CHURCH
The advowson of Theydon Garnon was appurtenant
to the manor and descended along with it
until 1858. Presentations pro hac vice
were sometimes granted by the lords of
the manor to others. (fn. 75) When Sir Thomas Abdy, Bt.,
sold the manor in 1858 he retained the advowson and
this descended with the baronetcy until 1945, when it
was vested in the Bishop of Chelmsford. (fn. 76) In 1834 the
advowson, with other properties, was mortgaged by
John R. H. Abdy to Charles G. Parker of Springfield
Place. On his death in 1840 Abdy allowed his trustees
to sell the next presentation and to apply the proceeds
towards the redemption of the mortgage, or if this had
already been redeemed, on the purchase of freeholds. (fn. 77)
In about 1254 the rectory of Theydon Garnon was
valued at 15 marks, and the same valuation was given
in 1291. (fn. 78) In 1507 the rector leased the church and
parsonage with the tithes to William Hyll, chaplain,
and Francis Hampden for three years at an annual
rent of £8, reserving the lodging by the gate (see
below). (fn. 79) In 1535 the rectory was valued at £17. (fn. 80)
In 1650 the 'improved' value was £174, of which £124
represented composition in lieu of tithes. (fn. 81) The tithes
were finally commuted in 1840 for £650. There were
then 71 acres of glebe. (fn. 82)
A terrier of 1610 mentions the parsonage house with
glebe and outbuildings including a cottage called the
Gatehouse. (fn. 83) The former rectory house, now known
as Theydon Priory, was sold to the Revd. C. G. B.
Hotham after his retirement in 1893. The present
owner (1954) is Mr. W. J. Keswick. (fn. 84) The house is
about 300 yds. south of the church. The rectory was
certainly on this site in 1648 (fn. 85) and the core of Theydon
Priory, consisting of the south range and west wing,
may represent the house of 1610. The building was
largely reconstructed in the 18th century, when the
south side was given a symmetrical front of red brick
with sash windows and a pedimented doorcase. Until
recently the main entrance was at this side. Additions
made later in the 18th century include a large room
with a splayed bay on the north side, now the entrance
hall. Interior fittings date from about 1700 and later.
In the present century additions were made to the east
and west. The entrance porch is also modern.
The present red-brick gabled rectory, which is
immediately south of the church, was built in 1895-6
at a cost of £3,300. (fn. 86)
John Molyns (d. 1591), who was Rector of Theydon
Garnon from 1561 until his death, had been among
the Puritan clergy who emigrated to Frankfurt-amMain under Mary I. He became Canon of St. Paul's
and Archdeacon of London in 1559. (fn. 87) Samuel Searle,
who became rector in 1609, was a turbulent man
whose offences appear to have included manslaughter
and brawling in church. (fn. 88) In 1622-3 he was suspected
of being an accessory to murder, and in 1624 he was
deprived of his benefice. (fn. 89)
At the Dissolution of the Chantries in 1548 there
were found to be obits in the church of Theydon
Garnon supported by annual rents of 8s. 4d., 6s. 8d.,
and 6s. 8d., charged on the lands of John Rogers,
Richard Archer, and John Archer respectively. (fn. 90) The
rents were granted in 1549 to Robert Woode of the
Inner Temple. (fn. 91)
The church of ALL SAINTS consists of nave and
chancel, north aisle, north porch, south porch, north
vestry, and west tower. The walls of nave and chancel
are of flint rubble and those of the tower, aisle, and north
porch are of brick. The chancel probably dates from
the 13th century. The nave appears to have been rebuilt in the 15th century. The tower was built about
1520. In 1644 the north aisle and north porch were
added and a north arcade of timber built. The south
porch was built in the 18th century, and in the 19th
century there were numerous alterations including the
addition of a north vestry and organ chamber. The
church is of special interest from its dated tower of
1520 and dated north aisle of 1644.
The chancel, which was probably built in the 13th
century, has in its south wall a 13th century lancet
window, and on the north side a niche of uncertain date.
There is no structural division between chancel and nave.
In the 15th century the nave was probably rebuilt.
