Berners Roding, Essex

It took me ages to find All Saints and when I did it was to find it in a sadly dilapidated state and appears to slowly falling down. Not surprisingly it was locked, it's probably too dangerous to go into anyway. The church is de-consecrated, owned by the local farm and the churchyard is a conservation area managed by Epping county council.

The precise origins of the church are unknown, but there are elements of the building that date back to the 14^th Century. The Chancel and the Nave of the church are of an unknown date, but the east and west walls are known to be 16^th Century in date. The church did at one time have a tower that held a single bell. (Built by John Dyer in 1594).  In the book “The Buildings of England – Essex” by Nikolaus Pevsner, he makes reference to the church and describes it with a weather-boarded belfry with pyramid roof. Pevsner's survey of Essex was evidently carried out before the winter of 1953/54, and the book was first published in 1954. It follows the tower must have been pulled down post 1953.

The church itself is Grade 2 listed, but unfortunately is in a poor state of repair. The north nave wall is structurally unsound and this has led to the buildings inclusion on the Essex buildings at risk register.

The churchyard has a badger sett in and around some south-east graves - rather disturbing for those supposedly resting in peace!

This is one of the rare places that Arthur Mee failed to report on - perhaps it was too small for him to notice.

 

Flickr set.

Sir Edward Montagu, Baron Boughton

Sir Edward is my 11th x paternal Great Grandfather.

Born ABT 1562, first surviving son of  Sir Edward Montague of Boughton, and brother of Sir Charles and Sir Henry, Earl of Manchester, both of whom are also direct line ancestors. Educated Christ Church, Oxford, c.1574, BA March 1579; Middle Temple 1581. Married first, 21 Sep 1585, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir John Jeffrey of Chiddingly, Sussex; second, 24 Feb 1612, Frances, daughter of Thomas Cotton of Conington, Hunts; and third, 16 Feb 1625, Anne, daughter of John Crouch of Corneybury, Herts, widow of Robert Wynchell, painter-stainer, of Richard Chamberlain and of Sir Ralph Hare of Stow Bardolph, Norfolk, s.p. Succeeded family 1602; KB 1603; created Baron Montagu 1621/2, J.P. Northants from c.1595, sheriff 1595-6, commissioner of musters 1596, deputy lieutenant from 1602, lord lieutenant from 1642; deputy keeper, Rockingham forest by 1593.
 
As the heir to one of the principal estates in Northamptonshire, Montague, once his formal education was over, divided his time between London and Boughton. As deputy keeper of Rockingham forest Montagu left a musters book that has survived containing letters directed to him and copies of those he despatched. After his marriage Montagu abandoned attempts to find a suitable residence in the county on the grounds that his wife's health necessitated her staying in London. In a letter to his mother announcing his intention of residing at Boughton when in Northamptonshire, he wrote:

'...And I may be set so to work that I may at my father's hands earn my victuals, for which I may keep him company at chess, and if need be I may take his part at double-handed Irish, and if there be occasion of weightier matters, as punishing rogues and such like, if it please him to employ me, [it] may ease him. And to do you some service I may in summer time gather apricots and peaches, or some such like work ... And if [none of] all these pains do deserve my meat and drink, yet truly they would be well bestowed of me, because they will be well seen by me especially if I may have fromenty and cheesecakes...'

Boughton House

 

 

In 1584 a seat was found for Montagu at the new parliamentary borough of Bere Alston. The patron was presumably Lord Mountjoy, perhaps acting through his relative Edward Lane, who was Montagu's cousin. In 1597 he represented Tavistock, where his fellow member was Valentine Knightley. Knightley had earlier represented the borough under Russell patronage and may, by 1597, have had enough influence to secure Montagu's return. During this Parliament he sat on a committee considering a bill for the town of Northampton, 16 Nov, and another concerning a bill for tellers and receivers, 12 Dec His return for Brackley in 1601 was probably procured by his friend Robert Spencer. On 3 Dec 1601 Montagu made a charitable motion which tend to a charitable end, and briefly it is this:

'... that no private bill may pass this House but the procurers to give something to the poor ... Because I offered to the consideration of this House this motion first, I will presume also more particularly to deliver my opinion. I think for every private bill for sale of lands, ten pounds a reasonable benevolence; and for every estate for life or for jointure, five pounds...'

