Hornchurch 1894 Kellys Directory
History of Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large village and
parish, on the road from Romford to Upminster and bounded on the east and west
by the rivers Ingrebourne and Rom, with a station on the
London,
Tilbury and Southend railway, 2 miles
north west,
and the junction of the line to Romford and 14 from
London. The
parish is in the Romford division of the county, Romford Petty sessional
division union, and county court district, and in the rural deanery of Chafford,
archdeaconry of Essex
and diocese of St Albans.
The village is lighted with gas supplied from Romford. The church of St Andrew
is an ancient building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave with clerestory,
aisles, north porch, and a large embattled western tower with a turret and
spire, the whole rising to a height of 170 feet and containing a clock and 6
bells, all of which were recast in 1778: the chancel was restored in 1869, and a
stained east window erected as a memorial to
Thomas Mashiter esq, of Hornchurch Lodge, d 1862; and there are five
others: the chancel has a reredos of carved stone, a piscine and sedilia: on the
west wall is a curiously carved marble tablet to Thomas
Witherings esq, chief postmaster of Great Britain, ob 1651: the church
was restored in 1871 at a cost of about £2,000: there are also three other
stained windows in the south aisle, a very fine reredos of carved stone and on
the west wall a curiously carved marble tablet to Thos Witherings esq, chief
postmaster of Great Britain, who died 1651. The register, which is in good
condition, dates from the year 1576. The living is nominally a vicarage, but is
in the nature of a chaplaincy, exempt from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, gross
yearly value £740, with residence, in the gift of the Warden and Fellows of New
College, Oxford,
who grant the vicar what is termed a “lease” and held since 1878 by the Rev
Robert Johnson MA, of St
John’s
College,
Cambridge.
The Baptist chapel, erected at a cost of £840, and opened September 21, 1882,
is an edifice of brick with stone dressings and occupies a site given by Mr J A
Abraham, of Upminster; it will seat 220 persons. Here is a manufactory for
agricultural implements; and brewing and malting are carried on. There are
several small charities, producing in all about £220 yearly, and now in the
hands of the charity commissioners. There is also a charity left by Mrs Massus
for ten aged poor who have never accepted parochial relief, each receiving £6 2s
yearly; and another charity founded by Mrs Hyde, for apprenticing two poor boys
from Hornchurch and one from Romford yearly. Three almshouses, left by Henry
Appleton, 1587, were rebuilt in 1838 and are occupied by old parishioners. To
others left by John Pennant, in 1597, were restored by Thomas Mashiter esq, in
1837 and are also tenanted by old parishioners. The Volunteer Drill hall was
erected by subscription at a cost of £400 for the H company of the 1st Volunteer
Batt Essex regiment, which has a muster roll strength of 92, and the battery of
the 1st Essex Volunteer Artillery, Eastern Division, Royal Artillery, 69 strong,
has a drill hall in High Street, erected by Major H Holmes, of Grey Towers, at a
cost of £500. The children’s homes here, erected in 1890 by the Guardians of the
parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch, comprise a series of double fronted cottages
for the children of that parish: these consist of six cottages for boys and five
for girls, each arranged to hold 30 children, who are under the care of foster
parents: the buildings include a school (part of which is used as a chapel),
bakery, laundry and various workshops: the entrance block is used as a
preliminary abode, in which children, after admission, remain for 14 days,
previous to their being permanently located in one of the homes: the buildings
occupy an area of 14 acres, and there is an attached farm of 70 acres: the staff
consists of a superintendent and matron, head schoolmaster and a mistress, with
assistant teachers, chaplain, medical officer, foster parents and industrial
training teachers. A priory, dedicated to St Nicholas and St Bernard,
subordinate to the hospital of Monte Jovis, in the diocese of Sedun or Syon, in
Savoy, was founded here in the reign of Henry II, and afterwards had attached to
it, c 1245, by Peter, earl of Savoy, the Savoy Palace in the Strand, London: the
revenues of this cell being seized with other priories alien were purchased by
William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, and by him given to New College,
Oxford, of which in 1380, he was the founder. Great Nelmes, an ancient stone
mansion, situated in a park of about 50 acres, on the outskirts of the village,
and the property of the B Harding Newman esq., is the residence of Harry Holes
esq, and was once occupied by Thomas Withering esq, chief postmaster of
Great Britain.
