NONCONFORMITY
The Congregational church at Abbess Roding, once
an important nonconformist
centre for this part of Essex,
originated about 1698 through
the labours of the Revd. Samuel Pomfret, minister of
the Presbyterian church in Gravel Lane, Houndsditch. (fn. 66) He is said to have visited Rookwood Hall for
the benefit of his health and to have obtained from his
hosts the use of a former malt house at the hall. This
was used for worship until a church was built. According to local tradition this first meeting-place was part
of a barn which still exists at Rookwood Hall (see
above). This is probably correct. Pomfret's friends
at the hall were probably the Capels, who were
certainly living there in 1698 and perhaps for a few
years after. Until the end of the 18th century the
church continued to be known as that of Rookwood
Hall. (fn. 67) It was at first Presbyterian, but became Congregational during the ministry of John Cook (1743-
78). The first minister ordained to the church was
Daniel Wilcox (1703-6). His successor, Lauchlan
Ross, ministered with success from 1706 to 1740. In
1716 the congregation was estimated at 500, of whom
59 were county voters and 19 were 'gentlemen'. (fn. 68) If
these figures are correct this was one of the strongest
nonconformist churches in Essex. Ross also had
licensed preaching rooms in many neighbouring
villages. In 1729-30 a new church was built on land
given by Joseph Springham of Cockerells Farm (now
Fairlands). Within 6 or 7 years £630 was raised towards the cost of the church. George Ross, who
became minister in 1741, was said by a writer of about
1820 to have been imbued with the 'spirit of the very
Pope himself', and his quarrels with the congregation
terminated in 1743, when he was dismissed from his
office. His successor John Cook was not very well
educated but served faithfully. In 1745 Joseph
Springham gave two freehold cottages to be used as
the minister's house. (fn. 69) This intention, however, never
seems to have been carried out. Although the cottages
were beside the church the minister continued to live
in the 'gentleman's end' of Cockerells Farm until 1786
when a house at Fyfield was bought as a manse during
the pastorate of Thomas Eisdell (1784-9).
With these economic advantages the church was able
to retain ministers throughout the 18th and 19th
centuries, with only short vacancies, and some of them
remained for many years. Eisdell's ministry came to
an end as the result of a dispute with some of his congregation. His successor Joseph Corbishley, minister
from 1790 to 1831, was an active evangelical. (fn. 70) In
1829 he reported that the congregation numbered
500. (fn. 71) In 1881 it was estimated at only 250; there
were 75 church members, 75 pupils in the Sunday
school, and 10 teachers. (fn. 72) The decline in numbers
probably resulted from the foundation of other Congregational churches in the neighbourhood. In 1848
it was stated that the two cottages beside the church
had been 'converted into a respectable public house
for the accommodation of the congregation, most of
whom come from a considerable distance'. (fn. 73) By 1881
there were new Congregational churches at Norton
Mandeville, Moreton, and Thrushes Bush (in High
Laver) (qq.v.). At Abbess Roding the contraction of the
catchment area of the church was perhaps reflected by
the sale (1852) of the Fyfield manse after the building
of a new one in Abbess Roding. (fn. 74) The income from
endowments was £18 in 1881, and that from other
sources was about £92. The minister received a salary
of £80. (fn. 75)
In 1884 J. E. Rattee became minister. He organized
services at White Roding, Leaden Roding, and other
neighbouring villages and persuaded the Essex Congregational Union to make a grant of £35 towards this
work in 1885, when 24 new church members were
reported. (fn. 76) By 1886 an iron church had been opened
at Leaden Roding, and there was a mission room at
White Roding, both under Rattee's supervision. He
was also holding services at Aythorpe Roding and
Margaret Roding. (fn. 77) A chapel was built at White
Roding in 1888 at a cost of £262. (fn. 78) In 1890 the old
church at Abbess Roding was dilapidated and services
were being held in the schoolroom there. (fn. 79) In 1899
the old church was sold, together with the neighbouring Anchor House, for £1,000, (fn. 80) and the money made
over to the church at White Roding, which was
extended in 1901. The manse remained at Abbess
Roding until 1948, when it was sold, and a new manse
was built at White Roding. (fn. 81) Rattee left the district
in 1904-5. He had been ill and a fund was raised to
pay his debts before he left. (fn. 82)
The Abbess Roding church was demolished soon
after 1899 and nothing now remains of it except the
red-brick wall of the forecourt. It stood immediately
to the west of the present Anchor House. An oil painting of the front, executed about 1876, hangs in the
Congregational church, White Roding. It shows a
two-story plastered building with rusticated quoins
and a hipped tile roof. At each end of the front is a
doorway with flanking pilasters supporting an entablature. The windows, of which there are four to the
upper story, have semicircular heads and are divided
by mullions and transomes (see plate facing p. 113).
A photograph of the interior, also in the White
Roding church, shows a gallery on three sides and on the
fourth a high panelled pulpit set between two tall
round-headed windows. To the west of the church
stood the Sunday school. (fn. 83)
Anchor House, which appears to have become a
public house in the 19th century (see above) retained
its licence until about 1910. (fn. 84) The iron anchor which
served as an inn sign still hangs above the entrance door.
The building is timber-framed and roughcast and probably dates from the late 17th or early 18th century. To
the west of it, near the site of the former church, are the
remains of a moat.
The Old Manse, formerly known as Hill House,
was built in 1851 to the design of the Revd. H. Stacey,
then minister of the church. (fn. 85) It is a square doublefronted house of brown brick.