EPPING

Epping was an ancient parish of 5,319 a., lying about 17 miles north-east of London and adjoining Waltham Holy Cross to the east. (fn. 1) It comprised the hamlets of Epping Upland, in the west and northwest, and Townside, in the south-east, both of which were in Waltham hundred, and that of Rye Hill, in the north-east, which lay in Harlow hundred. Townside was so named from the settlement that grew up during the Middle Ages at Epping Heath, later called Epping Street. The town lay on the boundary with Theydon Garnon, and was partly in that parish. In 1896 Epping Urban District was formed, comprising parts of the civil parishes of Epping, Theydon Garnon, and Theydon Bois. The remainder of Epping became the civil parish of Epping Upland. (fn. 2) In 1934 parts of Epping Upland, Theydon Garnon, and Theydon Bois were added to the urban district, and part of Theydon Garnon was transferred to Epping Upland. (fn. 3) In 1949 and 1955 there were further small boundary changes affecting Epping Upland. (fn. 4) This article deals with the whole ancient parish of Epping. Some of its sections also contain information concerning those parts of the town and its suburbs which were in the ancient parish of Theydon Garnon. (fn. 5)

Epping began as a small group of scattered farms, with a church, on the edge of a densely wooded area. During the Middle Ages its centre moved southwards as the forest was cleared for cultivation and a weekly market established. By the 17th century the forest area had been reduced to little more than its present extent. The village of Epping Heath developed slowly into a small main-road town. In the 18th and early 19th centuries it was a busy staging place for coaches between London, Cambridge and East Anglia. This traffic was killed by the railways. The town, by-passed by the main lines, declined, but it revived after the extension of a branch line from London (1865) and with the coming of motor traffic. There has been some modern residential building and a little industrial growth near the town. Epping Upland, the older part of the ancient parish, is still largely rural.

The soil is mainly London clay with belts of boulder clay especially in the north and north-east. The town is about 350 ft. above sea level. Farther north the land falls to about 150 ft., where Cobbins Brook runs south-west from Rye Hill towards Waltham Abbey, and then rises again to 350 ft. at the village of Epping Green on the northern border of the parish.

The whole of the ancient parish lay within the Forest of Essex and much of the parish was probably still thickly wooded in the 11th century. (fn. 6) A 'purlieu bank' marking the forest and parish boundary ran along the east side of the heath. (fn. 7) There are still some 500 a. of Epping Forest in the ancient parish, mainly along the southern fringes of the town. Copped Hall, now a ruin, with its park and woodland, occupies the south-west corner of the parish and extends into Waltham Holy Cross. South of that is Epping Forest, of which this part, extending to the outskirts of Epping Town, was formerly called the Little Forest. Beyond the town, to the northeast, are Epping Plain and Wintry Wood, which together form a detached part of the forest formerly known as the Great Forest.

The Iron-Age hill-fort, now called Ambresbury Banks, lies in the forest on the border between Waltham Holy Cross and Epping Upland. With this exception there is little evidence of human occupation in prehistoric or Roman times. The main Saxon settlement was probably in the north of the parish: this may be inferred from the meaning of the name Epping ('the upland dwellers'), (fn. 8) and from the position of the ancient parish church of All Saints, on high ground at Epping Upland to the north of Cobbins Brook, 1½ mile north-west of the town. Most of the medieval manors were in this part of the parish. West of the church were Chambers, Gills, and Campions. East of it were Takeleys and Hayleys, and north-east lay Shingle Hall and Marles. There were also medieval tenements at Parvills (near Campions), Gibbons Bush (near Marles), and Royces, now Rose Farm (near Hayleys). (fn. 9) All these manors and tenements, except Campions, are represented by existing farms. Most of the surviving farmhouses are timber-framed buildings standing on or near moated sites. Gills, Parvills, Hunters Hall (near Chambers), and Rivetts (at Rye Hill) are thought to be of 16th-century origin, while Chambers, Marles, Takeleys, and Pinchtimber Farm (near Takeleys) are attributed to the 17th century. (fn. 10) All these houses have later alterations and are faced with weather-boarding, brick, or modern roughcast.

EPPING 1964

Between the 12th century and the 16th Waltham Abbey, as the largest landowner, began to develop the southern part of the parish. The abbey's original manor was Eppingbury, the demesne of which lay on both sides of the present Eppingbury Farm and included Epping Heath. Copped Hall was acquired by the abbey in 1350. In both manors much forest clearance was undertaken in and after the 12th century. (fn. 11) When settlement originated on Epping Heath is unknown. It has been suggested that the settlement was founded to maintain an ancient beacon, (fn. 12) which certainly existed in the 14th century and later. (fn. 13) It was near the main road to the south of the heath, at Bell Common, formerly called Beacon Common. (fn. 14) From this spot there is an extensive view over the Thames valley to the Kentish hills. There is, however, no evidence of any special connexion between the beacon and early settlement on the heath. People were living there before 1235 (fn. 15) and growth was stimulated by the grant of a market charter in 1253. (fn. 16)

The earliest houses at the heath were probably on the west side, by the chapel and the market place. As the town developed buildings were also erected on the east side, above the 'purlieu bank'. Growth was slow. In 1801 the total population of the parish was only 1,812 though most of this was concentrated in the town. A map of 1777 shows buildings along the whole of the east side of the High Street and on the west side from the chapel north to the Green. There were also houses in Hemnall Street (formerly Back Street), Church Hill, and Lindsey Street but elsewhere in the parish, apart from scattered farmsteads, only the hamlet of Epping Green showed a group of houses. (fn. 17)

Epping town has owed much of its development to its main road position. Norden's Map of Essex (1594) shows four roads converging at Epping Street. (fn. 18) One was from Harlow, on the north, corresponding with the present main road. A second was from Waltham Abbey, on the west, probably corresponding with the present lane via Upshire. The third, which entered Epping from the south, came from Stratford via Chigwell, Abridge Bridge, and Theydon Garnon. The fourth, less important than the others, was from Passingford Bridge on the south-east. If the map is to be trusted there were then two main roads to London — one through Waltham Abbey, the other through Abridge — both involving a longer journey than the present main road through the forest via Woodford. There has been much discussion as to the origins of the present road and the exact course of the old Abridge Road. Morant states that the ancient way from Harlow to London, by-passing Epping, was 'from the corner of Wintry Wood, where the turnpike stands, across the forest to Abridge'. (fn. 19) He suggests that John Baker's bequest of 1518 for repairing the road between Harlow and London (fn. 20) 'seems to have been for the sake of Epping Street, to induce travellers to go that way; and the intention was answered'. Morant is silent about the extent and course of the diversion. If travellers to London continued to use the Abridge route they must have rejoined the old road after leaving Epping but before Abridge Bridge. To fit this theory, it has been suggested that a route via Bower Hill rejoined the old road near Theydon Garnon church; alternatively, it is suggested that a new main road was developed, through Theydon Bois to Loughton. (fn. 21) There is, however, no evidence that the main road ever followed this latter course. Norden's map shows no main roads through Loughton, and is supported on this point by other evidence from the late 16th century. (fn. 22)

