All Saints Church, Fordham, A Guide

ALL SAINTS CHURCH FORDHAM A GUIDE

PATRICIA LEWIS

A Word of Introduction From the Rector Welcome to All Saints’, Fordham.

We hope this little guide will be of interest you you whether you are a resident of the parish, or if you are just visiting.

Our Church has been here a long time. In a sense it grew as Christian England grew through the centuries. There are Roman bricks in the walls, Tudor builders enlarged it, and the conflicts of Loyalists and Roundheads made their marks during the Civil War of the 17th Century.

Yes, this House of God has stood in the village marking the passing ages. Families have celebrated Baptisms and Weddings with joy, and mourned the passing of loved ones. Many have worshipped here, and said their prayers. Week by week the Sacrament of Holy Communion has been celebrated, and the voices of many people have sung hymns of praise to God. The older registers and documents are now with the Essex Record Office at Chelmsford, but many have left their mark on history down the centuries within their pages. Perhaps you are part of that continuing record. There are copies of these Parish Registers in the church.

May I wish you all joy and blessing in the Name of The Lord.

Anthony G. Smith, Rector To obtain the key to the Church Contact The Rector, The Rectory, Wood Lane Fordham Heath, Colchester, Essex CO3 5TR Telephone No. Colchester 240221

All Saints Church FORDHAM A GUIDE PATRICIA LEWIS Illustrated by John Kay

PUBLISHED BY THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

JULY 1984 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my thanks to the following for their help with preparing this guide:— Thora Broughton Essex Record Office Clayton Lewis The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham — Valence Reference Library W.N. Paul, F.InstL.Ex. Further reading:— May Gunary, The Story of Fordham, 1954.

Fordham,W.I., Village History Competition — Fordham(Colchester) 1957.

ISBN 0-9509595-0-2 2

This is a guide to All Saints’ Church, Fordham, not a history.

Walk round the outside of the Church first, enter by the South Porch and then follow the guide.

I do hope that this guide will help to make your visit an interesting one.

Patricia Lewis, May 1984

Plan of All Saints’ Church, Fordham, Essex.

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GLOSSARY ARCADE ARCH BRACED BARNACK CAMBER

Series of arches.

Curved support.

Limestone composed of particles of sand, (oolite).

Horizontal beam slightly curved, supporting structure above it.

CAPITAL Carved or moulded head of column.

CHALICE Goblet used at Holy Communion.

CHAMFER Cut away edge of stone or wood.

CLERESTORY Windows above the Nave to provide more light.

CREDENCE SHELF Shelf to hold sacred items.

DIAGONAL BUTTRESS Support to wall usually to outside corner.

DRESSINGS Smooth finish to stonework.

FINIAL Decorative feature at top of tower corner, bench end etc.

FOIL Petal like shapes used to form circle, (tre./cinque./sex./octo./denote number of petals).

INCUMBENT Rector, Vicar, Parson or Minister.

JAMBS Upright side-post of doorway or window.

LABEL STOP Carved end to moulding.

LAUDIAN Appertaining to Archbishop Laud in the 17th century.

LEAD FLATS Strips of lead covering roof.

MOULDED Ornamental projections of carvings.

MULLION Upright which separates lights of windows.

PIER Vertical support.

PRINCIPAL Main rafter taking weight of roof.

PURLIN Horizontal beam which transmits weight of roof from rafters to principal.

RESPOND Half pillar against wall at end of arcade.

ROOD The Cross of Christ.

ROOD BEAM Horizontal beam supporting the Rood.

ROOD LOFT Gallery on top of Rood beam.

ROOD SCREEN Screen under Rood separating Nave from Chancel.

SESSIONS ROLL Munutes of courts.

SPLAYS Shape of masonry sloping towards windows.

STOP See label stop.

TERRIER Record in which possessions are described.

TIE BEAM Horizontal beam between two walls supporting the rafters.

TWO CENTRED Geometric method used to determine shape of arch.

WALL PLATE Timber on top of wall to which rafters are fixed.

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All Saints’ Church The Church of All Saints’, Fordham, Essex, is a Rectory under the Diocese of Chelmsford. The Patrons are Balliol College, Oxford, and the Trinitarian Bible Society, alternately. The date of the Consecration has not yet been traced, but we know from an early Essex Charter that there was a Church at Fordham in 1087, a gift from King William I to the Abbey of Bee in Normandy. The Church stands to the South of the village and overlooks the valley of the Colne. Fordham is six miles to the North-West of Colchester and its name means “farm of the dwellers by the ford”.

