CHURCH
There seems to be no reason to doubt the established
tradition that Greenstead church was built
in the 11th century to mark the place
where St. Edmund's body rested on its
way from London to Bury St. Edmund's in 1013. A
description of the event, written about 1300, says that
the body was accommodated at Ongar and that 'a
wooden chapel built in his name remains until today'. (fn. 79)
This is the only documentary evidence for the identification. Greenstead is a mile from Chipping Ongar,
but it is curious that the wooden church, which is
described in detail below, is dedicated not to St.
Edmund but to St. Andrew. (fn. 80)
Walter de Baskerville was patron of Greenstead in
about 1254. (fn. 81) William de la Hay held the advowson
in 1328-33 and it subsequently descended along with
the manor until the 17th century. (fn. 82) Richard Young
and Anne his wife presented Edward Young to the
rectory in 1617. (fn. 83) Anne had previously been the wife
of William Bourne (d. 1608), lord of the manor. Her
son John Bourne made a conveyance of the manor in
1625. (fn. 84) Thomas Spencer presented in 1641 pro hac
vice. (fn. 85) Presentation was made in 1646 by Katherine
Young, widow, and Robert Young her son, and in
1661 by Katherine alone. (fn. 86) Nathan Lacy, rector 1661-
1700, married a second wife Mary. (fn. 87) After his death
Mary Lacy, widow, presented. (fn. 88) Soon after this the
advowson was bought by Benjamin Pratt, curate of
St. Botolph's, Aldgate about 1708-15. By his will,
dated 1714, Pratt bequeathed the advowson in trust to
the Bishop of London, with the provision that at each
presentation the curate of St. Botolph's was to have
first refusal. (fn. 89) The patronage has subsequently
remained with the bishop, subject to this provision.
The rectory was valued at 40s. in about 1254, (fn. 90) at
£1 10s. in 1291, (fn. 91) and at £6 13s. 4d. in 1535. (fn. 92) The
tithes were commuted in 1841 for £210; there were
then 30 acres of glebe. (fn. 93) The rectory house is an early19th-century building, whitewashed externally.
In 1548 the parishes of Greenstead and Chipping
Ongar were united by Act of Parliament. In spite of
its small size the Greenstead church became the parish
church of the combined parish. This union, however,
was dissolved in 1554 and the parish of Greenstead
returned to its ancient size and constitution. (fn. 94)
The parish church of ST. ANDREW consists of
nave, chancel, west tower with spire, and south porch.
The nave is a unique survival of early timber construction, probably of the early 11th century. The
chancel is partly of flint rubble and partly of brickwork. The tower is timber framed and the porch is also
of timber.
The circumstances in which the church was probably built, in or soon after 1013, have been described
above. The present nave was probably the original
church. It is 29 ft. long by 17 ft. wide. The timber
walls remain on the north and south sides. They are
5 ft. 6 in. high and consist of oak logs, varying in width
from 7 to 17 in., cut in half and set vertically, the flat
surfaces facing inwards. At the two western angles
three-quarter logs are used with a right-angular rebate
cut internally. The south doorway still exists and nearly
opposite there was originally a north doorway 2 ft. 5 in.
wide. The nave was thoroughly restored in 1848.
Descriptions of it before and during this restoration are
of particular value. In 1748 Smart Lethieullier sent
an account of it to the Society of Antiquaries, (fn. 95) together
with elevational drawings which were later published. (fn. 96)
A hundred years later the Revd. P. W. Ray, then rector,
wrote as follows: (fn. 97)
the building ... is formed of split trunks of oak trees, the
top part being cut to a thin edge which is let into a deep
groove in the plate and pinned. The bottoms of the upright timbers were morticed into the sill. Their sides were
grooved, with tongues of oak let in between them so as to
make the whole firm and weathertight (fn. 98) ... upon the face
of the timbers within the church were a great number of
triangular cuts, having a rough bur on one side such as
would be produced by the angle of an adze. These cuts
were the key for the plaster with which the interior of the
church was covered .... The west end was carried up in
the middle as high as the ridge of the roof and consisted of
two layers of planks fastened together with tree nails. The
planks are not long enough to reach the whole height, they
are therefore so arranged as to break both the perpendicular
and horizontal joints.
The external elevation of this west end, part of which
disappeared in 1848, is shown in Lethieullier's drawing. The narrow opening which can be seen just south
of the centre was probably made to give access to the
tower after that was added.
The chancel was probably added to the original
wooden church in the 12th century. Parts of the flint
rubble plinth remain. The east wall of the nave was
presumably removed then.
The small stoup with a pointed head to the west of
the former north door probably dates from the 13th
or 14th century.