More important than any possible diversion to the east or south of Epping was the making of a direct road south-west through the forest to Loughton, on the line of the present road. Such a road had certainly come into existence by 1678 (fn. 23) and was probably made in the early 17th century. (fn. 24) A piece of evidence in connexion with this road is a map of 1634 which shows the London Road passing in front of Winchelsea House. (fn. 25) This, however, does not prove that the main road then went through Loughton. As late as 1640 a road from Epping to Waltham was described as the road to London. (fn. 26) In 1768 the main road from Harlow to Epping and Loughton came under the care of the Epping and Ongar Highway Trust. (fn. 27)

The other roads in the parish seem to have been of no more than local importance. In c. 1777 there was a road from Rye Hill south-west through Severs Green, and Camps Green (later known as Gibbons Bush Green), to Epping Long Green. (fn. 28) About 300 yds. in the centre of this have been incorporated in the road from Epping Green to Roydon Hamlet. The remainder, comprising green lanes lying east and west of this metalled strip, was scheduled for preservation under the Epping Forest Act (1878) and is now administered by the Corporation of the City of London as an outlier of the forest. (fn. 29) This road formed the parish boundary, and was probably of very early origin. The road from Thornwood Common past Epping Upland Church and Chambers to Parvills must also have been old, since it linked several of the medieval manor houses. The portion of it between Hayleys and Takeleys seems, however, to be later than c. 1777. In c. 1777 there was a lane running north from Parvills to Epping Long Green: this is now a rough track. South-west from Parvills runs another track leading to Claverhambury Road in Waltham Holy Cross. In 1601 the road past Chambers was said to be a thoroughfare linking Harlow with Waltham Abbey. In that year Richard Rainsford, lord of the manor of Gills, was accused of obstructing travellers by locking a gate across the road. (fn. 30)

The improvement of the main road through Epping, during the administration of the Epping and Ongar Highway Trust, stimulated traffic by this route. In the early 19th century some 25 coaches passed through the town each day, to and from London, Norwich, Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and other places. (fn. 31) During the 1840's the construction of main-line railways which by-passed Epping destroyed this traffic. By 1848 there appear to have remained only two daily coaches to London. The nearest railway station was then 6 miles away at Waltham Cross, on the London to Cambridge line built by the Northern and Eastern Railway Co. in 1840–2. (fn. 32) The building of a railway to Epping was under consideration as early as 1845. (fn. 33) In 1856 the Eastern Counties Railway opened a branch linking Loughton with the main line at Stratford, and in 1865 this was extended to Epping and Chipping Ongar. (fn. 34) The line was electrified as far as Epping in 1948–9, and from Epping to Ongar in 1958. (fn. 35)

With the construction of the railway and, at the end of the century, the development of road transport, (fn. 36) the town revived. The railway was about ½ mile east of the High Street and stimulated building on that side of the town. On the other side development started in the late 19th century with St. John's Road and Chapel Road. Since the Second World War the urban district council has built housing estates on this side at Beaconfield and Coronation Hill and near the railway at Steward's Green and Centre Drive. In 1891, at the last census before the civil division of the parish, the total population was 2,565. In 1961 that of the urban district was 10,001, and of Epping Upland civil parish 808. (fn. 37)

Rebuilding, in and after the 18th century, is largely responsible for the present appearance of High Street, now continuously built up on both sides. In several cases, however, later frontages conceal timber-framed structures of the 17th century and earlier. (fn. 38) One of the few timber-framed gables which still face the roadway belongs to the 'Black Lion' inn, standing near the north end of High Street on its west side. Several of the other old houses are inns surviving from the coaching age. About 1800 there were 26 inns in the town and its southern approaches. (fn. 39) After the decline of coach traffic most of these were demolished or converted into shops. Among those remaining are the 'Black Lion', the 'Thatched House', the 'Cock', the 'White Swan', and the 'George and Dragon'. The 'Thatched House' is largely an 18th-century building. Next to it the 'Cock' has a long gault brick frontage of c. 1800, masking part of a timber-framed structure, probably of 16th-century origin. The 'George and Dragon' is also a timber-framed building with a later brick front. The 'White Swan' was largely reconstructed in the 1920's, (fn. 40) but the adjoining house, refronted in the 18th century, has walls of closestudded timbering. The 'White Lion', dating from the 16th century, and containing original fireplaces and other features, was demolished in 1960. (fn. 41) There are few 18th-century houses of any quality in High Street, but on its west side are two good early-19th-century gault brick frontages, their windows set in recessed arcading. At the south end of High Street and in High Road a few detached timber-framed houses have survived, most of them dating from the 17th century. On the west side of High Road are Epping Place and Winchelsea House, now two dwellings, but originally one. The house was rebuilt on an older site c. 1700 and enlarged later. This was at first the manor house and subsequently an inn. (fn. 42) Opposite the house, to the south of the main road, is Bell Common, preserved under the Epping Forest Act, 1878, as a public open space. Epping's most conspicuous landmark, the tall red-brick water tower erected in 1872, stands to the west of the main road at the southern approach to the town. In Hemnall Street, to the east of High Street, are the Friends' meeting-house, built about 1845, and Kendal Lodge, a late-18th-century house with a large garden.

Apart from the High Street perhaps the oldest part of the town is Lindsey Street, a group of houses on the road to Epping Upland. The name of Lindsey Street, probably meaning 'inclosure at the top of the hill', goes back to 1200. (fn. 43) In the 18th and 19th centuries this was the working-class quarter of the town, containing the maltings, the brewery, the workhouse, and the pest-house. At the east end of the street is still a small open green. On the south side of this is a roughcast building of timber framing and brick, with jettied gable to the east end. Nearby is the group composed of the former British School, built in 1845, and the Congregational church of late-17th-century origin, rebuilt in 1774 and refronted in 1887. Maltings Lane, which runs off the north-east corner of the green, contains a row of early-18th-century weather-boarded cottages. Farther west in Lindsey Street is Beulah Lodge, a 17th-century house weather-boarded to the rear and with an early-19th-century brick front. To the north, at Epping Green, some 18th-century houses survive but most of the village has been built in the present century.

South-east of Lindsey Street, lying between Church Hill and High Street, is a fine green running up to Harlow Road and Epping Plain. In Harlow Road are four late-18th-century houses, Hill Crest, Egg Hall, Forest Lodge, and Wintry Park Farm. The name Wintry ('winter inclosure'), goes back to 1200. (fn. 44) Wintry Park, mentioned by that name in 1403, (fn. 45) was probably formed under the royal grant of 1225. (fn. 46) It is marked on Norden's Map of Essex (1594) but is not shown as a park on later county maps. In c. 1777 Wintry Park was a farm, with a patch of woodland to the south, and another, called Wintry Wood, to the north. (fn. 47) By 1799 the woodland had been removed, and the name Wintry Wood was later transferred to the part of the Great Forest on the opposite side of the road. (fn. 48) Among the buildings that have disappeared from the town are the market house in High Street (fn. 49) and a windmill (fn. 50) at Bell Common. In the 18th century there was a bowlinggreen near the mill. (fn. 51)

A sub-post office had been established at Epping by 1717. (fn. 52) It was linked with that at Ongar. (fn. 53) In 1820 a receiving house was opened at Epping Green. (fn. 54) The telegraph was introduced at Epping in 1870. (fn. 55)

The worthies connected with the parish have been listed in another volume. (fn. 56) The best-known was probably Lionel Cranfield, Earl of Middlesex (1575– 1645), who lived at Copped Hall. (fn. 57) Perhaps the most important of the clergy was the Puritan Jeremy Dyke (vicar 1610–39). Benjamin Winstone (d. 1907) made important contributions to the history of Epping, where he spent most of his life. Joseph Clegg, who was a medical practitioner in the town from c. 1849 to c. 1888, conducted a remarkable campaign, lasting for more than 20 years, to improve sanitary conditions there. (fn. 58)

MANORS.

