Category Archives: Chadwell

A Map of Chadwell

The Manor of Barrowhall

In his classic book, “Forgotten Thameside”, Glyn Morgan states that there were three manors in Little Thurrock – the manor of Little Thurrock itself, the manor of Torrells and the manor of Berewes or Barons “which stood near the road to Chadwell”. Morant’s “History of Essex” gives Barowe as a manor in Little Thurrock, but with appurtenances in Chadwell. It used to appear in the Manorial Documents Register as Barrowhall and Longhouse where it was listed as one of five Chadwell manors. The recent digitisation of the MDR seems to have culled Barrowhall from the register.

Domesday mentions only one manor in Little Thurrock, so presumably Barrowhall was created sometime after 1086. The earliest mention of this manor seems to be in 1466 when one Richard Blyot acquired “the manor of Barrow and one toft and 18 acres of marsh” in Little Thurrock and Chadwell from Nicholas Codorowe and his wife, Elizabeth. It is interesting to note a warranty against the Abbot of Westminster, although his connection is unclear. When Humphrey Tyrell died in 1507, his possessions included the “Manor of Berowe, worth £12., held of the earl of Routeland (Rutland), as of his castle of Rochester, by fealty and a rent of 12s. yearly.” Once again the connection with Rochester castle or the Earl of Rutland is unclear. The rent of 12s is listed as “castleguard” in “Villare Cantianum” by Thomas Phillpott in 1659. Castle-guard was an obligation to provide guards for royal castles or payment in lieu.

The manor appears in three other feet of fine in the 16th century, as well as various 17th century deeds in the Essex Record Office. In 1607, it came into the possession of Sir Alexander Temple along with a number of other local properties. In 1610, he was hauled over the coals for not providing a cart and workman for the highways of Little Thurrock which he should have done as the owner of Barrow Hall.

The manor passed to James Temple (Sir Alexander’s son) who sold it to James Ravenscroft. He commissioned a magnificent estate map. The map has a cartouche which names the owner as James Ravenscroft and described the estate being mapped as “the manor of Barowhall and of Longhouse”. The cartouche goes on to say that the survey was made on 26th April 1646. The survey work for this map was undertaken by Richard Colier. It gives an accurate measurement of the size of each field – a key consideration in setting rents. The survey results were then used by Sylvanus Morgan to paint the map. Morgan was a heraldic painter and author of several books on heraldry.

In 1700, James Ravenscroft’s son Thomas sold the Thurrock estate to Sir William Russell of Stubbers in North Ockendon and it remained in the Russell family until the 20th century. The manor largely disappeared from public view after being mention in Phillpott in 1659.

Education of an Elizabethan Gentleman

Binding of book donated by Sir Alexander Temple, courtesy of Christopher Skelton-Ford, New College Library, Oxford, BT3.193.6 © Courtesy of the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford

Chadwell’s Sir Alexander Temple was an educated man. He was literate, conducting business and personal correspondence and he spent some time studying at Lincoln’s Inn. However, unlike his brother who graduated from Oxford, Sir Alexander was not listed in the standard reference works as attending either of the ancient universities.

However, evidence from a book donated to an Oxford college library has recently come to light that suggests he may have atended New College, although he probably didn’t graduate. There are more details in the 11th edition of New College Notes .

The Roman town of Tilbury

In February and March 2019, Thurrock Museum held a vote to decide which object from their collection would be featured in a travelling exhibition. One of the candidate objects was a Samian ware dish found on the Thames shore at Tilbury.

The Thames became tidal at Tilbury during the Neolithic. At that point or shortly after, a natural salt marsh was established, replacing the previous woodland landscape of oak, alder and hazel. This salt marsh was exploited during the Bronze and Iron Ages for salt making and (probably) fishing and grazing.

The Tilbury marshland was sufficiently remote that it attracted at least one hermit – Thomas the hermit was there in 1161. The hermitage was eventually suppressed by Henry VIII in the 1530s, although it is not clear whether there was actually a hermit continuously on the site throughout the period from 1161 until 1540.

However, between the early and late Roman period, the river level dropped by about 1.5 metres. Since by this stage there was a mature salt marsh that only flooded at the highest tide, a drop of river level of this magnitude took the marshes well above the level of the high tide. These 3rd century water levels, significantly lower than now, made it possible to establish a settlement in what later reverted to salt marshes. This permitted prolonged occupation and probably arable farming.

Evidence for a Roman settlement in Tilbury was found while the docks were being built. The archaeological evidence illustrates life during the Roman period. Roman tiles and pottery, with bones and food refuse, oyster and snail shells, tiles and flint blocks were all observed. These finds were on a “mossy and grass-grow surface” at a depth of 7 feet (just over 2 metres). This is almost exactly the depth at which Devoy notes a peat layer which he dates to 1750 BP (roughly AD 200). Peat is not produced in a salt marsh. Romano British occupation of the marshes is supported by Jonathan Catton who noted that in 1920, 3 hut circles (dated to 1st or 2nd century AD) were discovered on the East Tilbury foreshore below the current high water mark. Unfortunately, the location is now lost under a land fill site.

