in Cambridgeshire, who for
some time was a schoolmaster in this town, was burnt at West-
minster, on 24th April, 1555.
Thomas Brodehill, a weaver, Richard Web, a weaver, and
another Thomas Osborne, a fuller, residents here, recanted and
did penance.
Bishop Jegon. 215
of
T OHN JEGON was born at Coggeshall on the loth December,
1550, probably in a house now demolished on the east side
of Wayne Lane and in the rear of the Cloth Factory, for
' Dr. John Giggings ' was the occupier of this house in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth. He was the son of Robert Jegon by Joane
his wife, daughter of White, whose family had flourished in
this county since the reign of Edward III. John Jegon received
his early education in this town, and was afterwards sent to Cam-
bridge, where he was chosen fellow of Queen's College, and so
continued twenty-five years. On roth August, 1590, he was
elected Master of Corpus Christi College, an office which he
held twelve years. He was four times Vice-Chancellor of his
University, Chaplain in Ordinary to Queen Elizabeth ; Installed
Dean of Norwich 22nd June, 1601, and subsequently elected
Bishop of that See (June 18), and was consecrated at Lambeth
2oth February, 1602, was Bishop fifteen years, died March i3th,
1617, and was buried in the chancel of Aylesham church,
Norfolk. His widow, Lilia by name, married Sir Charles
Cornwallis.
Dr. Jegon is said to have been a most serious man and grave
governor, yet withall of a most facetious disposition, that it is
hard to say whether his counsel was most grateful for the sound-
ness or his company for the pleasantness thereof, take one
eminent instance of his ingenuity : Whilst Master of Bennet
or Corpus Christi College he chanced to punish all the under-
graduates therein for some general offence, and the penalty was
put on their heads in the buttery, and because he disdained to
put the money to any private use it was expended in the new
whiting the walls of the college, whereon a schollar hung up these
words on a screen :
" Dr. Jegon, Bennet Colledge Master,
Brake the schollars heads and gave the wall a plaister."
But the Doctor had not the readiness of his parts any whit
impaired by age, for perusing the paper he extemporarily sub-
scribed :
"Knew I but the wag that writ these verses in a bravery,
I would commend him for his wit, but whip him for his knavery."
He had a brother named Thomas ; born at Coggeshall ;
2l6
Notable Families and Men.
Master of Corpus Christi, Camb. ; Rector of Sible Hedingham ;
Archdeacon of Norwich ; Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge Univer-
sity ; buried in the chancel of Sible Hedingham church, in
1617.
There are several entries under this name in the early Cogges-
hall registers of baptisms, marriages and burials.
Of this family was probably Robert Giggins, who Bufton says,
distinguished himself by coming from Colchester in the road
backwards on zist October, 1679.
Right Reverend Richard Mant, Bishop of Killaloe and
JL Kilfenora, and afterwards Bishop of Down and Connor,
has been noticed under the head of the Clergy, as he was vicar
here in the early years of the present century. His portrait,
from which the above reproduction is taken, was not received in
time for its insertion in the short biographical notice of the
bishop, on page 65.
Godard, Rogers and Carter. 217
JOHN GODARD, "wherever born, had his best being at
Coggeshall, where he became a Cistercian monk. Great
was his skill in arithmetic and mathematics, a science which
had long lain asleep in the world and now first began to open its
eyes again. He wrote many treatises thereof and dedicated
them unto Ralph, Abbot of Coggeshall. He flourished Anno
Dom. 1250" (Fuller's Worthies, p. JJj). One of his works
was entitled, ' Concerning the threefold method of calculating?
(Koget*.
* I ''HE Rev. Nathaniel Rogers was the son of the Rev. John
JL Rogers, a man, says Col. J. L. Chester \Essex Archaeo-
logical Journal, Vol. IV., p. -/"<?<?.] "of extraordinary oratorical
powers, and familiarly known two centuries and a-half ago as the
famous preacher of Dedham, and his bust in his peculiar pulpit
attitude still adorns the chancel of that church. The son,
Nathaniel, emigrated in 1636 with his wife Margaret, who was
the daughter of Robert Crane, of Coggeshall. The descendants
of this one pair are supposed to be more numerous in America
at the present day than those of any other early emigrant family,
and I am happy to say they have generally done honor to their
origin. The eldest son John was born at Coggeshall; became
5th President of Harvard College, the University of America par
excellence ; and to pass to the other extreme end of their line,
one of their descendents (Col. Chester) has at this moment the
honor to address you. Cotton Mather, in his famous ^MagnaliaJ
counts this Nathaniel Rogers among the fathers of the New
World." From the registers we learn that Nathaniel Rogers and
Margaret his wife had three children baptised here, John, on zyth
June, 1627 (buried 2ist June, 1627); Mary, on 8th February,
1628 ; and John, on 23rd January, 1630.
JOHN CARTER, the son of a labourer, was born on the
3ist July, 1815, in this town. He was educated at the
Hitcham School, but instead of devoting his attention to
the subjects set by his instructor, he was frequently to be found
2l8
Notable Families and Men.
depicting on his desk or in his copy book the figure of a man, a
horse or other animal. His natural talent might never have
developed had it not been for the accident which befel him in his
early years. On Saturday night, as the Rev. W. J. Dampier
relates, in the month of May, 1836, John Carter, with some of
his companions, was attracted to the rookery at Holfield Grange.
