CHURCH
The advowson of Stanford Rivers was acquired soon
after the Norman Conquest by the priory
of Rumilly-le-Comte, which probably had
it from Eustace, Count of Boulogne. (fn. 18)
The history of the advowson down to the 14th century
is treated under High Ongar (q.v.) where reasons are
given for supposing that about 1280 the parish of
Stanford Rivers was doubled by the transfer to it of
part of High Ongar. In and after the 14th century the
advowson of Stanford Rivers, like that of High Ongar,
was held by the king until 1538. In that year, when
the advowson of High Ongar was granted to Sir
Richard Rich, that of Stanford Rivers was retained by
the king. The advowson of Stanford Rivers was no
doubt annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster at the same
time as the manor and since the reign of Elizabeth I
presentations have been made by the Chancellor of the
Duchy. (fn. 19)
In about 1254 the rectory of Stanford Rivers was
valued at 20 marks. (fn. 20) In 1291, 1428, and 1535 the
value was returned as £26 13s. 4d. (fn. 21) At the tithecommutation in 1842 the total income of the rector
from tithe rents was fixed at £1,038. (fn. 22) There were
54 acres of glebe. Land tax chargeable upon the
rectory, rectorial tithes, and glebe had been redeemed
in 1803 by a payment of £1,173. (fn. 23)
In 1534 Thomas Grene devised a rent of £6 13s. 4d.
out of the manor of Bellhouse (see above) for the support of a chantry priest who was to serve annually in the
church of Stanford Rivers for 20 years after Grene's
death. Grene's will was proved three years later. The
stipendiary was being employed in 1548 when the
chantries were dissolved. (fn. 24)
Another endowment, for an 'anniversary' in the
church, consisted of 10s. rent from land in Stanford
Rivers called Knyghtes. In 1549 this rent was granted
by the king to Henry Codenham, and William
Pendred, citizen and founder, both of London. (fn. 25)
William Shelton, by his will proved 1552-3, left
money to the parish for the payment of forgotten
tithes. (fn. 26)
As a valuable Crown living Stanford Rivers has been
held by a number of rectors of distinction. Thomas
Cole (d. 1571), one of the Puritans who emigrated to
Frankfort-on-the-Main under Mary I, was rector after
the accession of Elizabeth I. (fn. 27) Richard Vaughan
(1550?-1607), who became rector in 1594, was later
Bishop successively of Bangor, Chester, and London. (fn. 28)
Richard Montagu (1577-1641), controversialist,
Bishop of Chichester (1628) and of Norwich (1638),
was rector from 1613 to 1628. (fn. 29) Although he was a
pluralist his favourite residence is said to have been at
Stanford Rivers. After he resigned the living an
attempt was made to secure it for Peter Delauney,
preacher to the French congregation in Norwich: it
was stated that this had been promised by James I to
reward Delauney for translating the English liturgy
into French. (fn. 30) The rectory was, however, given to
Roger Mainwaring, one of the chaplains of Charles I. (fn. 31)
Mainwaring became Bishop of St. Davids in 1635. (fn. 32)
Henry Tattam (1789-1868), who became rector in
1850, was a distinguished Coptic scholar and chaplain
to the queen. (fn. 33)
The parish church of ST. MARGARET consists of
nave, chancel, north porch (blocked), west porch, south
vestry, and a west bell-turret with spire. There is a
gallery beneath the turret. The walls are mostly of
flint rubble with dressings of clunch and other stone.
The upper part of the chancel is of brick. The church is
faced externally with Roman cement. The roof is tiled.
The nave was built in the middle of the 12th century.
The original semicircular arch of the south doorway
can still be seen internally. Both north and south walls
have two single-light round-headed windows of the
12th century, but in each case those nearest the west
end have been blocked and are only visible from the
outside. There is a similar blocked window in the
west gable with exposed flintwork surrounding it.
During the first half of the 14th century two threelight windows were inserted near the east end of the
nave, one on the north and one on the south side.
These probably replaced small 12th-century lights,
which suggests an original arrangement of three
windows to each wall. On the east splays of the two
14th-century windows wall-paintings, probably con-
temporary, were visible until recently. These consisted
of figures under gabled and crocketed canopies with
shields of arms above. (fn. 34)
The present chancel also dates from the first half of
the 14th century. On its north side there is a contemporary window consisting of two trefoil and ogeeheaded traceried lights. The south wall has two similar
windows with a blocked doorway, probably of the
same date, between them.
Richard Salyng, by his will proved in 1404, made
a bequest for the remaking of the rood loft, and provided that if he died at Stanford Rivers he should be
buried in the church beside the monument to his late
wife Alice. (fn. 35) Late in the 15th century the north porch
was built. It is of timber and is of a type common in
Essex. Many of the original timbers remain. The
external arch, now blocked, is four-centred with trefoil
carved spandrels, and the panels flanking it have
traceried heads. It is now used as a store. The south
porch, now the vestry, was probably similar. The
timber-framed bell-turret was probably built in the
15th century. It was inserted in the westernmost bay
of the nave. The massive angle-posts are stop-chamfered
near floor level. The turret is weather-boarded and is
surmounted by a small lead-covered spire. The roof
of the nave also dates from the 15th century. It has
three trusses with rebated king-posts and four-way
struts. The timbers between the trusses were exposed
during the restorations in 1951.
In the 15th century, or early in the 16th, a wide
three-light window with a segmental pointed head was
inserted in the south wall of the chancel. This was
later plastered over, but during the restorations of
1948-52 it was opened up and glazed and the stonework was renewed. Early in the 16th century the roof
level of the chancel was raised, the walls were built up
in brickwork and three segmental-headed clerestory
windows were inserted in both north and south walls.
