24. EAST HANNINGFIELD. (D.b.)
(O.S. 6 in. lxi. N.W.)
East Hanningfield is a parish and small village
5 m. S.E. of Chelmsford. The ruined church is
interesting.
Ecclesiastical
(1). Parish Church of All Saints (Plates,
pp. xxxiii, 33) stands 1 m. S.S.W. of the village.
The walls of the nave are of pudding-stone and
pebble-rubble; the rest of the building is of
brick; the dressings are mainly of brick; the roof
of the chancel is slate-covered. The Nave judging
from the thickness and materials of the walls and
the presence of a wall-painting of c. 1300, must be
of the 13th century or earlier. Early in the 16th
century the Chancel was re-built and the North
Aisle added. The church was burnt in 1883
and since that date the whole building, except
the chancel, has remained roofless and ruinous;
the chancel was cut off by a modern wall and
re-roofed.
Among the fittings the wall-paintings are noteworthy.
The Church, Plan
Architectural Description—The Chancel (23 ft.
by 17½ ft.) is of early 16th-century date and of red
brick. The E. window has moulded jambs, four-centred arch and label; the rest of the window is
modern. The side walls have each a broad flat
projection about the middle of the length and
finished with a crenelated top. In the N. wall is a
two-centred brick archway; the responds have
each an attached shaft with moulded capital and
base, covered with cement; the arch is now
blocked. In the S. wall are two windows both of
two four-centred lights, the eastern with a square
head and a moulded label and the western with
a four-centred head; between them is a blocked
doorway with jambs and four-centred arch of two
chamfered orders. There is no chancel-arch.
The Nave (41 ft. by 22½ ft.) has an early 16th-century N. arcade (Plate, p. 33) of brick and of
two bays with four-centred arches of three orders,
the two outer plain and the inner chamfered; the
middle octagonal column or double respond has a
moulded capital and base; the responds have
attached half-round shafts. In the S. wall is an
early 16th-century brick window of four four-centred lights in a square head with a moulded
label. The S. doorway is modern and on the
external wall are the marks of the gable of a
former porch. In the W. wall is a window,
modern except for the splays and two-centred
rear-arch probably of the 14th century.
The North Aisle (13¼ ft. wide) is of early 16th-century date and has in the E. wall a window of
three four-centred lights in a square head with a
moulded label; one mullion has been destroyed.
In the N. wall are two windows, the eastern of
stone and of two cinque-foiled lights in a square
head with a moulded label, all 15th-century work
re-set; the western window is similar but all of
modern stone. In the W. wall is a brick window
with a segmental-pointed head, much restored and
without a mullion.
Fittings—Brass: Loose in chancel—to Richard
Brydges, 1606, Councellor at Law, inscription only;
slab with indent on floor. Painting: In nave—
on S. wall, extensive remains (Plate, p. 104) of
figure-subjects in red or brown lines on white
plaster; on E., Adam and Eve and the same
figures with spade and spindle; remains of large
figures of St. Catherine crowned, with her wheel,
and a gabled canopy with side shafts; further W.,
the sacrifices of Cain and Abel with flames rising
from a lamb and sheaves of corn; small remains
of other figures and two pieces of a band of
running-foliage ornament, late 13th or early 14th-century. Piscinae: In chancel—double recess
of re-used 15th-century window-material, with
cinque-foiled heads, no drains. In nave—in S.
wall, with chamfered two-centred head, possibly
14th-century, no drain. Plate: includes a large
cup of late 17th-century date and an old brass
alms-bason of foreign origin. Stoup: In nave—
E. of S. doorway, recess with roughly plastered
two-centred head, bowl broken, early 16th-century.
Condition—Of chancel, bad; of nave, roofless
and ruinous.
Secular
(2). Homestead Moat, at Great Claydons Farm,
1,100 yards W. of the modern church.
(3). Willis Farm, house (Plate, p. 57), 400
yards S. of the modern church, is of two storeys;
the walls are timber-framed and plastered; the
roofs are tiled. It was built probably in the 16th
century on an L-shaped plan with the wings
extending towards the S. and W. and a staircase-block in the angle. A modern addition makes
the plan roughly rectangular. The upper storey
projects at the N. end of the S. wing. On the E.
side is an original chimney-stack with two diagonal
shafts on an embattled base.
Condition—Good.
(4). Rails Farm, house (Plate, pp. xxxiv–v),
on opposite side of the road and 100 yards S.E.
of (3). The house is of two storeys, timber-framed
and plastered; the roofs are tiled. It was built
probably in the 16th century on a T-shaped plan
with the cross-wing at the N. end. It appears
to have originally extended further S. where there
is now a low modern addition. The upper storey
projects on the W. side of the main block and at
the E. end of the cross-wing; at the S. end of
the W. front is a gabled two-storeyed porch. On
the N. side is an original chimney-stack with two
diagonal shafts.