CHURCH
As is shown below there has been a church at
Chipping Ongar since about 1100 if not
earlier. In about 1254 the advowson
belonged to the lord of the manor. (fn. 47) The
institutions of rectors have been recorded from 1363
and show that the advowson continued to be appurtenant to the manor. (fn. 48) William Bourchier presented pro
hac vice in 1409, the bishop by lapse in 1441, 1487,
and 1557 and the Crown on several occasions during a
minority. When the parish was temporarily united
with that of Greenstead in 1548 (see below) the
advowson of the new combined parish was vested in
Richard, 1st Baron Rich, but after the revocation of
the Act of union in 1554 the lord of the manor of
Chipping Ongar again became patron of the living.
In 1635 Maurice Barrow and his wife presented to
the living. (fn. 49) Barrow presented in 1658 and 1664. (fn. 50)
Elizabeth Goldsborough presented in 1670, 1673, and
1680. (fn. 51) After this the advowson descended with the
manor estate until the death of Lady Swinburne. In
1905 the Guild of All Souls acquired the advowson. (fn. 52)
In the account of Robert Peverel for the farm of
Ongar in 1210 10s. was allowed 'to the mother church
of Ongar in annual rent for the cemetery'. (fn. 53) In 1254
the rectory was valued at 4 marks. (fn. 54) Chipping Ongar
was not included in the list of churches of Ongar
deanery in the Taxatio of 1291, presumably because
the rectory was worth less than 6 marks. (fn. 55) It was not
even included in the list of smaller livings of the archdeaconries of Essex and Colchester. (fn. 56) John de Welde
of Ongar, by his will proved in 1337, directed that his
body should be buried in the church of St. Martin,
Ongar. He bequeathed £5 to cover the expenses of
his funeral, at which a brown 'turthel' cow with its
calf was to be led before the body as a mortuary, and
he also left a cow and 3 lb. of wax to maintain a candle
burning daily at Mass in the church before the altar of
St. Mary and St. Margaret. (fn. 57) In 1340 the taxable
value of the living was stated to be £10, but this can
hardly have been correct. (fn. 58) In 1428 it was reported
that the church was assessed for subsidy on a tax de
novo of 48s. (fn. 59) The taxable value was thus rather less
than it had been in 1254.
In 1535 the rectory was valued at £6. (fn. 60) In 1548
it was united by Act of Parliament with that of Greenstead (q.v.) but the union was ended in 1554 by
another Act which asserted that the Statute of 1548
had been brought about by the 'sinister labour and procurement of William Morris'. (fn. 61) According to the Act
of Union the church of Ongar was 'dissolved' and that
of Greenstead became the parish church of the joint
parish. The site of the church and the churchyard of
Ongar became the property of William Morris, previously the patron of Ongar. (fn. 62) This last provision was
no doubt responsible for the charge against Morris.
