WITHAM
Pigot's Essex 1832-3 Trade Directory
With Great and Little Braxted, Faulkbourne, Hatfield Peverill, Ulting, Wickham Bishops and neighbourhoods
WITHAM is a small, but neatly built, pleasant market town in the parish and hundred of its name; situate on a branch of the Blackwater river, on the main road from London to Colchester, Harwich , &c; 14 miles from Colchester, 21 from Harwich, and 37 from London. Many of the houses are handsome, and inhabited by respectable families. The manufacture of baize was at one time extensive here, but this has greatly receded in consequence; and the chief advantage now enjoyed by the town is derived from its thoroughfare situation; and the passenger will find all the conveniences he may require at the Inns; they are, the 'Spread Eagle,' the 'White Hart,' and the 'Blue Posts;' the two former are well conducted commercial establishments. Witham, besides, has acquired some note from its chalybeate spa, about three quarters of a mile from the town, which is much visited in the summer season. On the south side of 'Chipping Hill' are the remains of a Roman camp and the church, but more particularly the tower, is in a great measure constructed of Roman bricks; it is supposed by Mr. Gough that Witham occupies the site of the Roman military station Cannium.
The places of worship are, the parish church, two chapels for dissenters, and a friends' meeting-house; the charities comprise a school upon the national system, and several almshouses. The living here is a vicarage, in the gift of the Bishop of London; the present incumbent is the Rev. John Newman. Peter Du Cane, Esq., is lord of the manor. The market day is Tuesday; the fairs are held on the Monday before Whit-Sunday, and the 14th September. The parish contained, by the late census, 2,735 inhabitants; being an increase, since the year 1801, of 549 persons.
GREAT BRAXTED is a small village, situated on an eminence, three miles from Witham, in the the same hundred. The parish, although extensive, is not populous; and the land varies from richness and fertility to other soils less productive. Near here is the residence of Peter Ducane, Esq., beautifully situated in a good park, having an extensive prospect in front. - The church is about one mile from the village, and is an ancient building. The parish contained, by the census of 1801, 502 inhabitants; and by the returns for 1831, the number had decreased to 471.
LITTLE BRAXTED is an adjoining parish to the above, and consists of about 800 acres of land, with a population of 92 persons.
FAULKBOURNE is about three miles from Witham, on the Braintree road. The only object worthy of notice in its vicinity, is 'Faulkbourne Hall,' the residence of Jos. Bullock, Esq., which is a stately edifice of antiquity, erected about the time of Henry II. The parish contains about 160 inhabitants.
HATFIELD PEVERILL is a village and parish, lying between Chelmsford and Witham, two miles from the latter town. The parish is extensive, and contains some excellent land; and in the vicinity are several gentlemen's seats. Here are the parish church, a chapel for dissenters, and four almshouses. The living of Hatfield is a vicarage, in the incumbency of the Rev. Coventry Payne. The parish contained, by the last census, 1,313 inhabitants, being an increase in the population of 305 in 30 years.
ULTING is the adjoinging parish to Hatfield, containing only 158 inhabitants.
WICKHAM BISHOPS is in the hundred of Thurstable; situated between Maldon and Witham; distant from the former three miles and a half, and from the latter two and a half. It is a small parish, and the land is far from being excellent. 'Wickham Bishops' is so called from having formerly been a place of residence for the Bishops of London; and at this day the greater part of the parish is possessed by the present Prelate of that see. The number of inhabitants, by the last census, was 549.
POST OFFICE WITHAM, William Garrett, Post Master. - Letters from LONDON arrive every night at half-past twelve, and are despatched every morning at half-past two. - Letters from NORWICH, &c. arrive every morning at half-past two, and are despatched every night at half-past twelve. - Letters to CLARE are despatched (by cross-post, leaving bags at BRAINTREE, HALSTEAD & SUDBURY,) every morning at three.
COACHES To LONDON, the Royal Mail (from Norwich), and the Telegraph (from Yarmouth), every morning at half-past two; the Foreign Mail (from Harwich),every Tuesday & Thursday noon at twelve; the Old Blue (from Saxmundham), every afternoon at one; the New Colchester (from Colchester), every afternoon at three; the Times (from Harwich), every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at noon; and the Wellington (from Colchester), every alternate morning at half-past ten, all call at the Spread Eagle, Witham - the Defiance (from Colchester), calls at the White Hart, every afternoon at three, and the Wellington, every alternate morning at half-past ten - and the Fly (from Coggeshall), calls at the Angel, every morning (Sunday excepted) at eight; all go through Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Romford and Stratford.
To COGGESHALL, the Fly (from London), calls at the Angel, every evening (Sunday excepted) at seven.
To COLCHESTER, the Defiance (from London), calls at the White Hart, and the New Colchester, calls at the Spread Eagle, every evening at seven - and the Wellington, calls at the White Hart and Spread Eagle alternately, every afternoon at two.