Three manors were listed under Epping in Domesday Book. (fn. 59) Firstly, Count Alan held 1½ hide and ½ virgate, said to be in Harlow hundred; this was probably identical with the later manors of Madells and Hayleys. Secondly, Ranulf brother of Ilger held a manor in Nazeing and Epping. (fn. 60) Thirdly, the canons of Waltham held 2 hides and 15 a. in Epping; this was the nucleus of the manor of EPPING or EPPINGBURY, which lay in the centre and south of the ancient parish of Epping. These three manors seem insufficient to account for the whole of the ancient parish, and there is no doubt that some of the estates listed in Domesday Book as being in Waltham Holy Cross extended into Epping. (fn. 61) In 1177, when Henry II re-founded Waltham, he granted to the canons land in Sewardstone (in Waltham) and Epping worth £28 a year. (fn. 62) This had probably been part of the great manor of Waltham which in 1086 had been held by the Bishop of Durham and subsequently passed to the Crown. (fn. 63) A record of 1212 describes the grant of Henry II as having consisted of two members of his manor of Waltham, namely Priestbury and Sewardstone. The same document states that Richard I augmented his father's alms by granting to the canons the residue of the manor of Waltham, at fee farm. (fn. 64)

PRIESTBURY was probably the estate held early in the 12th century by Bruning the priest, a canon of Waltham, comprising 1 hide and 40 a. at Epping and land at Waltham. (fn. 65) About 1108 Henry I granted it to Bruning's son Adam, who was to pay a rent of 5s. to the canons of Waltham. (fn. 66) About 1115 Maud, wife of Henry I, notified the canons that she had granted the land of Bruning to the monks of St. Cuthbert, Durham, and the king confirmed the grant. (fn. 67) This land comprised 1½ hide in Epping and ½ hide in Nazeing. There is no later evidence that the priory of Durham held land in Epping, Nazeing, or Waltham. Priestbury, which from 1177 descended with Eppingbury, probably lay north of Cobbins Brook, near the maple tree where its courts were still being held in the 18th century. (fn. 68)

The capital manor of Epping, sometimes known after the 12th century as EPPINGBURY AND PRIESTBURY (or PRESBITER) remained in the possession of Waltham Abbey until the 16th century. The abbey's demesnes in Epping were enlarged in 1350 by the acquisition of Copped Hall and Shingle Hall. Among the free tenements in the parish held of the abbey were Gills and Takeleys, both later styled manors. In 1533 Thomas Cromwell suggested that the abbey should exchange Copped Hall park and the manor of Epping for Crown lands elsewhere. (fn. 69) Copped Hall (fn. 70) was exchanged. Epping manor, however, seems to have remained with the abbey until the Dissolution. In 1548 Edward VI granted Epping and Copped Hall manors to his sister Mary. (fn. 71) In 1558 she annexed them to the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 72) In 1572 Elizabeth I granted Epping manor to Sir Thomas Heneage and his wife Anne, to hold of the Duchy as 1/20 knight's fee. (fn. 73) They had already been granted the reversion of Copped Hall. Anne died in 1593, Thomas in 1595. (fn. 74) Their daughter and heir was Elizabeth, wife of Sir Moyle Finch (d. 1614). In 1623, in return for the surrender of Copped Hall, she was created Viscountess Maidstone, and in 1628 she became Countess of Winchilsea. (fn. 75) On her death in 1633 her son Thomas Finch inherited as Earl of Winchilsea. (fn. 76) In 1636 he sold this manor to William Grey, Lord Grey of Warke, (fn. 77) who had married a grand-daughter of Sir Moyle Finch. (fn. 78) William died in 1674, leaving a son Ralph and a daughter Catherine, wife of Sir Charles North, later Lord North. (fn. 79) Ralph, Lord Grey held this estate for less than a year. (fn. 80) His son and heir Ford, Lord Grey, joined Monmouth's rebellion and fought at Sedgemoor. He secured the king's pardon by giving evidence against his associates and by paying a fine of £10,000, raised from his Epping estates by selling long leases to the tenants. (fn. 81) He was created Earl of Tankerville in 1695 and died in 1701. (fn. 82) He was succeeded by his brother Ralph, Lord Grey, a soldier and Governor of Barbados. (fn. 83) On Ralph's death in 1706 the Epping estate passed, by entail created in 1672, to his cousin William North, Lord North and Grey, son of the above-mentioned Charles, Lord North. (fn. 84) North and Grey commanded a regiment at Blenheim, was arrested in 1722 as a Jacobite plotter and subsequently fled to the continent, never to return. He died in 1734 and immediately afterwards his heirs sold the Epping estate to Edward Conyers of Walthamstow, M.P. for East Grinstead (Suss.). (fn. 85) Conyers also bought Copped Hall in 1739. He died in 1742 and was followed by his son John (d. 1775) who further enlarged the estate by buying Campions (see below) in 1761. (fn. 86) John Conyers, son of John, was lord of the manor from 1775 until his death in 1818. (fn. 87) About 1796 he bought Chambers and Gills (see below). He was succeeded by his son Henry John Conyers, who in 1840 owned some 2,800 a. in the parish. (fn. 88) On the death of H. J. Conyers in 1853 (fn. 89) the manor passed to his eldest daughter Julia, wife of Anthony John Ashley. (fn. 90) Ashley died in 1867 and in 1869 Julia sold the Epping estate to George Wythes. (fn. 91) Wythes or his successors added Hayleys, Shingle Hall, and Takeleys to the estate, which by this time included over half the parish and all the manors except Madells. On George Wythes's death in 1883 his son George E. Wythes succeeded. (fn. 92) He died without issue in 1887 and the manor passed to his brother Ernest J. Wythes, (fn. 93) who died in 1949 leaving three daughters. (fn. 94)

The ancient manor house of Eppingbury lay at the junction of Bury Road with Lindsey Street, immediately south of the present Eppingbury farmhouse. The site is indicated by fishponds and the remains of a moat. In the Middle Ages the house was a grange of Waltham Abbey. Sir Thomas Heneage, when he acquired Eppingbury in 1572, was already living at Copped Hall, which remained the manor house until its surrender in 1623. Shortly after 1623, and certainly before 1630, the Countess of Winchilsea built a new manor house on land inclosed from the forest, at the southern approach to Epping town, west of the main road. (fn. 95) This was called Winchelsea House, and is shown on a map of 1634 as a tall gabled building. (fn. 96) It may have been damaged by fire about 1672 and was later rebuilt, probably before the end of the 17th century and almost certainly before 1706. In the early 18th century, if not earlier, its name was changed to Epping Place. Ralph, Lord Grey (d. 1706), and his successor William, Lord North and Grey, used the house occasionally, but after 1722 it was never occupied by the lord of the manor except in c. 1748–58, when John Conyers probably lived there during the rebuilding of Copped Hall. From 1758 until c. 1844 it was the Epping Place Inn. About 1872 it was converted into two dwellings, of which the one nearer Epping is now called Epping Place and the other Winchelsea House. Epping Place represents the main part of the manor house as reconstructed at about the end of the 17th century. It is a square brick building of two stories, cellars, and attics, having tall windows, a heavy modillion eaves cornice, and a steeply pitched hipped roof. Internally most of the rooms are panelled and there is a fine staircase with twisted balusters. (fn. 97) A description of the building in 1735 mentions a kitchen at a distance from the house, connected to it by a covered way and a row of service rooms. (fn. 98) The present Winchelsea House evidently represents a reconstruction of this two-storied kitchen wing, probably carried out early in the 19th century to increase the accommodation of Epping Place Inn. New rooms were built in front of the covered way, bringing the facade of the wing into line with that of the main block. The back wall of Winchelsea House retains much of its late17th-century brickwork and a tall archway in the hall is possibly a survival from the original covered way. The identical classical porches to the two houses date from the early 19th century; there is some evidence that the entrance to Winchelsea House was moved from the side to the front of the building when the division into two houses took place in c. 1872. Part of the cellar under the main block may have belonged to the original house built by the Countess of Winchilsea in about 1630. (fn. 99)

