LITTLE HALLINGBURY
Little Hallingbury is a rural parish 9 km.
north-east of Harlow and 4 km. south of Bishop's
Stortford (Herts.), within the metropolitan
Green Belt. It is bounded by Great Hallingbury
on the north, by Sawbridgeworth (Herts.) on the
south and west, and by Hatfield Broad Oak on the
south and east. The ancient parish comprised
1,656 a. (670 ha.). (fn. 1) In 1953 the north-east corner
(194 a.), including Monkswood and the southern
part of Woodside Green, was transferred to
Great Hallingbury, while the south-west corner
of Great Hallingbury (362 a.), including Wallbury, was transferred to Little Hallingbury. (fn. 2)
The exchange moved the whole of Little Hallingbury's western boundary to the river Stort.
The terrain rises from 60 m. in the Stort valley
to 84 m. in the north-east. The soil is mainly
boulder clay, with sand and gravel in the valley.
Several streams flow westward, converging to
join the Stort near Hallingbury mill.
Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery have been
found west of Little Hallingbury Hall, near the
southern boundary of the parish. Further north,
near a house called Romans, an Iron Age hut
circle was found, underlying a Roman settlement. (fn. 3) Iron Age and Roman burials and a
Roman villa have been found at South House
farm. (fn. 4) Wallbury Camp is described under Great
Hallingbury.
The recorded population of Little Hallingbury
increased from 12 in 1066 to 31 in 1086. (fn. 5)
Twenty-two persons were assessed to tax in 1327
and 26 in 1525. (fn. 6) There were 57 houses in 1662. (fn. 7)
The population rose from 408 in 1801 to 611 in
1891. It fell to 538 in 1921 but rose to 865 in 1951.
In 1971 the population of the enlarged parish was
1,255. (fn. 8)
The ancient pattern of roads and settlement
has survived to the present. The road from
Hatfield Heath to Bishop's Stortford runs northwest through the parish. The southern end of the
road was called Longbottoms Green in the late
18th century. In the centre of the parish, near the
church, it is joined by the road running northeast via Gaston Green from Sawbridgeworth and
by Goose Lane, which runs eastwards to the
southern end of Woodside Green. New Barn
Lane runs from the Bishop's Stortford road
eastwards to Great Hallingbury. Mill Lane runs
from Gaston Green westwards to Little Hallingbury mill. The parish church, which dates from
the 12th century, adjoins Monkbury manor
house. Little Hallingbury manor house is near
the southern boundary of the parish. By the 18th
century the main settlement was at Bell End, now
called Little Hallingbury village, north-west of
the church. There were hamlets at Woodside
Green in the north-east and Gaston Green in the
south-west, and scattered cottages elsewhere,
beside greens and on roadside wastes. (fn. 9) There
was a little building in the 19th century. In 1932
the rural district council built 16 houses in
Grinstead Lane. After 1945 building was concentrated in the north-west quarter of the parish.
Many large houses were built along the Bishop's
Stortford road, and along the lanes between
Mott's, Wright's, and Church Greens. The
R.D.C. built 42 more houses and flats at Hatch
Green and Barker's Mead. (fn. 10)
The medieval manor houses of Little Hallingbury Hall and Monkbury were both replaced by
later houses on adjoining sites. The oldest house
now surviving is Romans, Wright's Green, which
was built in the early 15th century as a hall house
of two bays. A chimney and an upper floor were
inserted in the 17th century, and a low, twostoreyed extension at the west end may have been
added at the same time. Malting Farm, Church
Green, is a late medieval house with hall and
cross wings. The hall was remodelled and
heightened in the 17th century, and the house
was extended to the north in the 19th and 20th
centuries. Mott's Green Cottage is the west wing,
probably the solar wing, of a late medieval house.
