Theydon Garnon: Manors

MANORS

In 1086 a manor of THEYDON, assessed at 1 hide and 40 acres, was held in demesne by Eudo dapifer. Before the Conquest it had belonged to Ulmar. (fn. 1) Another manor of Theydon, held in 1066 by Suen, was held in demesne in 1086 by William son of Constantine. This manor was assessed at 2 hides and 40 acres. (fn. 2) It is probable that both these Domesday manors were in Theydon Garnon. It appears that they continued to have separate tenants in chief but that during the 12th century they came to be held by a single tenant in demesne, whose manor later became known as that of THEYDON GARNON.

Eudo dapifer died in 1120 and his honor escheated to the Crown. (fn. 3) Part of it, including Theydon Garnon, was granted by Henry II soon after his accession to his chamberlain Warin Fitz Gerold. He died in about 1159 and was succeeded by his brother Henry Fitz Gerold (d. 1174 or 1175). Henry's son and successor, Warin Fitz Gerold, held the honor until his death in 1216. He was succeeded by his daughter Margery, who married Baldwin de Rivers. She died in 1252, leaving as her heir her grandson Baldwin de Rivers, Earl of Devon, who died without issue in 1262 and was succeeded by his sister Isabel, who married William de Forz. Isabel died in 1293. One of her heirs was Warin de Lisle, great-grandson of Henry Fitz Gerold, brother of Warin Fitz Gerold (d. 1216). (fn. 4) Warin succeeded to the part of Eudo's honor that had been held by Isabel and that included Theydon Garnon, and from this time the part of the manor of Theydon Garnon held in 1086 by Eudo was held by the tenants in demesne as of the honor of Lisle, which came to the Crown in 1368 and was later merged in the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 5) In 1368 the tenant of Theydon Garnon had suit at the two courts of the honor, at Walbrook (London) and Arkesden (Essex), every three weeks. (fn. 6) In 1821 the Duchy still claimed the right to exclude county coroners from the parish, on the ground that it was parcel of the Duchy liberties. (fn. 7)

The descent of the tenancy in chief of the manor held in 1086 by William son of Constantine is not certain, but it is likely that it passed in the 12th century to the Munchensy family, who during the same period became tenants in chief of William son of Constantine's other manor of Southcote in Stone (Bucks.). (fn. 8) In 1258 the tenant in demesne of the manor of Theydon Garnon was found to hold 1/3 knight's fee of Denise de Munchensy, widow of Warin de Munchensy. (fn. 9) This fee descended to her granddaughter Denise de Munchensy who died in 1313 leaving as her heir her cousin Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 10) He died in 1324, holding 4¾ knights' fees in Theydon, Leighs, and Latchingdon, for which he was owed service by William Gernon, and also ½ fee held by 'the lady of Theydon'. (fn. 11) In 1325 the escheator was directed to deliver this ½ fee, valued at 60s. a year, and the 4¾ fees, valued at £30, to Aymer's widow, Mary, in dower. (fn. 12) Aymer's lands were divided among coheirs, one of whom was Lawrence, Lord de Hastinges (d. 1348), later Earl of Pembroke, and it is evident that the ½ fee with the 4¾ fees fell to John de Hastinges, Earl of Pembroke, who died seised of them in 1375. (fn. 13) In 1435 4½ fees in Theydon Garnon, Leighs and Latchingdon and also the ½ fee were held, presumably in dower, by Joan (who died in that year), widow of William de Beauchamp, Lord Bergavenny, (fn. 14) who had been one of the heirs of John de Hastinges (d. 1389) Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 15) These fees passed to Joan's grandson Edward Neville, Lord Bergavenny, who died in 1476. (fn. 16)

In 1166 Ralph son of Peter son of Constantine held 2 knights' fees of Henry Fitz Gerold as of the fees late of Eudo dapifer. (fn. 17) Ralph was probably but not certainly related to the Domesday tenant William son of Constantine. In 1200 Ralph son of Peter granted to Ralph Gernon for life a marsh in Theydon and other property, to hold for 8s. 4d. at a scutage of 20s. (fn. 18) In 1207 the king confirmed to Gernon the hundred of Lexden and the gift which Ralph son of Peter made to him of all his land in Theydon, in exchange for Ralph's land in Fowlmere (Cambs.). (fn. 19) In 1220 Cecily, widow of Richard son of Ralph, released to Ralph Gernon all claim to the property in Theydon which she held in dower, as Gernon had granted her 1/3 of all her husband's land in Fowlmere for her dower and also the custody of the other 2/3 until her sons in Gernon's custody came of age. (fn. 20) In 1224 the sheriff of Essex was directed to let Ralph Gernon have his scutage of 2 knights' fees of the fee late of Warin Fitz Gerold. (fn. 21) In 1235-6 Gernon held of Margery de Rivers 2 knights' fees in Theydon and elsewhere. (fn. 22) He died in 1247 leaving his son William as heir. Part of the manor was said to be held for 1/3 knight's fee of the heirs of Ongar (i.e. the Rivers family of Stanford Rivers and Chipping Ongar, q.v.). It is not clear how this tenure had become associated with Theydon Garnon. (fn. 23) In 1212 Gernon had held 6 fees of the honor of Ongar. (fn. 24) There is apparently no later evidence of a connexion between Theydon Garnon and the honor of Ongar than that of 1265 (see below) when the connexion appears to have been successfully denied by the tenant of Theydon Garnon. Most of the manor was in 1245 held of Margery de Rivers; there was then no mention of the tenure of the Munchensy family. The demesne of the manor was said to be worth £4 17s. a year, the rents of assize £7 19s. 4½d., the customary services 37s. 4d., pasture and meadow £2 16s. 2d., and a mill 30s. The total annual value was thus £18 19s. 10½d. (fn. 25)

