EASTWICK
Esteuiche (xi cent.); Estuic (xii cent.); Estuick,
Estwyk, Estwyke (xiii cent.); Estwyk atte Flore
(xiv cent.); Eastuick (xvi cent.).
The parish of Eastwick is a narrow strip of land of
840 acres lying between the parishes of Gilston and
Hunsdon. On the south it is bounded by the stream
called Canons Brook, which here divides Hertfordshire
from Essex. The height above sea level is greatest in
the north, where it attains about 260 ft. in Eastwick
Wood. The village stands about 135 ft. above ordnance
datum and from it the land slopes still further to the
banks of the Stort Navigation and Canons Brook, a
district much liable to floods. In 1905 there were
422¾ acres of arable land, 152½ of permanent grass
and 118 of woods and plantations in this parish. (fn. 1)
The geological formation is London Clay.
There is no line of railway within the parish.
The chief road is a branch road from the main road
to Newmarket, which enters the parish at Eastwick
village and thence runs westward along the valley of
the Stort Navigation, to enter the parish of Hunsdon
at its south-eastern corner. The village, which with
the church is situated in the south of the parish near
the Stort, is very small. The rectory stands close by
the church; the manor-house of Eastwick Hall is
considerably to the north. A road leads to it from
the village and continues under the name of Cockrobin Lane to Eastwick Wood in the extreme north
of this parish, and thence into Sawbridgeworth. In
Eastwick Wood is the fragment of a homestead moat.
MANOR
At the time of the Domesday Survey
the manor of EASTWICK was held by
Geoffrey de Bech, successor to IIbert, the
first Norman sheriff of the county. (fn. 2) It is not known
who was the heir or successor of Geoffrey de Bech,
but in 1138 Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare gave
the church of Eastwick to the abbey of Bourne in
Lincolnshire, by his foundation charter to that monastery. (fn. 3) It seems reasonable to suppose that Eastwick
Manor was also in his hands at that date, for early in
the 13th century it is found forming part of the
honour of Bourne (Brunne), (fn. 4) held by the Wakes, the
descendants of the founder of Bourne Abbey through
the marriage of Baldwin's daughter Emma to Hugh
Wake. (fn. 5) Baldwin Wake, lord
of Liddell in Cumberland and
descendant of this Hugh, (fn. 6) was
holding Eastwick in chief of
the king at the time of the
Testa de Nevill, (fn. 7) and died
seised of it in 1282. (fn. 8) The
overlordship descended with
the barony of Wake (fn. 9) till the
death of Edmund Earl of
Kent in 1408 without issue,
when the rights of overlordship in Eastwick, if not already
lapsed, are no longer traceable.
Wake. Or two bars gules with roundels gules in the chief.
Tany. Or Six eagles sable.
In 1086 the tenant in demesne at Eastwick under
Geoffrey de Bech was Rainald, (fn. 10) of whom, however,
nothing further is known. In the 12th century it
was held by the family of Tany, of whom Ascolf de
Tany is found holding land 'in Essex and Herts.' as
early as 1131, (fn. 11) and various
other members of the Tany
family occur frequently with
such holdings on the 12th-century Pipe Rolls and in the
Red Book of the Exchequer. (fn. 12)
The earliest specific mention
of a Tany at Eastwick is,
however, in 1194, when
Richard de Tany, son of
Reginald de Tany, (fn. 13) sued the
Abbot of Bourne in Lincolnshire for the right of presentation to the church of
Eastwick. (fn. 14) Early in the 13th century Richard de
Tany held 'two fees in Eastwick and Bengeo of
the honour of Bourne,' (fn. 15) and later in the century
another Richard son of Peter was holding, (fn. 16) to
whom Henry III made grants of free warren, a
weekly market on Tuesday and a fair on the vigil,
feast and morrow of St. Botolph, in 1253. (fn. 17) This
Richard took a prominent part in the Barons' Wars.
In 1266 we hear of him 'coming to the King's Court
to treat of his peace with him.' (fn. 18) By the close of the
year 1270 he had been succeeded by his son Richard, (fn. 19)
of whom it was reported in 1274 that he 'held
assize of bread and ale and view of frankpledge in
Eastwick.' (fn. 20) He is almost certainly identical with
the Richard de Tany who in 1295 was holding the
manor of Eastwick, value £40, by the service of two
knights' fees. (fn. 21) He was succeeded by his son Roger,
who died seised of Eastwick Manor in 1301, leaving
an infant son Lawrence to succeed him. (fn. 22) Lawrence
was only nineteen when he died in 1317, leaving as
heir to Eastwick his sister Margaret, then aged sixteen. (fn. 23)
She married John de Drokensford, and they in 1329
received a quitclaim of the third of the manor held in
dower by Margaret widow of Laurence de Tany,
then wife of Thomas de Weston. (fn. 24) Margaret predeceased her husband, who held Eastwick 'by courtesy'
until his death in 1341. (fn. 25) His son Thomas de
Drokensford, who is styled 'knight' in 1346, in that
year granted the manor to Nicholas le Blake of Ware
and his wife Margery, to hold for life. (fn. 26)
Thomas de Drokensford died in 1361, leaving an
only daughter and heir Anne, then aged four, who subsequently married Thomas Mandeville, son of Walter
Mandeville of Black Notley in Essex. (fn. 27) Thomas son
and heir of Thomas Mandeville died seised of Eastwick in 1400, (fn. 28) leaving as heirs his two sisters, Joan the
wife of John Barry and Alice wife of Helmyngus
Leget, both of full age. Eastwick fell to the share of
Alice, on whom and her first husband (Leget) the
manor was settled in 1408, (fn. 29) and on her and her
second husband (Roger Spice) in 1413. (fn. 30) Alice survived her second husband, who seems to have been
succeeded in the tenure of Eastwick Manor by Clement
Spice, who was holding in 1428, (fn. 31) and after him by
Roger Spice. The latter, in Michaelmas 1447, sold
the manor of Eastwick to William Oldhall, kt. (fn. 32)
William Oldhall purchased the neighbouring manor
of Hunsdon either at or about this date, and for
nearly two hundred years after this the two manors
followed exactly the same descent. (fn. 33) Hunsdon being
the larger and more important of the two, the Eastwick tenants attended the Hunsdon courts, the last
separate court known to have been held for Eastwick
being in 1527. (fn. 34) When Hunsdon Manor in 1532
became Hunsdon Honour, Eastwick formed part of that
honour. The two properties are last found in the
same hands in 1637, in which year Henry Earl of
Dover, lord of Hunsdon, conveyed Eastwick to
trustees, (fn. 35) and it was shortly afterwards sold to Sir
John Gore of Gilston, kt., (fn. 36) probably in order to raise
money for the Royalist cause. It then descended with
the manors in Gilston (q.v.) to Mr. A. S. Bowlby,
the present lord of the manor.