The manor of EPPING or CAMPIONS lay in the north-west corner of the parish, near the Waltham boundary. The manor house, which was demolished more than a century ago, stood south of Parvills Farm. (fn. 100) The Campion family, from which the manor derived its name, was associated with Epping and Waltham from the 14th century. (fn. 101) Their estate may originally have been connected with Chambers (see below). In 1490 and 1529 John Campion was holding a manor court for Campions. (fn. 102) He was succeeded by Edward Campion, who held his first court in 1539. (fn. 103) In 1544 Edward and his wife Helena conveyed the manor to William Blackwell, (fn. 104) who in 1565 also acquired Chambers. Blackwell still held Campions in 1569. (fn. 105) By 1578 it was held by John Searle, (fn. 106) also Lord of Chambers, and of Takeleys (see below). Edward Searle, son of John, was holding Campions in 1594. (fn. 107) He died in 1625. (fn. 108) His son and heir John seems to have sold Campions to Thomas Wynch, who in 1633 held his court there. (fn. 109) He died in 1653. (fn. 110) In 1655 the manor was held by William Hester and his wife Alice, (fn. 111) who was perhaps the daughter of that name mentioned in Wynch's will. (fn. 112) In 1693 William Hester conveyed Campions with lands, rents and view of frankpledge, to William Hambly and John Hester. (fn. 113) In 1748 William Hester, a filazer of the Court of Common Pleas, died holding it. (fn. 114) It passed to his cousin, another William Hester, (fn. 115) who left it to his son, also called William. (fn. 116) In 1761 Campions was purchased by John Conyers, and was thus merged in the Copped Hall estate. (fn. 117) About this time it was said to be worth about £80 a year. (fn. 118) Courts baron for Campions were held in 1794–1847. (fn. 119) In 1847 there were still two copyhold tenants, (fn. 120) but by 1873 Campions had ceased to be a manor, as all the copyholds had been enfranchised. (fn. 121) Before 1840 the manorial lands had been detached from the lordship. In that year the lands were owned by Edward Williams and let to William Pegrum. (fn. 122)

Epping Place: Late-17th-Century Staircase

The manor of CHAMBERS lay a little to the west of Epping (Upland) parish church. It was held in chief for ¼ knight's fee, though in the 15th century Waltham Abbey sometimes claimed the overlordship. The name comes from the family which held the manor in the 14th and 15th centuries. The nucleus of the manor was probably an estate held in the 13th century by a family named Graunt or Gaunt. In 1248 the Abbot of Waltham recognized the right of Adam le Graunt to 6 messuages and 40 a. land in Epping. (fn. 123) An Adam le Gaunt was a verderer of Waltham hundred in 1277 and of Ongar regard in 1285 and 1292. (fn. 124) In 1303 John le Graunt the younger was holding ¼ knight's fee in Epping. (fn. 125) In 1316 Thomas Campion (Cumpaigne) and Agnes his wife, whose family later gave its name to the manor of Campions (see above), conveyed to Gilbert atte Chaumbre the reversion of 44 a. land, 3½ a. meadow, 4 a. pasture, 2½ a. wood, 5s. rent and ¹/6 messuage in Epping, which Bartholomew Joye was holding by courtesy of England, of Agnes's inheritance. (fn. 126) As Agnes's dower this would represent only ⅓ the value of the manor. Agnes may have been one of the heirs of John le Graunt, for in 1346 Gilbert de la Chaumbre (perhaps the son of the previous Gilbert), the heirs of William de Belde (Welde?) and Hubert de Herlawe were holding ¼ knight's fee previously held by John le Graunt. (fn. 127) The family of Chaumbre (or Camera) had been prominent in the district since the early 13th century. A Gilbert de Camera acted as the attorney of the Abbot of Waltham in 1239 and 1248. (fn. 128) Elias de Camera occurs in 1274. (fn. 129)

The Gilbert de la Chaumbre of 1346 was probably identical with the man of the same name who occurs, with his wife Joan, in 1355 and 1357. (fn. 130) Joan died in 1375; her son Edmund de la Chaumbre had already succeeded to his father's lands. (fn. 131) Edmund died in 1400. (fn. 132) The wardship of his son John, a minor, was granted by the king to John Mershe. (fn. 133) John de la Chaumbre came of age in 1411; it was then stated that his tenement in Epping comprised 180 a. land, 12 a. meadow and 10 a. wood, and that it was held of Waltham Abbey for a rent of 12s. 4d. (fn. 134) In the same year he was licensed to enter upon his land, saving the dower of his father's wife, Margaret. (fn. 135) In 1421 John conveyed all his lands in Epping to John Skrene and others. (fn. 136) In 1422 Thomas atte Chaumbre, uncle of John, confirmed the conveyance to John Skrene, William Skrene the younger, and the other parties named in the previous grant. (fn. 137) In 1427–30 a complicated series of conveyances, involving many trustees, was executed, apparently for the purpose of vesting the manor in Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham. (fn. 138) Langley himself was not a party to these conveyances but several of the trustees, such as Thomas Lyes, his registrar and later his executor, (fn. 139) were his associates. They must have been acting as his agents for in 1428 the bishop was holding ¼ knight's fee in Epping, formerly held by John le Graunt. (fn. 140) Langley died in 1437. The nature of his interest in Chambers is not clear, for the Skrene family, to which the manor had been conveyed in 1421–2, retained, or regained control of it. William Skrene the younger died in 1431. Chambers is not mentioned in his inquisition post mortem, (fn. 141) but in 1474 it was stated that he had held the manor and had been succeeded there by his son John. (fn. 142) John certainly held Chambers at his death in 1452, when it comprised 200 a. land, 20 a. meadow, 12 a. wood, and 12 a. pasture. (fn. 143) It then descended with Barwicks in Stanford Rivers in the Skrene and Harper families. (fn. 144) In 1530 George Harper conveyed the manor to John Halmer and others. (fn. 145) Halmer died in 1536 and his wife Agnes in 1541. Henry Halmer, perhaps John's brother, succeeded to the manor, which had been entailed upon him with remainder to John's son Thomas. (fn. 146) In 1565 Thomas Halmer conveyed Chambers to William Blackwell. (fn. 147) With Campions (see above) it passed to John Searle, who held a court for Chambers in 1573. (fn. 148) The manor remained in the Searle family, which from 1610 also held Gills, for over two centuries. (fn. 149) From 1576 to the early 18th century they also held Takeleys (see below), but they sold Campions before 1633. Chambers was purchased from the Searles, about 1796, by John Conyers, and was thus merged in the Copped Hall estate. (fn. 150) In 1840 and 1869 Chambers farm comprised 381 a. (fn. 151) In the late 19th century it was stated that the manor of Chambers had a number of copyhold tenants and extended over a wide area, including Epping Long Green. (fn. 152) The manor house, which probably dates from the 17th century, is a timber-framed building, originally L-shaped, much re-faced in brick. (fn. 153) Part of a moat survives.