William Gernon died in 1258 holding part of the manor of Denise de Munchensy and part of it of Baldwin de Lisle. His heir was his son Ralph. (fn. 26) Ralph Gernon was an adherent of Simon de Montfort and in 1265 his estates were consequently seized by the Crown. Theydon Garnon was valued at £16 and John de Rivers, the lord of the honor of Ongar, had received the Michaelmas rent of £4 9s. 11d. because Ralph had denied service and did not claim to hold the manor of him. (fn. 27) Ralph was pardoned in 1267 and in 1271, three years before his death, he subinfeudated the manor for one knight's fee to his youngest son John, who was to pay an annual rent of £40 during his father's lifetime. (fn. 28) Ralph died in 1274. (fn. 29) John, who was described in 1293 as one of the four nephews and coheirs of Nicholas Tregoz of Tolleshunt Darcy, the husband of Eve de Valeynes, (fn. 30) was probably the John Gernon who died in 1321. (fn. 31) Long before this, however, he must have alienated the manor, for in 1305 it was held by Hugh Gernon, apparently the son of William, who was the heir of the last-named Ralph Gernon. (fn. 32) The mesne tenancy created by the conveyance of 1271 thus appears to have been extinguished. In 1309 Hugh Gernon granted to William Deen the reversion of the manor, then said to be held for life by William Gernon and his wife Isabel, of Hugh's inheritance. (fn. 33) In 1311 Deen, then a knight, released to William and Isabel and the heirs of William his rights in the manor, which rights had previously been recognized by Hugh Gernon, son of William. (fn. 34)

In 1320 William Gernon the elder granted to his son William the reversion of the manor, then held for life by Richard de Teye, parson of Theydon Garnon; Ralph, brother of the younger William, was to have remainder after him. (fn. 35) The elder William died in 1327 and Richard de Teye in 1329. (fn. 36) In 1339 John, son and heir of Sir John Gernon, brother of the elder William, released to the younger William his right in the manor, to which he claimed to have the reversion after the younger William and his heirs. (fn. 37) In 1340 the manor was conveyed by John de Goldingham and others, no doubt feoffees, to William Gernon and his wife Isabel and the heirs of William, with remainder to their son Thomas. (fn. 38) William must have died shortly after, for later in the same year Isabel was a widow. (fn. 39) In 1345 the manor was conveyed by John Colepepir to Thomas son of William Gernon and Lucy his wife, daughter of Maud de Whetynton. Theydon Garnon was then said to be held by Walter Colepepir as security for a debt of £100 owing to him. (fn. 40) In 1346 John, son and heir of Sir John Gernon, again released his rights in the manor. (fn. 41)

Thomas Gernon was living in 1354 but was apparently dead by 1361, when Lucy Gernon was said to be one of the lords of whom the manor of Gaynes Park (see below) was held. (fn. 42) About this time the manor of Theydon Garnon was evidently acquired by John Stokes, who presented to the rectory in 1367 and 1368 and was described as lord of the 'town'. (fn. 43) He was probably identical with John de Stokesby who with his wife was holding 2 fees in Theydon and elsewhere when the honor of Lisle was given to the king in 1368. (fn. 44) He was still alive and living at Theydon Garnon in 1371. (fn. 45) It is possible that he had married Lucy Gernon and held the manor in her right. By 1375, however, Lucy had married Thomas Lampet, for in that year Sir Thomas Colepepir released to Thomas and Lucy all his interest in the manor for the term of her life. (fn. 46) Lucy died soon after this, leaving her son Thomas Gernon still under age. (fn. 47) In 1379, having presumably attained his majority, Thomas leased the manor for three years to his stepfather Lampet, at an annual rent of 35 marks. (fn. 48)

