GREAT CANFIELD
WHITE'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1848
CANFIELD, (GREAT), a pleasant village, on the banks of the river Roding, 4 miles S.W. by S. of Dunmow, has in its parish 496 souls, and 2471 acres of land. From the time of the Conquest till the reign of Henry VIII., it was held by the noble family of Vere, who had a castle here, on an artificial mound, which is now planted with trees, and still encompassed by a deep moat enclosing about two acres. The was sold by Edward Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, to John Wiseman, Esq., who had previously purchased the park, which contained 260 acres. It was held by the Wisemans till 1733, and now belongs to J. M. Wilson, Esq., who has a neat residence here, with extensive pleasure grounds, called Fitzjohns >. Messrs. D. and J. H. Alger, and Isaac Bird, and several smaller owners, have estates here, mostly free and partly copyhold. The Church is a plain antique fabric, with a nave and chancel of one pace, and a short stone tower, containing four bells, and crowned by a slender wooden spire. Alberic de Vere, the first Earl of Oxford, appropriated it to Hatfield Regis Priory. The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £13, and in 1831 at £140, is in the patronage of J. M. Wilson, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. J. P. Gurney, M.A., who has a good brick residence. The tithes were commuted in 1847, the vicarial for £132, and the rectorial for £345. 8d. per annum. The latter belong to the patron, who supports a school for poor children.
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales...., by John Marius Wilson. circa 1866
CANFIELD (GREAT), a parish in Dunmow district, Essex; on the river Roding, 2 miles S of the Bishop-Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree railway, and 3 and ½ SW of Dunmow. It has a post-office under Chelmsford. Acres, 2,472. Real property, £3,575. Pop., 468. Houses, 115. The property is subdivided. Canfield House is the seat of the Barnards. There are remains of a moated castle, built by the De Veres. The living is a vicarage in the the diocese of Rochester. Value, £140. Patron, J,M, Wilson, Esq. The church is tolerable; and has two brasses of the 16th century.
Transcribed by Noel Clark
KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1933
GREAT CANFIELD is a parish, to the west of the river Roding, about 3 miles south-west from Dunmow station on the Dunmow and Braintree branch of the London and North Eastern railway, in the Saffron Walden division of the county, Dunmow hundred, petty sesional division and rural district, Braintree and Dunmow joint county court district, rural deanery of Roding, archdeaconry of Southend and diocese of Chelmsford. The church of St. Mary is an edifice of stone, partly of Norman date, and consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower of wood, with a small spire and containing 2 bells: the church had formerly a lofty spire, but this was removed previous to 1703: there are memorial windows to the Rev. John Phillips Gurney, vicar 1822-62, and his family; brasses to John Wiseman, ob 1518, and his family, and to John Fytche esq. ob. 1588, and memorials to Sir William Wiseman bart. of Canfield, ob. 1684, and others of that family: in the chancel is a slab to the Rev. Frederick Vane M.A. rector of Bletchingdon, Oxon. 1837, a benefactor to the poor of the parish: the church was restored in 1876, when many details of Norman work were rendered visible: the interior has been reseated with open benches of oak: over the communion table within a niche is a very interesting fresco of the Virgin and Child. there are 200 sittings. The register dates from the year 1538. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £577, with residence, in the gift of C. W. Engleheart esq. and held since 1912 by the Rev. John Maryon Wilson M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, who is rural dean of Roding. The interest of £50, bequeathed by the Rev. Frederick Vane M.A. is distributed annually to the poor. Here is a perfect mound and castle yard, formerly surrounded by a moat, and once the property of the De Veres, Earls of Oxford. The Rev. John Maryon Wilson M.A. is lord of the manor. Mr. Harry Knight is the principal landowner. The soil is chiefly clay; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, beans, barley and sugar-beet. The area is 2,485 acres of land and 5 of water; the poulation in 1931 was 340.
Post Office. Letters from Dunmow. The nearest M. O. & T. office is at High Roding