In the 15th or 16th century the square tower was
added to the west end of the nave a little to the south
of the centre line. It is weather-boarded externally and
has louvred openings. The lower story of the tower is
now used as a vestry. There is a broach spire. About
1500 the chancel was rebuilt in brick. On the south
side is an early-16th-century doorway with moulded
brick jambs and an elliptical head. Next to it on the
west is a window of similar date also with an elliptical
head. The four-centred chancel arch is probably of
the 16th century. In that century also the nave was
probably reroofed. Views of the church before the
restoration show a sagging roof line, lower than that
of the chancel, with two dormers on the north side and
one on the south. (fn. 99)
The church was being repaired in 1683. Beams had
recently been set on the inside of the chancel but it was
feared that this would not prevent the cracks on both
sides of the east window from getting worse. (fn. 1)
Extensive repairs were carried out in 1848. The
oak sills of the nave walls, which originally rested on
the ground, were completely decayed, together with
the lower ends of the logs. These last were shortened
from the base and tenoned to new sills supported on
dwarf brick walls. The plaster was stripped internally
and oak fillets fixed over the joints. The north doorway, which had already been plastered up before this
time, was blocked by the insertion of three new
timbers. The nave roof was replaced and three additional dormer windows constructed so that there are
now three on each side. A new window was inserted
in the west gable. In the chancel the east wall was
rebuilt and a new east window with stone 'perpendicular' tracery was inserted. A new window was also
placed in the north wall and another in the south wall
to the east of the doorway. The east wall and the
chancel arch were strengthened by the external addition
of buttresses. A traceried window was placed in the
tower, and a new timber porch, a copy of 15th-century
work, replaced a small weather-boarded structure. (fn. 2)
In 1891-2 the roof, which was of fir, was again
found to be decayed. A subscription list for a new roof
was started by William Hewett, tenant of Greenstead
Hall and churchwarden, and the work was carried out
in oak by Frederic Chancellor, the diocesan surveyor.
He followed the same design on the assumption that it
was a copy of the roof taken down in 1848. (fn. 3) At the
same time a brick buttress on the north side of the nave
was removed, exposing sound timbers behind it. (fn. 4) No
important alterations have been carried out since 1892,
but the spire was recently covered with shingles of
Canadian cedar. (fn. 5)
There is one bell by William Land, 1618, and a
sanctus bell, uninscribed. In 1552 there were two
Rogation bells weighing 10 lb. and two great bells
weighing 300½ lb. (fn. 6) Early in the 19th century an old
bell larger than the present bell, being cracked and unhung, was sold. (fn. 7)
In the chancel is a stone pillar piscina with an octagonal bowl, probably late 15th century. The 19th-century quatrefoil window in the west gable of the
nave contains an early 16th-century roundel of stained
glass, showing a man's head and shoulders in the dress
of the time. A crown suggests that he may represent
St. Edmund. (fn. 8) Two other pieces of stained glass, probably of similar date, were removed from the church
before 1836. They came into the possession of a
Bobbingworth farmer who took them with him to
New Zealand. He was persuaded to return them to
the church but they were lost in a shipwreck off the
Scilly Isles on their return journey in 1871. (fn. 9) Hanging
in the nave is a round-headed wooden panel on which
is an oil painting of about 1500 showing the martyrdom
of St. Edmund. (fn. 10) The octagonal oak pulpit was presented by Alexander Cleeve in 1698. (fn. 11) One panel has
the date and I. H. S. inlaid in darker wood. The stone
font is of the 19th century. The stained glass in the
four chancel windows was inserted in memory of
William Smith, d. 1871: the north window shows the
martyrdom of St. Edmund and the east window the
Last Supper and Crucifixion. The oak screen dividing
the vestry from the nave was given in memory of
Gerard Noel Hoare and his son, between them churchwardens from 1907 to 1949.
The church plate consists of a cup, 1739, paten,
1699 (the gift of Alexander and Mary Cleeve), a
flagon 1858 (the gift of the Revd. P. W. Ray and
family), and an alms-dish, 1817. The last piece was
obtained in compliance with the archdeacon's instructions in 1817 to 'sell pewter plate and provide patens
for the offerings'. (fn. 12)
On the north wall of the chancel is an alabaster
tablet in memory of Jone, second wife of Alane Wood
(1585). There are also tablets to the Revd. W. H.
Warren (1825) and Mary wife of Craven Ord (1804).
On the south wall is a tablet to Richard Hewyt, rector
(1724). In the nave are tablets to P. J. Budworth
(1885) and his son Major-Gen. Charles E. D. Budworth (1921).