In 1407 Lampet released to Thomas Gernon his right in the manor, which he held as a feoffee, and next day directed the delivery of seisin to Gernon and three others, to the use of Gernon and of Robert Prince who was said to be the tenant in tail. (fn. 49) Robert was son of Gilbert Prince and Elizabeth, sister of Thomas Gernon. (fn. 50) By 1428-9 Gernon was dead and Robert Prince had been put in possession of the manor. In that year Prince enfeoffed Thomas Morsted and Adam May in all the lands which came to him after the death of his uncle, and the feoffees permitted the profits to be taken by Elizabeth, widow of William Massey, one of the feoffees of 1407. (fn. 51) On Prince's death Morsted as surviving feoffee released his right to Elizabeth, now the wife of Sir Thomas Cobham, and she and her husband continued to take the profits. (fn. 52) Cobham presented to the rectory in 1442. (fn. 53) In 1444, however, John Prince, nephew of Robert, took proceedings against Morsted as tenant of the freehold by Robert's feoffment. Morsted allowed him to recover seisin by default, but the Cobhams remained in possession until Prince tortiously entered the lands. Judgement was given in his favour in 1446, but the verdict was impugned by the Cobhams. (fn. 54) The matter seems to have been decided by arbitration in 1448-9, Prince being confirmed in the manor. (fn. 55) He had held his first court there in 1447. (fn. 56) In 1467 he and his wife had licence from the Pope to have a portable altar. (fn. 57) His will was dated 1470 and he was dead by February 1471. (fn. 58) Under the will his wife Joan should have inherited the manor absolutely, but a dispute arose over the will and eventually it was settled by arbitration that Joan should receive 10 marks a year in compensation for her dower and her rights in the manors of Theydon Garnon and Gregories in Theydon Bois. This was confirmed by John Prince son of Joan. He was to receive £20 at the sealing of this deed, with all the goods left by Joan at both manors. (fn. 59)

In 1474 the last named John Prince made a conveyance of the manors for the surety of his wife's jointure and of their children, and in 1482 Theydon Garnon and Gregories were settled upon John and Lucy his wife for life. (fn. 60) In 1497 John and Lucy leased the manor house of Garnons Hall, except the parlour and three rooms over it at the upper end of the high dais of the hall, with access thereto through the garden on the south side, to John Wylkinson of Epping, maltman, for 10 years at an annual rent of £8. (fn. 61) Prince was living at Waltham Holy Cross at the time of his death in 1499. In his will, proved in the same year, he left all his properties to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband William Sparowe, subject to an annuity of £15 to be paid to Lucy for her life out of Theydon Garnon and Gregories. (fn. 62)

Early in 1499, however, shortly before making his will, Prince had sold to Humphrey Coningsby for 300 marks the reversion upon his death of Theydon Garnon and Gregories, saving the life interests of Lucy and of William and Elizabeth Sparowe in certain lands. Prince had agreed to deliver up his evidences before Whitsun 1499, but although he was still alive in July 1499, for he then made his will, he had failed to do so and the bargain remained uncompleted at his death. (fn. 63) Sparowe refused to surrender the evidences and Coningsby took the matter to law, claiming £400 damages. In 1500 Sparowe and his wife agreed with Sir Thomas Tyrell to settle Theydon Garnon and Gregories and a messuage in Theydon Garnon called Garnish Mill on themselves and Elizabeth's heirs with remainder to Tyrell who covenanted to bear the cost of the actions between the Sparowes and Coningsby. (fn. 64) In 1501 Sparowe bound himself and his wife in the sum of £600 to obey an award of arbitration, and to make no default in an assize of novel disseisin arraigned by Sir Reynold Bray, one of Coningsby's feoffees. (fn. 65) In the same year Sparowe died and Elizabeth married Francis Hampden, who was then named with her as defendant in the suit. In 1502 he, with Sir John Hampden and another, entered into reciprocal bonds with Coningsby to accept arbitration. (fn. 66) The dispute, however, went on. Francis and Elizabeth evidently remained in possession of the properties and in 1504 leased to Robert Pecok for nine years at an annual rent of £7 13s. 4d. what was described as the site of the manor of Theydon Garnon being the outer court, without the moat, and all the housing in that court except the Long House. (fn. 67)

Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, who was the last survivor of the feoffees created by Coningsby, died in 1519. It was subsequently claimed that the legal estate in the manor of Theydon Garnon passed to Oldham's heir Adam Travers, Archdeacon of Exeter. Travers seems to have enfeoffed a certain Nowers, but when Nowers and others brought an action against Francis and Elizabeth Hampden the plaintiffs claimed to hold under a previous feoffment. (fn. 68) In 1523 there was a further appointment of feoffees, and in 1527 Coningsby entered into another bond of £600 to abide by the award of three justices of the Common Pleas. A settlement was at last reached and later in 1527 Coningsby, Nowers, and the other feoffees released their right in Theydon Garnon and Gregories to Francis and Elizabeth Hampden and Elizabeth's heirs. Francis and Elizabeth were to pay 350 marks to Coningsby, who was to deliver up his evidences. In 1529 Francis and Elizabeth made a conveyance of the two manors to Thomas Tyrell and others, no doubt in connexion with the agreement of 1500. (fn. 69) Before the final settlement of the dispute, in 1525, they had settled one-third of their lands upon Margery their eldest daughter and her husband John Shirley. (fn. 70) In 1538 the third part of the manor of Theydon Garnon was leased to John ap Rice of London for £90 a year. (fn. 71)

Elizabeth Hampden died, a widow, in 1538, leaving three daughters and coheirs, the above Margery Shirley, Jane wife of Christopher Carleton, and Ellen, later wife of John Branch. Shortly after Elizabeth's death Carleton instituted proceedings in Chancery which seem to have resulted in the transfer to him of Gregories manor and a rent of 30s. while Branch was given Garnish Mill farm and a rent of £10, and Margery (now Edward Bishop's wife) retained Theydon Garnon manor. This new arrangement was confirmed in the Common Pleas in 1544 and it was then also provided that the common and waste and Garnons Wood should be divided into three. Presentations to Theydon Garnon rectory, as already arranged, were to be made in turn, the first vacancy to be filled by Margery, the second by Carleton, and the third by Branch. (fn. 72)