The manor of COPPED HALL lay in the southwest of the parish and extended into Waltham Holy Cross. The original manor house stood in Waltham but the mansion built in the 18th century was about 250 yds. to the south-east in Epping. The name means 'peaked hall' and probably refers to peaks or turrets surmounting the medieval building. (fn. 154) The manor originated as a tenement held in serjeanty in the 12th century by Aucher the Huntsman, for the service to the king indicated by Aucher's surname. Aucher first appears in 1165, as one of the farmers of the manor of Waltham. (fn. 155) In 1166 the king excused him the payment of 26s. due from his lands in Waltham. (fn. 156) The grant was repeated annually in the pipe rolls until 1175, when it was made permanent by a royal charter stating that Aucher had owed the 26s. for the land which had belonged to his father and Orgar his brother. The charter stipulated that Aucher and his heirs should serve the king as huntsmen. (fn. 157) This office subsequently became the forestership of Waltham hundred and descended in Aucher's family. (fn. 158) The charge of 26s. for Aucher's land continued to be set against the sheriff's farm until 1187. (fn. 159) In 1188 it was credited for the land of Richard Fitz Aucher, indicating that he had succeeded his father during that Exchequer year. (fn. 160) Fitz Aucher also received, by grant of Henry II, an estate called the Pinnacle, formerly belonging to Philip Fitz Viel, and another, formerly belonging to Puhier and later called Poeresland. The Pinnacle was part of the manor later called Hooks and Pinnacles, in Waltham Holy Cross. Poeresland may have been near Copped Hall. (fn. 161)

Richard Fitz Aucher died before 1227, when his son Henry Fitz Aucher was granted his father's lands in High Laver. (fn. 162) In 1229 Richard's widow Ellen was granted dower in his lands in Waltham, Epping, and elsewhere. (fn. 163) In 1231 Henry Fitz Aucher had the royal licence to enlarge his park at Epping. (fn. 164) Copped Hall descended as the manor of High Laver until the 14th century. (fn. 165) The park was further enlarged in 1285 and 1293. (fn. 166) At the death of Henry Fitz Aucher in 1303 Copped Hall manor comprised a park of 60 a., with 100 a. land, 20 a. meadow, and assize rents of 26s. 8d. (fn. 167) By this time the nature of the tenure seems to have been changed. Copped Hall, with Shingle Hall (see below) and High Laver, were said to be held of Waltham Abbey for ¼ knight's fee. (fn. 168) The office of forester of Waltham hundred was still held in serjeanty, but apparently without lands attached to it. (fn. 169) In 1337 Aucher Fitz Henry, son and heir of Henry Fitz Aucher, conveyed the reversion of Copped Hall and Shingle Hall to Sir John Shardlowe, retaining a life interest. (fn. 170) In 1350 Shardlowe, his wife Joan, and his brother Thomas, exchanged these manors with Waltham Abbey for lands at Boreham and in Cambridgeshire. (fn. 171) In 1380 the canons of Waltham were licensed to enlarge Copped Hall park. (fn. 172) In 1386 or earlier they acquired the forestership of the hundred. (fn. 173)

Waltham Abbey retained Copped Hall until shortly before the Dissolution. In 1536–7, after negotiations lasting at least three years and involving several different schemes, the abbey appears to have exchanged the manor with the king for land in Little Warley and at Kentish Town (St. Pancras, Mdx.). (fn. 174) In the same year Giles Churchill was appointed the royal keeper of Copped Hall park, and was granted leases of land adjoining it. (fn. 175) In 1548 Edward VI granted Copped Hall to Princess Mary, (fn. 176) who sometimes lived there during her brother's reign. (fn. 177) In 1558 the manor was annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster and in the same year was leased to Sir Thomas Cornwallis. (fn. 178) In 1564 the reversion of the manor was granted to Sir Thomas Heneage and his wife Anne, to hold of the Duchy as 1/40 knight's fee. (fn. 179) In 1594, after Anne's death, Sir Thomas married Mary Wriothesley, dowager Countess of Southampton. (fn. 180) He died in 1595, having apparently settled Copped Hall on Mary as her jointure. Soon after this the countess married Sir William Darby, and with him was involved in a Chancery suit brought by Heneage's daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir Moyle Finch. (fn. 181) Copped Hall subsequently passed to Lady Finch, who used it to buy a peerage. As early as 1618 she was negotiating for this purpose. (fn. 182) In 1623 she was created Viscountess Maidstone through the influence of Lionel Cranfield, Earl of Middlesex, then Lord Treasurer, and of the king's relatives the Duke and Duchess of Richmond. In return Lady Maidstone conveyed Copped Hall to the Richmonds, who passed it on to Cranfield. The exact details of this three-cornered transaction are not clear, but what seems to have happened is that Lady Maidstone handed over the estate without payment, or at much less than the market value, and that Cranfield bought it from the Richmonds at a price which profited both parties. (fn. 183)

Cranfield made Copped Hall his principal residence. (fn. 184) The manor descended with the earldom of Middlesex until 1700, when Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, sold it to Thomas Webster of Nelmes, Hornchurch. (fn. 185) Webster, later a baronet and M.P. for Colchester, (fn. 186) sold Copped Hall in 1739 to Edward Conyers, who already held the manor of Epping. (fn. 187) Copped Hall subsequently descended with Epping.

The original manor house of Copped Hall was about 250 yds. north-west of the present site, in Waltham Holy Cross. (fn. 188) There was probably a building there from the late 12th century, but no detailed architectural evidence is available before the 16th. It is possible that between 1564 and 1568 Sir Thomas Heneage enlarged an existing brick building which may have been L-shaped on plan, to complete a quadrangle. Further alterations were made in the 17th century. The demolition of Old Copped Hall was begun by John Conyers I in 1748; work on the present site probably started in 1751 and was still going on in 1758. In 1775–7 John Conyers II redecorated the principal rooms. The lodges on the Waltham road probably also date from this period. The house was enlarged about 1895 by E. J. Wythes. It was gutted by fire in 1917 and was not rebuilt.