Label Stop W.Window S.Aisle

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THE OUTSIDE The walls are mainly of flint and rubble construction with some Roman tiles and 14th century, and Tudor, bricks. Does the use of Roman tiles in the walls suggest a Roman building near the site of the present Church? Nothing is known archaeologically of this area but Fordham is only six miles away from Roman Colchester and has a commanding view of the valley of the River Colne. The dressings are of Barnack and soft limestone. The main part of the Church was built as the Decorated style, (1272-1350) was evolving into the Perpendicular style, (1350-1539). There are label stops of carved heads on several of the windows, the best of these being on the West window of the South Aisle, which, unfortunately, suffered frost damage during the severe winter of 1981-1982. The North label stop is a fine carving of a man in a Canterbury Cap. Is it possible that this is the Rector of the Church when the Aisle windows were rebuilt cl500?

Label Stop W.Window S. Aisle

Label Stop S.Window S.Aisle

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THE ROOF The roofs of the Aisles and Tower are covered, behind the parapets, by lead flats. The roofs of the Chancel, Nave and Porch are tiled, although we are led to believe that prior to the Siege of Colchester in 1648, during the Civil War, they were leaded. Historians (including Morant and Norden) state that the lead of the roofs was stolen and converted into bullets. However, it is unlikely that the roof would have been covered with lead because it would not have been a suitable material to use on a roof of so steep a pitch. The lead would have “crept� downwards towards the eaves because of its weight and would have needed frequent attention and expensive replacement. The lead would have been taken from the flatter Aisle roofs. It is known that the Royalists were very short of ammunition. They used rough hand-made lead bullets which caused injuries which would normally have been minor, to be fatal. It is interesting to note that in 1913 in Fordham Hall, which lies just to the South-West of the Church, some Tudor decorative wall paintings were found. A small fragment of one is in Colchester Castle Museum. In many places the wall paintings were pierced by shot holes made by irregularly shaped pieces of lead and marked with great splashes of blood. Could it be that a fight took place here between the Royalists and the people of Fordham who were trying to save their Church from being damaged? At this time Fordham Hall belonged to Sir John Lucas, whose brother Sir Charles Lucas, one of the Royalist leaders at the siege of Colchester, was shot after the surrender on the 28th August 1648. Sir Charles rode, with the Royalist Army, through Ford Street

Fordham Hall

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in the pouring rain, on his way to Colchester during the afternoon of the 12th June 1648.

SOUTH PORCH This was built cl330 and altered during the 15th century. The doorway is 15th century and has a two centred arch and label. The windows are 14th century. The roof incorporates two 14th century cambered tie-beams and moulded wall plates with an arch braced roof. The South doorway, of the Church, which has 14th century stop-moulded jambs, leads into the South Aisle. As you enter the Church notice the Graffiti on the jambs. On the West jamb is a well cut Mason’s mark between the initials W.S.

Stone built into base of Tower South Door

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DOORS All the doors in the Church are modern.

THE TOWER On your left is the 14th century tower arch, leading into the Tower, which has been made in the original Normal wall of the Church. There is a stone built into this wall on the South side of the tower arch. Its origin is unknown but there are two similar stones on a nearby farm, one of which is about 4 feet high. There is no outcropping building stone in Essex.

It has been suggested that these are Sarsen stones, (a sandstone rock of extreme hardness), similar to the standing stones at Avebury, Wiltshire.

These stones suggest that there could have been a pagan site somewhere near. Sites were known to have favoured rises overlooking river valleys, e.g. the River Colne. Stones like these could have come, by sea, from the Prescelly Mountains in Wales.

There are similar stones, and puddingstones in the fabric of Colne Engaine Church.

If you have any information or ideas on these stones please inform the Local History Recorder whose address is at the Essex Record Office.

The Tower is 10 feet square and is supported externally by diagonal buttresses. It is of three stages which do not show from the outside.

The lower part was built in 1340 and the upper finished later in the same century. Originally it was topped by a lofty shingled spire which was used as a landmark that helped to guide vessels up the reaches of the River Colne. The West side of the Tower was severely damaged by the fall of the spire during a great storm in 1796. In the early 1800’s most of the bell chamber was rebuilt in brick and supported by two brick buttresses, but the spire was not rebuilt. The parapet is modern.

Except for minor parts the West window is modern as are windows in the South and West walls. In the second stage of the South wall is a single trefoiled light on the 14th century and in the North wall of the 9

bell chamber there is a 14th century bell opening, formerly of two cinque foiled lights in a two-centred head, with its mullion missing.