To HARWICH, the Foreign Mail (from London), calls at the Spread Eagle, every Wednesday and Saturday morning at six, and the Times, every Tues. Thurs. and Sat. afternoon at four.
To IPSWICH , the Shannon (from London), calls at the Blue Posts, every morning at half-past eleven.
To NORWICH, the Royal Mail (from London), calls at the Spread Eagle, every night at half-past twelve.
To SAXMUNDHAM, the Old Blue (from London), calls at the Spread Eagle, every afternoon at one.
To YARMOUTH, the Star (from London), calls at the Blue Posts, every morning at ten - and the Telegraph, calls at the Spread Eagle, every night at twelve; both go through Ipswich, &c.
CARRIERS. To LONDON, Edward Agar's, Thomas Trew's & Mary Finch's Waggons, from their several houses, Witham, every Friday morning at half-past ten. - Carriers are also passing, thro' Witham, to and from LONDON, COLCHESTER, and most parts of SUFFOLK, daily.
Transcribed by CG
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales...., by John Marius Wilson. circa 1866
BRAXTED (GREAT), a parish in Witham district, Essex; on the river Blackwater, adjacent to the Eastern Counties railway, 2 miles ENE of Witham. Post-town, Witham. Acres, 2,631. Real property, £4,637. Pop., 384. Houses, 86. The property is all in one estate. Braxted Park, a handsome mansion, amid extensive grounds, is the seat of C. Du Cane, Esq. A black priory stood at Tiptree; and was founded about the time of Edward I. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £544. Patron, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The church has some Norman portions, and is good. Charities, £19.
BRAXTED (LITTLE), a parish in Witham district, Essex; on the river Blackwater, adjacent to the Eastern Counties railway, 1 mile E by N of Witham. Post-town, Witham. Acres, 563. Real property, £1,173. Pop., 111. Houses, 23. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £118. Patron, Mrs. E.D. Clarke. The church is good. Charities, £7.
FAULKBOURN, a parish in Witham district, Essex; on the river Brain, adjacent to the Braintree railway, 2½ miles NW of Witham. It has a post-office under Witham. Acres, 1151. Real property, £2,139. Pop., 143. Houses, 31. The manor belonged to Hamo Dapifer, and went to the Fortescues. Faulkbourn Hall, now the seat of the Rev. W.T. Bullock, was originally built in 1440 by Sir R. Montgomery.; retains a Norman tower, with polygonal turrets, having pyramidal crocketted canopies and bartisans; forms, on the west of the entrance-tower, three sides of a quadrangle; contains a fine collection of pictures by Vandyke, Vandervelde, and Beechy; and is sid to occupy the site of a Roman villa. A cedar here has a girth of 18½ feet. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester.. Value, £267. Patron, the Rev. W.T> Bullock. The church is Norman; has two brasses of the 16th century; and is good. Charities, £7
Transcribed by Noel Clark
KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1878
WITHAM with CHIPPING HILL is an ancient town on the river Guith, of Podsbrook, near its confluence with the Blackwater, on the ancient Roman and modern high road from London to Colchester, and on the Great Eastern Railway, which has a station here; and a branch line between Maldon and Braintree joins the main line at this point: it is 6 miles north from Maldon, 14 south-west from Colchester, 7 south-west from Coggeshall, 8 north-east from Chelmsford, 8 south-east from Braintree and 38 from London, and is a polling place for the Eastern division of the county, and the chief place of the hundred and of a union of 17 parishes, in Braintree county court district, Witham rural deanery, Colchester archdeaconry and St. Albans diocese. The town is lighted with gas, and has a Board of Health, established in 1852, the members of which meet on the last Saturday in every month. The church of St. Nicolas is a spacious, ancient and lofty edifice, with walls partially built of Roman brick; it has chancel, nave aisles and porch of great beauty; a new roof has been added: it contains several monuments, an organ and several stained windows. The great south door is the most ancient feature in the present structure, being of the twelfth century, though the body of the church appears to be at least two hundred years later -- the date named being 1327; the work of restoration completed in the year 1877 comprised the alteration of the upper part of the tower, flint stonework being substituted for the old red brick work, the putting in a new bell frame and the re-casting of two bells; the galleries were taken down and the west end newly benched in oak; in the chancel new desks and seats for the choristers have been placed; the carving in the body of the church, as well as the entire renovation, has been carried out in a manner calculated to give effect both to the exterior and interior alterations; the architect was Mr. Joseph Clarke; the cost of the whole has been about £2,000. The register dates from the year 1650. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £473, with a glebe house and 103 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Bishop of St. Albans and held by the Rev. Alfred Snell, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. All Saints church, consisting of chancel, nave and aisles, was erected in 1842, at a cost of £5,000, defrayed by subscription: The land was given by the late W. H. Pattison, esq.: it is in the Early English style, of dressed black flint and white brick quoins, and contains 701 sittings, 401 of which are free: it is a chapel of ease to the parish church. The National and Infant schools accommodate 460 children; the British school 300. There is a Catholic church, dedicated to the Holy Family, built in 1851. The Congregational chapel was rebuilt, in 1840, at a cost of £1,700; the congregation dates from 1715. The Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists and the Society of Friends have each a place of worship here. There are almshouses in the gift of the parish, and also some belonging to the Congregationalists, and other charities, amounting to £57 yearly, distributed in bread and fuel. The Union Workhouse was erected in 1838, at a cost of £ 6,850: the union consists of Fairstead, Faulkbourn, Feering, Great Braxted, Great Coggeshall, Hatfield Peverel, Inworth, Kelvedon, Little Braxted, Little Coggeshall, Markshall, Messing, Rivenhall, Terling, Utling, Wickham Bishops and Witham. The gross estimated rental of the union is £101,916; rateable value, £86,086. The market, which was formerly held on Tuesday evenings, is now discontinued, but was originally held on Chipping Hill, where the parish church is situated. Here are a branch bank and a savings bank. Fairs are held on the Friday and Saturday in Whitsun week and on June 4th at Chipping Hill. There is a Literary Institution, having 200 members and about 1,500 volumes; also a Police station, at which sittings of the magistrates are held every alternate Tuesday. On Chipping Hill are the remains of a circular camp, with a double vallum. Lord Rayleigh is a landowner and lord of the manor of Blunt's Hall. There are three other manors within the parish, namely, the Newlands, Chipping Manor and the Vicarage manor: of the two former Sir Charles Du Cane is the lord; all property within the manors is subject to a fine of one year's value upon the death of the owner or a transfer of the property, to be paid by the successor or purchaser; if, however, the person taking the property were born within the manor, or be already a tenant of it, no such fine is payable: this custom is peculiar, and there are but few instances in which it prevails. The vicar is lord of the Vicarage Manor. The land is principally arable and level; subsoil, gravel. The area is 3,633 acres; rateable value, £13,140; and the population in 1871 was 3,347.
Transcribed by Esther Mott
KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1933
GREAT BRAXTED (or Brackstead), mentioned in Domesday, is a parish on the eastern bank of the river Blackwater, about a mile east of the road from London to Colchester, 3½ miles east from Witham station on the main line of the London and North Eastern railway, and 6 north from Maldon, in the Maldon division of the county, Witham hundred and petty sessional division, Maldon rural district and county court district, rural deanery of Witham, archdeaconry of Colchester and Chelmsford diocese; the village of Great Braxted is 1 mile-south east of the church. The church of All Saints, situated within Braxted Park, about a quarter of a mile west of the lodge, is a small stone building in the Early English style, consisting of chancel and nave, and a western belfry of wood with shingle-covered spire and containing 2 bells: a plain arch divides the chancel and nave and there are remains of lancet windows in the old tower: on the outside of the south wall, on a marble tablet, are inscriptions to the Countess Delavall, ob. 18 November, 1683, and to Sir William Ayloff bart. of Braxted, d. Dec. 14, 1730: on the north wall of the chancel is a white marble monument to the Rev. Job Marple Wallace M.A. 45 years rector here, and Elizabeth, his wife: the altar table and a reredos were erected as a memorial to the men who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: there are 120 sittings. The register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1558, and of marriages from 1559. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £600, with glebe and residence, in the gift of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and held since 1928 by the Rev. Russell Edward Brown M.A. of that college. There are charities amounting to £4 6s. 8d. yearly, and 20s. per year for a sermon on "Mortality," left in 1663 by John Freze. Braxted Park is the property and residence of William Whytehead Boulton esq. D.L., M.P. who is lord of the manors of Great Braxted and Kelvedon Hall; the mansion, originally erected by the Darcy family, came into the possession of the Du Cane family about 1710, and was altered and enlarged in 1834 by the late Peter Du Cane esq. who embellished it with a collection of antiquities and objects of art brought from Italy and some fine paintings by old masters; the park, comprising about 500 acres, contains many fine trees and is diversified by a lake of about 14 acres. The family of Du Cane, or Du Quesne, emigrated from the Low Countries in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to avoid the persecution of the Duke of Alva, governor of the Netherlands, 1567-73; they became wealthy merchants in London and greatly promoted the woollen manufacture which had been introduced here by their persecuted fellow-countrymen. The ownership of the land is divided. The soil is mixed, gravel and loam; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans, peas and seeds. The area is 2,614 acres of land and 21 of water; the population in 1931 was 282.
Letters through Witham, which is the nearest M. O. office. Rivenhall End & Wickham Bishops are the nearest T. offices
A War Memorial to those of Witham that died in the Great War (1914-1918) was erected in 1920. This was subsequently added to with those that died in the Second World War (1939-1945).
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