Ascending one of the tall trees in search of birds he reached a
height of about 40 feet, the limb of another tree, to which he is
said to have been crossing, yielded more than was calculated upon
or deceived him by its distance, he missed his hold and fell
to the earth upon his back. He was taken up senseless and from
that time never moved hand or foot. He was conveyed home to
his wife on Sunday morning upon a hurdle by his affrighted
companions, but a serious injury to the spine had deprived him
of all power of voluntary motion below the neck ; the mischief,
which was at the fifth, sixth, and seventh vertibrae, paralysed the
whole body downwards. The muscular power of the neck was
retained, no permanent mischief was sustained by the organs of
the head, and the faculties were unimpaired.
JOHN CARTER (FROM A DRAWING BY THE REV. W. J. DAMPIER).
Having read of one, Elizabeth Kinning, an inmate of an
asylum in Liverpool, who, having lost the use of her hands, had
learnt to draw with her mouth, it occurred to him that he might
Buf ton's Diary. 219
do the same, and he set to work accordingly. The posture in
which he drew was lying on his side with the head a little raised
by pillows. A small, light desk of deal, made under his own
directions, was adjusted for him ; on this desk his drawing paper
was fastened with brass headed pins, the drawing to be copied
being placed in a convenient position, he first sketched in his
subject with a lead pencil which he held between his teeth ; a
saucer of Indian ink was prepared and the brush was moistened
by his attendant and placed in his mouth and secured firmly by
his jaw teeth ; by the motion of his head he produced the most
marvellous results, his strokes being most accurate and delicate.
He was accustomed to work with very fine hair pencils (some
almost as fine as needle points) about 6 inches long. His death
was occasioned by the overturning of his invalid carriage. He
expired on the 2nd June, 1850. A catalogue of his works with
copies of many of his illustrations, is contained in the beautiful
' Memoir of John Carter] by the Rev. W. J. Dampier, from
which the preceding account has been derived.
JOSEPH BUFTON, the Coggeshall Diarist of the i;th
century, was baptised at Coggeshall on the 3oth December,
1650, and was the son of John and Elizabeth Bufton. He
had a brother John, baptised on the i5th November, 1646, and
three sisters who were baptised at Coggeshall, Mary, 8th May,
1636; Elizabeth, on 6th June, 1644; and Rebecca, in 1649.
His sister Elizabeth was buried on i6th April, 1666, and his
mother on the 27th June, 1675. This is all the information
which can be gathered from the registers concerning the family.
Bufton appears to have been engaged in the staple trade of the
town, and he tells us that when he lived with Mr. Hedgthorne,
his master took in 23 weavers, and that when Mr. Hedgthorne
died, he had 8 combers and 60 weavers. Bufton's father, also a
woollen manufacturer (ante p. 188), was buried on 7th January,
1694, having reached the ripe old age of 86. His funeral sermon
was preached by Mr. Boys, the vicar, and we are told that i
was paid for the sermon ; the gloves given away at the funeral
cost i us. ; the burying suit, 125. ; but the most costly items
of all were the liquors consumed, viz. : ^i 125. for 4 gallons
of sack, and 175. for 27 gallons of beer.
220 Notable Families and Men.
The following extracts are from the original diaries and note
books, which the author purchased from Mrs. Kirkham, widow of
the late Mr. Richard Meredith Kirkham. The writing is most
beautifully neat and the way in which the work is executed shows
that the scribe was a man of considerable industry and possessed
of more than ordinary ability, in fact the notes are marvellous
specimens of penmanship considering the times in which they
were written. The subjects which he transcribed and noted,
show that he devoted a great part of his time to religious matters.
The following extracts, however, tell us something of the princi-
pal dwellers here toward the close of the iyth century. Other
notes will be found interspersed throughout this work.
DIARY.
Notes entered in a Goldsmith Diary of 1672. " An account
of the funeral sermons which Mr. Jessop preached at Coggeshall,
which were in all thirty."
"The first was at the buriall of John Sudbury, clothier, upon
Wednesday, the first of April, Anno 1663. [Here, as after all
the following, is appended the text of the sermon.]
The second was at the buriall of Old Edmond Cox, clothier and
farmer, at last, upon Saturday, January 23rd, Anno 1663-4.
The third was at the buriall of the Widdow Hills, who lived at
West Mill, upon Friday, July the eighth, Anno 1663-4.
The fourth was at the buriall of Old Mr. Thomas Guyon, the
great clothier, upon Satterday, in the evening by candlelight,
November ye 26th, Anno 1664.
The fifth was at the buriall of Mr. William Gardner, lawyer,
who lived at Kelvedon, but dyed a batchelor at his mother's,
Mrs. Merrills. This was upon Friday, February the 8th,
Anno 1666-7.
The sixth was at the buriall of Mr. Richard Shortland, clothier,
upon Friday, December the 13, Anno 1667. This sermon
was finished by candlelight.