CHEST The Parish Registers are kept in an iron bound chest in the Tower.

BELLS An inventory of Church goods dated 20th September 1552 states that there were three bells in the steeple. In 1909 we know that there were two bells, one of which was dated 1637 and cast by the famous Essex bell founders, the Miles Graye family of Colchester. It is said that there was no founder in the 17th century equal to Miles Graye, the “Prince of Bell Founders”, also known as “Colchester Graye”.

A report in 1955 under the “Inspection of Churches Measure 1955” states that there were two bells, one by Miles Graye, 1637 and the other by John Damion, 1723, both hung in a wooden frame with the wheels in a rotted condition.

ORIGINAL ROOF LINE

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Access to the belfry is very difficult and we have been unable to check the number of bells in the bell chamber, but only one bell is now used.

FONT The font is of carved stone and is Victorian.

THE NAVE The Nave has North and South Arcades of three bays which are cl340.

It is possible that these Arcades are in the original Norman walls of the Church. If you look up you will see evidence of the roof having been raised to make clerestories to provide more light. The clerestory has on each side three trefoiled windows of the mid-fourteenth century.

The roof is ceiled. The columns have octangonal piers and double chamfered arches. These arches show some evidence of having been repaired.

COMMUNION TABLE The wooden table standing inside the South door, which by its size and style was considered by the late Canon Hugh Barber (Rector of Fordham 1963-1982) to be the Reformation Communion Table placed in the Church during the reign of Edward VI when Altars were commanded to be replaced by “an honest, decently covered table” in the Choir or Chancel. You will notice that at some time the top has been raised.

THE ORGAN The organ was provided in 1884 and replaced by a larger instrument in 1893 which was made by Henry Willis of London. Henry Willis, “Father Willis”, was born in 1821 and died in 1901. He built many fine organs incorporating mechanical and tonal refinements. These include Alexander Palace, The Albert Hall, several cathedrals including St. Pauls, Windsor Castle and many colleges, churches and concert halls in Britain and abroad. There are other examples of his work in Essex including one at St. Andrews’ at Halstead.

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Lectern

Pulpit

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THE PULPIT The Pulpit is modern incorporating early 17th century carved panels.

In the Parish Registers is a note written by Robert Cotton, who was Rector from 1617-1633, stating that in March 1628 John Potter and his adherents climbed through a window in the tower, removed the Pulpit and it was found the next morning at the foot of the tower. WHY? We can only guess at the reason. There was obviously some difference of opinion between John Potter and the Rector. We don’t know Robert Cotton’s religious persuasion but it is probable that he was a Puritan.

He came from a Puritan family and his brother Thomas, a Puritan, was married to Jane, sister of John Bastwick of Colchester, who had his ears cut off for non-conformity. It is interesting that William Lynne of Little Horkseley complained to Archbishop Laud that Thomas Cotton was “a great deprver of government”. It seems that some action was taken as in January 1635 Mr. Lynne complained that Mr. Cotton “has been set at liberty and is vowing vengence, and he (Lynne) fears that he will be assaulted by John Barnish, a professed ruffian that keeps most at his house (Cotton’s) and who carried a pocket pistol”.

It is difficult to present a full picture of the exact Potter/Cotton religious differences. The Session Roll at the Essex Record Office ^states that in 1621 men from West Bergholt were ordered to keep the peace towards John Potter of Fordham. The Rector, Robert Cotton, came from West Bergholt. All this emphasizes that feelings ran very high in West Bergholt, Fordham and Colchester at that time. In all probability John Potter was an Anglican and removing the Pulpit was his protest against the lengthy preachings of Robert Cotton. Are the 17th century carved panels incorporated in the present Pulpit from the one dismantled

by John Potter?

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COAT OF ARMS The Royal Coat of Arms hangs over the North door. It is Hanoverian, 1816-1837, and was made of cast iron at the foundry of Joseph Wallis in High Street, Colchester, where Williams & Griffiths store now stands.

It was refurbished more than twenty years ago by Edgar Walker R.A. who then lived at Valley Cottage, Fordham.

THE AISLES Both Aisles were built cl340 and rebuilt or re faced cl500. The South Aisle has an East window which is modern except for parts of the jambs, splays and rear arch, which are probably 15th century. The recess is carried down below the cill. There is a niche on each side of the East window and a niche on each side of the East window of the South wall.

In the South and West walls are windows uniform with those in the North Aisles. The-15th century South doorway has stop moulded jambs and a two centered arch. The roof is of oak, flat patched, open timbered and boarded with four principals braced at the ends and supporting a heavy purlin at the centres.