A modern extension occupies the site of the
former hall. Old Forge, Mott's Green, has at its
centre a northern service cross wing of late
medieval date. The hall range was reconstructed
in the 17th century, but parts of the medieval
walls survive. There are 20th-century additions
to the north and east. Little Hallingbury Park is
a late 16th-century house of three-roomed plan
greatly extended in the 17th century, and remodelled internally in the 18th century. There
was further remodelling in the 1920s, when
some features from Hallingbury Place were incorporated. (fn. 11) The house was badly damaged by
fire in 1982. There is a large barn of the 17th or
early 18th century. Pynchon Hall (formerly
Wright's Green Farm), was built in the mid 17th
century, probably on a two-roomed plan with
staircase turret. It was enlarged at the east end
in the 19th century, and greatly extended in
the early 20th century. The farm buildings were
converted c. 1978 into separate dwellings round
a courtyard. Woodfold, Woodside Green, was
also built in the mid-17th century. It has a
two-roomed plan, with a central chimney and
a lean-to, possibly contemporary, at the back. A
19th-century extension at the north end included
a former bakehouse. Old Farm, Gaston Green,
and Little Bursteads, Sawbridgeworth Road,
have 17th-century chimneys.
Gaston House, formerly Watermans, which
dominates Gaston Green, was built c. 1730 as
a plain, three-storeyed, red brick house with
a south front of five bays. (fn. 12) In the mid and later
18th century a service wing was built at the
north-west corner. In 1777 Gaston House was
the seat of Mrs. M. Emerson. (fn. 13) Early in the 19th
century the main block was refenestrated, and
the main rooms were refitted. In 1906 the house,
with 52 a., was bought from the Pelly family
by Robert L. Barclay (d. 1939), banker, whose
widow sold it, with 11 a., to (Sir) Eric Berthoud
in 1949. (fn. 14) By 1981 it was in divided ownership.
The main block was then being extensively
renovated.
The Bell Inn, recorded from 1754, gave its
name to Bell End. (fn. 15) It was closed c. 1833. (fn. 16) The
Sutton Arms, Hall Green, opened in 1833,
survived in 1981. (fn. 17) The Hop Poles inn, Gaston
Green, recorded as a beerhouse from the 1830s, (fn. 18)
was closed in the 1960s. (fn. 19) .
In the 18th century coaches from Hatfield
Heath to Bishop's Stortford passed through
Little Hallingbury. (fn. 20) The Northern and Eastern
Railway line from London, completed to Bishop's
Stortford in 1842, skirted the western edge of
the parish, with a station at Sawbridgeworth,
3 km. south-west of the village. (fn. 21) The LondonCambridge motorway (M11), completed in 1980,
crosses the parish without access. A post office
had been established in the village by 1845. (fn. 22)
Hugh Morgan (d. 1613), apothecary to
Elizabeth I, held property in the parish. (fn. 23) Some
distinguished rectors are mentioned below. (fn. 24)
Manors.
The manor of LITTLE HALLINGBURY or HALLINGBURY NEVILLE, or
HALLINGBURY BOURCHIER, lying in the
centre and south of the parish, consisted in 1066
of 2½ hides, held by Godric, a free man. In 1086
Walter held it of Swein of Essex. (fn. 25) Silvester son
of Simon, who was patron of Little Hallingbury
rectory c. 1160, was probably a successor of
Walter. (fn. 26) The tenancy in demesne was soon
afterwards merged with the tenancy in chief,
which descended like Theydon Mount as part of
the honor of Rayleigh and was forfeited to the
Crown in 1163. (fn. 27) In 1181 the manor was being let
to farm by Henry II. (fn. 28) Richard I granted it in
1189 to Hugh de Neville for ½ knight's fee. (fn. 29)
Little Hallingbury descended for almost two
centuries in Hugh de Neville's family, Neville of
Essex. John de Neville, Lord Neville, died in
1335. The manor was then in the hands of his
mother Margaret de Neville (d. by 1338), who
had held it since the death of her husband John in
1282. (fn. 30) It passed after her death to her grandson
John de Neville, Lord Neville (d. 1358), who,
with his wife Alice (d. 1394), in 1357 conveyed
the reversion of the manor to William de Bohun
(d. 1360), earl of Northampton. Alice continued
to receive a rent charged on the manor after her