Margery Bishop died in 1545, leaving an infant son Edward. (fn. 73) He evidently died soon after, for on the death in 1553 of Margery's husband Edward Bishop, who had held Theydon Garnon for life, the manor passed to her two sisters. (fn. 74) In 1556 the manor was allotted to John and Ellen Branch, together with Margery's turn in the advowson. Jane, formerly wife of Christopher Carleton (d. c. 1549) and now of Francis Michell, received two parts of the wood upon the common and the waste lands. (fn. 75) Further disputes occurred and in 1562 there was another settlement which confirmed the manor to John and Ellen Branch, settled the advowson upon them in reversion after the death of Jane, divided the freehold lands between the sisters but gave to John and Ellen all Margery's share in the waste grounds of Garnons Wood. (fn. 76)

Ellen Branch had died in 1567. (fn. 77) John Branch held the manor for life after her death. In 1568 he married Ellen Minors, (fn. 78) said elsewhere to be daughter of William Nicolson. (fn. 79) He was Lord Mayor of London 1580-1 and was knighted in that year. (fn. 80) In 1587 he settled the reversion of the manor after the deaths of himself and his wife on his nephew Sir Daniel Dun. (fn. 81) Branch died soon after this and in 1589 his widow released to Dun her life interest in the manor. (fn. 82) At some time after this, and before 1672, Garnish Mill farm was separated from Theydon Garnon manor and became part of the Suttons estate (see Stapleford Tawney). (fn. 83) In 1605 George Carleton grandson of the above Christopher Carleton, sold his rights in Garnons Wood to Dun for £30. (fn. 84)

Sir Daniel died in 1617. (fn. 85) His sons John (d. 1620) and Caesar (d. 1636) both predeceased their mother, Joan Dun, who held the manor in dower until her death in 1640. (fn. 86) She was succeeded by Daniel Dun, son of the above Caesar, who in 1652 sold the manor of Theydon Garnon with the advowson to Robert Abdy of London for £3,800. (fn. 87) Two years later Abdy acquired the manor of Albyns in Stapleford Abbots (q.v.) and Theydon Garnon descended along with Albyns until 1858 when Sir Thomas Abdy, Bt., conveyed Theydon Garnon to Thomas C. ChisenhaleMarsh of Gaynes Park (fn. 88) (see below) who in 1867 succeeded his father as lord of the manors of Gaynes Park and Hemnalls (see below). Since 1867 the manors of Theydon Garnon and Hemnalls have had the same descent as Gaynes Park. In 1650 Garnish Hall farm comprised 220 acres and was valued at £176 a year when leased: this figure included £12 for quit rents. (fn. 89) In 1840 John R. Hatch Abdy owned a total of 228 acres in the parish. Of this 196 acres formed Garnish Hall farm, then let to Thomas Mills. (fn. 90)

Some references to the manor house about 1500 have been given above. In about 1650 it was described as a timber house with a court and two gardens lying within a moat, with two drawbridges and containing two kitchens, two halls, two 'very fair parlours', and several other rooms and offices. A map of the estate made in 1652 has as an inset a large scale drawing of the south front of the house. (fn. 91) It shows a timber-framed building about 90 ft. long with a central entrance flanked by several gabled wings. Immediately east of the entrance are a clock turret and a bell hanging in a domed cupola. The irregular spacing of the windows and general lack of symmetry suggest that the structure was of medieval origin with later alterations. The house was surrounded by a square moat with bridges to the south and west. Beyond this the stream on the south side and ditches to the north and east may have formed an outer defence. The map shows several ponds, complete with their sluices, including those in the strip of woodland south-west of the house. This is still known as Fiveponds Wood.

The original house with its inner moat disappeared completely during the next hundred years. In the middle of the 18th century the present farm-house was built on the same site, (fn. 92) probably with timber from the earlier Hall. It is a square structure, partly plastered and partly weather-boarded, with a symmetrical redbrick front. Internally a considerable amount of 16thor early-17th-century panelling has been reused and there is a carved overmantel of about 1650. A 16th-century stained glass quarry in the staircase window has a heart-shaped device and the initials 1. and t. b.

The manor of GAYNES PARK appears to have originated in the 13th century. Previously it had probably formed part of the manor of Theydon Garnon. Until about 1400 it was known also as the manor of Theydon Garnon, and this ambiguity has caused much confusion in accounts of its history. (fn. 93) In 1274 the king ordered the escheator to deliver the manor of 'Tayden Garnet' to John Engaine and his wife Joan daughter of Joyce de Montfichet, as it had been found that Joyce held nothing in chief at her death and that the manor was held of William de Lambourne. (fn. 94) William was lord of the manor of Lambourne (q.v.). It is probable from subsequent statements that Gaynes Park was in fact held as of the capital manor of Theydon Garnon. It is possible that Joyce had held a part of her land of the manor of Lambourne, but there is no further evidence even of this. Joyce had married as her first husband Sir Gilbert de Greinville, who was the father of her daughter Joan. After Gilbert's death Joyce married Richard de Montfichet who in 1253 had licence to inclose his wood in Theydon with a low hedge and ditch, so that the king's deer could go in and out, and to assart a hay called Ruhedon. (fn. 95)