This curious arrangement may have been the preliminary to a general raising of the wall height, never
carried out. The chancel arch was probably destroyed
at this time, giving the present awkward junction between chancel and nave roofs. The chancel roof has
curved and moulded principals and is of the early 16th
century. The timbers between the trusses were exposed
in 1951.
At the archdeacon's visitation of 1606 the churchwardens stated that the chancel was out of repair, both
glass and stonework of the windows being broken, and
the walls dirty. (fn. 36) At another visitation in 1683 the
churchwardens were ordered to mend both the church
porches, the crack on the north side of the steeple, and
the tiling towards the lower end of the church. (fn. 37) A
small scratched sundial on the external jamb of the
14th-century window in the south wall of the nave
probably dates from the 17th century.
In 1817 important repairs and alterations were
carried out at a total cost of about £350. (fn. 38) These
included the opening of the present west entrance and
probably also the conversion of the south porch into a
vestry, the building of the gallery, and the insertion of
the present east window in the chancel. The west
porch is open and of oak. It has a segmental pointed
arch and pierced spandrels. The window above it is
three-light with a segmental head and a wide architrave
of wood. The gallery incorporates panels from a 15thcentury chancel screen. All this work was carried out
by Richard Noble of Ongar under the direction of a
surveyor named Foottit.
In 1944 a flying bomb damaged the south side of the
church. Restoration was carried out between 1948 and
1952. (fn. 39) During that period the gallery was converted
into a small parish room by the fixing of a temporary
partition to the front.
In 1552 there were three bells in the steeple 'of
which the great bell contains 1 yard deep lacking 3
inches, the second bell 2 ft. 3 ins., the breadth 1 yd. 1 in.,
the third bell 2 ft. 3 in., and the breadth 1 yd. lacking
2 ins.' (fn. 40) There were also a handbell, a sanctus bell,
and two sacring bells. (fn. 41) There are at present two bells
in the steeple, one cast by Joseph Carter in 1609, the
other by Anthony Bartlet in 1662; one of these was
damaged in 1944 and is no longer in use. (fn. 42) The third
bell appears to have been sold in 1806 and the money
applied towards repairs to the steeple. (fn. 43)
The early-13th-century font is of Barnack stone, the
octagonal bowl having sunk panels with pointed heads
and the stem having eight detached shafts. There are
sixteen 15th-century oak benches near the west end
of the nave, the ends being carved with small buttresses.
The communion rails have turned balusters of the late
17th century. They were no doubt erected as a result
of the archdeacon's visitation of 1683, when it was
ordered that the communion table should be railed
in. (fn. 44) The wrought-iron-work supporting the altar
lamp is apparently of early-18th-century date and came
from Suttons in Stapleford Tawney. (fn. 45) The stained
glass in the east window was inserted in 1952 in memory
of H. W. Millbank (d. 1950). The electric heating
was installed in 1952. The church plate consists of a
silver flagon, paten, and chalice of 1812, presented by
the Revd. E. C. Dowdeswell. (fn. 46) In 1552 there were
three chalices of silver, one being partly gilt. There
was delivered for service use one silver chalice. (fn. 47)
There are a few details of the church furnishings in
past centuries. Richard Ballard, by his will proved in
1526, left money for the 'gilding of oon of the tabernacles'. (fn. 48) The image of the Assumption of Our Lady,
in the chancel of the church, is mentioned in a will of
1537. (fn. 49) In 1636 £1 10s. was paid for painting the
royal arms and whitewashing the church. (fn. 50) In 1651
the arms of the Commonwealth were substituted for
those of the king; this and the setting up of the Ten
Commandments cost £1 8s. (fn. 51) In 1660 the royal arms
were again set up, at a cost of £1 5s. (fn. 52)
On the north wall of the chancel is an inscribed
brass to Thomas Grene (1535) and his two wives. In
his will (proved 1537) Grene gave instructions that
he was to be buried in the chancel before the image of
the Assumption of Our Lady, or in the chancel of the
church of Cottered (Herts.). (fn. 53) Also on the north wall
of the chancel are white marble tablets to Charlotte
Edwards (1823) and Isaac Taylor (1865). (fn. 54) On the
east wall of the chancel is a white marble tablet to Dr.
Charles Gibbs (1681), and on the south wall a brass
inscription to Katherine (1609) wife of Richard
Mulcaster, rector of the parish. In the nave is a stone
tablet to Anne, wife of William Napper (1584), bearing a brass of a kneeling woman and her six sons. On
the floor of the chancel, some of them concealed below
the altar, are four floor-slabs with brasses: (1) fragment
of late-16th-century slab with shield of arms; (2)
Thomas, infant son of Giles Greville (1492) with a
figure of a Chrisom child and shield of arms; (3) Robert
Borrow (1503) and Alys his wife: figures of man in
plate armour and woman in pedimented head-dress
with dog at their feet and shield of arms; (4) Lucy,
daughter of William Petre (1637): inscription only.
Also in the chancel are many floor slabs to the Petre
family, ranging in date from 1677 (William son of
Lord Petre) to 1797 (Hon. George William Petre).
The Berkeley Charity, for the upkeep of the graveyard of the church, is described below, under Charities.
The old rectory is a fine late-18th-century red-brick
house of two stories and attics, with a one-story wing
to the south-west. The entrance front has a pedimented doorcase and on the garden side there are two
slightly projecting bays with pediments. The detail
here and elsewhere is of c. 1780. Parts of the moat
remain to the north of the house. The glebe terrier of
1610 describes extensive buildings which were probably on the same site. (fn. 55) There appear to be no traces
of these earlier buildings.
For the present rectory see below, Protestant Nonconformity.