The seventh was at the buriall of Mrs. Brockwell, first wife to Mr.
John Brockwell, physitian, and daughter to old William Glad-
win, upon Tuesday, May the igth, Anno 1668.
The eighth was at the buriall of Elizabeth Guyon, maid, daughter
of William Guyon, clothier, she died at Michaell Richolds,
about 20 years of age. This was on Thursday, June the 25,
Anno 1668.
Buf ton's Diary. 221
The ninth was at the buriall of Robert Todd, of Little Coggeshall,
who there held a great brewing office. This was on Wed-
nesday night by candlelight, September the 3oth, Anno 1668.
The tenth was at the buriall of Robert Sack, ffarmer, upon Thurs-
day, Aprill the ffirst, Anno 1669.
The eleventh was at the buriall of Michaell Richolds, clothier, upon
Munday, March the i4th, Anno 1669-70.
The twelfth was at the buriall of Mr. Robert Merrills, of Little
Coggeshall, upon Wednesday, February the 7th, Anno 167!.
The thirteenth was at the buriall of Mary Phillebroivne, maid,
daughter of Thomas Phillebrowne, ffarmer, upon Friday,
June 2ist, Anno 1672.
The fourteenth was at the buriall of John Wilbore, a young lad,
sonne of John Wilbore, carpenter, upon Thursday, October
the 1 5th, Anno 1674.
The fifteenth was at the buriall of Charles Binion, brother of Mr.
Henry Binion, he dyed at Mr. Thomas Staffords, of Inworth,
but was buried at Coggeshall, upon Friday, December the
nth, Anno 1674. The sermon was preached by candle-
light.
The sixteenth was at the buriall of Simon Richold's ffirst wife, who
was daughter of Mr. Robert Merrills, of Little Coggeshall.
This was upon Tuesday, January the 26, Anno 1674-5.
The seventeenth, was at the buriall of My Deare Mother, upon
Sunday, June ye 27th day, Anno 1675.
The eighteenth was at the buriall of Ambros Armond, inn-holder,
who lived at the White Hart, upon Munday, November the
8th, Anno 1675.
The nineteenth was at the buriall of young John Brockwell, who
dyed a batchelor, and lived but a little while after his father.
This was upon Tuesday, December the 7th, Anno 1675.
The twentyeth was at the buriall of old Mrs. Raven, widdow, she
was about 92 yeares old, and grandmother to Mr. Mattfiew
Guyoris Wife. This was upon Munday, January 31, Anno
1675-6.
The one-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Ambros Button's First
Wife, she was a Surry woman. Upon Satterday, the third of
June, 1676.
The two-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Mr. George Guyon's
Wife, who lived at Hovills, she was Mr. Plumb's daughter,
222 Notable Families and Men.
of Yeldham, her name was Rachel, upon Tuesday, June the
i3th, Anno 1676.
The three-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Richard Shortland's
first Wife, she was daughter of John Grimes, who was
called Major Grimes, upon Tuesday, October the 3rd, Anno
1676.
The four-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Mr. George Guyon,
of Hovills, who was Captain of a Company of ye Trained
Bands, upon Friday, October the 6th, Anno 1676.
The five-and-twentieth was at ye buriall of Old Mr. William
Glad-win, clothier, he was almost 93 yeares old, upon
Munday, January the i5th, Anno 1676-7.
The six-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Mr. John Cox,
clothier, who lived at the Mount, but dyed at another house
neare by, upon Ffriday, June the 29, Anno 1677.
The seven-and-twentieth was at the buriall of John Joyce, comber,
but lat-ward sold cheese, butter, bacon, &c., upon Tuesday,
September the 4th, Anno 1677.
The eight-artd-twentieth was at the buriall of ffrands Lay's Old
Wife, who lived at the Swan, who before he married her was
the widdow Moore, upon Munday, March the i8th, Anno
1677-8.
The nine-and-twentieth was at the buriall of Francis Lay, who
lived and dyed at the Swan, upon Munday, November the
nth, Anno 1678.
The thirtieth was at the buriall of Mr. Matthew Guyon, clothier,
a rich man, who left 4 sons and 2 daughters, upon Friday,
March the 7th, Anno 1678-9."
" Here followes also an account of the Funeral! Sermons
which were preached at Coggeshall by Mr. Boys :
" The first was at the funerall of Goodman Wilshier, ffarmer, of
Little Coggeshall, upon Satterday, July the 24th, Anno 1680.
The second was at the ffunerall of Mris. Guyon, Mr. Matthew
Guy on' s Widdow, upon Tuesday, August the 3ist, Anno
1680.
The third was at the ffunerall of Mr. Richard Rayment, who had
been exciseman, but of late a maultster, he lived in ye Ham-
let, upon Munday, May the 3oth, Anno 1681.
The fourth was at the ffunerall of Old Mistress Hills, old Robert
Hill's Widdow, upon Friday, November the 4th Anno 1681
Bu] -ton's Diary. 223
The fifth was at the ffuneral of young Edmund Atkinson, barber,
called the young gold, because his father was called the gold,
upon Friday, October the twentyeth, Anno, 1682.