Grey Towers, a castellated mansion, in the style of the twelfth century,
standing in a park of about 50 acres, at the entrance to the village, is the
seat of Major Henry Holmes, DL, JP: there is a finely decorated entrance hall
and staircase of black and white marble, with a ceiling of carved oak, and a
good stained window on the landing at the top of the staircase. Great Langtons,
a brick mansion standing in a small park, is at present unoccupied. Hornchurch
Lodge, a mansion of brick, standing in a park of about 30 acres, with handsome
pleasure grounds, adjoins the high road, and is the property of Thomas Mashiter
esq, of Manor House, Little Bookham, Leatherhead, is at present occupied by Mrs
Fenner. Fairkytes, a modern brick house, situated in the village, is the
residence of Joseph Fry, esq DL, JP, high steward of the manor of Havering. Mrs
mackintosh, of Havering park, is lady of the manor. The soil is of a light
nature; subsoil, gravel. The area is 6,767 acres of arable, grass and marsh
lands and 155 water; rateable value, £25,279; the population in 1891
was 3,841, including 336 in Shoreditch Workhouse schools.
Harold Wood is a hamlet, 3 miles north,
with a station on the main line of the Great Eastern railway to
Colchester and
Ipswich. Here is an
iron church, built in 1871, and seating 300 persons. The Rev William Philp has
been curate in charge since 1892. At
Harold Court
is a branch of the Essex County Asylum for 65 male patients. There is also a
factory for making fireworks.
Ardleigh Green is a hamlet, 1 ½ miles
north
Havering Well is a hamlet, 1 mile west
and a half a mile south of Romford
South Hornchurch
is a part of the parish, extending to the banks of the River Thames and
adjoining Rainham station on the Tilbury and Southend railway.
The City of London Rifle
ranges are here, and adjoin Rainham
Parish Clerk and Sexton, Charles Fell
Post, M O & T O, S B & Annuity,
Insurance & Express Delivery Office, Hornchurch – Thomas Betts, postmaster.
Letters arrive from Romford at 5.15 &
10 am & 3.20 pm;
dispatched at 10.40 am,
1.20, 3, 7.23 & 9.20 pm; first delivery commences at
6 am
Post, M O & T O, S B & Annuity,
Insurance & Express Delivery Office, Harold Wood – Miss Caroline Joscelyne,
postmistress. Letters arrive via Romford at 8 & 11.45 am &
7.30 pm
& are dispatched at
11.45 am & 6.10 & 9 pm; Sundays 9.10 am
Schools.
A school board of 5 members was formed 29 Mar, 1889;
W Smith, Romford, clerk to the board.
Board, late National, erected in 1855;
Frederick Jenvey, master; Mrs Emily
Jenvey, mistress; Miss Charlotte Baker, infants mistress
Board,
Park Lane,
erected in 1893 at a cost of £3,759; W H Palmer, master; Miss A Bowey, mistress;
Miss F Sibley, infants mistress
Board (Harold Wood), lately National,
built in the year 1885, at a cost of £560, for 80 children, average attendance,
59; Mrs Amy Rose Brett, mistress
South Hornchurch,
Wood Lane
(infants), built in 1864, for 60 children, average attendance, 51; Miss Sarah
Margaret Weedon, mistress
Railway Stations :-
Harold
Wood, Frederick Flegg, station master
Hornchurch, J A Smith, station master
Carrier to
London –
Walter Dale ( to the Saracens Head, 5 Aldgate), on tues, thurs & sat, returning
same days
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