A grant of Henry II to Richard Fitz Aucher of 2 a. assart for the purpose of erecting a house is the earliest known evidence for a building at Copped Hall. (fn. 189) The abbots of Waltham or their tenants may have used the house as a hunting lodge, and in the exchange with the Crown in 1536–7 it was stated that Henry VIII liked to stay there. (fn. 190) Local tradition suggests that Sir Thomas Heneage enlarged an existing building. (fn. 191) If so, the older part of the house was probably the entrance range, containing the great hall, and at least part of one of the side wings with its centrally-placed chapel. It seems likely that Heneage's building operations took place between 1564, when he was granted the reversion of Copped Hall, and 1568, when the queen visited him there. (fn. 192) As a result of his work the house assumed approximately its final form: a square courtyard enclosed on three sides by three-storied ranges and completed on the fourth by a single-storied loggia, originally open to the garden. The orientation of the building is not certain, but is probably that shown on a map of 1634 with the entrance range to the south of the courtyard and the loggia to the north; (fn. 193) elsewhere there is a suggestion that the principal axis lay east and west. (fn. 194) The earliest known plan is that among the drawings of John Thorpe (d. c. 1655). (fn. 195) This has obvious discrepancies and may not represent the house as it actually existed in the early 17th century. An engraving published in 1735 gives a birds-eye view from the garden side (fn. 196) and 18th-century paintings show both garden and entrance fronts. (fn. 197) The most important evidence, however, is provided by plans, sketches and measured drawings made in the 1740's shortly before the demolition of the house. (fn. 198) The drawings are attributed to Sir Roger Newdigate, who married Sir John Conyer's sister in 1743. (fn. 199)

Newdigate's view of the entrance front shows that it had a polygonal central porch with a corbelled and embattled parapet. (fn. 200) This parapet is also found above the bays between the porch and the square angle towers; the cupolas on these towers appear to have been added to an existing structure. Fuller, however, writing about 1655, refers to 'two ancient and essential turrets' and suggests that the house may have taken its name from them. (fn. 201) The courtyard side of the entrance range also had an embattled parapet. Here Heneage built an ornate central porch which bore his arms; the round-headed doorway was flanked by shell-headed niches containing figures. Above was a mullioned and transomed window of 18 lights. (fn. 202)

In 1626 Cranfield decided to rebuild the loggia or 'open taris' with the columns facing the inner courtyard instead of the garden. The work, done by Edmund Kinsman, Inigo Jones's mason, was apparently not completed before the end of 1630. The new loggia had a balustraded parapet and a row of window-like openings on the garden side. In the centre was a gateway with a scrolled pediment. (fn. 203) In 1639 a storm destroyed the end windows of the long gallery which occupied the whole length of one of the side wings in the first floor. (fn. 204) These were rebuilt as composite windows with several tiers of lights, some being rectangular, some round-headed, and some oval. The end windows of the opposite wing were altered to correspond. These alterations, like the garden front of the loggia, were in an unusually advanced style, comparable with the work of Inigo Jones.

The interior cannot be completely reconstructed. The Earl of Northumberland, who visited Copped Hall in 1604, noted the dimensions of the chief rooms: the long gallery was 174 ft. long, 24 ft. wide and 23 ft. high. The end windows (destroyed by the storm of 1639) had 10 lights across and 4 in height. The dimensions of the great chamber, bed-chamber, and withdrawing-chamber, correspond roughly with those given in the 18th-century plan for three rooms on the first floor of the entrance range, namely the Abbot's room (postulating the subsequent screening-off of a passage at the east end), the State bed-chamber, and the dressing-room. (fn. 205) Newdigate's drawings of the panelling in the Abbot's room and of various fireplaces give an idea of the original fittings. (fn. 206) They also show the central fireplace, bearing Heneage's arms, on one side of the gallery. The fireplace was flanked by doorways, with his crest on the plinth, giving access to the upper part of the chapel. (fn. 207) Apart from the gallery, chapel, and kitchen, all in the same wing, the rooms mentioned in an inventory of 1679 cannot be certainly identified with those on the 18th-century plan. (fn. 208) Much of Cranfield's furniture, a portrait of James I, and Mytens's copies (c. 1620) of Raphael's cartoons, were removed to Knole (in Sevenoaks, Kent), in 1701 by Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorest and Middlesex. (fn. 209)

Edward Conyers, who bought Copped Hall in 1739, erected in the chapel a Flemish window, bought from John Olmius of New Hall, Boreham. This is said to have been originally intended for Henry VII's chapel, Westminster Abbey, to commemorate the marriage of Prince Arthur and Katharine of Aragon, and to have been placed in Waltham Abbey before going to New Hall at the Dissolution. In 1758 John Conyers I sold it to St. Margaret's Westminster, where it was erected at the east end. (fn. 210)

When John Conyers I succeeded to the estate in 1742 he at once contemplated demolishing the old house. (fn. 211) Between 1748 and 1750 various schemes by John Sanderson were considered, and estimates were drawn up, envisaging the use of bricks from the old house, except for facing. (fn. 212) By 1751 revised designs by him had been accepted, kilns for white facing-bricks and additional red bricks built in the park, and work on the drains had begun. (fn. 213) Work on the building itself probably began in the same year. (fn. 214) The shell must have been completed by June 1753, when Sanderson sought instructions on the height of the rooms, other than the hall and saloon, on the principal floor. (fn. 215) Conyers probably moved into the new house in 1758, when he leased Epping Place, but the saloon and the best staircase were still incomplete at the end of that year. (fn. 216) Hakewill's engraving of c. 1771 shows a house of 7 bays, the three in the centre projecting under a pediment; the lowest story has rusticated quoins and surround to the doorway. A double flight of steps leads to the pedimented doorway on the first or principal floor; above it is a second story. (fn. 217) The engraving does not show the garret floor, which is mentioned in the estimates, and is clearly visible in a photograph of the east (entrance) front taken before the alterations of c. 1895. (fn. 218) The engraving shows arcades on either side of the entrance front, leading to small pedimented pavilions for which there are several undated designs; an estimate was drawn up in 1751 and Sanderson's undated plan also shows the arcades. (fn. 219) It seems unlikely that the double flight of steps, the arcades, and pavilions were erected at this period. (fn. 220)

In 1763 Conyers commissioned at least one interior design from Robert Adam. (fn. 221) In 1775–7 John Conyers II employed James Wyatt to redecorate the house. A plan of Wyatt's work shows that he made few structural alterations. (fn. 222) His designs survive for the saloon (formerly the hall) and the dining-room. (fn. 223) He probably decorated also the drawing-room and the library. The former, in the south-east corner of the house, had doorcases, frieze, and dado similar to the surviving designs for the saloon and diningroom. (fn. 224) In the library painted decoration with classical motifs was added in the mid 19th century to Wyatt's plasterwork. (fn. 225) Wyatt was probably also responsible for the pedimented lodges and gates, topped by urns, on the Waltham road.

About 1895 E. J. Wythes made extensive alterations to the designs of C. E. Kempe. (fn. 226) The centre of the west (garden) front was faced with four Ionic pilasters and an entablature; the tympanum of the pediment was filled in with sculptured figures, a sundial and a motto; a double flight of steps to a terrace at first-floor level was built; a balustrade was added to the roof and pedimented caps to the chimney-shafts. A three-storied wing lower than the main block was added on the north side. All the windows were cased in stone, in similar fashion to Sanderson's original treatment of the east front. On the east front arcade walls ending in pedimented features were built, based on Sanderson's design as engraved by Hakewill. (fn. 227) The interior was also considerably altered. (fn. 228) The garden was elaborately laid out by Kempe to include stone pavilions and other features in the Renaissance style. The house was severely damaged by fire in 1917 and only the shell remains. (fn. 229)

In 1898 E. J. Wythes built Wood House, nearly a mile to the east of Copped Hall, for a relative of his wife. It was designed by C. E. Kempe and his nephew W. E. Tower. It is a building of three stories and attics, modelled on the mid-17th-century Sparrow's House at Ipswich, having bay windows, gabled dormers and elaborate plasterwork. Wood House was occupied by the Wythes family after the fire at Copped Hall in 1917. (fn. 230)

The approach to Copped Hall until the 19th century appears to have been from the Waltham road, due south of the house. The course of the later drive from the London road, passing New Farm and Wood House, was altered by E. J. Wythes. The entrance gates are flanked by lodges in a late-19th-century half-timbered style and there is a row of estate cottages of similar type along the London road.

