BEAUCHAMP RODING
Beauchamp Roding lies south of Abbess Roding,
about 5 miles from Chipping Ongar. (fn. 1) For ecclesiastical
purposes it is united with Abbess Roding. (fn. 2) For civil
purposes it has since 1946 been united with Abbess
Roding and Berners Roding. (fn. 3) The ancient parish of
Beauchamp Roding contained 1,262 acres. (fn. 4) It was
bounded on the north by Abbess Roding, on the east by
the River Roding, on the south by Willingale Doe,
and on the west by Fyfield. It contained a small detached part of Abbess Roding. (fn. 5) Bird's Green, a hamlet
in the extreme south-east of Beauchamp Roding, and
partly in the parish of Willingale Doe, was treated for
the purposes of Land Tax Assessment (1780-1832) as
being in Dunmow hundred. (fn. 6)
In its landscape and general economy Beauchamp
Roding is similar to Abbess Roding, but there is one
marked difference: unlike Abbess Roding, Beauchamp
Roding has no central village grouped about its parish
church. Beauchamp Roding church, on a site probably
of great antiquity, is indeed in the centre of its ancient
parish but it is completely isolated and can only be
reached by a field track. There is not even an old
manor house near it as is usually the case with the
medieval churches of Essex. Most of the population
is located to the east of the church, at Bird's Green and
along the road leading to it. In 1801 the population
was 220. By 1881 it had risen to 281 but by 1901 it
had declined to 221 and it fell further to 162 in 1921.
There was then a slight increase to 173 in 1931. The
figure for the combined parish of Abbess, Beauchamp,
and Berners Roding in 1951 was 515, which implies a
slight increase over 1931. (fn. 7) It is probable that some of
this results from the building of council houses in Beauchamp Roding and of houses for the London Cooperative Society's farm workers. (fn. 8)
Beauchamp Roding rises from about 175 ft. above
sea-level near the river to 250 ft. in the west. Two
streams flow east to join the Roding. Butt Hatch Wood
is in the south-west of the ancient parish. The road
from Ongar to Dunmow enters the parish in the south
near Butt Hatch Farm. In its earlier form 'Burnthatch', the name of this farm, goes back at least to
1542. (fn. 9) The present house is a square double-fronted
building dating from the early or mid-19th century.
Roden Lodge, which adjoins Butt Hatch to the north,
is a similar house of the same period. The Rood Inn
formerly occupied the same position as Roden Lodge,
which at one time was known as Rood House. (fn. 10) Half
a mile north of Roden Lodge, on the west side of the
road is Slade's Farm, whose name, like that of Butt
Hatch, goes back to 1542. (fn. 11) The present building is
of the 16th century or earlier but is much altered outside. A ¼ mile north-west of Slade's is Wood End Farm,
which is linked with the main road by a lane which
continues west to Leader's Farm in Abbess Roding.
The farm took its name from the wood which formerly
lay to the west of it. (fn. 12) The name Wood End also goes
back to 1542. (fn. 13) The farm-house is timber-framed and
plastered and has an original chimney with six octagonal
shafts. The front porch, which is dated 1621, has a
moulded frame and an original panelled door. There
are later additions at the back of the house.
A quarter of a mile east of Slade's is the church,
which is reached by a track running from the main
road near its junction with the Wood End lane. Near
the church to the east is the old rectory. A little to the
north of the church track the main road meets the road
which runs south-east to Bird's Green. Farther north,
on the west side of the main road, is Longbarns (see
Manors). Opposite Longbarns is Sparrow's Hope,
a small cottage with an 'Off' licence. The site was
formerly part of the detached strip belonging to Abbess
Roding parish (q.v.). The cottage is weather-boarded
and has a thatched roof and probably dates from the
17th century. Wicks Farm, now demolished, was also
in the detached strip, beside the Roding about a mile
east of Longbarns. Half a mile north-east of Longbarns is Frayes (see Manors) from which a long drive
leads to the main road.
On the east side of the main road near the Bird's
Green turning are three pairs of council houses.
Scattered along the Bird's Green road are cottages,
many of which date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
The former school, originally the parish poorhouse, is
on the east side of the road ¼ mile north-east of the
church. Near it on the west side of the road are four
pairs of council houses. The 'Two Swans' at Bird's
Green was a farm-house until the middle of the 19th
century. (fn. 14) It is a 17th-century timber-framed house
that has been refronted in brown brick. Hornets
Farm, formerly Horners (see Manors) is near Bird's
Green to the west. Gubbiss Farm, which formerly
stood on an isolated site between Hornets and Butt
Hatch, has now been demolished and the track leading to it from the Bird's Green road is largely obliterated. The house was of the 16th century, built on
an L-shaped plan, and there was an enriched plaster
panel above an original fireplace arch on the ground
floor. (fn. 15) From Bird's Green one road runs south-west
to join the Ongar road in Fyfield and another runs
east via Shallow (formerly Shellow) Bridge to Berners
Roding, Willingale, Shellow Bowells, and Chelmsford.
Shallow Bridge, between Beauchamp Roding and
Willingale Doe, seems to have been accepted as a
county bridge from about 1654. (fn. 16) In 1596 a Beauchamp Roding man was said to be partly responsible
for the repair of the bridge, (fn. 17) but during the late 16th
and early 17th century responsibility was more often
assigned to Willingale Doe, (fn. 18) and a more detailed
history of the bridge will be given under that parish
in a later volume.
In 1618 the parish surveyors of highways made a
report on the statute work (fn. 19) and a detailed return was
made in 1720. (fn. 20) The most important road in the
parish has for many centuries been the OngarDunmow road, which is marked on Norden's Map of
Essex, 1594. This probably enjoyed its greatest
importance in the 18th and early 19th centuries when
it was used by coaches running between Dunmow and
London. (fn. 21) The decay of the road from Wood End to
Little Laver in recent times has already been mentioned.
For postal services Beauchamp Roding has usually
depended upon Ongar. In 1886 it received letters by
foot post from Brentwood through Ongar. (fn. 22) Part of
the parish has a water-supply by pipes laid in 1952-3
by the Herts. and Essex Waterworks Co. (fn. 23) Beauchamp
Roding shares a village hall with Abbess Roding (q.v.).
As elsewhere in the Rodings hardly any occupations
other than agriculture have been carried on in this
parish. (fn. 24) From the 16th century until late in the 19th
the owners of most of the land in Beauchamp Roding
were non-resident. In 1840 it was estimated that the
parish contained 1,011 acres of arable, 172 acres of
meadow and pasture, and 46 acres of wood excluding
38 acres of glebe of which 32 acres were arable and the
rest meadow and pasture. (fn. 25) In 1843 there were six
farms of over 50 acres, the largest of which was Longbarns with Frayes, containing some 370 acres. Several
farms had more than one homestead and had been
formed by the amalgamation of smaller holdings. The
same survey refers to a malthouse and elsewhere to a
'hop garden field' which recalls Defoe's comment on
this area. (fn. 26)