Report

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF ENGLAND.

REPORT. TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

1. May it please Your Majesty.

We, The undersigned Commissioners, appointed to make an Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilization and conditions of life of the people in England, excluding Monmouthshire, from the earliest times to the year 1714, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation, humbly submit to Your Majesty the following Report on the Monuments in the N.E. Division of the County of Essex, being the 6th Interim Report on the work of the Commission since its appointment.

2. We have again to thank Your Majesty for the encouragement given to us Your Commissioners and our executive staff, by the gracious words which accompanied Your Majesty's acceptance of our Inventory of the Monuments in Central and S.W. Essex.

3. We have pleasure in reporting the completion of our enquiries into N.E. Essex, an area containing 1,311 monuments in 101 parishes, with an average of 13 monuments per parish as compared with averages of 14.5 monuments in Central and S.W. Essex, 24 per parish in N.W. Essex, 10 per parish in North Buckinghamshire, 15 per parish in South Buckinghamshire, and 8 per parish in Hertfordshire.

4. An illustrated volume containing the full inventory of these monuments is issued under the advice of the Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury as a separate Stationery Office publication.

5. No alteration has been found to be necessary in the descriptions of the monuments, which follow exactly the order and method of the previous volume.

6. As in the previous volume, these descriptions have been referred for revision to special representatives of the Essex Archaeological Society and to the Clergy and principal owners in each parish. We are satisfied that no important example dating from the earliest times up to the year 1714 has been omitted.

7. In order to comply with the recommendations of the Publications Committee we have arranged with the Controller of Your Majesty's Stationery Office for the accounts of the monuments in Colchester to be printed in such a way that it will be easy to reprint them for sale as a separate publication should there be, as is anticipated, a distinct local demand for their re-issue in this form.

8. We humbly recommend to Your Majesty's notice the following monuments, within the area investigated, which, in our opinion, are especially worthy of preservation. For the convenience of students we have subdivided the monuments selected for special mention as they fall under their respective sub-heads:—

(a) Earthworks and Roman.

(b) Ecclesiastical.

(c) Secular.

Earthworks and Roman.

14. COLCHESTER.

(1) Roman Remains; including town walls, Balkerne Gate, and vaults under the Castle.

Condition—Good.

(265) The Lexden Earthworks; an elaborate system of earthworks mainly between the Colne and Roman Rivers.

Condition—Well preserved only in parts.

96. WEST MERSEA.

(1) Mersea Mount; a large Romano-British tumulus.

Condition—Good.

(2) Foundations of Roman circular building.

Condition—Have suffered from weather since being exposed.

Ecclesiastical

10. BRADWELL.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 12th century and later; remarkable as being practically untouched, with interesting fittings.

Condition—Fairly good, some window tracery weathered.

11. BRIGHTLINGSEA.

(3) Parish Church; mainly of the 15th and early 16th centuries, with fine tower.

Condition—Good.

14. COLCHESTER.

(3) Holy Trinity Church; with preConquest W. tower, and rare mazer-bowl.

Condition—Good.

(5) St. Martin's Church; dating from the 12th century, with interesting woodwork in the chancel.

Condition—Fairly good.

(15) St. John's Gate; the 15th-century gatehouse of a Benedictine abbey.

Condition—Good.

(16) St. Botolph's Priory; ruins of 12th-century nave of a priory of Austin Canons.

Condition—Ruins well preserved: in care of H.M. Office of Works.

16. COPFORD.

(1) Parish Church; a remarkable 12th-century building with restored paintings.

Condition—Good, much restored.

18. DEDHAM.

(1) Parish Church; a large church of early 16th-century date.

Condition—Good.

24. ELMSTEAD.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 14th century and containing an oak effigy.

Condition—Good.

25. FEERING.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 14th century or earlier, with good early 16th-century brickwork in nave.

Condition—Good.

26. FINGRINGHOE.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 12th-century, with remains of paintings.

Condition—Of tower bad; of masonry of chancel, etc., poor.

31. GREAT BENTLEY.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 12th century, with good doorways.

Condition—Good.