The sixth was at the ffunerall of old Mr. Ambros Sutton, clothier,
he had no child, he was I think above 60 yeares of age,
upon Friday, May the eighteenth, Anno 1683.
The seventh was at the ffunerall of old Mrs. Merrills, old Mr.
Robert Merrills' widdow, upon Friday, September the 28th,
Anno 1683.
The eighth was at the ffunerall of the Wife of Thomas Levitt,
butcher, she was Thomas Tunbridge's widdow before he
married her, upon Thursday, December the i3th, Anno
1683.
The ninth was at the funerall of Robert Groome, a young man
that dyed at Mr. John Digby's, he was his nephew, on
Friday, January the 4th, Anno 1683-4.
The tenth was at the ffunerall of Old John Cooke, carpenter, he
was near four score yeares of age, upon Wednesday, May
the 1 4th, Anno 1684.
The eleventh was at the ffuneral of ye first Wife of William Cox,
son of Mr. Thomas Cox, minister, she was Dr. Harrison's
daughter, she dyed in childbed of her first child and the
child was buried with her, upon Munday, July the seventh,
Anno 1684.
The twelfth was at the funerall of Mr. Thomas Stafford, lawyer,
sonne of old Thomas Stafford, glover, upon Friday, August
the 1 5th, Anno 1684.
The thirteenth was at the ffunerall of the wife of Mr. David
Battey, at the White Hart, she was 3rd sister of Mr. Jeremy
Ayletts wife, upon Monday, September the i5th, Anno 1684.
The fourteenth was at the ffunerall of the wife of Mr. John Wood,
tanner, she was the daughter of Mr. Glasscock, schoolmaster,
of Felsted, upon Satterday, October the fourth, Anno 1684.
The fifteenth was at the funerall of the wife of Mr. John White,
apothecary. She was one of Mr. Harrison's daughters. She
kept her chamber about half-a-yeare before she dyed, upon
Monday, Aprill the i3th Anno, 1685.
The sixteenth was at the ffunerall of old Mrs. Mount, widow. She
kept schollars, her husband lived at Tollsbury, upon Sunday,
June the twentieth, Anno 1686.
224 Notable Families and Men.
The seventeenth was at the ffuncrall of old Mr. John Digby, a lame
man, who had formerly been a shopkeeper, upon Fryday,
January the i4th, Anno 1686-7.
The eighteenth was for young Mr. Andrews, a kinsman of Mr.
Andrews's, of Peering, who dyed and was buried at Peering,
about July 2, 1687, but this ffunerall sermon was preached at
Coxall, upon Wednesday, July 13, Anno, 1687.
The nineteenth was at the ffunerall of Mrs. Judith Shortland, an
ancient maid, daughter of Mr. Richard Shortland, upon
Thursday, November the 24, Anno 1687.
The twentieth was at the ffunerall of the Wife of old Thomas
Strafford, glover, she was a very ancient woman, it is said
had lived 60 yeares with her husband, upon Wednesday,
May the second, Anno 1688.
The twenty-ffirst was at the ffuneral of old Mrs. Shortland,
widdow of old Mr. Richard Shortland, she was a very
ancient woman, upon Fryday, June the ffirst, Anno 1688.
The twenty-second was at the funerall of the second Wife of Mr.
John Wood, tanner, upon Wednesday, September ye i8th,
Anno 1689.
The twenty-third was at the ffunerall of Mr. Robert Merrils,
singleman, who lived in the Hamlet, upon Tuesday, Febru-
ary the nth, Anno 1689-90.
The twenty-fourth was at the ffunerall of Michael Miles, butcher,
singleman, eldest son of John Miles, upon Wednesday,
February the i7th, Anno 1691-2.
The twenty-fifth was at the ffunerall of the second Wife of John
Cox, esquire, she was Major Haine's daughter, she dyed in
childbed, upon Wednesday, September the 28th, Anno
1692.
The twenty-sixth was at ye ffunerall of my dear father, John
Bufton, who dyed in the 86th yeare of his age, upon Mun-
day, January the 7th, Anno 1694-5.
The twenty-seventh was at the ffuneral of William Stokes, a
carpenter, who wrought with John Cook, he was a batchelor,
upon Sunday, March the i7th, Anno 1694-5.
The twenty-eighth was for Henry Ireland, comber, who dyed
suddenly July the 8th, and was buried July the gth, but this
sermon was preached upon ye Sunday after, July the i4th,
Anno 1695.
Buf ton^s Diary. 225
The twenty-ninth was at the ffuneral of an ancient widdow, who
was the mother of young Isaac Potter's Wife, upon Tuesday,
April ye i4th, Anno 1696.
The thirtieth was at the ffunerall of old John Willbore, carpenter,
he was very ancient, upon Munday, June the 29th, Anno
1696.
The thirty-first was at the funerall of Mr. William Cox, who
lived in ye Back Lane, but was lately removed, and dyed at
his daughter Mulling's, upon Fryday, July the 3ist, Anno
1696.
The thirty-second was at the funerall of Goldin Mullings, butcher,
a young man, upon Satterday, September the i2th, by
candlelight, Anno 1696.