It was no doubt from John Engaine that Gaynes Park derived its name. In 1287 he and his wife granted the manor for life to Robert Fitz Walter, to hold of them at an annual rent of 1d. After his death it was to be held by Walter, son of Robert and his wife Joan, who was daughter of John and Joan Engaine, and her heirs. (fn. 96) In 1294 Robert Fitz Walter, then about to depart for Gascony, had licence to lease the manor, said to be held in chief, to Nicholas de Barrington and Eustace de Masshebury for two years. (fn. 97) In 1298 the king confirmed a grant of the manor for life made by Fitz Walter to Walter de Langton, Bishop of Coventry, promising that if Robert should die leaving an heir under age he would take nothing in the manor as a custody, nor distrain therein for any debts that Robert might owe to him. (fn. 98) Two years later the bishop had a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Theydon. (fn. 99) Langton, who was Treasurer under Edward I, was arrested on the accession of Edward II (fn. 100) but in 1308 the Sheriff of Essex was ordered to value the corn and other goods in the manor of 'Theydon Mountfichet' and deliver them to the bishop along with the manor, after taking security from him for rendering thereof at the king's will. (fn. 101) In 1309, however, Langton petitioned the king to restore three little manors, one of which was Theydon Mountfichet, because he had had no restitution of his property other than the bishopric. (fn. 102) No further reference has been found to Langton at Theydon, but since he was eventually released from prison and reinstated as Treasurer it is possible that he recovered the manor and held it to his death in 1321, at which time, if not before, it would have reverted to Fitz Walter.

Robert Fitz Walter died in 1326; he had outlived both his son Walter and Joan, wife of Walter, and the manor passed under the settlement of 1287 to Adam, Lord de Welle, son of Joan by her second husband Adam, Lord de Welle (d. 1311). (fn. 103) An inquisition of 1326, nominally on the death of Joan (d. 1315), found that the manor contained a capital messuage, a park, and 100 acres of land held of William Gernon by service of 6s., a pair of gilt spurs, and 1 lb. pepper, 40 acres of land held of John de Sutton by service of 18d. and 1 lb. cummin, 2 acres held of Richard de Teye by service of 12d., and 2 acres held of Richard de Stonhurst. (fn. 104) According to a valuation of the manor made a few weeks later the capital messuage within the park was ruinous and worth nothing, there was an unsound (debile) dovecote worth 12d., 110 acres of arable of which 40 acres were worth in all 13s. 4d. and 70 acres were worth 11s. 8d. a year, 10 acres of meadow worth 20s. in all, a park with wild beasts, the grass in which was worth 13s. 6d. a year beyond what was necessary to feed the beasts, and the underwood 4s.; the rents of assize of the free tenants were £7 10s. a year and there were 58 acres of arable called le Fermelond, worth in all 9s. 8d. The profits of the court were said to be worth 12d. a year and the total annual value of the manor was thus £11 4s. 2d. The details of tenure were repeated, the service due to Richard de Stonhurst being given as 15d., while each of the tenements held of Stonhurst and Richard de Teye was said to have a marl pit. (fn. 105)

Adam de Welle was a minor at the time of these inquisitions, but later in 1326 he did homage and received his lands. (fn. 106) In 1333 the keeper of the royal forests south of the Trent was ordered to cause the park of Adam de Welle of Theydon, which adjoined the forest and was taken into the king's hand for defect of the inclosure, to be replevied until the coming of the justices of the forest so that it could be sufficiently inclosed meanwhile. (fn. 107) About the same time Adam granted to Alma de Furnyvall an annual rent of £26 from his manors of Theydon Garnon (i.e. Gaynes Park), Hemnalls (see below), and Madells in Epping. (fn. 108) Adam died in 1345. (fn. 109) Before his death he had granted Gaynes Park, together with properties in the counties of Northampton and Lincoln, to his son John and Maud his wife. (fn. 110) Adam was said to have held the manor of Thomas Gernon, who was lord of the capital manor of Theydon Garnon, by service of 7s. and 1 lb. pepper annually. (fn. 111)

John, Lord de Welles (as the name was subsequently spelt) died in 1361, holding jointly with his wife the manor, a messuage, and lands in Theydon Garnon, Epping and Theydon Bois, said to be held of the Earl of Stafford, the Abbot of Waltham, Reynold Malyns, and Lucy Gernon. The jury did not specify of which of these lords the manor itself was held. John's heir was his son John, then a child. (fn. 112) In 1362 the king ordered his escheator not to meddle further with the properties since they had not been held in chief, but held by John jointly with Maud his wife, by gift of his father. (fn. 113) In 1387 Maud granted Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells to Sir William de Skipwith and others, presumably feoffees, (fn. 114) and three days later they leased the manors to Sir Richard and Sir Stephen Scrope, Thomas Lampet and Robert Marschall for their lives. (fn. 115) Maud died in 1388, and was presumably succeeded by her son John. (fn. 116) In the same year he was summoned to take his place in Parliament as Lord de Welles, and reproved for his previous excuses. (fn. 117) On his death in 1421 he was succeeded by his grandson Lionel de Welles, whose father Eudo had predeceased him. (fn. 118)

