AGRICULTURE
In the 11th century much of Chipping Ongar was
woodland. The 'wood of Ongar'
mentioned in 1044 in the will of
Thurstan has been mentioned
above. (fn. 47) In 1086 the manor of Ongar contained woodland for 1,000 swine. (fn. 48) There were then 36 pigs on
the manor. This was not a large number, but it is
likely that pig keeping in this area was of some importance in the 12th century and later, for in 1213
Robert Peverel, farmer of Ongar, was ordered to supply
the king with 138 sides of bacon from his bailiwick. (fn. 49)
Peverel's account for 1209-10 shows that he was then
keeper of Stanford Rivers as well as Ongar. (fn. 50) The rents
of assize of the manors then amounted to £16 1s. 6d.
During the year he had stocked the manors with 20
oxen and 32 horses at a cost of £24 10s. 6d. He had
also bought for sowing 162 quarters of oats, costing
£9 16s. 8d., 1½ quarters of barley for 2s. 3d., and beans
costing 2s. 6d.
In about 1243 the manor of Ongar was said to contain 374½ acres of (arable) land, of which 200 acres
were worth a total of £5 a year, and 174½ acres were
worth in all £2 18s. 2d. There were 7 acres of pasture
worth 7s. and 28 acres of meadow, of which 18 were
worth 30s. a year and 10 were worth 11s. 8d. (fn. 51) There
were rents of freemen and villeins worth £3 12s. 3d. (fn. 52)
and the villeins owed a total of 14001/3 labour services a
year, worth 68s. 6d. (fn. 53) There were 2 mills, one of them
driven by water, worth 40s. and a dovehouse worth
2s. (fn. 54) This inquisition had been made on the death of
Maud de Lucy. About this time, in 1243, the king
ordered the sheriff to buy oxen for 4 ploughs to till the
demesne lands formerly held by Maud in Stanford and
Ongar. (fn. 55)
In 1294 the manor contained 200 acres of arable,
worth £5 a year, 12 acres meadow worth 24s., a park
worth 20s., 2 mills, one driven by wind and the other
by water, worth £5, and pasture worth 3s. (fn. 56)
In 1372 there were in the manor 140 acres of arable
worth 23s. 4d., 20 acres of meadow worth 20s., 30
acres of poor pasture worth 10s., and 'a certain pasture
called le Park containing 40 acres' worth 1 mark.
There was also a broken-down windmill. (fn. 57)
In 1386 there were 160 acres of arable worth
40s. 8d. a year, 12 acres of meadow worth 24s., and
42 acres of pasture worth 21s. The rents of assize were
worth 27s. and the rents of 3 capons at Christmas were
worth 6d. in all. (fn. 58) The same figures were given in
returns made in 1392 and 1395. (fn. 59)
At the death of James Morris in 1597 the manor
included a water-mill, a parcel of land called Betts, a
tenement of about 30 acres called Tufftsfield, situated
in 'boro field', a meadow called Rye meade, 4 parcels
of meadow, pasture, and moor called Le Mores in
High Ongar, occupied by Henry Barnard, and a croft
called Parsons acre. (fn. 60) A mill was mentioned in 1618
as appurtenant to the manor. (fn. 61)
In the 17th and 18th centuries hop-growing was
carried on in Ongar. In 1639 there was a dispute,
heard at Quarter Sessions, concerning a crop of hops
that had been grown on 3½ acres of 'hoppground' in
the parish. (fn. 62) Defoe, writing in 1722 described Ongar
as part of an area 'famed for husbandry and good malt,
but of no other note'. (fn. 63)
In 1838 the area of the parish was estimated at 480
acres, of which 193 acres were arable and 273 acres
meadow and pasture. (fn. 64) The Castle Farm, owned by
Sir John Swinbourne and occupied by William Coe,
contained 168 acres. There were two smaller farms, of
97 and 62 acres, the Bowes House, with its gardens and
pleasure grounds, covered 99 acres. Apart from these
there was no tenement of more than 5 acres.
There is hardly any evidence as to how and when
inclosure was carried out in this parish. A very small
inclosure of waste ground in about 1800 is mentioned
below. (fn. 65)