husband's death. The earl of Northampton was
succeeded by his son Humphrey de Bohun, earl
of Hereford and Essex (d. 1373). (fn. 31) Humphrey's
coheirs were his daughters Eleanor and Mary de
Bohun. In 1377 custody of Little Hallingbury
was granted to Thomas of Woodstock, earl of
Buckingham, later duke of Gloucester, on his
marriage to Eleanor de Bohun, but in 1384 the
manor was assigned to her sister Mary, by then
wife of Henry of Bolingbroke, later King Henry
IV. (fn. 32)
Under Henry IV and Henry V the manor
remained with the Crown, subject to the dower of
Joan de Bohun, countess of Hereford (d. 1419),
but when the Bohun estates were partitioned in
1421 it was assigned to Anne (d. 1438), daughter
of Eleanor de Bohun and wife successively of
Edmund Stafford, earl of Stafford, and Sir
William Bourchier, count of Eu. She was
succeeded by her son Henry Bourchier, later earl
of Essex (d. 1483). Henry Bourchier, grandson
and heir of the last, died in 1540, leaving Little
Hallingbury to his daughter Anne, who in 1541
married Sir William Parr, later earl of Essex and
marquess of Northampton. (fn. 33) Anne was repudiated by her husband in 1543, but in 1553, after
his attainder, she was granted lands, including
Little Hallingbury, for her support. (fn. 34) At her
death in 1571 the manor passed to her cousin
Walter Devereux, Viscount Hereford and later
earl of Essex (d. 1576). (fn. 35) Robert Devereux, earl
of Essex, son of the last, sold Little Hallingbury
in 1588 to Thomas Sutton, who planned to build
Charterhouse hospital there. When the hospital
was eventually built in London the manor
became part of its endowments. (fn. 36) In 1839 the
Charterhouse estate in Little Hallingbury comprised two farms and four houses, totalling
646 a. (fn. 37) The hospital sold it off piecemeal between
1919 and 1924. (fn. 38)
Little Hallingbury Hall, at Hall Green, was
bought c. 1925 by Francis Gilbey, whose family
sold it in 1947 to Mr. Guy Wright, the owner
in 1981. (fn. 39) It is a yellow brick house of c. 1820
incorporating at its north end part of an older,
timber-framed building, probably a cottage. The
farm buildings include a large timber-framed
and thatched barn of c. 1500. The earlier manor
house, which lay north-east of the barn, had been
demolished by 1839. (fn. 40)
The manor of MONKBURY, in the northwest quarter of the parish, originated as a hide
of land held in 1066 by Esgar and in 1086
by Geoffrey Martel as tenant of Geoffrey de
Mandeville. (fn. 41) In 1093 Martel, with Mandeville's
consent, granted it to Bermondsey priory
(Surr.). (fn. 42) The priory, later an abbey, held the
manor until the Dissolution. Bermondsey may
also have acquired the estate of ½ hide less 8 a.
held in 1066 by Godid, a free woman, and in 1086
by Hugh as tenant of Geoffrey de Mandeville. (fn. 43)
From 1274 to 1290 Monkbury, like Quickbury in
Sheering, was on lease to Adam of Stratton, the
fraudulent Exchequer official. (fn. 44)
Monkbury was granted by the Crown in 1544
to Sir Henry Parker, Lord Morley, (fn. 45) and subsequently descended with the manor of Great
Hallingbury until the Archer-Houblon estate
was broken up in the 1920s. It comprised 180 a.
in 1639, but only 138 a. in 1839. (fn. 46) A mortgage on
the manor, taken out in 1639, was not redeemed
until 1737. (fn. 47)
Monkbury farm was in 1981 occupied by Mr.
Stuart Padfield. The house, in Wright's Green
Lane, was rebuilt in red brick in 1888. (fn. 48)
Economic History.
Between 1066 and
1086 the population of Little Hallingbury manor
increased from 12 (8 villeins, 4 serfs) to 31 (10
villeins, 17 bordars, 4 serfs). The bordars were
probably pioneers, clearing the forest, which
could support 150 swine in 1066 but only 100 in
1086. The tenants' ploughteams increased from
3 in 1066 to 4 in 1086; there were two demesne
teams at both dates. Demesne livestock, except
swine, had also increased. In 1086 there were
7 'beasts' (6 in 1066), 50 sheep (30), 13 swine (24),
32 goats (30), 2 colts (2 rounceys), and 7 hives of
bees (none in 1066). Between 1066 and 1086
thirty acres of meadow had been added to the
manor, and a mill, shared with Monkbury manor,
had been built. (fn. 49) Monkbury was a small forest
hamlet with no livestock except for ploughteams.
