MANORS
In 1066 MORETON was held by Sexi as a manor
and as 1 hide and 20 acres and was worth
£8. (fn. 68) In 1086 this was held in demesne
by William de Scohies of the king in chief
and was valued at £10. (fn. 69) Another 43½ acres which in
1066 did not belong to the manor of Moreton was
annexed by William and in 1086 was held of him by
Ralf. (fn. 70) This tenement was worth 20s. in 1086 as in
1066 but William received 30s. for it. (fn. 71) In 1283 the
manor was held of the king in chief by the service of
finding for him when he went into Wales for 40 days
'a horse price 10s., with a leather sack and an iron
skewer for fastening the sack, for carrying a weight of
2 bushels of corn, with one man'. (fn. 72) The manor continued to be held of the king in chief by this petty
sergeanty until at least the middle of the 14th century. (fn. 73)
At some date between 1174 and 1182 the tenant of
the manor was William d'Avranches. (fn. 74) In 1212 it was
held by another William d'Avranches. (fn. 75) He died in
1230 leaving as his heir his son William who died
before the end of 1235. (fn. 76) The heir of William the son
was his sister Maud, wife of Hamon de Crevequer.
She had one son, who predeceased his father, and four
daughters, Agnes wife of John de Sandwich, Iseult wife
of Nicholas de Lenham, Eleanor wife of Bartholomew
de Kyriell, and Isabel wife of Henry de Gaunt. (fn. 77) On
Hamon's death in 1263 the manor fell to the share of
the youngest daughter Isabel and her husband. (fn. 78)
When Isabel died in 1283, several years after her
husband, she left as her heirs her sister Eleanor, John
de Lenham son of her sister Iseult, and Juliane de
Sandwich granddaughter of her sister Agnes. (fn. 79) Within a few months the manor, which was valued at
£29 12s. 4d., was by order of the king divided between
these three heirs. (fn. 80) Eleanor was assigned land to the
value of 34s. (fn. 81) The residue of the manor and the chief
messuage were divided between Juliane and John,
two-thirds of the messuage being given to John and
one-third to Juliane. (fn. 82) Eleanor seems to have disposed
of her share in the manor shortly afterwards and its
rights and services became divided equally between
John and Juliane. An inquisition taken in September
1285 found that half of the manor was held by Robert
Burnell as guardian of Juliane and half by John de
Lenham and his wife Margery. (fn. 83) From this date the
two halves had separate histories. Though at first each
was regarded as half a manor, they had before 1400 become separate manors, eventually known as Bourchiers
or Nether Hall and Ladyhall or Upper Hall. After the
division of Moreton manor, the services by which it
had been held of the king were shared between the
tenants of each half. (fn. 84)
In 1305 John de Lenham granted a life interest in
his half of Moreton manor to John de Burndish, on
whose death in 1336 it reverted to Eleanor, wife of
John Giffard and niece of John de Lenham. (fn. 85) During
the next few years John Giffard alienated a number of
tenements, some of which were later held of the king
in chief. (fn. 86) In 1342 Giffard conveyed the residue to
Robert, afterwards Lord Bourchier, and to Robert's
son John. (fn. 87) When Robert, Lord Bourchier, died of
the plague in 1349, leaving as his heir his son John,
this 'half of Moreton manor', which had been worth
£10, was valued at only £6, the decline in value probably representing the general fall in the value of land,
occasioned by the plague. (fn. 88) John, Lord Bourchier,
died in May 1400, and was succeeded by his son
Bartholomew, Lord Bourchier, who died in 1409. (fn. 89)
The sole heir of Bartholomew was his daughter
Elizabeth who died without issue in 1433. (fn. 90) In 1430
the manor had been settled, failing issue of Elizabeth,
on her cousin Henry Bourchier, Count of Eu and
afterwards Earl of Essex. (fn. 91) He died in 1483 leaving
as his heir his grandson Henry, 2nd Earl of Essex (d.