33. GREAT BROMLEY.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 14th century, with good early 16th-century roof and S. porch.

Condition—Generally good, but of nave roof, poor.

34. GREAT CLACTON.

(1) Parish Church; a remarkable 12th-century building with good doorways.

Condition—Good, except roof of nave.

40. GREAT TEY.

(1) Parish Church; with fine 12th-century tower and 14th-century chancel.

Condition—Fairly good.

45. INWORTH.

(1) Parish Church; mainly of pre-Conquest date.

Condition—Good, much restored.

46. KELVEDON.

(2) Parish Church; dating from the 12th century.

Condition—Good, except N. aisle, which is much decayed.

51. LAWFORD.

(1) Parish Church; with very rich 14th-century chancel.

Condition—Good, except tower.

54. LAYER MARNEY.

(1) Parish Church; of early 16th-century date, with fine monuments and a painting.

Condition—Fairly good, but unsatisfactory foundations tend to render the structure insecure.

59. LITTLE COGGESHALL.

(1 and 2) Abbey and Church; remains of Cistercian abbey with 13th-century brickwork.

Condition—Good.

62. LITTLE HORKESLEY.

(1) Parish Church; dating from the 12th century, with fine brasses and monuments.

Condition—Good, much restored.

64. LITTLE TEY.

(1) Parish Church; with 12th-century apse.

Condition—Good.

79. ST. OSYTH.

(2) Parish Church; dating from the 12th century, with brick 16th-century nave and good monuments.

Condition—Good.

81. STANWAY.

(3) Church of All Saints; with 14th-century tower and 17th-century porch.

Condition—Ruinous.

82. STISTED.

(1) Parish Church; dating from late in the 12th century.

Condition—Much restored.

86. TOLLESBURY.

(2) Parish Church; dating from late in in the 11th century.

Condition—Good.

Secular

9. BRADFIELD.

(2) Bradfield Hall; remains of an early 16th-century brick house.

Condition—Fairly good.

11. BRIGHTLINGSEA.

(4) Jacobes Hall; an interesting early 16th-century brick house.

Condition—Good, timber ceilings recently uncovered.

14. COLCHESTER.

(18) The Castle; the largest (in area) Norman keep in this country.

Condition—Of ruins, good; of earthworks, imperfect.

(30) Red Lion Hotel; a rather elaborately ornamented timber house of late 15th-century date.

Condition—Good.

(39) Gate house; a good example of a 17th-century timber building.

Condition—good.

(69) Marquis of Granby Inn; an early 16th-century building of timber with an elaborately carved beam.

(231) The Siege House; a 15th-century timber-framed house with marks of bullets dating from the siege.

Condition—Good.

(263) Bourne Mill; a 16th-century brick building with interesting decorative features.

Condition—Good.

18. DEDHAM.

(2) Southfields; a 15th-century courtyard building, formerly a 'bay and say' factory.

Condition—Good.

20. EARLS COLNE.

(2) Earls Colne Priory; a modern house containing a series of mediaeval monuments to the Veres, Earls of Oxford.

Condition—Of monuments, good.

(23) Colneford House; a good example of 17th-century pargeting.

Condition—Good.

35. GREAT COGGESHALL.

(3) Paycocks; a richly ornamented timber house of early 16th-century date.

Condition—Good.

38. GREAT HORKESLEY.

(2) Chapel (now a cottage); an early 16th-century brick building.

Condition—Good.

54. LAYER MARNEY.

(2) Layer Marney Towers or Hall; a remarkable fragment of a great house with early Renaissance detail.

Condition—Good.

62. LITTLE HORKESLEY.

(5) Lower Dairy Farm; c. 1600, with good carved bressumers, etc.

Condition—Good.

79. ST. OSYTH.

(4) Priory or Abbey; a house incorporating interesting remains of an abbey of Austin Canons; fine 15th-century gatehouse.

Condition—Good; ruins well preserved.

(7) St. Clair's Hall; an interesting 14th-century and later house with an aisled hall.