The bills against drunkenness and for the proper observing of the Sabbath day were committed to him on 4 Nov and he spoke in the subsidy debate on 7 Nov. His name appears in a list of Members served with subpoenas in the course of the 1601 Parliament.

In James I reign Montague successfully claimed a county seat in all the elections before his elevation to the peerage. He was severe, not a courtier, and apparently an able administrator. He established a Hospital for Aged Men in 1613. It is just possible that his reference, in a letter to Robert Spencer, Lord Spencer, during 1625 'I have not a son fit to join with yours, as your lordship and I once did, for the service of the country' implies that they unsuccessfully contested the county seat in Elizabeth's reign, but it is more probable that it is concerned with their preparations to fight the county seat against Anthony Mildmay, at the election they expected early in 1603, before Spencer's elevation to the peerage.

James I thought Montague 'smelt a little of puritanism', and he certainly supported the 1605 petition in favour of puritan ministers. In 1642 he was arrested by Parliament because, due to known loyalty to the King, they feared his influence on the county, where he was popular as a hospitable neighbour and a good landlord and was ordered by parliament to be brought to London as a prisoner 1642. Responding to the parliamentary summons, his coach encountered a Parliamentary army. The commander, the Earl of Essex, offered to allow him to reside in the house of his daughter but the aged Montague refused. Committed to the Tower in 1642 he died in captivity in 1644 and was buried in Weekley church 26 June.

Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk

 

The son of  Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk,  by his second wife, Margaret, dau and heiress of  Sir Thomas Audley, first Baron Audley of Walden.  Sir Thomas was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, with his brothers Phillip and William. He was attainted at the time of his father's execution but his rights were restored in 1584. He accompanied, as a volunteer, the fleet sent to oppose the Spanish Armada and in the attack off Calais displayed such valour that he was knighted at sea by the  Lord High Admiral, Charles Howard  on 25 Jun 1588. He was soon made Captain of a man-of-war. On 5 Mar 1591 he was appointed commander of the squadron which attacked, in the face of overwhelming difficulties, the Spanish treasure ships off the Azores. On his return from battle he was created a Knight of the Garter on 23 Apr 1597. The following June he sailed as Vice Admiral of the fleet dispatched to the Azores.

His ability and courage caught the attention of  Elizabeth I and he became a great favourite at court. In her letters to him she referred to him as her "good Thomas". On 5 Dec 1597 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Howard de Walden and became Lord Lieutenant of County Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely the following year.

He was sworn High Steward of the University of Cambridge in Feb 1601; Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire on 26 June 1602; and acting Lord Chamberlain of the Household on 28 Dec. In 1601 he was commander of the forces that besieged the  Earl of Essex  in his house and was a member of the jury which tried him.

On one of her famous "progresses", in 1603,  Sir Thomas, at Charterhouse, sumptuously entertained Queen Elizabeth . For an account of another of her progresses, this time at Long Melford, see "Two Hundred Men in Velvet".

Upon the accession of James I (1603), he was created Earl of Suffolk and later held a number of official posts. Discovered the Gunpowder plot against James I. He continued to rise, culminating in being named Lord High Treasurer of England on 11 Jul 1614, an office he would hold until 19 Jul 1619.   His daughter,  Frances Howard,  and her husband, Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, were tried and convicted (1616) of the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.   In the autumn of 1618 grave irregularities were discovered in the treasurer. Sir Thomas was suspended from his office being accused of embezzlement, defrauding the King and extorting money from the King's subjects. Once again a Howard was in danger of execution.   Catherine, Lady Suffolk, was in the employ of the King of Spain; she received £1,000 per year for acting on his behalf. Catherine was indicted for extorting money from persons having business at the treasury through Sir John Bingley, Remembrancer of the Exchequer. She was of strong character and undoubtedly used his high office to enrich herself. During the proceedings in the  Star Chamber,  she was compared to an exchange woman who kept her shop while her creature, Sir John Bingley, cried "Whad'ye lack?"   Sir Thomas and Catherine were found guilty and fined and ordered to restore all money wrongfully extorted and were sentenced to be imprisoned in the Tower from which they were released after ten days.

Popular opinion of the day placed most of the blame squarely on the shoulders of Catherine. Her beauty was remarkable but in 1619 an attack of small pox destroyed any vestige of loveliness.

John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower

John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC (10 August 1694 - 25 December 1754), known as Baron Gower from 1709 to 1754, was a British Tory politician, one of the first Tories to enter government in the 18th century.

