HEMPSTEAD
White's History, Gazetteer & Directory of Essex ~ 1848
Submitted and Transcribed by Essex Villages
HEMPSTEAD, or Hemsted, a large straggling village, 7 miles E. of Saffron Walden, and 6 miles N. by E. of Thaxted, has in its parish 789 souls, and 3567a. of land, including Hempstead Wood, Smith Green, Cabbage End, Gallows End, and many scattered farm-houses, &c.
At Domesday Survey, it was held by Richard Fitz-Gislebert. Cecil Fane, Esq., is now proprietor of most of the soil, and lord of the two manors called Hempstead Hall and Crouchmans, or Winslows, which were purchased by the Harvey family about 1640. The Hall, which was formally an occasional seat of the Harvey family, is demolished, but the moat remains, and also part of some out-houses, converted into a cottage. Of this family was the celebrated Dr. Wm. Harvey, to whose memory there is a handsome monument in the church, displaying his bust, and recording, in a Latin epitaph, his discovery of the circulation of the blood, and other circumstances connected with his professional knowledge. He died in 1657, aged 80. He was physician to James I. and Charles I., and adhered to the royal cause in the civil wars. He was the son of Thomas Harvey, of Folkestone, in Kent, and elder brother of Eliah Harvey, who purchased the Hempstead estate. He was not only an excellent physician, but of an admirable character as a man and a christian philosopher. Having no children, he gave his paternal estate to the College of Physicians, to which he added a valuable library and museum.
That notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, was born here, in the house now the Rose and Crown Inn.
The parish is well wooded, and celebrated for having produced remarkably large trees. Arthur Young mentions two immense oaks, in a field near Great Dawkins farm-house, but only one of them is now standing, and much mutilated and decayed. This venerable oak is supposed to be a thousand years old, and was formerly 99 feet in height, and its boughs covered an area of about 36 yards in diameter. An estate called Moynes was long held by the Moigne family of the Earls of Oxford. J. Drummond, Esq., and several smaller owners, have estates here.
The Church (St. Andrews,) is a large ancient structure, on a hill, nearly in the centre of the parish. It has a nave, with aisles, a chancel, and a handsome tower, containing five musical bells. The interior is highly ornamented and beautiful, and the nave is separated from the aisles by four clustered pillars on either side, supporting pointed arches. In a chapel, or apartment over the vault of the Harvey family, are several handsome monuments, one of which has a well-carved bust of Dr. Harvey, who immortalized his name by discovering the circulation of the blood, as already noticed. The benefice is a curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Great Sampford, to which this parish is sometimes called a chapelry.
The Dean and Chapter of Canterbury have here 57a. 3r. 4p., of rectorial glebe, and are appropriators of the great tithes, which were commuted in 1836, for £725. 18s. 5d., and the small tithes for £235. 10s. 9d. per annum. Two houses, called the Workhouse and Almshouse, are occupied by paupers, and are supposed to have been given by John Pound. The parish has three tenements, let for about £12 a year, which is applied with the poor rates. Several pieces of land, which have long been held as private property, are supposed to have belonged to the poor parishioners.
Barker Denney, wheelwright
Bird Thomas, blacksmith
Brazier Joshua, vict. Oak
Hales Peter, tailor
Hebblethwaite Thos. schoolmaster, &c
Horsnell Mr Sampson
Metcalf Robert, gardener
Moore George, corn miller
Richardson Chas. vict. Rose & Crown
Savill Wm. beerseller
Surridge Joseph, parish clerk
Ward Henry, cowkeeper
Farmers
Andrews Samuel, Hop House
Andrews Thomas, Boarded Barn
Bacon Saml. Wm. Bull Bridge
Baker Wm. (joiner) Anso-Gallows
Green Mary, Hempstead Hill
Major Mark Edward, Hall
Moore Joseph, Smith Green
Moore Philip ll Mortlook Luke
Myhill Wm. Great Dawkins
Rutland Har. ll Speller Wm.
Stubbing Thos. ll Surridge Wm.
Tredgett Wm. ll Tycer Charles
Willis William, Fields
Boot & Shoemrs
Hales Wm.
Mash Wm.