Lionel, Lord de Welles, married first (1417) Joan Waterton and secondly (1447) Margaret, widow of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. (fn. 119) In 1447 he settled his Essex manors upon himself and Margaret for their lives, and in his will, dated 1457, he left the properties after Margaret's death to John de Welles, his son by her, and his heirs male and then to his own right heirs. (fn. 120) Lionel was killed at the battle of Towton in 1461. He was subsequently said to have held Gaynes Park of the hundred of Ongar. (fn. 121) His heir was Sir Richard de Welles, his son by his first wife, who had married Joan, daughter of Robert (d. 1452), Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and had been summoned to Parliament from 1464 in right of his wife as Lord Willoughby. (fn. 122) Lionel de Welles was included in the Act of attainder passed in 1461, (fn. 123) and in 1462 the king granted the reversion of Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells after the death of Lionel's widow Margaret to Thomas Colt and his heirs male. (fn. 124) The grant was repeated in 1464, (fn. 125) but in that year Richard de Welles, Lord Willoughly, had a grant of all his father's goods, (fn. 126) and in 1468 he obtained a full restitution of blood and honours as Lord Welles. (fn. 127) The three Essex manors continued in Margaret's possession. (fn. 128) In 1469 Richard was taken prisoner as a Lancastrian and executed. His son Sir Robert de Welles was captured soon after and was also executed, and in 1475 an Act of attainder was passed against them both. (fn. 129) In that year the reversion to Gaynes Park after Margaret's death was granted to Richard, Duke of York, the king's son. (fn. 130) Hemnalls and Madells were not mentioned in this grant. Margaret died in 1482. (fn. 131) In April 1485 Richard III granted Gaynes Park, valued at £26 13s. 4d. a year, to Sir John Pykeryng and his son Hugh and Hugh's heirs male for good service against the rebels, to hold by knight service and an annual rent of 40s. There was again no reference to Hemnalls and Madells. (fn. 132)

After the accession of Henry VII John, son of the above Lionel, Lord de Welles, and Margaret his second wife, obtained restitution of the family estates. (fn. 133) In 1487 he was created Viscount Welles and in the same year married Cecily daughter of Edward IV. (fn. 134) In 1491 the estates were settled upon him and his wife and their heirs by Act of Parliament. (fn. 135) He died in 1499, his two daughters having died in infancy. (fn. 136) Another Act of Parliament in 1503 provided for the disposal of his estates after Cecily's death. Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells were to pass to the king for ten years, and then to William, Lord Willoughby, and his heirs for his purparty as one of the heirs of Lionel, Lord Welles. (fn. 137) Cecily died in 1507, holding the manor of Gaynes Park of the manor of Theydon Garnon by fealty, a rent of 6s., and 1 lb. pepper. Gaynes Park was then said to contain 3 messuages, 200 acres of land, 40 acres of meadow, 350 acres of pasture, 250 acres of wood, and £10 16s. 6¼d. rent in Theydon Garnon and 6 acres of meadow in Theydon Bois, valued at a total of £14 14s. 3d. (fn. 138)

In April 1508 Lord Willoughby sold Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells to William Fitzwilliam, alderman of London, at the same time covenanting that he would prosecute the manors out of the king's hands and that he would acquit the king of the interest which he had in them under the Act of 1503. In default he was to allow Fitzwilliam a rebate of 50 marks for each year that the properties remained in the king's hands. In June 1508 the parties agreed that Fitzwilliam should undertake these proceedings in return for an abatement of 460 marks in the purchase money. (fn. 139) In September 1508 the king released his interest in the properties to Lord Willoughby and licensed him to enter upon them without proof of age. (fn. 140) The conveyance to Fitzwilliam presumably became effective at once.

Sir William Fitzwilliam died in 1534 and was succeeded by Sir William his eldest son. (fn. 141) In 1543 Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells, together with Marshalls in North Weald (q.v.) were settled on Anne, daughter of Sir William Sidney, at her marriage with Sir William Fitzwilliam's son, another William. (fn. 142) This William succeeded his father in 1576 (fn. 143) and in 1596 settled his Essex estates on his wife for life with remainder to his younger son John and his heirs male. (fn. 144) Sir William died in 1599, (fn. 145) and his wife in 1602. (fn. 146)

The last named Sir William Fitzwilliam had held the office of vice-treasurer and treasurer at wars in Ireland from 1559 to 1573, and as such had incurred debts to the queen amounting to £3,964. In 1572 he was pardoned £1,000, but by his death only £1,185 of the residue had been paid. (fn. 147) After his widow's death their elder son William became responsible for the debt and this led to a dispute over the ownership of Gaynes Park. By the settlement of 1596 William's younger brother John was heir to Gaynes Park but in 1602, soon after Lady Fitzwilliam's death, William seized some of the furnishings and other goods at Gaynes Park and challenged John's title to the manor, going so far as to mortgage the estate to the queen, presumably as a means of repaying the debt to her. William and John brought countercharges against each other for wrongful entry into Gaynes Park and the dispute was finally brought before the Court of Exchequer. Precise details of the result have not been found, but John certainly gained possession of the Essex estates. (fn. 148)