Gower was a son of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gower, and his wife Lady Catherine Manners. His maternal grandparents were John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland, and his third wife Catherine Wriothesley Noel, daughter of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden.

Gower served as Lord Privy Seal between 1742 and 1754. In 1742 he was appointed to the Privy Council and, on 8 July 1746, he was created Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford, and Earl Gower. In 1739 he became a founding Governor of London's Foundling Hospital.

He was first married to Lady Evelyn Pierrepont on 13 March 1711/12. She was a daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, and his first wife Lady Mary Feilding. Mary was a daughter of William Feilding, 3rd Earl of Denbigh and his wife Mary King.

They were parents to eleven children:

• Hon. John Leveson-Gower (28 November, 1712-15 July, 1723).
• Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower (15 February, 1714/1715-1 July, 1794). She married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.
• Hon. William Leveson-Gower (17 February, 1715/1716-4 April, 1739).
• Lady Mary Leveson-Gower (30 October, 1717-30 April, 1778). She married Sir Richard Wrottesley, Baronet.
• Frances Leveson-Gower 12 August, 1720-1788). She married Lord John Philip Sackville, a younger son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. They were parents to John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset.
• Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford (4 August, 1721-26 October, 1803).
• Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower (20 January, 1723/1724-28 April, 1784). She married John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave.
• Lady Evelyn Leveson-Gower (26 January, 1724/1725-14 April, 1763). She married John Fitzpatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory.
• Hon. Richard Leveson-Gower (30 April, 1726-19 October, 1753). He served as a Member of Parliament.
• Hon. Catherine Leveson-Gower (possibly born on 31 May, 1727 and died in infancy).
• Hon. Diana Leveson-Gower (31 May, 1727-1737).

Evelyn died on 26 June, 1727. Gower was secondly married to Penelope Stenhouse on 31 October, 1733. She was a daughter of Sir John Stenhouse, 7th Baronet. They were parents to a daughter:

Hon. Penelope Leveson-Gower (June, 1734-26 February, 1742).

His second wife died on 19 August, 1734. He then had his third marriage to Lady Mary Tufton on 16 May, 1736. She was a daughter of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet and widow of Anthony Grey, Earl of Harold.

They were parents to two children:

• Hon. Thomas Leveson-Gower (born on 23 August, 1738 but known to have died young).

• Hon. John Leveson-Gower 11 July, 1740-28 August, 1792). He married Frances Boscawen, daughter of Edward Boscawen. This son served in the Royal Navy and became an Admiral.

George Granville Leveson Gower, Duke of Sutherland

George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquis of Stafford, 1st Duke of Sutherland (1758-1833) has been called "The Leviathan of Wealth" and "the richest man that ever died". In the early 19th century his family was probably the richest in Britain. This great wealth came from ownership of land, exploitation of the mineral resources their estates contained and, as Disraeli pointed out "a talent for marrying heiresses".

As the eldest son of Granville, 2nd Earl Gower, 1st Marquis of Stafford and his second wife, Lady Louisa Egerton, favourite sister of the heirless Duke of Bridgewater, he inherited the revenues of the Bridgewater Canal when his uncle died in 1803. In the same year his father died and he inherited the family estates at Lilleshall in Shropshire and Trentham in Staffordshire.

George Granville's father, Granville, 2nd Earl Gower, 1st Marquis of Stafford, (1721-1803) had married as his second wife lady Louisa Egerton, favourite sister of the heirless 2nd Duke of Bridgewater. When he died in 1803 the Duke left the substantial annual profits from the Bridgewater Canal to her eldest son, George Granville.

George Granville's own marriage in 1785 to Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, Baroness of Strathnavar (1765-1839) in 1785, brought him vast estates in Scotland, with a further seat at Dunrobin Castle. She had inherited vast estates in Sutherland, amounting to 1¼ million acres at the age of 1 when her parents died of putrid fever in Bath in 1766.

Thus the family came to have three major seats, Dunrobin in Scotland, Lilleshall Hall, extensively rebuilt by Wyatville in the 1820s to provide a home for the family heir and Trentham Hall, a very grand Italianate palace, with a lake, formal gardens, terraces and woods. This was improved at a cost of £123,000 in the 1830s.