A mill worth 5s. is recorded in the Domesday
Survey, but there is no mention again of a mill in
Eastwick until 1607, when it may be concluded that
of the two mills owned by the lord of Hunsdon
and Eastwick one was an Eastwick mill. (fn. 37) Both the
mills were acquired by Sir John Gore in 1641, (fn. 38) but
only Hunsdon Mill is mentioned in the sale to John
Plumer in 1701. (fn. 39)
CHURCH
The church of ST. BOTOLPH was
rebuilt, all but the west tower, in 1872,
some of the old material being re-used;
the stonework of the tower has been renewed. It
consists of chancel, north organ chamber, nave with
north porch, and west tower; all the walls are faced
with flint and have stone dressings; the roofs are tiled.
The original 13th-century chancel arch has been
re-erected in the church; it is of two richly-moulded
orders, with three detached Purbeck marble shafts in
the jambs, with moulded capitals and bases. On the
sill of one of the north windows of the chancel is the
bowl of a piscina, without sufficient detail to determine its date. The tower is of three stages, unbuttressed, with embattled parapet, but has been re-faced.
Under the tower is the recumbent effigy in stone
of a knight with crossed legs; he is clad in chain mail
and a long surcoat; on his left arm is a long shield.
The plinth below the slab on which the effigy lies is
modern. The figure belongs to the middle of the
13th century, and may be of Richard de Tany who
died about 1270. It is in a very good state of
preservation.
On the tower wall is a brass figure of a lady in
Elizabethan costume, a shield and part of an inscription; the figure is that of Joan wife of Robert Lee,
whose figure has disappeared. The remaining part of
the inscription reads: 'which Robert died ye 23
day of January 1564 and the sayd Joan died the . . .
day of . . . ' Salmon also states that the brass is a
palimpsest and gives the inscription.
There are three bells: the treble bears an inscription in English, illegible; the second is inscribed
'Vox Augustini sonet in aure dei, 'without date; the
third is by John Clark, 1601.
The communion plate consists of cup, 1719; one
paten, 1705; another, 1735, and a modern flagon.
The registers of baptisms and burials begin in
1555, those of marriages in 1556.
ADVOWSON
A priest is included among the
tenants of Eastwick Manor at the
time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 40)
In 1138 Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare (see the
manor) granted the church of Eastwick to Bourne
Abbey, Lincolnshire, a house of his own foundation. (fn. 41)
In 1194 a dispute arose between the Abbot of
Bourne and Richard de Tany, lord of the manor
of Eastwick, concerning the right of presentation,
Richard de Tany claiming that such right had been
exercised by his father Reginald de Tany, whose
nominee had been forcibly ousted by the abbot. (fn. 42)
The lord of Eastwick must have won his suit, for
the advowson is included in an extent of the manor
in 1300. (fn. 43) The living is given as a vicarage in
1535, (fn. 44) but seems to have been endowed with the
tithes later. The advowson subsequently passed with
the manor (fn. 45) until the purchase of the latter by Mr.
Hodgson from Mr. Plumer-Ward in 1850, when
the presentation to the living was retained by Mr.
Plumer-Ward, who presented in 1852 and 1866.
The advowson was purchased in 1870 by the incumbent, the Rev. J. R. Pursell, (fn. 46) who apparently sold it
to Mr. John Hodgson, who presented in 1874. (fn. 47)
It has since descended with the manor.
CHARITIES
In 1599 Sir George Carey, K.G.,
Lord Hunsdon, by his will proved in
the P.C.C. 27 September 1603, gave
a sum of money, which was afterwards invested in
land situate in Great Parndon in Essex, to the poor
of Eastwick and Hunsdon. The land was sold in
1906 and the proceeds invested in North-Eastern
Railway 4 per cent. Guaranteed Stock in the name of
the official trustees, and the parish of Eastwick
receives the dividends, £6 12s. 10d. yearly, on a
sum of £166, being a moiety of the stock. The
charity is distributed to poor widows.
See also under the parish of Hunsdon.
In the Parliamentary Returns of 1786 it is stated
that a donor unknown gave a house to the poor
which was occupied by two poor families rent free.