MORETON
Moreton is a parish about 3 miles north of Chipping
Ongar. (fn. 1) Its area is 1,474 acres. (fn. 2) In 1946 a small
detached part of Moreton (½ acre) lying immediately
to the north of Bobbingworth Lodge was incorporated
into the parish of Bobbingworth. (fn. 3) A detached part of
Magdalen Laver (5.6 acres) still lies in Moreton, to
the north-west of High Laver Bridge. An unusual
number of moated sites and of pre-18th-century houses
confirms other evidence which indicates that Moreton
was formerly an important place in the area. There
were 63 inhabited houses in 1801, 73 in 1811, and 69
in 1821. (fn. 4) In 1801 the population was 360. (fn. 5) By 1851
it had grown to 544; then it declined to 378 in 1901. (fn. 6)
By 1931 it had risen again to 471 but in 1951 it was
only 411. (fn. 7) The soil is mainly Boulder Clay but there
are patches of London Clay and glacial gravel.
The land rises from about 170 ft. above sea-level in
the south-west to 280 ft. in the north-east. Cripsey
Brook, a tributary of the Roding, flows through the
south-western part of the parish and forms a small part
of the southern boundary at Moreton Bridge. At
Padlers End, ¼ mile south-west of the bridge, are
several small 18th- and early-19th-century cottages
and four pairs of council houses. Moreton Bridge
Road enters the parish at Moreton Bridge and runs
northward to join the Fyfield Road at Moreton End,
the main centre of population. Moreton End includes
some attractive groups of 18th-century houses. The
White Hart Inn at the road junction may be of 16thcentury origin. At its east end the first floor oversails
and is supported on curved brackets. It has been altered
at various times. Opposite the 'White Hart' is the
'Nag's Head', a roughcast early-18th-century building with a moulded eaves cornice. Rose Cottage and
the Castle House Stores form another group of the
same date. Part of Ivylands, at the Moreton Bridge
end of the village, has a pedimented door hood and
may be of the 18th century or earlier. Black Hall, also
known as Guildhall Cottage, (fn. 8) stands immediately
north of Ivylands. From Moreton End the Harlow
road runs northward. There are five pairs of council
houses on the west side of this road. On the east side
about ¼ mile farther north is the site of Church Farm, (fn. 9)
from which a footpath, formerly North Lane, leads
eastward to join Fyfield Road at Maltings Farm.
Farther along on the west side of Harlow Road is a
late-18th-century weather-boarded house, now called
Crispins. This is said to have been built on the site of
the Castle Inn (fn. 10) and the Castle House Stores, now
moved to Moreton End, occupied part of it for many
years. (fn. 11) Nearly opposite Crispins is a row of thatched
cottages, apparently of early-18th-century date. From
here Harlow Road runs north-west past the Congregational chapel (fn. 12) to High Laver Bridge while Mill Road
runs north past Moreton Mill. (fn. 13) There are two pairs
of council houses on the road north of the mill.
From Moreton End Fyfield Road runs east past the
village school, (fn. 14) a red-brick police house built in 1951,
and a small cottage which has an oversailing gable-end
and may be of the 16th or early 17th century. Opposite
the cottage stands the rectory. (fn. 15) The church (fn. 16) is immediately north-east of the rectory. Opposite the
church is a lane to Nether Hall and Upper Hall. (fn. 17)
About ¼ mile farther along the Fyfield road is Maltings
Farm, a low two-story cottage, probably converted
from an 18th-century malt kiln. (fn. 18) Beyond Maltings
Farm stands Hill Farm, a small timber-framed house
of the 15th century. It originally had an open central
hall of two bays, flanked by cross-wings to east and west.
These have overhanging gables at the front of the house
and still exist more or less in their original form. A
ceiling has been inserted in the central block and the
roof raised, so that the ridge level is now higher than
that of the side wings. The moulded wall posts and
arched braces of a central truss are visible on the
ground floor, but the upper part of the truss is missing.
The hall originally had a screens passage at its east end
and the roughly four-centred head of its front entrance
is still in position. The east wing retains an arch-braced
roof truss above the first floor. It has a king-post and
steeply cambered tie-beam. The rebuilding of the
upper part of the hall probably took place in the late
16th or early 17th century, and the four-centred arch
of a fireplace of this date was observed in 1919. (fn. 19)
Both this chimney and that at the west end of the house
have diagonal shafts.
At Hill Farm Fyfield Road is joined by a road
running northward to Little Laver. About ¼ mile
along this road stands Newhouse, a timber-framed
house on a moated site, probably built in the 16th
century. It retains original panelling and a brick fireplace with a moulded three-centred arch. The farm
has a timber barn of the same date.
In this area of the parish are several disused roads (fn. 20)
and the sites of several former houses. Spencer's
Hoppet, north-west of Newhouse, contained a house
from at least the middle of the 14th century but by
1840 it was only pasture land. The last of its farm
buildings was taken down about then by the tenant,
Henry Clarence. (fn. 21) South of Newhouse a lane leads
eastward to Greens, a timber-framed house on a
moated site, rebuilt probably in the 17th century.
From Greens a footpath, formerly a lane, leads southeast past a moated site where Tanner's Cottage (fn. 22)
formerly stood, and thence to join Fyfield Road near
Embley's Farm, a timber-framed house of the 17th
or early 18th century which may once have been two
cottages.