His vast wealth was partly derived from the exploitation of the mineral wealth of his English estates through enterprises such as the Lilleshall Co. Coal, lime and ironstone were carried on the Donnington Wood Canal at Lilleshall, built by his father. George Granville continued to invest in canal projects. He recognised the threat of the railways and invested in them in an attempt to protect his canal interests.

With his chief agent, James Loch, he became widely unpopular for the Highland Clearances carried out around 1810 on the Sutherland estate. He had been shocked by the living conditions of his Scottish tenants and they were forcibly resettled in new industries on the coast. He was therefore held responsible for the destruction of the Highland way of life. The English estates in the West Midlands were also improved, although not in such a drastic manner.

George Granville's political career was less illustrious than that of his father, although he did serve as an MP and Ambassador to Paris. Later, he supported Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Bill. As a reward he was created the Duke of Sutherland in 1833.

On his death in 1833 the Bridgewater inheritance passed to his second son, Francis, who later became the Earl of Ellesmere, taking his grandmother's name of Egerton. His railway interests and the rest of the estates went to his eldest son, the 2nd Duke of Sutherland.

In 1827 George Granville, Lord Stafford, bought the mansion York House in London from the government. It had been built by George IV's brother, the Duke of York, who died, seriously in debt, before it was finished. George Granville spent a further £150,000 completing and extending it, changing the name to Stafford House. It was widely regarded as the grandest town house in London (it became the present day Lancaster House in 1912). Here the family became the leaders of fashionable society with the Duchess organising costly parties and entertainments.

George Granville Leveson-Gower was educated at Westminster and Oxford. As a young man he was not particularly interested in politics but was sent to Auxerre to learn French and then travelled abroad for a number of years. In 1779 he had become MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, a seat traditionally controlled by the Leveson-Gower family. From 1787-1799 he represented Staffordshire.

In 1790 he was appointed as Ambassador to Paris where his wife became a close friend of Marie Antoinette, sending her clothes when she was in prison. When the embassy closed in 1792 he was offered the posts of Lord Steward and the Lieutenancy of Ireland but refused as his eyesight was failing. He did accept the office of Joint Postmaster-General 1799-1801. In 1803 he entered the Lords, on the death of his father, as the 2nd Marquis of Stafford, having previously been known as Earl Gower.

A supporter of Pitt, he became increasingly liberal in his political views and moved the resolution in the Lords on Catholic Emancipation in 1807 but it was defeated by 171 votes to 90. He had been awarded the Garter in 1806. In 1812 he retired from politics to devote himself to improving his estates and patronising the arts. He was a trustee of the British Museum and the President of the British Institution. In 1829 he briefly returned to politics, voting for the Reform Bill in 1832, along with his eldest son. For his support in pushing this through he became the Duke of Sutherland in January 1833.

When George Granville inherited the Leveson-Gower estates in 1803 he had gained in the same year the revenues from the Bridgewater estate, averaging £77,000 per annum. He was therefore able to increase what was spent on his tenanted property, taking greater responsibility for repairs.

From 1812 he employed the Scot, James Loch as his chief agent. Both men have attracted criticism both at the time and since for the Highland Clearances on the Sutherland estates, in the West Midlands charity and church schools were assisted, to encourage greater literacy among the tenants. He had been shocked by the living conditions of his Scottish tenants and they were forcibly resettled in new industries on the coast. He was therefore held responsible for the destruction of the Highland way of life.

The English estates in the West Midlands were also improved, although not in such a drastic manner. Savings banks were set up at Trentham and Lilleshall. In 1813 Loch introduced a cropping book to make sure crops were rotated and there were also improvements in stock breeding and ploughing.

However the trend towards larger tenant farms encouraged by Loch's policies meant the big rich tenants became richer and small poor tenants became poorer. The majority of those holding land under 20 acres on the Leveson-Gower estates held in fact much less than that and some were probably industrial workers employed in Ketley or Ironbridge. Thus class and social divisions became wider and more evident.

In 1764 the 2nd Earl Gower, George Granville's father, had set up Earl Gower and Co. to directly exploit and develop the valuable minerals - coal, lime and ironstone - found on the estates. In 1786 the name of the company was changed to the Marquis of Stafford and Co. to reflect the new title acquired by the 2nd Earl.

The original company had half its shares owned by him, with the rest being split between his agents, the brothers Thomas and John Gilbert. When Thomas Gilbert died in 1798 his mining rights were given to Granville Leveson-Gower, a younger son of the 2nd Earl by his third wife and half brother to George Granville. The company changed its name to the Lilleshall Co. in 1802 and Lord Granville took new partners. It has been estimated a quarter of the family's revenues came from industrial sources by the early 19th century.