The thirty-third was at the funerall of Mr. Matthew Guyon, a
singleman, who was the son of Mr. Matthew Guyon, he died
at Pattiswick, at his brother's, Mr. Charles Guyon, upon
Thursday, May the 2oth, Anno 1697.
The thirty-fourth was at the ffunerall of Edward Miles, carpenter,
son of John Miles, upon Thursday, June the loth, Anno 1697.
The thirty-fifth, was at the ffunerall of the first wife of Mr.
William Armond, she was Councellor Coxe's sister, upon
Satterday, September the nth, Anno 1697.
The thirty -sixth was at the ffunerall of old Mrs. Cox, the widow
of Mr. John Cox, she was an ancient woman, upon Fryday,
August the 1 9th, Anno 1698.
The thirty-seventh was at the ffunerall of the first wife of Edmund
Tanner, who was Mr. Gale's daughter, she had a cancer in
her breast, upon Tuesday, November the 22nd, by candle-
light, Anno 1698.
The thirty-eighth was at the funerall of old Mrs. Peirson, a very
ancient gentlewoman, she was Mrs. Livermore's mother, it
was preached at Markshall church, upon Wednesday, Febru-
ary the ist, Anno 1698-9.
The thirty-ninth was at the ffunerall of Robert Cornill, a ffarmer,
who lived at Grigg's, and had lain lame and sick about four
or five yeares, upon Fryday, March the 3rd, by candlelight,
Anno 1698-9.
The fourtieth was at the ffuneral of Anthony Blackbourne, farmer,
a singleman, who lived in ye Hamlet, it was preached at
Bradwell church, upon Friday, April the 2ist, Anno 1699."
Q
22 6 Notable Families and Men.
"I left Coxall, January ist, 1699, and so kept no further
account of funerall sermons."
After giving " an account of what books which came to my
hand I wrot things out of into more books than one :" he
proceeds
"Aug. 8, 1766. I reckon I have here 22 almanacks, 13 Riders
and Gellen, pretty broad, 6 Goldsmith narrow ones, i Par-
tridge, very large one, i Raven's, of a particular sort, i
Tanner is a stitched one. Of the 13 of Riders, &c. 5 filled
up chiefly with things taken out of other books, 2 old
accounts, one for Lon., i for Cole, i filled chiefly with buriall
and marriage, i with the monthly account I kept, i field up
with notes of sermons, i has account of household stuff, &c.,
i I kept some accounts in, i I keep on my board and write
in dayly. Of ye 6 of Goldsmith's 2 fill'd up chiefly out of
other books, i fill'd great part with Bellman's verses, i great-
est part with Irish letters, i has an account of funerall
sermons,* i has the orders in Comber's book, &c. Partridge's
writ most out of other books and Irish letters. Raven's
out of Irish letters, &c. Tanner's out of a dictionary."
Extracts from one of Bufton's Note Books, marked on cover
4 VI.' and commencing " These are the notes of 39 funerall ser-
mons in this book." Then follows the order of the sermons, the
name of the preacher, and the text.
" The heads or notes of ye sermon preached at the ffunerall
of old Mr. Thomas Guyon, November the 26, 1664, by Mr.
Jessop :
" I now come to ye occasion. My worthy friend as when he
was alive he was above your censures, so now he is deceased he is
not concerned in your commendations. He was a person of
great wisdom and judgment ; he was a person of sober conversa-
tion ; he was diligent in his employment ; he was surpassingly
compassionate to ye poore. I fear, now this great man is fallen
among you, many mourners among the poore will go about the
streets. He was of a peaceable disposition to the neighbourhood,
and I persuade myself he was a religious attender on GOD in his
ordinances and had a respect to ye ministry, which is a rare virtue
* This is the book whence these and all the preceding extracts are taken.
Goldsmith, 1672.
Buf tori's Diary. 227
in these days. So I take my farewell of my friend and neighbour
in his bed of earth, in which I, myself, must shortly lie, and you
that heare me must follow me ; wherefore let us pray to GOD and
labor for faith and repentance and new obedience, and then,
' Come Lord JESUS, come quickly."
"The notes of ye sermon, preached at ye buriall of Mr.
Richard Shortland, by Mr. Jessop, December the i3th, 1667 :
" Now for the occasion. I was in a great dispute in my
thoughts, whether to speak or to hold my peace, of this my
worthy friend, considering the teachyness and cencoriousness of
ye place we live in. I thought at first to omitit, but considering
death hath placed my friend above your censures I shall offer
somewhat to it. My worthy friend, his parentage you all know,
his parents were persons of substance and repute among yee.
