MOUNT BURES
THE ancient parish of Mount Bures, on a hill
south of the river Stour opposite Bures St. Mary
(Suff.), 8 miles north-west of Colchester and 5
miles south-east of Sudbury, covered 1,425 a.
(577 ha.). (fn. 90) Much of it was intermixed with
Chappel and Wakes Colne. The main part of the
parish was an irregular shape, the boundaries for
the most part not following natural features. (fn. 91)
Figure 12:
Mount Bures c. 1850
Three areas on the west and south of the main
part were semi-detached, meeting the main part
only at points on the boundary, and three small
detached parts lay to the south-east. Boundary
changes comprised the following transfers of
land: in 1884 the Thatchers Arms public house
and 12 houses to Mount Bures from Bures
Hamlet, and 5 houses in Heards Road to Bures
Hamlet from Mount Bures; and in 1889 Spring
Gardens with 3 houses to Chappel from Mount
Bures, and a small area to Wakes Colne, and a
small area to Mount Bures from Chappel, (fn. 92) leav-
ing Mount Bures in 1889 a more compact area
of 1,259 a. (509 ha.). (fn. 93) The following account
concentrates on the area north of Janks Farm,
including as far as possible detached parts of
Bures Hamlet in Hinckford hundred which
belonged to Bures St. Mary (Suff.).
The parish takes its name from 'bur', meaning
cottage or dwelling, and 'mount' from the arti-
ficial mound, c. 30 ft. high, north of the church
and raised perhaps in the 12th century; (fn. 94) that
was still surrounded by a moat in 1768. The
churchyard, which has a slight bank to the east
and south, may have been the castle bailey, perhaps
unfinished. (fn. 95) The parish was sometimes
called Bures St. John, Little Bures, or Bures
Sackville to distinguish it from Bures St. Mary
(Suff.). (fn. 96)
The land rises to more than 70 metres at a
water tower on the south-west boundary, and
falls away northwards to the river Stour and
north-west to Cambridge brook which drains
into the Stour. A band of alluvium runs along
the Stour and there are river deposits and
London clay in the north-east corner of the
parish. Most of the higher ground is fertile
boulder clay. (fn. 97)
The main road from Bures to Colchester,
mentioned in 1494, crosses the north of the
parish. A road, mentioned in 1505, runs south
from the church to Wakes Colne and Chappel.
Another road, enclosed in 1446 with a ditch and
a hedge, ran west to Piotts green and West
Bergholt, before Wormingford airfield was built
over it in the First and Second World Wars. (fn. 98)
Other minor roads and footpaths link the scat
tered
farms and houses. The River Stour
Navigation Co. made the Stour navigable for
barges from Manningtree to Sudbury (Suff.)
between 1705 and 1709, with a quay at Bures
St. Mary just a mile outside the parish. (fn. 99) The
Stour Valley Railway Company's line from
Chappel to Bures, opened in 1848, traversed
Mount Bures from south to north, with the
nearest railway station also at Bures St. Mary. (fn. 1)
Between 1066 and 1086 the recorded total of
tenants and servi declined from 34 to 31. (fn. 2) In
1377, when 78 people paid the poll tax, Mount
Bures ranked 12th of the nineteen places in
Lexden hundred for which there are returns. (fn. 3)
Burials were markedly above average in 1547,
1624, and 1667. (fn. 4) Hearth tax was levied on 37
households in 1662; 54 households were re-
corded in 1671, of which 22 were exempt from
tax. (fn. 5) The number of recorded baptisms declined
in the late 17th century and early 18th. (fn. 6) There
were c. 25 families in 1723, and 30 in 1778. (fn. 7)
Population increased from 250 in 1801 to 301 in
1861 and then declined to 198 in the ancient
parish area, (fn. 8) 220 in the new area, in 1901. It
fluctuated only slightly in the 20th century and
was 219 in 1991. (fn. 9)
Some of the earliest settlement was near the
Stour. Extensive archaeological finds include
neolithic axes, traces of Bronze-Age barrows,
the Iron-Age grave of a British nobleman c. ¼
mile south-east of the church, and a Roman
bronze figure of Mercury at Mount Bures Hall. (fn. 10)
A probable Roman tile kiln was found north-
west of Elms farm. (fn. 11)
The parish has no main focus of settlement,
but many scattered small settlements around
tyes or greens, like Downing Tye, Mount green,
Janks green, and Piotts green, suggesting early
woodland clearance. (fn. 12) The 3 villeins and 2 bord-
ars recorded separately in 1066 and 1086 may
have constituted a separate small settlement. (fn. 13)
Downings Tye, perhaps associated with William
Downing of White Colne recorded in 1327, (fn. 14)
was later called Valley green. There was a small
settlement at Piotts Tye by 1493, perhaps
associated with the Pylat family recorded in
1381; it may have extended along the lane from
Nortons to Elms farm beside Common field.