It changed little between 1066 and 1086. There
were 5 tenants in 1066 (a priest, a villein, 3 serfs)
and 6 in 1086 (4 bordars, 2 serfs). The demesne
ploughteams decreased from 2 to 1, but the
manor acquired 20 a. of meadow and the half
share of the mill already mentioned. There was
woodland for 100 swine. (fn. 50)
A belt of woodland along the eastern border
of the parish survived in 1981. Fields named
Readings, (fn. 51) north of Little Hallingbury Hall, may
be evidence of forest clearance in the early
Middle Ages. By the end of the 12th century
Little Hallingbury park had been inclosed, (fn. 52) and
in 1278 it was enlarged by the addition of
Corringale wood in Hatfield Broad Oak. (fn. 53) In 1572
the keeper, John Morgan, was deprived of his
privileges for allowing the park to be 'laid waste'. (fn. 54)
Park farm may have been established at about
that time. By c. 1650 it comprised 302 a.,
including Morgan's Great field (22 a.) and
Morgan's Lawn field (25 a.), and had only 4 a. of
coppice. (fn. 55) Monkswood, in the north-east, was
royal demesne within the forest of Essex in 1298
and 1301, but was excluded in 1641. (fn. 56) A park in
Monkswood survived until 1648 or later. (fn. 57) In
1838, when there were 48 a. of woodland in
the parish, Monkswood, with Wallis's Spring
adjoining, contained 45 a. (fn. 58) The wood survived in
1981.
Several greens, including Longbottoms, Hall,
Mott's, Wright's, Gastonho (later Gaston), and
Woodside, provided common pasture. (fn. 59) The
largest of them was Woodside green or Monkswood common, which was said in 1657 to be
a third of the wood where tenants, but not the
lord, had pasture rights. (fn. 60) Part of Hall green was
inclosed in 1831. (fn. 61) In 1838 there remained 34 a.
of roadside waste used as common pasture, (fn. 62) but
by 1865 it had been reduced to 22 a. (fn. 63) In 1981
six greens survived: Woodside (owned by the
National Trust), (fn. 64) Gaston, and School were
registered commons; Wright's (also owned by
the Trust), Hall, and Mott's were registered
village greens. (fn. 65)
In the Middle Ages there were open fields in
the south and north-west, and common meadows
by the Stort in the south-west. The open fields
included Latchmore, Beadle, Millhide, Gaston,
West, South, Barr, and Katesmore fields. (fn. 66)
Latchmore and Beadle lay north-west of
Monkbury manor house, Millhide north-west of
Gaston green, and Gaston between Church Road
and Grinstead Lane. (fn. 67) Katesmore has not been
located. Inclosure had begun in the south by the
14th century, (fn. 68) and was far advanced by the 17th
century. In 1621 apparently only one open field,
Gaston common, survived on Little Hallingbury
manor. (fn. 69) By 1628 West field had been inclosed. (fn. 70)
In 1650 West and South fields were part of South
House farm. Barr field (67 a.), lying farther east,
then comprised seven fields. (fn. 71) Inclosure was
slower in the north. In 1838 intermixed strips
survived in Latchmore, Beadle, Millhide, and
Gaston commons. (fn. 72) An award of 1844 inclosed
88 a. of arable land in those commons. (fn. 73)
In the Middle Ages most of the land on Little
Hallingbury manor was held in villeinage by
labour service, but some small pieces of land were
held by villeins paying money rent. (fn. 74) Some
customary services appear to have been due as
late as 1571. (fn. 75) Commoners' cattle grazed in the
open fields after harvest, and the farmer of
Monkbury could put tethered beasts in the fields
of that manor before harvest. (fn. 76) The tenants of
Monkbury in 1587 claimed herbage on Monkswood common, and the rights to cut bushes there
between 2 November and 23 April and to dig clay
in Bare field for house repair. (fn. 77) In 1657 they
repeated their claims, adding the right to rebuild
houses within a year and a day of collapse, to
demolish outhouses, to have a bull, a boar, and
a pound, and to sell wood within the manor. (fn. 78) .
