STISTED
White's History, Gazetteer & Directory of Essex ~ 1848
Submitted and Transcribed by Essex Villages
STISTED, a pleasant village on the northern
acclivity of the vale of the Blackwater, 3 miles E. by N. of Braintree, has in
its parish 911 inhabitants, and 2970 acres of land, in some parts low and in
others hilly, with corresponding varieties of soil, and a good proportion of
woodland. O. S. Onley, Esq., is lord of the manor and owner of a great part of
the soil. He resides at Stisted Hall, a large and handsome mansion, built in
1826-7, on the site of the ancient manor house, in a finely wooded park of
about 100 acres, rising gradually from the river Blackwater. The entrance front
has a large and elegant Ionic portico, and the entire mansion is finished in
the improved style of modern architecture.
Before the Norman Conquest, the lordship of Stisted was given to the monks of
Christchurch, Canterbury, who held it till the dissolution. In 1549, it was
purchased by Sir Thos. Wiseman, and in 1685, it was sold to Wm. Lingwood, Esq.,
who left it to his third wife. The latter died in 1719, and bequeathed the
manor to John Savill, Esq., who left it to his brother. One of the two
co-heiresses of the latter carried it in marriage to the Rev. Charles Onley,
from whom the present owner is descended.
The manor of Rayne Hatch and Boultwoods, in the northern part of the parish
belongs to Clopton's Hospital, at Bury St. Edmund's, and about 50 acres of the
farm, bearing the former name, are in Braintree parish. Sir J. B. Pechell, Mr
J. F. Baines, Mr. Isaac King, and several smaller owners, have estates in the
parish, mostly freehold. Peckstones, a farm of about 40a., belongs to the Free
School at Earl's Colne.
The Church (All Saint's,) is an ancient structure, but the chancel was restored
by the rector some years ago. In 1844, O. S. Onley, Esq., rebuilt the tower,
and placed in it a new peal of six bells. In the chancel are five lancet
windows, enriched with stained glass given by Mr. Onley. The nave is separated
from the chancel by Norman arches, and its restoration is in contemplation.
The rectory, valued in K.B. at ?22, and in 1831 at ?532, is in the patronage of
the Archbishop of Canterbury, and incumbency of the Rev. Chas. Forster, B. D.,
who has 157a of glebe, and a handsome residence, built in 1839, when the tithes
were commuted. Here is a small Independent Chapel, built in 1835.
This parish participates in the Free School at Earl's Colne, and the poor have
?12 a year out of the Stisted Hall estate, left by the Rev. Chas Onley, about
1802, for distribution in coals. Mr. Onley and the rector support two small
schools for poor children.
Ardley Benjamin, saddler
Beckwith John, church clerk
Cawston Robt. Plumber and glazier
Carter Mrs Caroline
Comber Wm. Esq. Stisted Cottage
Forster Rev. Chas., B. D. Rectory
Houlton Augst. Cooper and schoolr.
May Misses My. and Eliz., Covenbrook Hall
Messent Henry, vict. Dukes Head
Onley Onley Savill, Esq. Stisted Hall
Pallant Philip, police officer
Simpson Miss M. Henhams
Stebbing Chas. vict. Black Lion
Tillott John, land agent, Hall
Warren Ths. Cs. & Jph. Broom mkrs
Farmers
Baines John Fuller, Boultwoods
Baker Jonathan, Kentish Farm
Bridge Francis, Brookes
King Newton, Jenkins
May Wm. (and maltster,) Gowers
Rankin Alfred, Rayne Hatch
Rayner Wm., Miles Farm
Simpson Wm., Henhams
Stammers Sarah, Mill Farm
Walford Jas. (& brickmkr.) Bay Tree
Blacksmiths
Ely Charles
Messent Hy.
Stebbing Chas.
Beerhouse
Alliston James
Kemp John
Bricklayers
Corder George
Rankin Richd.
Watts Thos.
Dressmakers &c.
Candler My. and Harriet
Rankin Eliza
Shoemakers
Bickmore Jph.
Jeggo Wm.
Butchers
Chamberlain Stu.
Shave John
Shopkeepers
Candler Hannah (drpr. & china &c. dealer)
Hawkes Peter
Kemp John
Warren Thos.
Schools
Carr Marla
Houlton Augst.
Houlton Eliz.
Letters from Braintree
KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1933
STISTED (or Stistead) is a parish on the banks of the Blackwater, 3 miles east-north-east from Braintree station on a branch of the London and North Eastern railway, 4 south from Halstead, 4 west from Coggeshall and 45 from London, in the Maldon division of the county, Hinckford hundred, petty sessional division of South Hinckford (Braintree bench), Braintree rural district, Braintree and Dunmow joint county court district, rural deanery of Braintree, archdeaconry of Colchester and Chelmsford diocese. All Saints' church is an edifice of flint and stone in the Norman, Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel with vestry, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, north and south porches and octagonal shingled spire containing 6 bells: the chancel is Early English: the nave is divided from the aisles on either side by an arcade supported on round columns of large size: in the south aisle is a piscina: in the chancel is a mural monument to Mary, wife of the Rev, Samuel Jackson, rector of Stisted in 1742, and on the north side a mural brass to Elizabeth, ob. 1584, daughter of John Glasscock, gent. of Roxewell, and wife of John Wyseman, gent.: there are five stained windows, inserted as a memorial to the late Onley Savill-Onley esq. d. 1890, and a new organ was given at the same time by his family: the tower was rebuilt by Onley Savill-Onley esq. in 1844, when also the chancel was renovated, and the Decorated nave restored by the Rev. Charles Foster B.D. rector from 1838, at a cost of £2,000: there are about 300 sittings: a lynch gate was erected in 1878 and a piece of ground was subsequently given by the late Onley Savill-Onley esq. for the enlargement of the churchyard. The register dates from the year 1538. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £550, with glebe and residence, in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and held since 1930 by the Rev. Charles Stuart Donald M.A. of Keble College, Oxford. There is a Congregational chapel, erected in 1835, seating 200 persons: an Institute, supported by subscriptions, and a Parish room near the church. In 1822, the Rev. Charles Onley left a sum of £400 invested in Consols, and in 1890 the late Onley Savill-Onley esq. left a sum of £100; the interest of these moneys is distributed yearly to the poor in coals by the Parish Council. In 1046 Godwin, the great Earl of Kent, and Wifgith, widow of a noble Saxon, named Elfwin, gave the lordship of Stisted, with that of Little Coggeshall, to the monks of Christchurch in Canterbury. It passed from them to Odo, Bishop of Baieux, but was, however, recovered by the monks at the great trial of Pinenden Heath, although it was not applied to its original design and intention until 1106. The monks continued in possession until 1539, when it passed to Henry VIII. who in 1545 granted it to Sir Richard Rich. Stisted Hall, the seat of Andrew Richard Motion esq. J.P. is a fine Georgian mansion of white brick, standing in a park of 150 acres; it was erected in 1823, about 300yards west of the site of the old hall. The principal landowners are William McMillan esq. and George D. Fairhead esq. The soil is loam and clay; subsoil, clay and gravel. The chief crops are wheat, beans, peas and barley. The area is 3,024 acres of land and 11 of water; the population in 1931 was 611.
TUMBLER GREEN is 1 mile north-east; WOOLNER GREEN, 1 mile north-west.
Post, T. & T. E. D. Office (available for calls to places within a limited distance). Letters from Braintree, nearest M. O. office
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