His father intended him for learning and sent him to ye Univer-
sity of Cambridge, where he was brought up at the feet of
Gamaliell, and his tutor was Mr. Joseph Mede. But for want of
health he was incapacitated for a further progress in study, where-
fore he was sent for home to succeed his father in ye sometime
beneficiall trade of clothing. This 5 year I have had ye happiness
to be acquainted with him. He would often complain that his
soul was hindered by ye clog of ye body. I am confident there
be sundry here that can protest his abilities in ye publick busy-
ness of ye towne ; he was courteous to his neighbours and to
my knowledge he was a forgetter of injuries ; he was a loving
husband, and as you know he was not negligent in ye bringing up
of his children ; and he was firme for government both in church
and state ; as for religion, to my knowledge he was well versed in
Scripture, and what was ingraven on his memory was ingraven on
his heart too ; he was orthodox in his opinions and he was a
constant attender on GOD'S publick worship, which I know he
did out of conscience. Many people enter into publick worship
as ye high priest into ye Holy of Holies but once a year, if they
do that. But (above all, to return to my worthy friend), this I
looked upon as ye flower of all his vertues, that he had a great
esteeme of our Lord and Master, JESUS CHRIST, he never spake
of Him without great submission and affection and resignation
of soul. The last words I heard him speak were ' Oh what are
we ! we have nothing without JESUS CHRIST ;' I shall speak no
Q 2
228 Notable Families and Men.
more of him but to you my loving neighbours. I would exhort
you to step in and supply his place, that by your interposing he
may be ye less missed. Some of you have abilities sufficient for
publick busynesses. Let it not be said that GOD gave you not a
heart to make use of them. My loving neighbours, if now that
our serviceable member is 'cut off, if whatever was imitable in
him may be redoubled in you that are alive, it will be a good
thing."
" Notes of ye sermon preached at ye buriall of young Mr.
Thomas Guyon, at Coxall, by Mr. Brooks, of Yeldham, June 17,
1673. :
"Concerning ye person brought hither to be buried, he lived
but a little time in all ; but yet something I shall say of him.
He was a gentleman very likely to have been usefull in his place
if GOD had continued him here ; he loved to be in imployment
and followed it diligently which is very commendable, and though
his calling carried him into places of great temptation, yet I never
heard him charged with any miscarriages. He owed much to
GOD for restraining grace, and as I hope for renewing grace. It
pleased GOD to visit him with a lingering consumption ; and he
often complained of ye vanity and folly and hardness of his heart,
and that he had not made returns to GOD as he should have done
for his many and signall deliverances ; and he has told me many
times with tears in his eyes, that though he was kept from grosse
sins yet he could never be sufficiently humbled for these and other
sins. He was often in private devotion and fervent in it. He
gave much good counsel to his surviving brothers and often
begged of his sorrowfull mother that she would not be troubled
for his death He lay a considerable time in a very
submissive frame of sperit and willing to be at GOD'S disposing.
Tis true, for a long time he desired life and hoped to recover, and
used meanes and who can blame him for it. But when he saw
meanes proved ineffectual he seemed to me not to be troubled,
but rather rejoiced that the time of his dissolution was so neare.
And though he had enough to defend ye world withall and many
dear relations loth to part with him, yet he was not solicitous to
live but willing to die. A little befor his death when he was told
some parts of the body were cold, he seemed not troubled at all,
but wished his body were all over so if GOD saw it good. The
Lord grant that we may all be so instructed by his death, that we
Bu/torfs Diary.
may lay to heart and labor to prepare for our owne death, that so
we may die ye death of ye righteous as I hope he did."
" The notes of the sermon preached by Mr. Lithermore, at ye
ffunerall of the old Lady Honey-wood,* at Marks Hall, October 26,
1681 :
" The occasion of this present assembly is plaine before you,
being to performe the last piece of service that we can doe to ye
body of ye pious and renouned Lady Honeywood
I know, now, you expect I should say something of ye pious lady
here deceased. Her light was too great to be put under a bushell.
Her works were such as now praise her in ye gate. I shall say no
more than what may be truly said and to which you will say
amen. I shall begin with her birth and descent She came of
pious and religious parents such as were tried and growne up
under persecution. She was ye daughter and coheire of John
Lamot, Esq., marchant, in London, whose parents came from
Flanders, thence driven by persecution. She was piously educa-
ted and so she continued all her dayes, making good that saying,
' Traine up a child in ye way he should go and when he is old he
will not depart from it.' She was twice married, her last husband
was Sr. Thomas Honeywood by whom she had 7 children, of
which but two survive her. She stood in severall relations. As
a wife she was one of the best of wives, so kind and loving in all
respects ; I have often heard her say, ' I love a Honeywood,'
which she made good by making much of her husband's friends
Take her as a mother and a grandmother, she was a loving, care
full and indulgent one. As to her servants, she was one of ye
best of ladyes, more like a mother than a mistress. She was a
lady of admirable parts of quickness of understanding, &c. . .
This noble and never to be forgotten lady is gone from us, never
to come again. Let us live, so that we may meet her in heaven
and live with her in everlasting happyness."
* A history of the family of Honywood and of the parish of Marks Hall
is obviously outside the province of this work. It would of itself fill a fair
sized volume.
ANCIENT HOUSES, FIELD NAMES,
ROADS, BRIDGES, &c.
[HE most interesting part of the town will be found
centred round the Market Hill, and an endeavour
will here be made to call attention to the principal
buildings which still remain, as well as to record a few
notes relating to those which have fallen into decay and are now
no more. There are doubtless many choice little pieces of carved
woodwork in the old houses here, which are now covered with
plaister, but which will be brought to light in years to come.