The North Aisle has an East window which is modern externally but with splay and rear arch of the 15th century, as has the West window.

In the North wall are two windows, the Eastern of the mid-14th century, the Western matching the window in the East wall. The North doorway was probably reset in the 14th century from the original Norman wall of the Nave. The roof is uniform with the South Aisle roof. Under the East window is an oak carved Vestment Chest with the initials I.H. and E.H. 1706 carved on the middle of the front. Against the West window is a modern carved enclosed area used as a vestry.

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Niche in E.Wall of S.Aisle

E.Wall of North Aisle

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The Priest’s Door

Piscina N.Aisle

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PISCINAE IN THE AISLES A Piscina is a niche containing a drain, usually built into the wall, for holy water to be emptied on to the consecrated ground outside the Church. A Piscina always proves that there was an altar nearby. The Piscina in the South Aisle on the South wall is 14th century with a moulded label and a sexfoiled drain.

The Piscina in the North Aisle in the East wall is 15th century with a moulded label and an octofoiled drain.

The Piscinae indicate that there were side altars in the North and South Aisles and there is evidence of screens, from the respond at the East end, on North and South Aisles.

A Certificate of Church Goods was ordered in 1552 to ascertain if there had been any alterations in the Church since the survey in 1548. It mentions that money belonging to the late Guild of the Holy Trinity was in the hands of four men. It is possible that one of these Aisles was the Guild Chapel.

THE CHANCEL The Chancel was built cl330. The East window is of three lights under a pointed head. In the North wall are two cl340 windows partly restored.

In the South wall are three windows the Eastern being uniform with those in the North wall and the westernmost is a single trefoiled light cl340. In the South wall is a mid-fourteenth century Priest’s Door with chamfered jambs and label. The Chancel Arch is of two chamfered orders. The responds are semi-octangonal with moulded capitals and bases partly cut away. In 1547 The Royal Visitors Injunctions, (under Edward VI), gave instructions to every Church regarding its conduct.

Among other things candlesticks and images were to be destroyed. We know that candlesticks from the Rood Loft were sold to William Teylecot, a pewterer of Colchester, and in common with most other Churches the Rood Loft, supporting the figures of Christ on the Cross, St. John and The Virgin Mary, must have been destroyed. The sawn end of the Rood Beam can be seen in the South wall to the West of the Chancel 17

Fixing for Rood Screen

Piscina, S.Wall of Chancel

Fixing for Rood Screen The Pulley Memorial

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Arch, and the loft beam, in the North wall to the East of the Chancel Arch, to which the flooring of the Rood Loft would have been attached.

On the North and South pillars of the Chancel Arch are signs of where the Rood Screen was fixed. As there is no sign of a staircase, access to the Rood Loft would have been by ladder.

The roof is ceiled.

There is a Piscina of the 14th century containing a credence shelf, with a cinque-foiled head and a sex-foiled drain, in the South wall.

THE HIGH ALTAR This was given in memory of George Pitt, late of the Imperial Indian Army, who died on the 25th January 1905. The adjacent panelling was given in memory of Isabella Gurney who died on the 19th May 1935.

THE ALTAR RAILS It is suggested that these are not high enough to be Laudian but are Georgian of the 18th century.

THE MEMORIALS There are Memorials including one to the Rev. Moses Dodd, Rector of this Church from 1804 to 1839, who is buried in a vault nearby. There is now no sign of the vault as the floor was recovered by the Victorian Restoration. There is a fine marble Monument to John Pulley, son of the Rev. John Pulley, Rector from 1689 to 1730, a Captain in the Royal Navy who died of smallpox at Port Mahone. There is a bust of him above the Memorial and below is a carving in low relief of Men-of-War in full sail.

End of Rood Beam

End of Loft Beam

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The Nave and Chancel

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THE GLASS All the glass in the Church is modern but we know that before the Victorian Restoration 1861/62 there were inscriptions to the Creffield family in the North and South Aisle windows. In 1543 Robert Wynter was paid for re-glazing the windows. At this time incumbents were instructed “to utterly extinct and destroy” all monuments of superstition in the windows of Churches. It is possible that there was stained glass in the Church before this date.