The tenants of Little Hallingbury manor claimed
the right to a pound in 1575, 1600, and 1659. (fn. 79)
In the 1730s neither manor had an adequate
pound. (fn. 80)
Arable farming seems to have predominated
from the 14th century. (fn. 81) In 1838 the parish was
estimated to contain 1,560 a., of which 370 a.
were meadow and pasture. (fn. 82) The proportion of
arable fell in the later 19th century, but has risen
in the later 20th century. Returns for 1866
include 870 a. of cereals, 268 a. of vegetables, and
552 a. of grass. Those for 1906 list 642 a. of
cereals, 195 a. of vegetables, and 746 a. of grass.
At both dates wheat and barley were the main
cereals. The largest vegetable crop was turnips in
1866 and beans in 1906. The 1926 returns
include 549 a. of cereals, mainly wheat and
barley, 123 a. of vegetables, mainly beans, and
935 a. of grass. (fn. 83) The 1977 returns, for the
enlarged parish, list 384 ha. (948 a.) of cereals,
almost equally divided between wheat and barley,
82 ha. (202 a.) of vegetables, mainly sugar beet
and fodder crops, and 104 ha. (256 a.) of grass. (fn. 84)
Hop growing was carried on in the 17th century,
but was declining by 1743. (fn. 85) An osier ground was
recorded throughout the 18th century. In 1708 it
was leased for 10s. a year to a basket maker. (fn. 86)
There was an osier bed of 3 a. by the Stort in
1924. (fn. 87)
In the early 19th century John Archer
Houblon, owner of Hallingbury Place in Great
Hallingbury and of Monkbury, had 300 ewes on
his estate and laid down pasture for sheep. (fn. 88) The
returns of 1866 listed 42 cows, 78 other cattle,
440 sheep, and 247 pigs. Those for 1906 listed 85
horses, 70 cows and heifers, 105 other cattle, 523
sheep, and 138 pigs. By 1916 there were only 36
sheep, all at Monkbury, and by 1926 there were
none. Pigs increased as sheep declined. The 1926
returns listed 149 cows, 122 other cattle, 389
pigs, and 59 horses, with 1,183 poultry, 94 ducks,
and a few geese and turkeys. The 1977 returns
included 184 cattle, 575 pigs, and 21 fowls. (fn. 89)
A chicken farm in New Barn Lane was converted
c. 1970 to boarding kennels, which survived in
1981. (fn. 90)
In 1839 there were two farms (Hall and Park)
with over 200 a., four with 100–200 a., and two
with 50–100 a. (fn. 91) In 1926 there were two with over
300 a., two with 100–300 a., and three with
50–100 a. In 1977 one farm had over 200 ha.
(494 a.), one had over 100 ha. (247 a.), two
between 50 ha. (124 a.) and 100 ha., and two
between 20 ha. (49 a.) and 50 ha. (fn. 92)
A water-mill, built soon after the Conquest,
was shared by Little Hallingbury and Monkbury
manors. (fn. 93) Its site is not known. A mill belonging
to Little Hallingbury manor was recorded from
the early 15th century. (fn. 94) Little Hallingbury
mill, recorded from 1641, was originally called
Tednam mill because it was near Tednambury
manor in Sawbridgeworth. (fn. 95) In 1693 Charterhouse leased the mill to Edward Ettrick and John
Barlstead, London merchants, who rebuilt it as
a silk mill. (fn. 96) Silk manufacture, employing many
local women, seems to have continued until
c. 1770. (fn. 97) In 1778 the mill was converted by
James Pavitt and Richard Martin for corn grinding. (fn. 98) It was sold in 1800 to George Pavitt, whose
family owned it in 1838, (fn. 99) and may have closed
soon after. (fn. 100) A new mill was built in 1874, and
in 1885 the old mill, on the site of the present
granary, was demolished. The mill of 1874 was
used as a corn mill until 1952. In 1966 it became
the headquarters of Lea and Stort Cruises Ltd. (fn. 101)
The building and machinery were restored
between 1967 and 1971. (fn. 102) A windmill, which
stood south-east of the water-mill, was apparently
worked with it for a short time in the 19th
century. (fn. 103)
Maltings were built in the 17th century at
a house north of the church, later called Maltings
Farm. (fn. 104) They apparently closed soon after 1838. (fn. 105)
The buildings survived in 1981. A malting at
Woodside Green, recorded in the 18th century,
had ceased by 1838. (fn. 106) Barns at Little Hallingbury
Hall were used as paint works during the Second
World War, and in 1981 were being used by
Hayters Ltd. to store mowers awaiting export. (fn. 107)
Local Government.