In 1609 John Fitzwilliam entailed Gaynes Park upon himself, with remainder to his executor for ten years after his death for such purposes as should be declared in his will, or if he left no such declaration, then to the use of Sir Richard Wingfield, son of his father's sister Christiana. At the end of the ten-year period the property was to pass to Sir Richard and his heirs male, with reversion to Nicholas, second son of Sir John Byron of Newstead (Notts.) by his wife Margaret, sister of John. In the deed of settlement John mentioned the dispute with his brother and also the support which he had received from Sir Richard Wingfield. (fn. 149) In the following year John Fitzwilliam made a new settlement in which he repeated the above provisions, altering only some later remainders. (fn. 150)

Fitzwilliam died without issue in 1612. (fn. 151) In his will he confirmed the settlement of 1610, with the additional clause that if Sir Richard Wingfield or whoever should then be next in tail would undertake to pay his debts and legacies then he should have immediate possession of the properties. (fn. 152) Wingfield took advantage of this clause, taking a lease from the executors for the ten years, and settled the manor upon himself and his wife and their heirs male, with remainder to the above Nicholas Byron. (fn. 153) Wingfield was created Viscount Powerscourt in 1618 and died without issue in 1634, having outlived his wife. (fn. 154)

Gaynes Park passed to Sir Nicholas Byron. In 1637 he agreed with John and Margaret Harrison that the manor should be settled in trust for the use of Harrison but that if Byron paid £4,400 at any time within the next seven years the manor was thereafter to be held for his use. In addition Byron was to pay £800, to settle a quarter of the manor of South Stoke (Lincs.) on Harrison and to release to Harrison two annuities charged upon Gaynes Park for the lives of Byron, his wife and their eldest son William. (fn. 155) A month after this agreement Byron mortgaged the estate for £300 to John Fountaine. (fn. 156) In 1639 he raised a further mortgage of £200 from Fountaine and in 1642 pledged an annuity of £20 out of the estate to secure payment of £300 to Anne Beverley. (fn. 157) He died in 1648, leaving Gaynes Park to his widow Sophia for life, with successive remainders to his sons William and Ernestus. (fn. 158) In 1657, after the death of Sophia and William, Ernestus Byron sold the estate to William Turner for £3,000. (fn. 159)

The next known owner of Gaynes Park was the Earl of Anglesey (d. 1686), who was holding it in 1662. (fn. 160) It is possible that Turner was acting on his behalf in the above conveyance. The manor apparently descended with the earldom of Anglesey until 1761. (fn. 161) It then passed to Arthur, son of the 6th earl, who was held to have succeeded to the family's title of Viscount Valentia although he failed to secure recognition as Earl of Anglesey. (fn. 162) In a 17th-century document the total rents from the Gaynes Park estates (including Hemnalls) were stated to be £251. (fn. 163)

Valentia retained Gaynes Park until about 1792. (fn. 164) He sold it to Sir Thomas Coxhead, who died in 1811 leaving it to William Coxhead Marsh, described as the natural son of Sarah Marsh late of Ashwell (Herts.). (fn. 165) Marsh had been living at Gaynes Park from about 1806. (fn. 166) From 1811 Gaynes Park descended in the Marsh (later Chisenhale-Marsh) family. The present owner is Mr. Hugo Chisenhale-Marsh. (fn. 167) In 1840 W. C. Marsh owned 718 acres in Theydon Garnon, of which 497 acres were in his own occupation. (fn. 168) He also owned 18 acres in Theydon Mount. (fn. 169) In 1873 Thomas Coxhead Chisenhale-Marsh owned a total of 1,361 acres in Essex, with an estimated gross rental of £2,357. (fn. 170) Part of the increase, but not all of it, is accounted for by the acquisition of the manor of Theydon Garnon (see above) in 1858.

In the 17th century Gaynes Park Hall was described as a well-built brick house with gardens, orchards, yards, stables, and outhouses, enclosed with brick walls and fish ponds, and it was said to have cost £8,000 to build. (fn. 171) This house existed in 1696 but had been demolished by about 1740. (fn. 172) By 1777 a new house had been built about ¼ mile farther north. (fn. 173) This was usually known as Park Hall. A print of 1818 shows a long white front of two stories having a central bay flanked by Venetian windows. (fn. 174) After the middle of the 19th century Thomas Coxhead Chisenhale-Marsh incorporated this building in a large stone mansion of Kentish rag which he completed in 1870. (fn. 175) The house is in Tudor style with a pierced parapet and many gables.