Other carved work of two to four centuries back may be seen
in many of the existing houses, but eighteenth and nineteenth
century vandalism' has removed much that should have been
treasured with reverence. Fortunately the circulation of archaeo-
logical literature among all classes of society is doing much to
make people understand that the value of these relics of byegone
days is utterly destroyed when the handiworks of their forefathers
are removed from their original situations.
In the centre of Market Hill, there formerly stood a little
chapel which in later years, as has been shown on a previous page
(ante p. 174,), was a CORN AND BUTTER MARKET; later still, we
find the upper part converted into a WOOL HALL. Here, too, was
the Turret with its Clock and Bell, for the better ordering of ap-
prentices. This building, also known as the Market Cross, was
Market End. 231
doubtless of a similar character to many such buildings as are to
be seen at the present day, the lower part being open and the
upper part, consisting of a spacious apartment adapted for meet-
ings. The Market Cross was pulled down in 1787.
Close by on the west side was, and still is, the CHAPEL INN, a
sign almost if not quite unique. It is also known as AYWORTH'S,
or Edgeworth's and Seals or SEWELLS, and it is probable that here
stood the house of John Sewell, who was Sheriff of Essex in the
4th year of King Richard II. (A.D. 1381,) an allusion to whose
residence is contained in the Assize Rolls of Divers Counties, 5th
Rich. II., No. 7, in these words, " They all (i.e. the insurgents of
the days of Wat Tyler) " rode about armed in a land of peace
with the company aforesaid, who rose up against the King and
his lieges to the Temple of the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, to
Cressyng, and to the house of John Sewall, of Coggeshall, and
overthrew the houses and buildings of the same Prior and John,
and feloniously took and carried away their goods and chattels
there found." And elsewhere we read that the insurgents took
away one thousand four hundred marks in money belonging to the
same John Sewall (Essex Arch. Soc. Trans. N. S., Vol. I., p. 217).
Below this house at the southern end of Stoneham Street, is
the LION Inn.
On the south side of the Market Houses is the large block of
buildings known as CONSTANTINES, or LADY VENTRISS'S, compri-
sing the shops occupied by Messrs. Lawrence, Barton, Frith and
Goodchild, and a building used as a Temperance Hotel. The
property takes its name from Richard Constantine, who was the
owner of it in the reign of King James I., in which year he
granted a lease of these houses to Robert Cooke for 5000 years.
Passing to the south side of East Street, we find ourselves in
Market End, and here in the days long passed away could have
been seen an interesting display of trade signs, not all taverns or
public houses as some might imagine but the pictorial sign boards
of traders in all kinds of goods, wares and merchandise. Mr.
Miller Christy points out, in his interesting work on the Trade
Signs of Essex, that in the days when only an infinitessimally
small proportion of the population could read it would have been
absurd for a tradesman to have inscribed above his door his name
and occupation, or the number of the house, as is now done, but
if each dealer displayed conspicuously before his place of business
232 Ancient Houses, &c.
a painted representation of the wares he sold, the arms of the
trade-guild to which he belonged, or those of his landlord or
patron, or some other device by which his house might be known,
there would be little probability of mistake.
The principal of these houses appears to have been the
CROWN, which was, as we have seen (p. 66), an ale-house. It is
now the Post Office and the printing and publishing establishment
of Mr. Edwin Potter. It is this house that Bufton was referring
to when he recorded that, on February i5th, 1692, "There was a
bonfire made at the Crown for joy that Squire Honeywood got
the day of Sir Eliab Harvey and was not cast out of Parliament ;
and when he came home from Chelmsford, the night after he was
chosen, abundance of candles were lighted up for joy." But the
sign of the Crown in this town dates back to a much earlier
period, as will be seen from the extracts from the Court Rolls of
Great Coggeshall Manor (ante, p. 112) ; from this document it
appears that in the days of Queen Elizabeth (in the year 1567)
the owners of the Crown were required to take up the gate in the
water lane, and to widen the lane. Where the particular lane was
is not now apparent, but as it is known that formerly the water
from St. Peter's well used to flow in an open channel down Church
Street, it is probable that the Crown, of Queen Elizabeth's time,
was on the same site as the present Post Office, if so the water
lane referred to was on or near this property. In connection with
the open water-course in Church Street, it may be mentioned that,
in 1792, Mr. Fisher Unwin, brewer, laid down pipes under the
highway from the well belonging to his malt house in Church
Street, for the purpose of conveying water from that well to his
brewhouse, called the cellar, at Market End, such pipes being laid
with the consent of the Lord arid tenants of the Manor of Great
Coggeshall and the inhabitants of the town. This well adjoins
the public well, known as St. Peter's Well, in Wain Lane. The
sign of the Crown is one of the oldest of English trade signs, and
if time had not altered the manners and customs of the people
the title page of this book would have announced that it was
" Printed and sold by Edwin Potter, at ye sign of ye Crowne, at
ye Market End, Coggeshall."
Next to the Crown, proceeding westward, was a house, called
MAVESONS or MABSONS, a name probably derived from the person
who possessed it upwards of 300 years ago (p. 129); the east
Gravel End. 233
part now belongs to Mr. William Mount, but the western part
is the more ancient and is of interest, the construction of the
uppermost chamber in the roof being somewhat singular.