Just before Fyfield Road leaves the parish it is
joined by a lane running southward past Harriets and
Cross Leys to Bundish Hall. (fn. 23) Stacey's, which was
situated nearly opposite to Harriets, is said to have lost
the last of its farm buildings through a gale in 1834. (fn. 24)
Cross Leys is a timber-framed house on a moated site,
rebuilt probably in the 17th century, and encased in
brickwork in the late 18th or early 19th century. There
is an old timber barn.
Bundish Hall is on the parish boundary, near its
southern extremity. (fn. 25) To the west, on the other side
of the Cripsey Brook, stands Wood Farm on the road
from Moreton to Shelley. This farm, formerly Southend Farm (fn. 26) or Henhouse Farm, (fn. 27) has an 18th-century
farm-house.
The inhabitants of Moreton were at first responsible
for the upkeep of Moreton Bridge which spans the
Cripsey Brook where it forms the boundary between
the parishes of Moreton and Bobbingworth. (fn. 28) At a
vestry meeting held in 1761 the parishioners of Moreton
agreed that a new cart bridge should be built in place
of the old horse bridge and that, having obtained an
estimate of the cost of a timber and of a brick bridge,
they should meet the parishioners of Bobbingworth to
determine of what materials it should be built. (fn. 29) A
combined meeting took place in May 1762 when it
was agreed that the money raised should be spent on the
bridge only and that each parish should 'make their
way to the bridge at their own expense'. (fn. 30) It was also
agreed that work on the bridge should begin immediately. (fn. 31) A grant of £30 was made from county
funds towards the building. (fn. 32) By 1783 the bridge had
become a county charge and in the same year it was
ordered that it should be rebuilt with brick according
to the plan prepared by John Johnson, the county
surveyor. (fn. 33) In 1857 the county surveyor described it
in detail. (fn. 34)
A postal receiving house was set up at Moreton in
1846 to serve the surrounding villages; the receiver
was to have £4 a year and a messenger 12s. a week. (fn. 35)
There is now a post-office in the village. The telephone service was established in 1927. (fn. 36) A police
officer is stationed in the village. (fn. 37)
Water is supplied by the Herts. and Essex Waterworks Co. (fn. 38) There is no sewerage but a site for a
pumping-station has been agreed on. (fn. 39) Electricity was
provided in 1951. (fn. 40) The village hut was built in
1920. (fn. 41) A branch of the county library was opened in
April 1929. (fn. 42)
Moreton has always been a rural parish devoted
mainly to agriculture. Few of the large landowners
have lived there. The owners of Upper Hall were
never resident except possibly for a few years after
1349. (fn. 43) During the whole of the period 1342-1832
the owners of Nether Hall were not resident except in
the time of William Cozens, lord of the manor from
1775 until 1790, and even he did not live at the manor
house or farm the main part of the estate. (fn. 44) W. H.
Alger, lord of the manor from 1829, was resident at
the Hall by 1840 and both he and his son, who died
in 1900, farmed most of the estate. (fn. 45) The owners of
Bundish Hall did not live in Moreton in the middle
of the 16th century; there is no further evidence about
their place of residence until 1780, when the owner
was not resident. (fn. 46) After Richard Eve purchased the
estate in 1787 it was occupied by members of the Eve
family. (fn. 47)
In 1840 W. H. Alger owned 256 acres in Moreton
of which he farmed 197 acres himself. (fn. 48) J. H. Frere
of Upper Hall owned 246 acres but farmed none of it
himself. (fn. 49) Bundish Hall Farm, then owned by the
trustees of the late J. Chaplin, and occupied by W.
Eve, consisted of 166 acres of which 107 acres lay in
Moreton. (fn. 50) There were two other substantial owners
in the parish; J. White owned Wood Farm (153 acres)
which he farmed himself, and E. F. Maitland owned,
but did not occupy, Newhouse Farm (129 acres). (fn. 51)
There were three other farms of over 40 acres. (fn. 52)
Moreton has always been a parish of mixed farming.
In 1086 there were 5 plough teams in the manor,
woodland for 400 swine and 20 acres of meadow. (fn. 53) In
the late 12th century the manor contained a flax
ground. (fn. 54) In the 18th century there was a malt kiln
in the parish, situated probably at the east end of North
Lane. (fn. 55) In 1838 it was estimated that there were
1,151 acres of arable, 273 acres of pasture, and 11
acres of woodland. (fn. 56)
There was once a water-mill on the Cripsey Brook
near Padlers End. The mill house was demolished
about 1860. (fn. 57) Moreton windmill is still standing but
ceased working about 1932. (fn. 58) It is of a type formerly
common in the area: a weather-boarded post mill,
turned by hand, with the base enclosed by a brick
'round house'. At the base of the central post are three
cross-trees instead of the more usual two. It is said
that the mill was formerly at Bishop's Stortford and
was erected in Moreton early in the 18th century. (fn. 59)
The central post is dated 1715 and 1821. (fn. 60) The mill
was reroofed in 1918. (fn. 61) After it ceased working it was
given by Messrs. C. and A. Gould to the Society for
the Protection of Ancient Buildings. (fn. 62) In 1951 one
sail came off and another had to be removed for safety. (fn. 63)
The thatched mill house is partly occupied as an office
for Messrs. C. and A. Gould.
In about 1885 it was said that until 1832 a fair was
held in the village annually on 1 May (fn. 64) but that 'having
degenerated from its former social gathering into an
annual disorderly assembly, an edict was issued by the
magistrates for its abolition. (fn. 65) . . . Mr. George Rogers
of Upper Hall (fn. 66) attended personally in the village with
the constable to force obedience to the edict, but the
ancient fair still tries to lie on private premises. (fn. 67)