The manor of GILLS, which lay about ½ mile south-west of Chambers, was a free tenement held of the manor of Epping. It took its name from the family of Gille (or Gyle), tenants of Waltham Abbey in the 14th and 15th centuries. William Gyle occurs in 1381 and 1400. (fn. 231) In 1402 John Gyle had a tenement at Epping Heath. (fn. 232) In 1501 trustees acting for Marcellin Hales recovered Gills from John Bensten (?) and Maud his wife. (fn. 233) Hales died holding the estate in 1561; it then comprised a messuage, 300 a. land, 40 a. pasture, 36 a. wood, 24 a. meadow and 15s. rent. (fn. 234) He was succeeded by his son Edward, who in 1563 conveyed Gills to (Sir) Anthony Browne. (fn. 235) Richard Rainsford held the manor at his death in 1604. (fn. 236) He or his family had been holding it in 1594. (fn. 237) He was succeeded by his son Robert, who in 1610 conveyed Gills to John Searle. (fn. 238) It subsequently descended with Chambers. In 1840 Gills farm, then part of the Copped Hall estate, comprised 234 a. (fn. 239) The house, which stands on a moated site, is probably a 16th-century building, timber-framed, plastered, and weather-boarded, with an 18th-century addition on the north side. (fn. 240) It is probably the 'new house' mentioned in Marcellin Hales's will of 1561. (fn. 241) Thomas Palmer, whose brass is in Epping Upland church, was living there at his death in 1621. (fn. 242)

The manor of HAYLEYS or HAYLES lay in the east of the parish, near Thornwood Common in North Weald. It was in Rye Hill hamlet, whose inhabitants did suit to the Harlow hundred court. This suggests that it was part of the Domesday manor of Epping, said to be in Harlow hundred, held by Osbern of Alan, Count of Brittany, (fn. 243) and the evidence of the later overlordship points in the same direction. In the 15th century both Hayleys and Madells (see below) were held of the Staffords, Earls of Stafford and later Dukes of Buckingham. Madells was also in Rye Hill hamlet, and it had almost certainly been part of Count Alan's honor.

Hayleys took its name from a family which held it in demesne in the early 14th century. Robert de Heyle held ¹/6 knight's fee in Epping in 1303. (fn. 244) In 1324 an estate in Epping consisting of a messuage, 160 a. land, 7 a. meadow, 8 a. pasture, 6 a. wood and 3s. rent was conveyed to Robert, son of William de Heyle for life, with remainder to Nicholas his son and Agnes, daughter of William de Maldon, and Nicholas's heirs. (fn. 245) William de Maldon and Robert son of Richard de Heyle were parties to this transaction, which reads like a settlement on the marriage of Nicholas and Agnes. In 1346 the heirs of Nicholas de Heyle were said to hold ¹/6 knight's fee in Epping which Robert de Heyle formerly held. (fn. 246) This suggests that Nicholas himself no longer held the estate, although he was still alive in 1348. (fn. 247) In 1357 the estate, identical in size with that of 1324, was settled on Thomas de Maldon and Joan his wife with remainder to William de Holbech, draper of London, and Maud his wife. (fn. 248) Thomas was son of William de Maldon. (fn. 249) There appear to be no later references to the Maldon family in connexion with this estate. William de Holbech, whose will was proved in 1367, left all his stock at Epping and elsewhere, and all his lands in London to his wife for life, with remainder to his kinsman Thomas de Holbech for life, then in trust for sale for charitable uses. (fn. 250) Maud de Holbech does not mention Epping in her will, proved in 1393. (fn. 251)

In 1434 Nicholas Wynchyngham died holding the 'manor of Eppingheath' of the Countess of Stafford. (fn. 252) He also held a manor in Little Totham in right of his wife Alice. The Maldon family had also held land in Little Totham (fn. 253) and it is therefore probable that Wynchyngham was their successor both there and in Epping. Nicholas was succeeded by his grandson Robert de Wynchyngham. The Epping estate subsequently passed to Sir Robert Billesdon (d. 1492), apparently through his wife Joan, daughter of John Williams. At Joan's death in 1496 it was stated that Billesdon had held Hayleys of Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, as of his hundred of Harlow. (fn. 254) If this is correct Billesdon must have acquired the estate by 1460, when the duke died. Joan was succeeded by her son Thomas Billesdon. He died without issue in or before 1501. (fn. 255) His widow Elizabeth, who later married Thomas Gymells, held Hayleys until her death, after which it passed to Thomas Billesdon's brother Simon, who had already inherited Takeleys (see below) under his father's will. Between 1515 and 1529 Simon filed a suit in Chancery against Gymells for the recovery of the title deeds of the manor. (fn. 256) Hayleys apparently passed like Takeleys to John Billesdon, brother of Thomas and Simon, who in 1531 conveyed both these manors to John Smith, probably a cousin. (fn. 257) Smith was succeeded at his death in 1570 by his son Nicholas, (fn. 258) who in 1576 conveyed Hayleys to (Sir) William Rowe. (fn. 259) Rowe died in 1593, having devised the manor to his son William. (fn. 260)

By 1622 Hayleys was owned by Edward Searle, who in that year settled it on his son Andrew, then about to marry Joan, widow of Thomas Palmer. (fn. 261) In 1650 Joan Searle, widow, John and Edward Searle conveyed it to Isaac Foster. (fn. 262) Foster left the manor to his nephew Abraham Foster. Abraham, who also held half of the manor of High Laver, left his estates to his widow for life, and then to his daughters, Sarah, wife of Richard Merry, and Mary, wife of Lewis Scawen. (fn. 263) In 1766, when the Epping and High Laver properties were divided, Hayleys fell to the share of Richard Merry and his son Anthony. (fn. 264) Anthony Merry was lord of the manor in 1780–5, (fn. 265) and William Dawson in 1786. (fn. 266) Margaret Dawson, widow, held it in 1793; she was probably identical with Margaret Coxwell, who held it in 1804. (fn. 267) Henry Coxwell and Margaret his wife made conveyances of Hayleys in 1804–5. (fn. 268) Thomas Saunders was lord in 1806, (fn. 269) and James Stephen in 1820 and 1824. (fn. 270) In 1840 the manor was owned by the parish of St. Anne and St. Agnes, Aldersgate. (fn. 271) It then comprised 218 a. It was later bought by the Wythes family and merged in the Copped Hall estate. (fn. 272) The present farm house of Hayleys, which stands on the original moated site, does not appear to contain any work older than the 19th century. Part of the moat survives near the stream to the west of the house.

