Hornchurch 1914 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 Chelmsford
diocese. The village is lighted with gas supplied from Romford. The church of St
Andrew is an ancient building of stone in the Early Decorated and Perpendicular
styles, 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 120 feet and containing a clock and 8 bells, 6 of which were recast in
1778, 2 being added in 1901: 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 piscina and sedilia: on the north wall
of the tower 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, and again in 1900, at a further
cost of £900, and there are 500 sittings The register, which is in good
condition, dates from the year 1576. The living is a vicarage temporal, or
chaplaincy, ans was formerly exempt from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, net yearly
value £600, with residence, in the gift of the Warden and Fellows of New
College, Oxford, who grant the benefice to the vicar by a special form of
document and held since 1902 by the Rev Herbert John Dale MA, of that college,
rural dean of Chafford (or Romford), and chaplain of the Cottage Homes. The
Baptist chapel, erected at a cost of £840, and opened
September 21, 1882, was
enlarged in 1900, and is an edifice of brick with stone dressings and occupies a
site given by Mr J A Abraham, of Upminster; it will seat 300 persons. The
Congregational chapel was erected in 1909. Here
are manufactories for agricultural implements; and brewing and malting are
carried on. There are several small charities, producing in all about £220
yearly, subject to the control of the charity commissioners, or Board of
Education. There is also a charity left by Mrs Massu, for ten aged poor who have
never accepted parochial relief; 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. Two others left by John Pennant, in 1597, were restored by
Thomas mashiter esq, in 1837 and are also tenanted by old parishioners. The
consolidated charities are now administered by the Parish Council, under an
Order of the Charity Commissioners, dated 1912. The Drill hall was erected by
subscription at a cost of £400 for the H company of the 4th
Territorial Battalion Essex Regiment. The Fire Brigade station, in
Billet Lane,
was built in 1908, on a site presented by the late Lieut-Col Henry Holmes DL,
JP, and is under the control of the Parish Council. The Children’s Cottage 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, five for girls, and one for infants:
each is arranged to hold 32 children, who are under the care of foster parents,
and there are also two cottages specially built for such children as could not,
on medical grounds, be received into the homes; the homes are available
altogether for 400 children and officers: 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 probationary 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 the estate
includes an attached farm of 70 acres. 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 1386, he was the founder. Great Nelmes, an ancient
mansion of stone, situated in a park of about 50 acres, on the outskirts of the
village, is the property and residence of the Alfred Barber esq., and was once
occupied by Thomas Witherings esq, chief postmaster of
Great Britain.
Grey Towers, a castellated mansion, in the style of the 12th century, standing
in a park of about 85 acres, at the entrance to the village, is the seat of Mrs
Holmes: 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. Langtons, a brick mansion standing in a
small park, is the seat of W Varco Williams esq., JP. Mrs McIntosh, of
Havering
Park,
is lady of the manor. The soil is of a light nature; subsoil, gravel. The area
is 6,773 acres of land and 10 of water; rateable value, £58,828; the population
in 1911 was 9,461, including 489 in
Shoreditch Workhouse Cottage Homes, and 41 in the Grange Convalescent Home for
Scarlet Fever.
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 Bernard Hartley MA
is curate in charge, and a United Methodist chapel. A grinding and crushing mill
was erected in 1905 and enlarged in 1912
Ardleigh Green is a hamlet, 1 ½ miles
north
Wall Letter Box, cleared 7.50 & 10.45 am
& 7.45 p,; Sundays 8 am
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. There is a
mission chapel here.
The City of London Rifle
ranges are here, and adjoin Rainham
Pillar letter Box at
New Road,
cleared at 10.30 am & 5.55 & 8.30 pm; Sundays 9.30 am
Pillar letter Box opposite
Ford Lane,
cleared at 7.30 & 10 am
& 6.15 pm; not
on Sunday
Post M O T & Telephonic Express Delivery
Office, Hornchurch – Henry George Haynes, postmaster.
Letters arrive from Romford at 6 &
8.15 am
& & 3.45 & 7.10 pm; dispatched at 9.20 & 10.50 am
& 1.10, 4.35, 7.15 & 8.50 pm; Sundays 7.20 pm;
first delivery commences at
6 am
Post M O & T Office, Harold Wood – Miss
Caroline Joscelyne, postmistress. Letters arrive at 7 am & 3.15 &
7.10 pm; Sundays, 7 am & are dispatched at 10.30 am
& 1, 7.10 & 9 pm; Sundays 9 pm
Wall Letter Box at Butts Green, cleared
at 7.50 & 9.30 am & 4.20 & 8.45 pm; Sundays 6.40 pm. Pillar Letter Box, near
Church, cleared at 10 am & 1 & 7.15 pm; Sundays 7 pm. Wall Letter Box at Cottage
Homes, cleared 7.30 & 11 am & 1.15 & 7.30 pm; Sundays 7.30 pm. Wall Letter Box
at Parkstone Avenue, Emerson Park, cleared at 6.45 & 10.40 am & 5 & 8.30 pm;
Sundays 6.25 am. Wall Letter Box at Hay Green, cleared at
8 am & 12.15, 5.15 &
8.40 pm. Pillar Letter Box at Avenue Road, Harold Wood, cleared at 9 am & 8.15
pm; Sundays 9.15 am. Wall Letter Box at Railway station cleared at 6 & 9.45 am
& 6.45 pm;
Sundays 7 pm. Pillar Letter Box at Hacton lane, cleared at 6.30 am & 5.30 pm;
Sundays 6.30 pm. Pillar Letter Box at Herbert Road, cleared at 6.30 & 10.30 am &
4.30 & 8.10 pm; Sundays 6 pm. Pillar Letter Box at Grey Towers, cleared at 8.15
& 10.45 am & 1.15 & 7.45 pm; Sundays 7.15 pm. Pillar Letter Box at Wingle Tye
Lane, cleared at 8 am & 12.15, 5.45 & 8.20 pm; Sundays 6.15 pm
Public Elementary Schools.
North Street, erected in 1855, rebuilt
1902 to hold 200 boys, 200 girls & 147 infants; average attendance, 120 boys,
12o girls & 96 infants; Frank Edwards, master; Miss Brandstaetter, mistress;
Miss E H Bentall, infants mistress
Park Lane (boys, girls & infants),
erected in 1893 at a cost of £3,759, for 194 boys, 192 girls & 213 infants
children; average attendance 180 boys, 175 girls & 139 infants;
G C Eley, master; Miss M Beard, mistress;
Miss E G Gibbs, infants mistress
Harold Wood, built in the year 1885, at
a cost of £560, & enlarged 1904, for 225 children, average attendance, 120; T
Rose, master
South Hornchurch, (mixed), built in 1899
for 224 boys & girls, & enlarged in 1913, for 74; average attendance, 160 boys &
girls; H J Harris, master; Miss T L Cox, assistant mistress
Railway Stations :-
Emerson park & Great Nelmes halt ( L T &
S ry)
Harold Wood ( G E R), Walter Brocks,
station master
Hornchurch ( L T & S Rly), Robert Arthur
Farrant, station master
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