The manor of HEMNALLS seems to have comprised the north-west corner of the ancient parish of Theydon Garnon. The modern Hemnall Street in Epping, which runs parallel with High Street to the south-east, was formerly just within the boundary of Theydon Garnon. The name probably derives from the family of Henry de Emhal' (c. 1248) and Roger de Hemenhal (c. 1254) who may have come from Hempnall (Norf.). (fn. 176)

Hemnalls is first referred to as a manor in about 1340, when Adam de Welle granted a rent which issued partly from it (see Gaynes Park, above). At the inquisition made after Adam's death in 1345 Hemnalls was described as a tenement in Theydon Garnon and Theydon Bois, held of John Fitz Walter by service of 26s. a year. The jurors did not know whether it was held by knight service or by socage. (fn. 177) It was referred to again as a manor in 1387 and was always subsequently so termed. (fn. 178) In 1461 it was said to be a member of Gaynes Park (fn. 179) but in 1507 and 1612 to be held of the manor of Hubbards Hall in Harlow at a rent of 26s. (fn. 180)

From about 1340 to 1811 the tenancy in demesne descended with the manor of Gaynes Park, except for two brief periods when that manor appears to have been granted separately (1475 and 1485). On the death in 1811 of Sir Thomas Coxhead Hemnalls passed under his will to his widow Deborah for life, with remainder to Thomas Coxhead Marsh of Union Wharf, Wapping (Mdx.), who was also the natural son of Sarah Marsh of Ashwell (Herts.). (fn. 181) T. C. Marsh died, apparently without children, in 1847, and Hemnalls passed under the terms of Sir Thomas Coxhead's will to W. C. Marsh of Gaynes Park. (fn. 182) T. C. Marsh appears to have spent his later life in Paris, where he had a hotel. (fn. 183) He owned no land in the parish of Theydon Garnon in 1840, (fn. 184) so that by that time, if not earlier, his interest in Hemnalls consisted only of the manorial rights, if any. Since 1847 Hemnalls has once again descended along with Gaynes Park. The site of the ancient manor house is not known.

COOPERSALE HOUSE was formerly the seat of the Archer family and subsequently one of the residences of the Archer-Houblon family. Although never styled a manor it was the centre of one of the largest estates in Theydon Garnon.

References to the Archers are found very early in the history of Theydon Garnon, but the first of them to become important was Henry Archer who on his death in 1616 held a capital messuage of the manor of Hemnalls. (fn. 185) His successor was his son Sir John Archer (d. 1682), a justice of the Common Pleas. John Archer, son and heir of Sir John, died without issue in 1707, leaving the estate to William Eyre of Gray's Inn on condition that he should adopt the name of Archer and marry Eleanor Wrottesly, John Archer's niece. Eleanor died without issue and William Eyre (now William Eyre Archer) later married Susanna, daughter of Sir John Newton, Bt. Their son John Archer succeeded to the estate in 1739 although he had no connexion by blood with the original family of Archer. (fn. 186) He died in 1800, leaving as his heir his daughter Susanna, who in 1770 had married Jacob Houblon (d. 1783) of Hallingbury Place. (fn. 187) She went to live at Coopersale at her father's death. The house had been unoccupied since her mother's death in 1776. (fn. 188) In 1819 Susanna adopted the name of Mrs. Houblon Newton. (fn. 189) She died in 1837, the estate passing to her grandson John Archer-Houblon. (fn. 190) In 1838-40 he owned 703 acres in Theydon Garnon and 18 acres in Theydon Mount. (fn. 191) He was also owner of 82 acres in Theydon Bois when the tithes of that parish were commuted in 1850. (fn. 192)

After 1837 the Coopersale estate descended along with Hallingbury Place in the Archer-Houblon family. Coopersale House was successively the residence of Mrs. Mary Anne Archer-Houblon (d. 1865), widow of John Archer Houblon (d. 1831), Miss Harriet Archer-Houblon (d. 1896), and Mrs. Eyre. (fn. 193) It then remained for some years unoccupied. (fn. 194) The contents of the mansion were sold in 1908, and the whole Coopersale estate in 1914. (fn. 195) Coopersale House was then bought for a religious order which occupied it during the First World War. In 1920 it was sold to Mr. E. Camps. From 1936 to about 1944 it belonged to Mr. Dudley Ward who sold it to Countess Howe. It was bought in 1946 by Major Jocelyn Hambro, who is the present owner. (fn. 196)

In 1920 the house was a large three-storied mansion, roughly L-shaped on plan. (fn. 197) It contained fittings dating from the early 17th century but the structure itself had been altered and enlarged at subsequent periods. The north-east wing, which had mullioned and transomed windows, was probably built about 1670-80. The principal block had a Georgian front of nine bays and a modillion eaves cornice with a central pediment. The sash windows and other details were of the 18th and early 19th centuries, but some older carved chimney-pieces had been preserved internally. At the back of the house two grotesque brackets of the 17th century had been incorporated in a Georgian doorcase. The ground-floor room on the left of the entrance hall was of two stories and may have represented the great hall of the original house. At a later date it was used as a chapel and had a painted ceiling thought to represent William III casting out popery. Two semicircular bays on the south front were probably part of the improvements made by Mrs. Susannah Houblon Newton after 1800. (fn. 198) At some period panelling and a carved overmantel were removed to Hallingbury Place. (fn. 199)

Immediately after 1920 the house was greatly reduced in size. The second story of the principal block was removed and most of the north-east wing demolished. The sash windows were replaced by mullioned and transomed casements of 17th-century design. Panelling and carved chimney-pieces from the demolished rooms were reused and the principal staircase was reconstructed with balustrades from the northeast wing. (fn. 200) In recent years some of the panelling has been taken out and three of the 17th-century chimneypieces are missing.

A gateway north of the house has a four-centred brick arch of the 17th century. The lake below the house on the south is probably the work of John Archer between 1739 and 1776.