In the south wall there is a 15th-century window of
three cinquefoiled lights in a segmental-pointed head,
with moulded label and the arms of Gernon. (fn. 92) Also
in the south wall is a 15th-century doorway with
moulded jambs and a two-centred arch under a square
moulded label with traceried spandrels. The east
window in the chancel is also of the 15th century. It
has four cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a
two-centred head.
About 1520 the west tower was added. It is of red
brick, with some blue brick, of three stages with an
embattled parapet. The date is recorded on a stone
panel on the outside of the south wall, where it is stated
that Sir John Crosbe, late alderman and grocer of
London, and his wives Anne and Annes gave £50 towards the building of the tower. (fn. 93)
The north aisle and porch were built in 1644. They
are of red brick which it is interesting to compare with
the earlier brick of the tower. The date is picked out
in dark brick on a panel on the outside of the east wall
of the aisle. A corresponding panel on the outside of
the west wall has the letters i. h. The timber arcade
which divides the nave from the aisle also dates from
1644. It consists of five bays with octagonal oak
columns and semi-octagonal oak responds. The oak
arches are roughly three-centred to the east bays and
semicircular to the west bays and have a horizontal
moulded fascia above them mitred down in the middle
of each arch to form a key block. The nave roof was
probably reconstructed at this time but retains several
rebated king-posts of the 15th century. Along the
south side of the nave are two gabled dormer windows.
These were largely remodelled in the 19th century but
the frames probably date from 1644.
During the 17th century several other new windows
were added. In the chancel are two windows, one on
the north wall and one on the south, both having two
pointed lights, and the west window of the tower is also
probably of the same century.
In 1762 repairs were carried out on the church costing over £100. The largest part of this sum, £67, was
for carpenter's work, including roof repairs. (fn. 94) In 1770
there is said to have been a gallery in the north aisle. (fn. 95)
It is not clear what form this then took. In 1774 the
parish vestry released to John Deakins and the future
occupiers of his dwelling the seat where the psalm
singers used to sit on the north side of the church, in
return for 15 guineas towards the building of a singers'
gallery. (fn. 96) The balance of the carpenter's bill towards
the building of the gallery was paid in December
1774. (fn. 97) . The restoration of the north porch and the
insertion of the west doorway in the tower also took
place in the 18th century.
The Revd. Sir Cavendish Foster, Bt., rector from
1843 to 1887, substantially altered the church. In
1863 the gallery was removed (fn. 98) and five new windows
inserted in the aisle, three in the north, one in the east,
and one in the west wall. (fn. 99) The previous north wall
windows are said to have been wide and square with
wooden frames and the previous east window small
and square. (fn. 1) The east window has now been blocked.
Further restorations appear to have been carried out
during Foster's incumbency. (fn. 2) The vestry and organ
chamber were added in 1892 at the expense of the
Revd. C. G. B. Hotham, Foster's successor as rector,
and W. S. Chisenhale-Marsh of Gaynes Park. (fn. 3) A new
heating apparatus was installed in 1899 at the expense
of the Kemsley family. (fn. 4)
A glazed screen between the west end of the nave
and the tower was erected by the Chisenhale-Marsh
family as a memorial to those who fell in the First
World War. In 1934 general repairs to the church
were carried out and the lancet window in the south
wall of the chancel, which had been blocked for several
centuries, was opened at the expense of Mr. Hugh
Kemsley. (fn. 5) Further repairs have been done during the
past ten years.
The communion rails were set up in 1683-4 at a
cost of £4, in obedience to the orders of the archdeacon
at his visitation of 1683. (fn. 6) The pulpit is a 'two-decker'
and has a large sounding-board of the early 18th
century. There are three chairs of the same period in
the chancel. Some 16th-century seats formerly in the
nave were removed about 1920. (fn. 7) There is 16thcentury panelling on the south wall of the nave and
some of about 1700 in the tower. In the vestry is a
large oak chest with iron bands given in 1668 by Sir
John Archer. (fn. 8) In it are some manorial records. (fn. 9) At
the west end of the nave is an oak door-frame taken
from the Priest's House (see below).