In 1274 or 1275 the
lord of Little Hallingbury manor claimed view of
frankpledge and the assize of bread and of ale. (fn. 108)
Court rolls and books of Little Hallingbury
manor survive for the period 1380–1934, except
for the years 1421–63 and 1536–63. (fn. 109) Courts leet
were held on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul
(29 June) until the early 16th century, when the
date began to vary. By the later 17th century they
had ceased to be held annually, and from the early
18th century only courts baron were recorded.
The leet's main concern was the maintenance of
highways, hedges, ditches, and commons, and
the assize of bread and of ale. In the 15th and 16th
centuries millers were presented for charging
excessive tolls and using false weights. In the
late 16th and the early 17th century the court
repeatedly stated tenants' rights. In the Middle
Ages it appointed a reeve of the commons, two
aletasters, and, from 1420 or earlier, a constable.
By the later 15th century there was only one
aletaster. A constable was last appointed by the
leet in 1735. (fn. 110)
A joint court leet for Monkbury manor and
Quickbury manor in Sheering was held in the
later 13th century. (fn. 111) There are court rolls and
books of Monkbury from 1578 to 1922, with gaps
in the 17th and the early 18th century. Courts
leet, held at various times of the year, were
recorded up to 1717. Their business was similar
to that of Little Hallingbury court. Monkbury
appointed a constable until 1700. It appointed
a hayward in 1653. (fn. 112)
Parish records include vestry minutes for
1681–1835, churchwardens' accounts for 1744–
63, and overseers' accounts for 1782–1835. (fn. 113) The
vestry always met at Easter. Until 1754 it often
met again at Christmas, and sometimes also in
late summer, but after 1754 only Easter meetings
were recorded. Attendance, as indicated by
signatures in the minutes, was rarely more than
six. John Sherwill, rector 1669–1710, and John
Emerson, rector 1734–66, attended regularly and
took the chair. Later rectors, up to 1835, rarely
attended, and a churchwarden usually chaired
the meeting. The vestry appointed two churchwardens, who usually served for several consecutive years. In the early 18th century there
were several years when only one warden was
appointed. John Emerson nominated one warden,
as did a later rector, John Stewart, 1812–35.
There were two overseers of the poor in 1614. (fn. 114)
By 1681 there seems to have been only one, and
in 1695, when the overseer left the parish, 'the
care and charge of the poor' were temporarily
shouldered by the churchwardens. There were
two surveyors of highways, who usually served
for several years. By 1681 the two constables
appointed by the manor courts were accounting
to the vestry. In 1688 the vestry agreed that one
of the constables might hire a deputy. The vestry
nominated both constables in 1690, and that
probably became the normal practice after 1735,
when the last appointment was made by the
Little Hallingbury leet, though nominations
were rarely recorded in the vestry minutes.
A parish clerk was mentioned in 1696, when
the vestry resolved to pay him a quarterly
honorarium.
Poor relief was distributed in regular weekly
doles or in 'extraordinaries' (special payments)
over a limited period. Some of the poor were
housed in an almshouse until it was pulled down
in 1769; it may have been the former Marriage
Feast room. (fn. 115)
Poor relief cost £3 5s. 1d. in 1614, (fn. 116) and £25 in
1681. It did not again reach that figure until 1697,
when it rose to £39. In 1700 and 1701, two years
of exceptional distress, the annual cost was about
£60, of which £9 or £10 was met by the earnings
of three parish children. By the 1740s the cost
had risen to £80 or more. It was only £90 in 1776,
but in the three years 1783–5 it averaged £188. (fn. 117)
It rose to £500 in 1800 and £828 in 1801. During
the next thirty years it usually ranged between
£400 and £600, except in 1813, 1818, and 1819,
when it exceeded £700. In 1835 it was £307. (fn. 118)
In 1836 Little Hallingbury became part of
Bishop's Stortford poor law union.