The Leveson-Gowers had also invested early in the building of canals and this continued under George Granville. The 2nd Marquis doubled the number of his shares in the Trent-Mersey Canal in 1826 and held shares in the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal project started that year. He recognised the threat of the railways and invested in the Liverpool-Manchester Railway and the Liverpool-Birmingham line, among others' in an attempt to protect his canal interests.

Since the death of his uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, in 1803 he had profited from the revenues of the Bridgewater Canal. On his death in 1833 they passed to his second son Francis, who became Earl of Ellesmere, taking his grandmother's name Egerton.

His railway interests passed to his eldest son, the 2nd Duke of Sutherland.

George Granville Leveson-Gower, the 1st Duke of Sutherland, has occupied a controversial place in history because of the policies carried out by his agent, James Loch, on his Scottish estates in Sutherland. Thousands of crofters were evicted from their homes to achieve land improvements, although new industries were established on the coast - including fishing, fish curing and boat building. He died in July 1833 at Dunrobin Castle and was buried in Dornoch Cathedral. In 1834 a subscription list was opened to build a monument in his memory at Golspie. Of the 170 subscribers only 14 were from Sutherland. Two similar monuments were built in England, one overlooking Trentham and the other, still dominating the area around Lilleshall Hill, in 1839. The latter carries as its inscription a kinder verdict:

"To the memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, K.G. 1st Duke of Sutherland. The most just and generous of landlords. This monument is erected by the occupiers of his Grace's Shropshire farms as a public testimony that he went down to his grave with the blessings of his tenants on his head and left behind him upon his estates the best inheritance which a gentleman of England can bequeath to his son; men ready to stand by his house, heart and hand."

George Gordon, Duke of Gordon

George Gordon, 4th Marquess of Huntly was born in 1649, the son of Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Huntly and Mary Grant. He was originally styled the Earl of Enzie until his succession as Marquess in December 1653, when he was around four years old. The young Marquess was educated at a Catholic seminary in France, following a tradition within the Huntly family. In 1673, when he was aged 24, he entered the French Army of Louis XIV and served under the famous Marshal de Turenne before returning to Scotland sometime around 1675.

In October of the following year, 1676, he married Lady Elizabeth Howard, the second daughter of Henry Howard, the 6th Duke of Norfolk. However, he was described by the historian Macky as someone "made for the company of ladies, but is covetous which extremely eclipses him." The marriage was not wholly successful and the couple parted some years before his death.

On 1 November 1684, George was advanced from Marquess of Huntly to be 1st Duke of Gordon. Following the accession of the Catholic James II in 1685, the Duke was made one of the Commissioners of Supply, Constable of Edinburgh Castle, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury and a founding Knight of the Order of the Thistle. The Duke owed these positions to his Catholicism and, around this time, he was described as being "a libertine and a fop, he is a Roman Catholic because he was bred so, but otherwise thinks very little of revealed religion."

Following the Glorious Revolution and the overthrow of James II, the Duke held Edinburgh Castle against the Protestant Conventionists. However, he is remembered as being "vacilating in his defence" and eventually surrendered the Castle on 14 June 1689. As a result of his actions in Edinburgh, he was received somewhat coldly by King James at his residence in exile, the Palace of St Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. On his return to Scotland he was confined on parole. Shortly after this, his Duchess left him and retired to a convent in Flanders. The Duke temporarily regained favour with the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 and was recognised by her as a Knight of the Thistle, when she revived the Order on 31 December 1703. However, the Duke, being a true Gordon, could not stay out of trouble for very long.

In March 1707 he was arrested along with other Jacobite Lords and was confined to Edinburgh Castle for being implicated in the aborted Jacobite invasion. For his long-suffering Duchess this was the final straw and she obtained a deed of separation from her husband. The historian Macky, in his book Characters, observed the Duke and said that "he hath a great many links, but they do not make a complete chain; is certainly a very fine gentleman and understands conversation and the belles lettres; is well bred. He is handsome and taller than the ordinary size; thin, dresses well; but is somewhat finical, resembling the French"

The Duke died at Leith, on 7 December 1716. The Duchess returned to Scotland after his death and resided at Abbey Hill in Edinburgh until her own death in July 1732. Like her husband she was buried in Elgin Cathedral.