THE CHURCH PLATE The Communion Vessels at the present time are electro-plated and there is a silver box for bread or wafer. The Royal Visitors Injunction and the Certificates of Church Goods, as previously described, give a picture of the Church Goods which were sold or removed and those which remained in the Church in 1552. The will of Alice Creffield 1522 stated that she wished to be buried in the South Aisle of Fordham Church and that a Chalice was to be made of her girdle (belt). This was probably the Chalice “Parcel Gilte” (silverware), weighing 16 ounces and left in the Church in 1552 and mentioned again in 1684. This may also be the “Old Chalice exchanged” in the Terrier of 1810, in the Parish Registers, which recorded that the Rev. Charles Onley, (Rector 1763-1804), gave solid silver Communion Plate to the Church. There is no record of why these silver vessels were parted with and the present plate substituted.

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The Organ, S.Aisle

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THE PARISH REGISTERS These date from 1563, the volumes for Baptisms 1589-1892, Burials 1563-1880 and Marriages 1564-1839 are in the Essex Record Office.

Later volumes, up to the present date, together with photo-copies of the volumes deposited at the E.R.O. are in the chest in the Tower. There are many entries of interest in the Registers and one wonders about the effect on the Parish of such varied events. For example:— 1628 John Potter and the removal of the Pulpit 1632 The Rector, Robert Cotton, and eleven Parishioners subscribed to Archbishop Laud’s appeal for funds to repair old St. Paul’s Cathedral which was subsequently destroyed by the Fire of London in 1666. 1666 Thirteen people died of the Plague in May and June.

“Goodwife Cowell died in May of the Plague” together with eight others who “died of the infection taken from her”.

1707 Several hundreds of men, women and children were confirmed in Fordham Church.

THE RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH The Church was restored in 1861-2 when among other alterations the floor was tiled, the roof timbers plastered over and new choir stalls substituted for the old ones, some of which had poppy head finials. A post card showing the Church before restoration hangs on the North door.

THE CHURCHYARD The Churchyard has been tidied and in the Essex Record Office there is a microfilm, T/D232/4, compiled by Dr. Laver, which gives details of Church and Churchyard monumental inscriptions and includes an index. One interesting stone records Henry Johnston who served in the 2nd Battallion of the 3rd Regiment of Guards and fought at the great battle of Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815, after which he lived in this his native village for 41 years.

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LIST OF RECTORS This list hangs on the West wall of the Nave near the opening to the Tower. The earliest Rector we know by name is Henry, c 1198, but we have confirmation that there was a Church in Fordham in 1087, a gift from William I to the Abbey of Bee in Normandy. The list records men who gave great service to the Church and in their service many national events are reflected. 1391 Roger Walden. Archbishop of Canterbury 1398, was deposed for political reasons and later became Bishop of London 1405. 1451 Robert Kyrkham. Later became Master of the Rolls which was the head of the Civil Service of that time. 1544 Simon Baghett, (Baghot). He arrived in Fordham during the reign of Henry VIII, was present when, under Edward VI, many changes were made in Fordham Church. After Queen Mary ascended the Throne he was imprisoned in Colchester for heresy. He recanted and avoided being burnt at the stake. He returned to Fordham and died in July 1558 just before Queen Elizabeth succeeded in November 1558.

1561 Thomas Upsher, (Upcher). A Calvinist weaver from Bocking near Braintree. He was imprisoned with others for his religious opinions.

He fled to Aarau in Switzerland to escape the persecution of Protestants under Queen Mary I. He returned to England after the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, was ordained and appointed to Fordham where he remained for 35 years.

1633 John Alsop. Chaplain to Archbishop Laud. He was deposed by Parliament, and fled to France where he died.

Mason’s Mark S.Door

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1643 John Owen. The famous Puritan Divine and writer. Chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and General Thomas Fairfax. There is a framed summary of his life hanging on the South wall of the South aisle. 1649 John Bulkley. A Puritan from New England, America, ejected from Fordham at the Restoration in 1660. There is a strange note in the Parish Registers. “John Bulkley Parson of the Church of All Saints at Fordham” has been altered to “John Bulkley hireling of the Church of Seyton at Fordham”. 1763 Charles Onley. A non-resident incumbent who lived at Stisted Hall and was an authority on the theory and practice of farming. During his incumbency, in 1789, a Calvinistic Methodist Chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion was established in Plummers Road, Fordham.

1763 Thomas Twining. Grandson of the founder of the tea firm was Curate under Charles Onley. He was one of England’s scholars of the period and some of his published works were written at Fordham.

He was known to the family of Fanny Burney, the authoress, as scholarly, charming and good humoured.

Further details of the above Rectors, and others, have appeared in the Parish magazine in recent years.

The list of Rectors has been revised recently, in the light of current research, and could be revised again with further research.

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ISBN 0-9-9509595

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