Church.
In 1066 Esgar's manor, later Monkbury, included a priest and a villein with 20 a.
which belonged to the church. It was stated
obscurely in 1086 that they did not then belong
to the church. (fn. 119) Further evidence of an ancient
connexion between Monkbury and the church is
provided by the fact that Bermondsey priory,
later abbey, which acquired Monkbury in 1093,
had an interest in the rectory. In 1254 the prior
was said to retain the tithes from his demesne. By
1291 that had been commuted to a portion of £2
a year, payable out of the rectory. (fn. 120) The present
church, which dates from the early 12th century,
is only 100 m. from Monkbury, but 1,400 m.
from Little Hallingbury Hall. From the 12th
century onwards, however, the advowson of the
rectory seems to have been held by the lords of
Little Hallingbury manor, of whom the first
recorded was Silvester son of Simon, named
as patron c. 1160. The Charterhouse hospital
(Lond.), which sold the manor after the First
World War, still held the advowson in 1980. (fn. 121)
The rectory was valued in 1254 at £6 13s. 4d.,
in 1291 at £4 13s. 4d., and in 1535 at £15. In 1254
there was said to be also a vicarage, valued at £5,
but no other reference has been found to it. (fn. 122) In
1650 the rectory was valued at £92, including
£80 from tithes and £12 from the house and 22 a.
of glebe. (fn. 123) By the late 18th century the value had
risen to £160. (fn. 124) The tithes were commuted in
1839 for £474; there were then 29 a. of glebe. (fn. 125) By
1967 the glebe had all been sold. (fn. 126)
The Rectory house, east of the church, was
rebuilt in red brick early in the 18th century. It
was thoroughly restored in 1866. (fn. 127) In 1929 it
had eight bedrooms and extensive outbuildings.
A new house was built c. 1960 at the eastern end
of the old garden. A tithe barn, which probably
stood at the north-west corner of the Rectory
garden, was demolished in 1850. (fn. 128)
Between 1157 and 1162 Henry, son of Henry
of London, was presented to the rectory of Little
Hallingbury, which his father, possibly a canon
of St. Paul's, had previously refused. (fn. 129) Several
other rectors are known by name before the mid
14th century, but the list is far from complete
until the 17th century. (fn. 130) The poverty of the living
tended to result in pluralism and non-residence.
Robert Neville, rector c. 1500–14, was also vicar
of Henham. Martin Price, 1594–1610, and also
rector of Balsham (Cambs.), was denounced
c. 1607 as negligent and non-resident. (fn. 131) John
Fish, presented in 1610, was sequestrated in
1644. He did not go quietly, for in 1647 John
Wilson, a Carthusian who had been appointed
minister by the Parliamentary commissioners,
complained that Fish refused to surrender the
Rectory house, and was obstructing the payment
of tithes to Wilson. Fish was still claiming tithes
in 1649, but Wilson remained minister until
1657. Thomas Waterhouse, another Carthusian,
succeeded Wilson in 1658, but was ejected in
1660, when Fish recovered the living. (fn. 132) William
Salisbury, rector 1766–96, was a non-resident
pluralist. (fn. 133) Matthew Raine, rector 1810–11, was
headmaster of Charterhouse and a friend of
Samuel Parr and Richard Porson. (fn. 134) Charles
Pritchett, 1835–49, was for 26 years reader at
Charterhouse. (fn. 135) Stanley Pemberton, 1849–80, (fn. 136)
restored the Rectory and the church.
The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN
comprises nave with western bell turret, chancel,
north aisle, south porch, and south vestry. (fn. 137) The
walls are of flint rubble mixed with tiles and
Roman brick. The turret, which is timberframed, is surmounted by a shingled spire.