Condition—Good, except W. wing.

89. TOLLESHUNT MAJOR.

(3) Beckingham Hall; a 16th-century gatehouse and wall.

Condition—Of house, good; of gatehouse and walls, poor.

98. W1VENHOE.

(2) The Hall; remains of an early 16th-century house of brick.

Condition—Good, much altered.

(6) House; with good ornamental pargeting of the 17th century.

Condition—Bad.

9. The Index Committee, consisting of Mr. C. R. Peers, F.S.A., Mr. W. Page, F.S.A., and Mr. G. H. Duckworth, C.B., F.S.A., in a third interim report have suggested certain further emendations which we have adopted in this present volume. We attach their report.

10. We have also to thank the Publications Committee of the Commission, consisting of Lord Plymouth (Chairman), Mr. W. R. Codling, C.B.E., M.V.O., Mr. John Murray, C.V.O., Mr. C. T. Hagberg Wright, Mr. W. Page, F.S.A., and Mr. G. H. Duckworth, C.B., F.S.A., for a most valuable report on the steps that should be taken to curtail expenditure on publication and at the same time increase the sales of our Illustrated Inventories.

11. We offer our grateful thanks to Mr. J. Murray Kendall, F.S.A., for revision of the descriptions of Armour; to the Reverend E. E. Dorling, V.P.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Heraldry; to Mr. Oswald Barron, F.S.A., for revision of the descriptions of Costumes and spelling of names; to Mr. Mill Stephenson, F.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Brasses, and to Mr. R. P. L. Booker, F.S.A., and to Mr. R. E. M. Wheeler, M.C., Litt.D., F.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Roman Remains; to Mr. Albany Major, F.S.A., O.B.E., Secretary of the Committee on Ancient Earthworks and Fortified Enclosures, for revision of the accounts of Earthworks, and to Mr. F. E. Eden for his descriptions and illustrations of the Ancient Glass in the county.

12. We desire to call attention to the assistance given to our work by the members of the Essex Archaeological Society, and we have pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy and hospitality extended to ourselves by the Clergy and owners of houses in the county.

13. We have also to thank the Bishop of Chelmsford for his letter of introduction to the Clergy in his diocese; the Clergy who have freely opened their churches for investigation; the Reverend Canon Galpin and the Reverend T. W. Curling, respectively President and Secretary of the County Archaeological Society, and Mr. Wykeham Chancellor, F.R.I.B.A., Mr. Miller Christy, Dr. P. Laver, F.S.A., and Mr. A. G. Wright, Curator of the Colchester Museum, for assistance given to ourselves and to our investigators.

14. We desire to express our acknowledgment of the good work accomplished by our Executive Staff in the persons of Mr. A. W. Clapham, F.S.A., Mr. J. W. Bloe, F.S.A., Mr. W. H. Godfrey, F.S.A., Mr. W. Byde Liebert, Mr. G. E. Chambers, Mr. M. L. Logan, and Mr. P.K. Kipps; Miss M. G. Saunders, on whom has devolved the work of checking the proofs of the Inventory and making the Index of this Volume, and Miss M. V. Taylor, M.A., who has investigated the Roman Remains of this portion of the County of Essex.

15. We desire to express our high appreciation of the admirable way in which our Secretary, Mr. G. H. Duckworth, adapts the work of the Commission to the economical pressure applied to all Government Departments. It is of the greatest importance that the work of the Commission should not come to a standstill, and it is only by our Secretary's extreme care in working out the details that we are able to maintain a regular publication of our volumes.

Signed:

PLYMOUTH.

DILLON.

CRAWFORD & BALCARRES.

HENRY H. HOWORTH.

J. F. F. HORNER.

J. G. N. CLIFT.

E. J. HORNIMAN.

LEONARD STOKES.

ARTHUR J. EVANS.

C. HERCULES READ.

M. R. JAMES.

D. H. MONTGOMERIE.

WILLIAM PAGE.

C. R. PEERS.

GEORGE H. DUCKWORTH

(Secretary).

22nd May, 1922.