There are five bells. The first four were cast by
Miles Graye in 1628 and the fifth by Robert Phelps
in 1732. In 1733 the parish vestry agreed to borrow
£22 at 5 per cent. interest to pay for the casting and
hanging of this last bell. (fn. 10) The church plate consists
of a cup and paten cover of 1562; two flagons of 1650,
given in 1671 by the rector James Meggs; a paten of
1702 given by John Baker and an undated almsdish
also bearing Baker's name and probably of 1702; and
an almsdish of 1895. All the pieces are silver. In 1816
all the then existing plate was repaired at a cost of £3. (fn. 11)
On the north wall of the chancel is a brass to William
Kirkeby, rector, 1458 with a figure of a priest in cope
with shield of arms. This was formerly in the nave and
was set up in its present position with a modern inscription between 1812 and 1835. (fn. 12) Also in the chancel are
a brass to Ellen (Hampden), wife of John Branch,
1567, and monuments to Lady Anne (Sidney), wife
of Sir William Fitzwilliam, 1602; Sir Daniel Dun,
1617 and his wife Joan, 1640; James Meggs, rector,
1672; Sir John Archer, 1681; and Sir William Eyre
Archer, 1739. The last is a large standing wall monument with grey sarcophagus and obelisk and medallion
of the deceased flanked by three cherubs. Set into the
north wall of the chancel is a grey marble altar-tomb
with a flat-arched canopy resting on small side-shafts
and having a frieze of quatrefoil panels. At the back of
the recess is a brass of a kneeling man in armour, his
wife, two sons, and three daughters, with indents of
two inscription plates, two shields, a Trinity and
another group, of about 1520. Opposite is another
similar altar-tomb of slightly later date with the canopy
set on twisted shafts, also with indents for brasses at the
back of the recess. There are floor slabs in the chancel
to Henry and Thomas Meggs, 1670, Margaret wife
of James Meggs, 1681, and Richard Butler, 1688.
In the nave is a wall monument to Denton Nicholas,
M.D., 1714, moved there from the chancel in 1934.
There is a floor slab in the nave to Jane, widow of
John Wormlayton, 1725, and their daughters Jane,
1705, and Anne, 1712. Other later monuments include
plaques to Charles B. Abdy, 1843, Joseph Kemsley,
churchwarden, 1897, and William S. ChisenhaleMarsh, 1929. There is a stained-glass window in
memory of the Revd. Sir Cavendish Foster, Bt. (see
above).
A few yards west of the church there stood until
recently a cottage called the Priests' House. It was of
two stories, the upper projecting on the east front with
exposed joists and curved brackets. It was apparently
built in the late 15th century. (fn. 13) It may have been
identical with the Gatehouse (see above) of 1507 and
1610. If so it consisted in 1507 of a parlour, with a
chimney and larder at one end and two chambers;
above were a study and 'wyddraughte', i.e. a sink or
drain. (fn. 14) In 1624 there was an alehouse in the churchyard; (fn. 15) this may well have been the same house since
a map of 1648 shows no other buildings in the churchyard. (fn. 16) The Priests' House has now been destroyed
except for a door-frame (see above). An engraving of
the church published in 1810 shows in the distance a
small part of the house. (fn. 17) Another of 1818 by the same
hand shows the whole house. (fn. 18)
The small brick building outside the churchyard has
been used as a Sunday school. (fn. 19) It probably dates from
the late 19th or early 20th century. An avenue of
limes and chestnuts leading from the south side of the
churchyard to the former rectory is now known as the
Monks' Walk.
The church of ST. ALBAN, Coopersale, was built
at the expense of Miss Archer-Houblon in 1852. (fn. 20) It
was consecrated in the same year and a particular
district assigned to it. (fn. 21) The advowson was vested in
Miss Archer-Houblon and it remained in her family
until 1914 when it was transferred to the Bishop of
Chelmsford. (fn. 22) The building is of flint and consists of
chancel, nave, south porch, and north vestry with bellcote at the west end of the nave. The vicarage was also
built at Miss Archer-Houblon's expense. It stands to
the north of the church and is a gabled house of variegated brickwork. Opposite the church is the Parish
Room, a single-story building dating from about 1865,
of brown brick with dressings of red and black.
For charities relating to the church see Charities,
below.