The nave was built early in the 12th century,
and has a south door of that date, with an arch of
Roman brick. (fn. 138) The chancel was lengthened,
perhaps entirely rebuilt, in the 13th century. The
south porch is of late 14th-century timber, with
carved tracery. (fn. 139) The age of the two earliest bells
suggests that a bell turret had also been built by
the 14th century. The chancel was reroofed in the
15th century and the nave in the 16th century.
Repairs carried out in 1712–13 included the
reconstruction of the bell turret. (fn. 140) In 1853
the church was restored and a north aisle built to
the designs of G. E. Pritchett, whose father,
Charles Pritchett, had been rector 1835–49. (fn. 141)
A south vestry and organ chamber were added in
1885. A carved oak reredos was erected in 1898 in
memory of Stanley Pemberton. (fn. 142) In 1901 the
church was struck by lightning, which damaged
the bell turret and the nave roof. Repairs were
again directed by G. E. Pritchett. (fn. 143)
The church has three bells, of c. 1330, 1683,
and c. 1400. (fn. 144) The plate includes a silver cup,
paten, and flagon, all of 1729, given by Thomas
Davies, later Bovey, rector 1711–33. (fn. 145) A 15thcentury mazer belonging to the church was sold
in 1934. (fn. 146) Monuments include a tablet to John
Emerson (d. 1766), rector 1734–66, and a brass to
Justinian Pelly (d. 1893) of Gaston House.
In 1744 the parish vestry declared that the
income from Church Mead should be used for
the maintenance of the church and churchyard. (fn. 147)
By 1839 the churchwardens owned only a field of
2 a., let as gardens, at the junction of the Bishop's
Stortford road and Grinstead Lane. (fn. 148) Little
Hallingbury once had a Marriage Feast room like
that at Matching, but by c. 1720 it had been
converted into dwellings. (fn. 149) It may have been the
almshouse demolished in 1769. (fn. 150)
Nonconformity.
There were a few
Quakers in the parish in the late 17th century. (fn. 151) In
1672 John Wilson, a former rector, (fn. 152) was licensed
to conduct Independent meetings in William
Taylor's house. Wilson died at Little Hallingbury
in 1690. (fn. 153) By 1790 dissenters were increasing in
number, and in 1810 there were 80 Independents,
who apparently attended chapels in neighbouring
parishes. (fn. 154) Gaston Green Free church was built in
1877 by the Christian Band, under the leadership
of George Day and his wife. It was enlarged in
1887 and again in 1922. It had 12 members in
1982. (fn. 155)
Little Hallingbury Church of
England primary school originated in 1822, when
Anne Phillips built a school, supported by subscription, at the approach to Church Green. (fn. 157) The
total Sunday and weekday attendance rose from
49 in 1835 to 72 in 1838. (fn. 158) In 1841 a National
school for 200 was built by subscription and
a government grant on land adjoining the churchyard. It was badly constructed, and in 1869 it was
replaced by a new school at the corner of Church
Green and the Bishop's Stortford road. It
received annual government grants from 1861. (fn. 159)
The school was enlarged in 1884. It was reorganized in 1945 for juniors and infants, was
granted Aided status in 1952, and was again
enlarged in 1975. (fn. 160)
Samuel Page, by will proved 1862, gave £25 in
trust to Little Hallingbury school. (fn. 161) Nothing was
known of the charity in 1979. G. E. Garvey, by
will proved 1938, gave £40 in trust for annual
good conduct prizes to a boy and a girl pupil at
the school. (fn. 162) In 1979 the income was used to buy
books for the school library. (fn. 163)
Charities for the Poor.
William Hoy,
by will dated 1686, gave a 6s. rent charge to the
parish poor. It was received until 1751, but had
been lost by 1786. (fn. 164)
William D. Pritchett of Bishop's Stortford,
son of Charles Pritchett, rector of Little Hallingbury 1835–49, in 1882 gave £200 stock in trust in
memory of his sisters, to provide gifts of money
twice a year to poor, aged members of the Church
of England living in the parish. In the 1970s the
income was being distributed according to the
trust. (fn. 165)