The manor of MADELLS or MARLES lay in the north-east of the parish. Like Hayleys (see above) it was in Rye Hill hamlet, whose inhabitants did suit to the Harlow hundred court. This suggests that it was part of the Domesday manor of Epping, said to be in Harlow hundred, held of Count Alan by Osbern, and the descent of Madells makes it almost certain that this was so. Madells took its name from a family of tenants called Madle or Mascle. Richard, son of Osbert le Madle, was holding ½ knight's fee of the honor of Richmond in the time of Henry I. (fn. 273) He was probably the Richard Mascle whose service, apparently in Finchingfield but perhaps also elsewhere, was granted by Alan III, Count of Brittany and first Earl of Richmond (d. 1146), to Aubrey de Vere. (fn. 274) The de Veres were closely connected with the Counts of Brittany in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. (fn. 275) In 1345 Madells was held of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. (fn. 276) It is therefore probable that during the 12th century the overlordship of the manor was granted to the de Veres, perhaps in the form of an intermediate tenancy which only later became regarded as a tenancy-in-chief. After 1345 Madells was usually said to be held of the Staffords, Earls of Stafford and later Dukes of Buckingham. (fn. 277) This powerful family, which held the hundred of Ongar, (fn. 278) seems to have established rights of lordship over various manors in that hundred, including Gaynes Park and Hemnalls in Theydon Garnon, which from the 14th century was closely connected with Madells.

Osbert le Madle held land in Epping and Great Parndon in the reign of Richard I. (fn. 279) In 1201 he was charged with selling stolen cattle at Waltham fair. (fn. 280) Later members of his family with local associations include Richard le Madle, in the reign of Henry III, (fn. 281) and William le Masle in 1280 and 1303. (fn. 282) Geoffrey le Madle occurs in 1312 and 1322. (fn. 283) In 1330 he, or a namesake, granted to Stephen Asshewy the reversion of a messuage, 180 a. land, 12 a. meadow, 6 a. wood, 15 a. pasture and £3 rent in Epping, which Richard Ascelyn then held on a 6-months lease. (fn. 284) In 1337 Asshewy granted the property to Adam de Welle. (fn. 285) Welle held Madells at his death in 1345. (fn. 286) It descended with Hemnalls in Theydon Garnon (fn. 287) until 1553, when Sir William Fitzwilliam conveyed it to John Green. (fn. 288)

Green was succeeded by his son Richard and he by his son John, who died in 1624, leaving John his son and heir. (fn. 289) In 1671 John Green the elder conveyed Marles, as it was usually called from this time, to Robert Stace. (fn. 290) In 1709 William Wood and his wife Mary, and Elizabeth Hemingway, widow, conveyed it to Oliver Marton. (fn. 291) The manor was subsequently divided into halves, but these were reunited and in 1720 the whole manor was held by John Blake, a London merchant, who had apparently bought it from Ralph Rawlings. (fn. 292) In 1748 Priscilla Blake, widow, and John Blake, probably son of the purchaser, made a conveyance of the manor. (fn. 293) John Blake the younger sold Marles in 1804 to John Piggott. (fn. 294) It remained in the Piggott family until 1826, when it was acquired by the Revd. Henry Delves Broughton. (fn. 295) Henry J. Conyers, of Copped Hall, was owner in 1831–2. (fn. 296) In 1840 Marles, then comprising 210 a., belonged to the Revd. Joseph Arkwright, of Mark Hall, Latton. (fn. 297) It has subsequently remained in the Arkwright family. Manor courts were still being held in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (fn. 298) Marles farmhouse is a timber-framed building, dating from the 17th century but much altered. (fn. 299) Part of a moat remains.

The manor of SHINGLE HALL lay in the north of the parish and extended into Great Parndon. The name came from the roof of shingles on the medieval house. (fn. 300) It is first mentioned in 1253, when the king confirmed a lease for life of 'La Chinglodehall' granted by Richard Fitz Aucher to Robert de Whytcester. (fn. 301) The property then comprised a house and land in Epping, together with 18 a. meadow on the river Lea in Waltham, and 4 a. common pasture in Nazeing. Shingle Hall subsequently descended with Copped Hall (see above) until the 16th century. It was first styled a manor in 1303, when it comprised a house, 120 a. land, 8 a. meadow, 4 a. pasture, a broken-down (debilis) windmill and 20s. rent. (fn. 302)

At the dissolution of Waltham Abbey Shingle Hall passed to the Crown, which in 1552 granted it to Henry Parker, Lord Morley. (fn. 303) In 1563 he conveyed it to John Benton, who was already the tenant. (fn. 304) Benton held his court there in 1565. (fn. 305) He was succeeded on his death in 1570 by his son Andrew (d. 1639). (fn. 306) In 1645 Andrew's grandson and heir John Benton was found to be insane, and the custody of Shingle Hall was granted to his kinsman, Andrew Benton, (fn. 307) who held a court there in 1660. (fn. 308) Courts were held by John Benton, possibly son of Andrew, in 1668 and 1674, and by Ralph Benton in 1680 and 1689. (fn. 309) Ralph left four daughters, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Jane, and Martha, who jointly held their court in 1693. (fn. 310) Martha died young, but the three remaining sisters held courts in 1696, 1702, and 1706. (fn. 311) In 1708 Elizabeth and her husband Thomas Sandford, Jane and her husband Robert Petty, and Rebecca Benton sold the manor to Richard Day, who held courts from 1717 to 1731. (fn. 312) Day's daughter Joan married Sir John Jenoure, and their son, Sir Richard Day Jenoure, succeeded his grandfather in 1741. (fn. 313) Jenoure died without issue in 1744, and Shingle Hall reverted to his mother. (fn. 314) About this time the manor comprised a house, 40 a. land, 40 a. meadow, and 120 a. pasture. (fn. 315)

Shingle Hall later passed to Richard King, already owner of Takeleys (see below), who left both manors at his death in 1756 to William G. Branston. (fn. 316) In 1773 Branston's daughter Elizabeth brought them in marriage to the Revd. Charles Daubeny (d. 1827), later Archdeacon of Salisbury. (fn. 317) Their son, the Revd. George W. Daubeny, was holding Shingle Hall and Takeleys in 1840, when they comprised a total of 360 a. in Epping. (fn. 318) He still held them in 1845. (fn. 319) They were later bought by the Wythes family and merged in the Copped Hall estate. (fn. 320) Manor courts for Shingle Hall were still being held in the early 19th century. (fn. 321) The manor house, which lay on the lane running from Pinch Timber farm to Severs Green, was demolished in 1899 and later cottages occupy the site. (fn. 322) The homestead moat remains.

The manor of TAKELEYS, formerly CLAYGARTH, lay immediately east of the ancient parish church. It was a free tenement held of the manor of Epping, and took its present name from 15th-century tenants. Thomas Takeley occurs in 1456. (fn. 323) Agnes Takeley, who died holding Claygarth in 1470, was succeeded by her grandson John Takeley, salter of London. (fn. 324) Sir Robert Billesdon (d. 1492), who also held Hayleys (see above), left Takeleys to his wife Joan (d. 1496) for life, with remainder to his sons, Simon and John. (fn. 325) Simon duly succeeded to Takeleys and in 1501 also became owner of Hayleys. Takeleys subsequently descended with Hayleys until 1576, when Nicholas Smith conveyed Takeleys to John Searle, lord of Campions and Chambers (see above). (fn. 326) Takeleys descended with Chambers until the early 18th century. In 1726 George Finch conveyed Takeleys to Richard King. (fn. 327) Finch was probably the son-in-law of John Searle (fl. 1706), patron of the vicarage of North Weald Bassett. (fn. 328) King later acquired Shingle Hall (see above) with which Takeleys has since descended. No courts were held for this manor. (fn. 329) Takeleys manor house is a timber-framed building probably dating from the early 17th century, much altered and partly re-faced with modern brick. There is an original central chimney stack with diagonal shafts and internally a carved stone fireplace lintel, re-set. (fn. 330) The surrounding moat is almost complete.

Footnotes