Rutland Damon
Stock James
Carpenters
Baker Wm.
Stubbing John
Wright Wm.
Shopkeepers
Gilder Mary
Hales Wm.
Hebblethwaite T.
Moore Thomas
Letters from Saffron Walden
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales...., by John Marius Wilson. circa 1866
HEMPSTEAD, a village and a parish in Saffron-Walden district, Essex. The village stands near the river Pant, 5¾ miles SSW of Haverhill r. station, and 6½ E by S of Saffron-Walden; is an ancient place; and has a post-office under Saffron-Walden. The parish includes also the hamlet of Blackden. Acres, 3,565. Real property, £5,008. Pop., 797. Houses, 168. The property is subdivided. Winchlow Hall was the seat of the Harveys, one of whom was Dr. Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. The parish is noted for its trees, and has a famous "Hempstead Oak," of remarkable size. The living is a p. curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Great Sampford, in the diocese of Rochester. The church is ancient; and consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with lofty tower.
Transcribed by Noel Clark
Post Office Directory of Essex ~ 1871Submitted and Transcribed by Essex Villages
HEMPSTEAD is a village and parish, which existed as early as the reign of King Edward the Confessor; it is 7 miles east from Saffron Walden station, and 47 from London, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Freshwell, union of Saffron Walden, rural deanery of Great Sampford, archdeaconry of Colchester, and diocese of Rochester.
The church of St. Andrew, an ancient structure, has a chancel, nave, aisles, lofty tower, and 5 bells; beneath the vestry and chancel is the vault of the Harvey family, wherein lie the remains of Dr. William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood; several of the coffins in this vault are of lead, of the shape of the human body. The register dates from the year 1559.
The living is a vicarage, annexed to the parish of Great Sampford, in the gift of Myles Formby, esq., and held by the Rev. Robert Henry Eustace, m. a., of St. Peter's College, Cambridge; the Rev. Johnson Fowell Swann, b. a., of Caius College, Cambridge, is the curate. The rectorial tithes are in the hands of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, and yield about £700 per annum.
The Primitive Methodists have a chapel here.
The charities of the parish amount to about £16 per annum. The trustees of the late Mrs. Fane are the principal landed proprietors.
The soil is loam, subsoil, clay. The chief crops a wheat and barley. The parish contains 3,565 acres, and the population in 1861 was 797; gross estimated rental, £4,984; rateable value, £4,395.
Parish Clerk, James Surridge
POST OFFICE - Peter Hales, postmaster
Letters arrive from Saffron Walden at 9am; dispatched at 4.15pm.
The nearest money order office is at Saffron Walden.
National School, Miss Catherine Eliza Hyde, mistress
CARRIER TO WALDEN - Ward, Wednesday & Saturday
Rutland Miss, Church farm
Swann Rev. Johnson Fowell, b. a. [curate] Vicarage
Commercial
Andrews Eliza (Mrs.), farmer, Witch trees
Andrews Thomas, farmer, Philips
Andrews Thomas, farmer, Winchlow hall
Bacon Samuel William, farmer, Bull's bridge
Baines Peter, farmer, Hempstead hill
Basham Edmund, bricklayer
Beddall George, farmer, Church farm
Betts John, wheelwright
Bird Thomas, blacksmith
Brand Jenner, farmer, Anser's farm
Chatters George, baker & grocer
Dare Francis, farmer Blagdon
Hales Charles, wheelwright and machinist
Hales Peter, tailor
Hales William, grocer & draper
Horsnell Sampson, property & assessed tax collector
Marsh William, shoemaker
Metcalf Robert, market gardener
Moore Joseph, farmer, Ruse's
Moore Joshua, miller
Myhill William, farmer, Dawkins
Price Walter, farmer, Hempstead hall
Rutland Damon, shoemaker
Ryland Charles, shoemaker
Smith George, Royal Oak
Stock Walter, cattle dealer
Stubbings John, carpenter
Surridge Geo. farmer, Pollard's cross
Walford Fisher, shopkeeper
Ward Henry, farmer, Parsonage
Ward William, shopkeeper
Willis William, farmer, Field's
Willshire William, Crown