1540). (fn. 92) The sole heir of the 2nd earl was his daughter
Anne who married William, afterwards Baron Parr,
by whom the manor was conveyed in 1542 to Sir
Richard Rich, afterwards Baron Rich. (fn. 93) At this date
the manor was described, for the first time as far as is
known, as NETHER HALL or BOURCHIERS
HALL. Lord Rich endowed the chantry which he
founded in 1554 for the parishioners of Felsted, Little
Leighs, and Great Waltham with 55 acres of land at
Moreton. (fn. 94) On the death of the first baron in 1567,
the manor passed to his son Robert, the 2nd baron, and
afterwards in 1581 to Robert, the 3rd baron, by whom
it was conveyed in 1608 to Robert Bourne, lord of the
manor of Blake Hall in Bobbingworth (q.v.). (fn. 95) In
1636 Bourne (d. 1639) settled Nether Hall on his
second son Robert when the son married Rose
Walcott. (fn. 96) Alice, only child of Robert and Rose
Bourne, and wife of John, 3rd Baron Digby, died in
1658. (fn. 97) Robert Bourne died in 1666 having settled
the manor on Digby for life with remainder to Martha
King, niece of Bourne. (fn. 98) In 1669 Martha King conveyed the reversion to Richard Bourne who in 1682
granted it to Francis Drake. (fn. 99) Digby died in 1698. (fn. 1)
In 1699 Thomas Drake, heir of Francis Drake, was
lord of the manor. (fn. 2) In 1703 William Drake conveyed
the manor to Josiah Woodward, D.D., Rector of
Poplar (Mdx.). (fn. 3) By his will, made in 1710, Josiah
Woodward devised to his son John the Nether Hall
estate which was then in the occupation of Thomas
Prentice and was estimated to contain '180 acres land
and 30 acres more called Moreton Wood'. (fn. 4) In 1720
John Woodward sold the manor for £1,750 to
Ambrose Page, a Director of the South Sea Company. (fn. 5)
At that time the estate was still in the occupation of
Prentice who rented it at £100 a year. (fn. 6) Soon afterwards it came into the hands of the trustees liquidating
the South Sea Company and in 1724 they sold it for
£2,505 to William Cole, lord of the manor of Magdalen
Laver (q.v.). (fn. 7) From 1724 until 1766 the Nether Hall
estate descended with the manor of Magdalen Laver. (fn. 8)
Both the Coles and John Cozens lived at Magdalen
Laver. (fn. 9) When John Cozens died in 1766 the Nether
Hall estate was in the occupation of William Schooling
and James Edick. (fn. 10) Cozens devised this estate to his
second son Henry, a miller. (fn. 11) In 1773 Henry Cozens
mortgaged the estate for £600. (fn. 12) He died in 1775
leaving the manor, still mortgaged, to his youngest
brother, William Cozens. (fn. 13) Between 1782 and 1789
William Cozens borrowed further sums, making the
total mortgage on the estate £1,250, all of which was
owing to Robert Ray. (fn. 14) By March 1790 Cozens had
repaid only £100 of this debt and he then sold the
manor to Robert Tindal for £3,800, it being agreed
that Tindal should pay off the debt to Ray as part of
the purchase money. (fn. 15) Neither Henry nor William
Cozens occupied the manor house or farmed the main
part of the lands appurtenant to it. (fn. 16) Henry Cozens
was apparently a miller living in High Laver until at
least 1773 and afterwards at Latton. (fn. 17) William Cozens
did live on the Nether Hall estate but occupied only a
small piece of ground, formerly waste ground but
enclosed by Henry Cozens, about 2 acres in area and
having 'a messuage, stable and other buildings erected
thereon' and had besides 3 acres of meadow for personal use. (fn. 18) The manor house and most of the estate
were occupied by William Schooling until 1781-2 and
afterwards by John Schooling until 1790-1. (fn. 19) A
small part of the estate was occupied in 1790, as in
1766, by James Edick. (fn. 20) A survey taken in July 1788
showed that on the average of the previous 57 years the
lord of the manor received £5 3s. 8½d. a year in fines,
£1 8s. 2¾d. a year in heriots, and £3 12s. 6d. a year in
rents. (fn. 21) In 1771 there were nineteen freeholders and
copyholders, several less than there had been in 1745. (fn. 22)
Robert Tindal sold the manor, in 1790, less than
three months after purchasing it, to Stephen Alger,
who held his first court baron in June 1793. (fn. 23) Alger
never lived on the Nether Hall estate which was
occupied by Nathaniel Green from 1790-1 until
1815-16 and then by James Green who was tenant
until after Alger's death in 1829. (fn. 24) Alger's heir was
his son William Hill Alger who was lord of the manor
until his death in 1880. (fn. 25) James Green still occupied
the estate in 1832 but by 1840 W. H. Alger lived at
Nether Hall and farmed most of the estate which then
consisted of 256 acres. (fn. 26) He continued to farm until
his death. (fn. 27) In 1872 there were nine freeholders who
paid rents totalling £1 9s. 2d. and eight copyholders
who paid a total of 16s. 3¾d. (fn. 28) During the time that
W. H. Alger was lord of the manor the estate was
mortgaged at least once. (fn. 29) He left as his heir his son
William White Alger who also lived at Nether Hall
and farmed the estate. (fn. 30) He died in May 1900 having
provided that the manor should be sold by his trustees. (fn. 31)
Nether Hall was accordingly put up for sale by auction
in August 1900. The sale catalogue described the
manor farm as consisting of 216 acres of which 176
were arable. (fn. 32) Quit and free rents amounted to
£1 13s. 3d. a year and fines, reliefs and heriots amounted
to £5 a year on the average of the previous 30 years. (fn. 33)
The farm on the one hand and the manor 'with courts,
fines, heriots, reliefs, quit and free rents, profits and
emoluments' on the other hand were offered as separate
lots. The manor was sold for £260 to the Revd.