Part of Garners Tye was held of Crepping Hall
manor in Wakes Colne. (fn. 15) East field of 22 a.,
called Bulls field in 1840, a detached part of the
parish surrounded by Wakes Colne, was prob-
ably a clearing made in Rowneys wood which
lies north of it in Wakes Colne. Surviving long
strips of garden at Golden Square and Well cot-
tage may have been medieval doles of common
lands from Glasswrights green. (fn. 16)
The houses and farmsteads are mostly scattered through the parish. Old House, a timberframed building of the early 16th century, originally had a public room probably for courts or
guild meetings. (fn. 17) Herds pasture was formerly in
Bures Hamlet, but may have been connected
with the acre of land called hydsgardyn belonging to Wormingford Hall manor mentioned in
1525. (fn. 18) It has a 15th- or early 16th-century hall
range with an east cross wing. The latter has a
plain crown-post roof and, reset as a feature on
its ground floor, a tie beam truss with a crown
post which has rebated angles. Presumably it
was formerly in the hall range (fn. 19) from where it
was removed when the house was restored and
extended to the west c. 1935. The quality of the
construction suggests something better than a
small freehold. Takeleys is a house with a hall
and one cross wing, and a 16th-century doorway
remains in the wall between the two parts, but
the building has been remodelled on many
occasions and the roof is 17th-century and later.
A 15th-century crown post is reused on the
ground floor. There is a large timber-framed
extension of 1996 to the south.
Figure 13:
Mount Bures, Wakes Colne and Chappel, 1881
Staunch Farm is a small 17th-century house
with rooms on either side of a central stack;
19th- and 20th-century service accommodation
has been built along the east side. Elms Farm,
built in the later 18th century, has a brick
ground floor with timber frame above. Old
Wythers Farm has a three-room plan with a
cross passage behind the present brick stack.
The roof is partly smoke-blackened and incorporates a crown post, probably of the 15th century, although it may have been at least in part
raised when the upper floor was put into the
hall. Nortons may have been associated with
John Norton recorded in 1578, but the existing
building is of the 17th century. (fn. 20) Abram's Croft
was built c. 1580, Josselyns in the 17th century,
and Sergeants and Roberts in the later 17th
century. The present Burnt House was built in
the 19th century on the site of the earlier Alphes
and Stonards. (fn. 21) The Thatchers Arms was built
before 1869. (fn. 22)
In the 20th century some council and private
houses were built near the level crossing and a
few on the outskirts of the parish. (fn. 23) In 1971, out
of a total of 65 households, 11, or 17 per cent,
were housed by the council, in Craigs Lane. By
1991 only 8 per cent of the 85 households lived
in council accommodation. (fn. 24)
In 1905 shallow wells still provided the only
water supply. (fn. 25) A water tower was built in 1947
and piped water supplied. An electricity supply
was provided from 1947, by 1954 serving the
south end of the parish. Land north-west of
Valley Green farm was used in the Second
World War for bomb dumping. A United States
pilot from the 56th Fighter Group, Boxted,
ejected safely when his plane crashed in 1944
near the Thatchers Arms.
In 1996 village social activities included
annual flower festivals held on the patronal festival, fundraising charity events, and an annual
harvest supper. There was a Bures and District
Agricultural Farmers' Club and a Mount Bures
Footpath Society. The village hall in Craigs
Lane, formerly the school, belonged to the
church. (fn. 26) Canon John Collins (d. 1982), well
known for his antiracist and nuclear disarmament campaigning, spent his retirement in
Mount Bures. (fn. 27)