It is indeed difficult to believe that any worthy motives
lay behind the Act of 1548: had it not been revoked the
inhabitants of Ongar would have been deprived of
their own church and compelled to journey a mile or
more to the tiny church at Greenstead. The Act of
1554 was opposed by some of the inhabitants of Ongar,
evidently those with a vested interest in the site of the
church and churchyard. In that year the Privy Council
ordered Sir Henry Tirell, Anthony Browne, and
William Barneys 'to call before them the inhabitants
of Ongar and the widow of William Morris and
examining the parties that without authority of their
own heads attempted lately to pluck down the church
walls there, to set such order among them for their
good quiet and stay of their friends doing therein'. (fn. 63)
During the Protectorate the minister of Chipping
Ongar received an augmentation of income from the
Trustees for the Maintenance of Ministers. (fn. 64) The
church formed part of the Sixth Presbyterian Classis,
called the Ongar Classis, formed in 1648. (fn. 65) In 1661
the rectory was valued at £40. Previous estimates in
the 17th century had been £18 in 1604 and £50 in
1650. (fn. 66)
In 1723 the living was augmented by the addition
of the present rectory house, with about 5 acres of
glebe adjoining. This was bought for £409, of which
£109 was contributed by the Revd. Jacob Houblon,
Rector of Bobbingworth, £100 by Edward Colston,
and £200 by Queen Anne's Bounty. (fn. 67) Before its purchase the rectory house had been the home of William
Atwood and had been named 'Lovings'. (fn. 68) The north
wing (now the kitchen, scullery, and pantry) had been
built in the 17th century. (fn. 69) The main wing was added
early in the 18th century. (fn. 70) It is a lath and plaster building of two stories with attics. The façade is symmetrical. The front door has pilasters and a pediment and
there are two windows each side of it. The former
rectory house had stood near the church on the north
side. (fn. 71) In 1784, by a faculty dated 2 August, the
rector was empowered to take down the old house,
with the stable adjoining it, which had for many years
been let as two 'poor ruinous cottages' at 50s. a year. (fn. 72)
A terrier of 1810 describes the land upon which the
house had stood. It was 105 ft. long and measured
35 ft. across at the western end, 25 ft. at the eastern
end and 12 ft. in the centre. There was another piece
of glebe at the east side of the church, running down
to the pond. (fn. 73) By 1841 both these pieces of land had
become part of the estate of Brook Hurlock, owner of
the White House. (fn. 74) The Revd. R. I. Porter, who
wrote his Notes on Chipping Ongar in 1877, could find
no record of a quid pro quo. (fn. 75) The tithes of the parish
were commuted in 1841 for £146. (fn. 76)
Richard Vaughan (1550?-1607) successively Bishop
of Bangor, Chester, and London, was Rector of Chipping Ongar 1578-80. (fn. 77) John Lorkin, appointed
minister of Chipping Ongar in 1659 or 1660, was
ejected in 1662. (fn. 78) George Alsop, rector from 1670 to
1673, seems to have been vigorously orthodox, for in
1670 he was appointed by the bishop to read divine
service at the Quaker meeting house in Gracechurch
Street, London. (fn. 79)
The parish church of ST. MARTIN consists of a
nave, chancel, south aisle, north vestry, and west porch,
with a western bell-turret surmounted by a shingled
spire, and a gallery at the west end of the nave. (fn. 80) The
chancel and nave were built at the end of the 11th
century. The walls are of coursed flint-rubble with
the quoins and jambs of the north doorway of bricks,
possibly Roman, and some courses of tiles in the walls.
In the chancel there are two original round-headed
windows, one at the east end of the north wall, the
other opposite to it on the south wall. Between the
windows on the north wall is a round-headed recess
pierced by a small opening or hatch with external
hinges and bolt-socket, perhaps originally an anchorite's
cell. Flanking the present window in the east wall of
the chancel are traces of four single light lancet windows
showing that there was an original arrangement of six
windows in two tiers under a higher gable. The original
doorway on the south of the chancel is now blocked.