Frederick William Bussell of Brasenose College,
Oxford. (fn. 34) The farm passed into the hands of Ernest
Schwier. (fn. 35) The Revd. F. W. Bussell was still lord of
the manor in 1914 but by 1926 the Revd. Joseph
Gordon Walker owned the manorial rights. (fn. 36) In
1937 Walker was still lord of the manor and Nether
Hall farm was still owned by the Schwier family. (fn. 37)
The present farm-house probably dates from the late
17th century. It is rectangular in plan with a small
projecting wing at the back. The central chimney has
diagonal shafts. Late in the 19th century there were
additions to the back and front. In the farm-yard is an
altered timber barn, probably of 17th-or 18th-century
date.
Juliane de Sandwich married John de Segrave,
younger son of John, Lord Segrave (d. 1325), and on
the death of her husband in 1343, her half of Moreton
manor passed to their only son John de Segrave whose
death in 1349 was followed in little more than a month
by that of his only child, an infant Mary. (fn. 38) Both John
and Mary were probably victims of the plague. As
there remained no direct descendant of Juliane, the
half manor passed to her cousin Nicholas de Sandwich,
son of her father's brother Nicholas. (fn. 39) He conveyed it
to William de Clynton, Earl of Huntingdon (d. 1354),
who regranted it to Nicholas for life with remainder to
John de Sandwich, brother of Nicholas, and his heirs
and reversion to the earl and his heirs. (fn. 40) Within a few
years, however, the half manor passed to John, Lord
Mowbray (d. 1368), the heir through his wife
Elizabeth of John, Lord Segrave (d. 1353). (fn. 41) Mowbray
died in 1368, leaving as his heir his son John, later 1st
Earl of Nottingham. (fn. 42) By 1383, when John, Earl of
Nottingham, died without issue, his estate at Moreton
had become known as LADYHALL, apparently
through its association with Juliane de Sandwich, and
by the end of the century was described as a manor. (fn. 43)
From the 16th century it was more commonly known
as UPPER HALL.
John was succeeded in 1383 by his brother Thomas,
later Duke of Norfolk, who granted a life interest in
Ladyhall to William Hall, with reversion to himself. (fn. 44)
Hall died in 1400. (fn. 45) The Duke of Norfolk had died
shortly before and left as his heir his son Thomas, a
boy of 14. (fn. 46) At the end of 1401, although Thomas's
lands had been assigned for his household expenses,
the king granted the custody of Ladyhall to John de
Burgh during Thomas's minority provided that he
accounted at the Exchequer for all issues above the
value of 24 marks a year. (fn. 47)
Thomas was beheaded in 1405 and his lands
escheated to the Crown. (fn. 48) In 1406 the king granted
the 'messuage called Ladyhall' to his esquire Nicholas
Alderwich and his wife Alice to hold for life 'to the
value of £20 a year so that they answer for any surplus
at the Exchequer'. (fn. 49) Within the next ten years the
manor was restored to Thomas de Mowbray's brother
and heir John, who was granted the title of Duke of
Norfolk in 1425; (fn. 50) the manor probably descended
with the title until the death of the 4th Duke of Norfolk
in 1476. (fn. 51) Afterwards the manor was probably held
by John, Lord Howard, who succeeded to a moiety
of the Mowbray estates on the death in 1481 of his
cousin Anne, only daughter and heir of John, 4th Duke of
Norfolk. (fn. 52) Lord Howard was created Duke of Norfolk
in 1483 and Ladyhall probably descended again with
this title until 1538. (fn. 53) In 1538 Lord Edmund
Howard, a younger son of Thomas, 7th Duke of
Norfolk, was licensed to alienate the manor to his
brother Thomas, 8th Duke of Norfolk, who immediately granted it to Sir Richard Rich, later 1st
Baron Rich. (fn. 54) Subsequently for nearly two centuries
the manor of Upper Hall followed the same descent
as Nether Hall. (fn. 55) In 1708 it had 11 freeholders and
17 copyholders whose rents amounted to £6 11s. 10d.,
much more than those of Nether Hall. (fn. 56) In 1722, two
years after selling Nether Hall, John Woodward conveyed Upper Hall to Lewen Cholmley of Sutton
(Surr.). (fn. 57) Cholmley was succeeded by his son Lewen
who died in 1753. (fn. 58) The manor was then held by
Mary Cholmley, widow of Lewen, until at least
1760. (fn. 59) In 1763 John son of Lewen Cholmley conveyed the manor to John Hookham (d. 1786), a rich