His Grace had two children:

• Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon (ca. 1678 – 1728)
• Lady Jane Gordon (ca. 1691 – 1773), married James Drummond, 2nd Duke of Perth and had issue.

Wormingford, Essex

St Andrew is the last of my 'archive' postings from henceforth posts will be from churches I have recently visited.

A lovely mellow yellow set in a lovely churchyard but sadly with no guide, so I almost missed the two brasses in the tower, it's not a typical Essex church - I suspect a Suffolk influence at work here. It sits on a height above the middle reaches of the River Stour, and is very beautiful. Just below is Smallbridge Hall, where Sir William Waldegrave entertained Elizabeth I. On the distant horizon opposite is Arger Fen nature reserve, and the hill upon which Edmund was crowned King of East Anglia on Christmas Day, 856, and, marked by the BBC television mast, the old farmhouse where Martin Shaw composed his hymn 'Hills of the north, rejoice!'.

The church is one of twelve in the neighbourhood which are dedicated to the apostle Andrew. St Andrew dedications were given to churches built near water.

North of the gate are the tombs of John Constable's Uncle Abram and Aunt Mary, and their children, 'The Wormingford Folk', as the artist described them in his letters home. By the far hedge, the grave of John Nash, R.A., who painted this landscape over many years, and his wife the artist Christine Kuhlenthal.

The tower is early 12th century, limestone, with Roman brick quoins. The Roman bricks may have come from a local villa or from Colchester. There are vast numbers of them in the district. They make fine corners. The tower is of three stages and is topped with a 17th century brick parapet and pinnacles. The windows, also made of Roman brick, are 12th century.

The porch is chiefly Victorian (1870) but contains the re-set 15th century archway of the earlier porch. The doorway is late 14th century. Above it may be seen the arch of the original 12th century entrance, and by the side a mediaeval stoup.

The Nave and north arcade of four bays are 14th century. The octagonal columns have moulded capitals and bases. The south wall contains three 14th century windows, much restored, and a blocked 12th century window. The north Aisle is 14th century with a 16th century camber beam roof. The Nave roof is among the most remarkable feats of Victorian carpentry. Made of resinous softwood, it is said to be a replica of the mediaeval roof it replaced in 1870. It is decorated with a great many thin panels of pierced tracery which lend it an airy elegance.

ST ANDREW. Norman W tower with original windows and bell-openings. Norman nave with one blocked S window. The N aisle and N windows early C14. Arcade of four bays with smallish octagonal piers and arches with two quadrant mouldings. - STAINED GLASS. C14 bits in chancel windows. - PLATE. Elizabethan Cup with band of ornament. - BRASSES. Civilian c. 1450; Civilian and two wives, early C17; both in the floor under the tower. 

WORMINGFORD. A century ago they moved its mysterious mound and discovered hundreds of urns in parallel rows, grim relics, perhaps, of the 9th Roman Legion cut off at the Stour while marching to support their army against Boadicea. Moated houses bear witness to the troublous times of a later era, and even the 17th century homestead Garnons has traces of an outer enclosure. This house has five neighbours as old as itself, and there are many pretty cottages amid beautiful scenery. Church House is Tudor, and so is Church Hall, a delightful building with brick chimneys looking on the entrance to the beautiful churchyard.

The church has a 15th century bell in its Norman tower, which has a 17th century parapet but Roman tiles in the corners. The Norman nave has two of its original windows blocked with Roman bricks. The porch has a 15th century arch through which we come to a fine little nave arcade 200 years older, its pointed arches on eight-sided pillars. The aisle is 13th century, but has a Tudor roof. The chancel was made new in the 14th century, its arch crossed by a modern screen into which has been worked some 500-year-old carving (which is no longer extant). A window on the sunny side has a tiny Tudor shield and a 14th century roundel, and in the opposite wall is some delightful 14th century glass with floral borders and nine roundels.

In the floor of the tower is a 15th century brass of a civilian in long gown and pointed shoes, and of the next century is the brass of a praying man with his two wives in big hats and frilled sleeves. By the chancel arch hangs a thankoffering for those who safely returned from the Great War, a painting of a ship being welcomed to harbour, "the haven where they would be."

In the churchyard is a font bowl filled with fuchsias, foreign flowers which would have astonished the medieval maker of the font.

Flickr set.