Proceeding further in the same direction, the adjoining house
is the WHITE HART HOTEL. It appears to have been called
MAYKYNES in the reign of King Henry VIII. , and then belonged
to the Paycocke family (ante p. I2y\ being held of the manor of
Coggeshall Hall, but the sign post belonging to it was built on the
waste of the Manor of Great Coggeshall. Bufton records the
death, in 1675, of Ambrose Armond, of the White Hart. The
sign is generally considered to have had an heraldic origin.
Opposite the White Hart was the BLUE BOAR. Adjoining the
White Hart on the west is a house which was called the TRUE-
BLUE (ante, p. 131,), a sign which does not appear to exist else-
where in Essex, at any rate it has not come under the notice of
the author of The Trade Signs in Essex. The property possessed
this name in 1758, when the Coggeshall Hall Manor Map was
prepared.
The block of property between the White Hart and Bridge
Street, or Cellar Lane, was, in 1758 and 1789, known as the
GREEN DRAGON, a sign, it may be imagined, which did not har-
monise very well with its neighbour, the True-Blue. The True-
Blue and the Green Dragon may together represent the property
which, in the i7th year of King Henry VIII. was an inn called
the DRAGON. The Dragon is a very ancient trade sign in England,
and would seem to have been taken from the flag of the cohorts
of a Roman legion. As a national ensign this winged serpent
was long continued in this land ; it was borne by Harold's stand-
ard-bearer, and in later years was carried before the kings of
England in their wars.
There was a house in this locality known as the MAVICE.
Passing Bridge Street, and proceeding towards the Gravel, we
find from the Great Coggeshall Manorial Survey that the SHAMBLES,
or the stalls where the butchers exposed their meat for sale, stood
in the triangular piece of ground here. These business premises,
called the OLD HALL, in 1775 (ante p. 120,), were on or near the
site of the Cricketer's Inn, and belonged to the Manor of Great
Coggeshall. The roof of the back part of the Shambles, Bufton
tells us, fell in on the 25th February, 1686. Here also was pro-
bably the CASTELL OF GYNES, which in the reign of Edward IV.
234 Ancient Houses, &c.
was nothing more than a cottage (ante, p. 122). Its name imports
that in byegone days it was a residence of some note, but, unfor-
tunately the only traces of its history lie in the mention of the
property in the manorial records.
The FISHMARKET (p. 119) was near the Shambles, and in this
locality was a house called the BELLS AND BREWERS, abutting
upon Hares Bridge towards the north. A house called the FOXES
adjoined the last-mentioned property.
Opposite the Castell of Gynes was the lord's tenement called
the COCKE, now part of the brewery premises of Mr. John Kemp
King, the field at the back being still known as Cock Orchard.
The Cock is a good old English sign, and was in use in Coggeshall
in the times of Edwd. IV. and James I. (pp. 86 and 123), and
from the fact that this house was one of the monastic properties
at the time of the dissolution of the Abbey, it would seem that
the name may have been assigned to it by the monks whose seal,
as has been noticed (p. 94), bore three cocks ; one is, however,
more inclined to believe that the sign owes its origin to the days
of cock-fighting a pastime which was indulged in generally on
Sunday, in reference to which practice Stubbs, in his Anatomic
of Abuses, written in 1585 (see Brand Pop. Antiq., Vol. II. p. 57),
says, " They flock thicke and threefolde to the cock-fightes, where
nothing is used but swearing, forswearing, deceipt, fraud, collusion,
cosenage, skoldyng, railyng, convitious talkyng, fightyng, brawlyng,
quarrellyng, drinkyng, and robbing one another of their goods,
and that not by direct, but by indirect means and attempts. And
yet to blaunch and set these mischiefs withall (as though they
were virtues) they have their appointed days and set houses where
these devilries must be exercised. They have houses erected to the
purpose, flags and ensigns hanged out to give notice of it to others,
and proclamation goes out to proclaim the same, to the end that
many may come to the dedication of this solemn feast of mis-
chiefe." To Bufton we are indebted for the record that on "29
March, 1697, there were a great many fighting-cocks carried
through Coxall on horseback in linen bags or clothes."
The CORRECTION HOUSE was located between the Gravel and
the stream running from Hares Bridge to Short Bridge, and in
the 1 7th century belonged to Matthew Guyon.
SHORT BRIDGE spans the ancient course of the River Black-
water, and from the presentments in the Court Rolls of the Manor
The Bridge.
235
of Little Coggeshall, it appears that it was maintained by the Sur-
veyors of the Highway.
The bridge over the artificial channel between the old river
and Grange Hill is known as LONG BRIDGE, the HORSE RIVER
BRIDGE and STEPHEN'S BRIDGE. It was doubtless originally built
under the direction of the monks as lords of the manors and
owners of the land in this locality, shortly after they settled here,
STEPHEN'S BRIDGE.
but it is improbable that any part of the original structure, except
it be the foundations, is now extant, though it would seem that
many of the bricks used in the first erection have been worked
into the present bridge. Some years 