London merchant. (fn. 60) Hookham's heir was his only
child Jane, wife of John Frere of Roydon Hall (Norf.). (fn. 61)
John Hookham Frere, author and diplomatist, the
eldest son of Jane and John Frere, succeeded to the
family estates on his father's death in 1807. (fn. 62) He died
in 1846 having been for many years resident in Malta. (fn. 63)
Soon after his death the manor of Upper Hall seems
to have dissolved. A manor court was held as late as
1821 and writers during the next 40 years continued
to describe the estate as a manor, but by 1874 Nether
Hall had come to be described as the only manor in
Moreton. (fn. 64) The lords of the manor of Upper Hall
were never resident in the parish. Henry Starkey was
tenant of the estate before 1750 and members of his
family continued to farm the land and live at the hall
until 1809. (fn. 65) In 1811 the Rector of Moreton wrote
that before 1809 Upper Hall Farm had been 'occupied
by a family of Dissenters for so long a period that no
one living was able exactly to ascertain what seat in the
church belonged to it'. (fn. 66) In view of the uncertainty
the rector gave the new tenant, John Ingham, permission to sit in his own pew. (fn. 67) John Ingham was tenant
of the estate until 1819-20 when he was succeeded by
George Rogers. (fn. 68) In 1840 Rogers still farmed the
whole estate which then consisted of 246 acres. (fn. 69)
After J. H. Frere's death in 1846, D. Taylor Gingell
took over the lease and farmed the estate for the
remainder of the century. (fn. 70)
The present house may date from the 16th century
but has been much altered. The older part has a Tshaped plan with a wing projecting on the north side.
In the south wing a brick fireplace, probably of the
16th century, has been uncovered. It has a stopchamfered four-centred arch and the chimney above it
has two diagonal shafts, now cement rendered. Several
additions have been made to the house, the most recent
in gault brick probably dating from the 19th century.
There is an eight-bay timber barn with one porch wing.
A post inside the barn is dated 1782 and initialed
R. P.
The early history of BUNDISH alias BRENDISH
alias BRUNDISH manor is obscure. It probably took
its name from the family of John de Burndish which
came from Brundish (Suff.). From 1305 until his
death in 1336 John de Burndish held a life interest in
the half of Moreton manor which belonged to John
de Lenham. On the death of John de Burndish this
half manor reverted to Eleanor Giffard, the heir of
John de Lenham. (fn. 71) In 1338 John and Eleanor Giffard
conveyed to Nicholas de Burndish 24 acres of land in
Moreton to hold of the king in chief. (fn. 72) Nicholas de
Burndish died, probably of the plague, in 1349, still
holding this 24 acres of the king. (fn. 73) In addition he held
another 60 acres in Moreton and ½ messuage of the
manor of Moreton by service of 21s. 3d. a year and suit
of court, and 20 acres land in Shelley and the other
half of his messuage which he held of John de Legh,
lord of Shelley manor, by service of 8s. 10d. a year and
suit of court. (fn. 74) It seems clear that these lands of
Nicholas de Burndish formed the main core of the
estate which later became known as Bundish or
Brendish manor. Nicholas evidently occupied a house
which was situated partly in Moreton and partly in
Shelley and he farmed lands in both parishes. During
the period when Bundish manor is known to have
existed, its lands were situated in Shelley and Moreton
and the manor house lay on the boundary between the
two parishes which 'divided at the entrance end of the
great hall'. (fn. 75)
Nicholas de Burndish left as his heir his brother
John, Rector of South Ockendon, who in 1353 enfeoffed
Richard de Fifhide with 24 acres which he held in
Moreton of the king in chief. (fn. 76) When Fifhide died in
1374 his lands were described as tenements only. (fn. 77)
Thomas Wynslowe died in 1481 holding the 'manor
of Brundisshe' of Henry, Earl of Essex (d. 1483), who
was then lord of the manor of Nether Hall. (fn. 78) At the
time of his death Thomas also held 2 messuages, 79
acres of arable, and 5 acres of meadow, in Moreton,
of John, Lord Howard, who was then probably lord
of the manor of Upper Hall. (fn. 79) Thomas apparently
did not hold any tenement of the manor of Shelley.