On the north wall of the nave there is one original
round-headed window; another, to the west of the
present west window of this wall is now blocked; there
are traces of a third original window near the east end
of the wall. Between the third and fourth windows
(counting from the east) is the original north doorway,
now blocked. On the west wall of the nave there is
another original round-headed window, and there are
traces of two more. The western window on the south
wall of the chancel dates from the 13th century: it has
three grouped and graduated lancet lights. About the
middle of the 14th century the chancel arch was rebuilt. The splays of the east window also date from this
century, which suggests that the original arrangement
of six small windows was then first replaced by a large
window. The roof of the nave probably dates from
the 14th century; it is of four bays with king-post
trusses. In the 15th century the weather-boarded bellturret and spire were added. Early in the 16th century
the present westen window was built in the north wall
of the chancel. It is of three lights of brick with fourcentred heads. It may have replaced an earlier window
which matched the opposite window on the south wall
of the chancel. It is not possible to trace any of the
effects of the supposed attempt in 1554 to pull down
the church walls (see above). It does not seem likely
that much damage was then done. The roof of the
chancel is mainly Jacobean. (fn. 81) In 1752-3 two dormers
were added on each side of the nave roof in order to
give light to the gallery. (fn. 82) An engraving published
in 1796 shows the north side of the church. (fn. 83) There
was a north porch, apparently of brick. A path leading
to a north door in the chancel shows that the door
was then in use. At the east end of the north wall
of the nave there is depicted a two-light window
approximately in the position of the present east
window. Another window is shown, partly obscured
by the roof of the porch. This was apparently in
the position now occupied by the second window
from the east. Although little can be seen of it the
window appears to be large and pointed. It is not
unlikely that both these nave windows were contemporary with the 13th-century window in the
chancel. It was probably soon after this that the main
entrance was moved from the north to the west end of
the nave, for in May 1814 the parish vestry, which
had for some time been considering plans to provide
additional seating accommodation, resolved that the
north door should be closed and a pew placed across
the entrance, and a new west door be opened. (fn. 84) In
1860 the church was restored and refitted at a cost of
£700, defrayed by voluntary contributions. (fn. 85) At the
same time a stained-glass window by Chater & Son,
St. Dunstan's Hill, London, was placed on the north
side of the nave in memory of Richard Noble, at
the expense of his family. (fn. 86) In the following year the
vestry was built. (fn. 87) In 1876 the pavement of the
chancel in front of the altar rails was relaid with
encaustic tiles, interspersed with white marble, at the
expense of the Revd.T. M. R. Barnard, a parishioner. (fn. 88)
In the same year memorial glass was inserted in the
western window on the south wall of the chancel by
Edward Sammes in memory of his wife. (fn. 89) In 1884
the south aisle was built. It is divided from the nave
by an arcade of four arches. (fn. 90) The Society for the
Protection of Ancient Buildings opposed the alterations. Their objections were answered in a vigorous
letter by the architect, C. Rolfe. (fn. 91) This correspondence
shows that the old south wall of the church contained
two 'ancient' windows and a doorway of original
Norman work, an injured 14th-century window and a
piscina at the south-east corner of the nave.
In 1908 a stained glass window was placed in the
west end of the aisle in memory of Lilla Tanner. (fn. 92)
Miss L. W. Tanner (d. 1920) left her residuary estate
in trust, the income to be paid to her aunt for life, and
thereafter towards the beautifying of the parish church.
In 1935 the capital amounted to £3,240 and in 1950
the income was £113. (fn. 93) In 1929 the glass in the east
window was installed in Miss Tanner's memory. (fn. 94)
A new organ was installed in 1896, replacing one
that had been in use since 1835. (fn. 95) The present vestry
was built in 1917. (fn. 96)
In 1284-5 John the clerk of Ongar was killed by the
clapper of the church bell, which fell upon him while
he was ringing. The value of the bell and clapper as
a deodand was returned as 8s. 2d. (fn. 97) The church now
has two bells. The first was cast in 1672 by Anthony
Bartlet, the second in 1737 by Richard Phelps. (fn. 98)
There is a paten dated 1705, and a cup and a paten
dated 1728. All these are of silver gilt and were given
by Elizabeth, wife of Richard Turner and daughter of
Thomas Goldsborough. There is also a silver-gilt
flagon, dated 1729, and a brass almsdish which was the
gift of Miss Groves. (fn. 99) The parish registers survive
from 1559. (fn. 1) In the chancel there is a monument to
Nicolas Alexander (1714) and floor slabs (1) to Robert
Hill (1648) and Anne (King) his second wife (1668)
and Anne Greatherd his daughter (1683); (2) to Jane,
wife of Tobias Pallavicine and daughter of (Sir) Oliver
Cromwell of Hinchingbrook, Hunts. (1637); (3) to
Horatio Pallavicine (1648). In the nave are floor slabs
to (4) John King (1657) and Elizabeth his wife (1661)
and Joseph King, his son (1679). The later monuments include one of 1776 by Nollekens. Among the
graves in the churchyard are those of many members of
the Boodle family, including that of Edward Boodle
(1722-72) founder of Boodle's the club in St. James's
Street, London. (fn. 2)