He devised Bundish manor to his daughter Margaret,
wife of William Nynge. (fn. 80) Margaret died in 1522,
leaving as her heir her grandson Thomas Nynge. (fn. 81)
On Thomas's death, before March 1524, he was succeeded by his sisters Amphyllis and Isabel. (fn. 82) Subsequently the manor seems to have come into the sole
possession of the elder sister Amphyllis, for in 1533 it
was held by her and her husband John Shereff. (fn. 83) In
the same year Amphyllis conveyed the manor to Sir
Richard Rich, later 1st Baron Rich, from whom it
passed in 1567 to his son Robert, the 2nd baron and
afterwards in 1581 to Robert, the 3rd baron. (fn. 84) In
1585 Lord Rich conveyed the manor to William
Ramsey. (fn. 85)
The history of Bundish in the 17th century is not
clear, but at the end of the century it was apparently in
dual ownership. In 1681 Henry Herbert and his wife
Anne conveyed half of the manor to Joseph and Thomas
Cffley. (fn. 86) In 1690 Sir William Boughton and his wife
Mary, daughter of John Ramsey, alderman of the city
of London, conveyed half the manor to Matthew and
Robert Skinner. (fn. 87) It may be that Lady Boughton and
Anne Herbert were granddaughters of William Ramsey
and had inherited Bundish as coheiresses of their father
John Ramsey. Subsequently the manor came into the
undivided ownership of John Lingard, common
serjeant of the City of London, who died in 1729
leaving several daughters as coheiresses. (fn. 88) In 1740
Elizabeth, Sarah, Anne, and Frances Lingard conveyed
the manor to Samuel Brackley, merchant. (fn. 89) In 1753
Sarah and Anne Lingard and Robert Chase and his
wife Frances, daughter of John Lingard, conveyed it
to Francis Capper. (fn. 90) In 1775 the estate was still
described as a manor. (fn. 91) In all later documents and
histories it was described merely as a farm. In 1840
the farm consisted of 166 acres of which 107 acres lay
in Moreton and 59 acres in Shelley; at that time the
estate was held by Thomas Chaplin, trustee of John
Chaplin, deceased. (fn. 92)
Bundish Hall occupies a large moated site. At some
time prior to 1835, but probably after 1768, the parishes
of Shelley and Moreton agreed that the whole of the
farm-house should be considered within the parish of
Moreton. (fn. 93) Consistently with this the parish boundary
runs along the west wall of the farm-house, leaving some
of the outbuildings in Shelley. (fn. 94) Wright's statement
that formerly the parish boundary was 'at the entrance
end of the great hall' (fn. 95) confirms the existence of a
medieval manor house here, and the present farmhouse incorporates at its west end what was probably
the late-15th-century solar wing. This is of two stories,
the solar itself being on the first floor and having an
open arch-braced roof truss above it. The roof is now
ceiled in but the rebated king-post with four-way struts
is still visible in the attic. The ceiling probably dates
from the 16th or early 17th century and in the solar is
panelling of the same period and later. The timbers of
the lower part of the great hall are probably still in
position to the east, but this part of the house has been
much altered. A northward extension of the solar wing
has the date 1697 scratched on the brickwork. At
some time previous to 1835 the house was reduced in
size, (fn. 96) and at this period or later (fn. 97) was partly cased in
brick and reroofed. It now gives the impression
externally of a small farm-house of the early 19th
century. The west wall was damaged by flying bombs
in 1944 and has been rebuilt. (fn. 98) In the farm-yard are
two large timber barns of the 17th or 18th century.