New CWG headstone in Chadwell Churchyard

The fighting in the Great War ended more than 100 years ago, but participants in that war are still being recognised. Sometimes bodies are recovered on the former battlefields of France and Flanders, but discoveries are also made closer to home. In 2012, a new Commonwealth War Grave headstone was erected in Chadwell churchyard in memory of Stanley Ansell who died in 1919 and is buried in the churchyard, alth First World War CWG headstone erected in March 2012 | John Matthews ough the exact location of his grave has been lost due to imprecise records.

The CWG has also now agreed to erect a Special Memorial, to Gunner Alfred William Ansell in Chadwell churchyard. It will be inscribed with his name, rank and number, date of death and his regiment. At the top, it will be inscribed “KNOWN TO BE BURIED IN THIS CHURCHYARD”

Alfred William Ansell was the son of William and Catherine Ansell of Tilbury and husband of Emmie Ansell of Paddington, London. He was a reservist who was mobilised in August 1914 and served in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He saw active service in the BEF for about 18 months. He was discharged in March 1916 as no longer fit for active service and died on 31st July 1917, aged 30.

This belated recognition is due in no small measure to Geoffrey Gillon, who has worked hard to persuade the CWG that Gunner Ansell deserves a memorial. Geoffrey is a volunteer with the “In from the Cold” project which is dedicated to recognising the sacrifice of the thousands of men and women who died in the service of Britain and the Commonwealth during two world wars and yet have no official recognition.

Sir Thomas Penistone

This month (April, 2018) saw the publication of Rosemary O’Day’s magnificent (if expensive) account of the Temple family of Stowe (An Elite Family in Early Modern England, Boydell Press). The book focuses on Sir Thomas Temple and his wife, Dame Hester, but, having been born at Stowe, Sir Alexander Temple of Chadwell is one of the minor characters. Sir Alexander’s children – James, John and Susan – appear only in a pedigree, but his stepson, Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Penistone has a more significant role, having married Sir Thomas Temple’s daughter, Martha.
Sir Thomas Penistone, was already studying at Oxford when, in 1607, Sir Alexander acquired Chadwell Place (also known as Longhouse Place – the source of the Chadwell street name, Longhouse Road). However, he was very likely to have visited Chadwell regularly, since Sir Alexander was his legal guardian as well as his step-father. A rather young Thomas appears alongside his mother in a portrait that currently hangs in Leeds Castle. O’Day notes (p. 254) that in 1610 (when he was 19, and not yet of full age), he accompanied his step-father on a visit to Sir Arthur Throckmorton. He married Martha Temple the following year. Martha “was venerated as a saint and a beauty … she was not as virtuous as her tomb suggests” (p. 36)

Sir Thomas Penistone was among a large number of gentleman in the retinue of the third Earl of Dorset – “one of the seventeenth century’s most accomplished gamblers and wastrels” according to Robert Cooper in The Literary Guide and Companion to Southern England (Ohio University Press, 1998). O’Day chronicles the ensuing affair between the Earl and Martha using Temple family sources as well as the diary of Anne Clifford, the Earl’s wife. The family appear to have turned a blind eye to this liaison. The affair ended in January 1619/20, when Martha was taken ill while at the house of Sir William Andrews (the husband of her sister Anne). She was taken to Stowe, but “my sister Penistone dyed at Stowe of the small pockes upon Friday night about 11 or 12 of the clock, being 14^th January”.(p. 270) Sir Thomas Penistone remarried, but continued on good terms with his step family, and in 1633, his step-sister, Susan (who grew up in Chadwell), chose him rather than her brother James as a trustee for her marriage settlement when she married Sir Martin Lister.

O’Day’s book is a tour de force, combining the use of the extensive Temple archive in the Huntington Library in California with documents from numerous record offices in the UK. The specific details of the life of Sir Thomas and Dame Hester are used to illustrate and comment on social and political issues of much wider relevance. At £75, it is good value but not cheap and it will not be an automatic purchase for its Thurrock local history content. However, it is essential reading for any student of the period.

Daniel Defoe of Tilbury

Daniel Defoe is one of the major literary figures who have lived in Thurrock. In 2014, James Canton spoke to a society meeting about his book, OUT OF ESSEX Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape (Signal Books, 2013). In chapter 7 of the book he describes his search for Daniel Defoe.

He met Jonathan Catton and Randal Bingley (who are both greatly missed) in the World’s End pub. Randal had identified the site of the house built by Defoe (Panorama 27). Although not named, this can be seen on the Chapman & Andre map of Essex in the Tilbury marshes in the parish of Chadwell. Randal took Canton to a site where he could see the remnants of the drainage sewer that had served the house and tile works.

In his search for Defoe, Canton also contacted John Martin, a Defoe biographer (The Man That Never Was, APF Ltd, 2013). Martin had also been shown the drainage sewer by Randal. Martin believes that Defoe was born in 1644 and that his mother Ellen was related to Edward Lawrence who owned the Gobions Manor in East Tilbury. According to Martin, Defoe was educated there in the period 1658-1662 and lived there with his brother Thomas for some ten years to 1705. Randal took us to East Tilbury where we were able to inspect the former site of the manor house. Martin’s biography has not been well received by some reviewers. According to Sheldon Rogers of the University of Portsmouth, Martin’s biography “is … tainted by fiction, inaccuracies, and an unreliable chain-forging of evidence”.

Whatever the details, there is no doubt that Defoe lived in Tilbury and built a house there. However, there is no Thurrock Heritage Plaque to mark this association. Does Defoe deserve a plaque, and if so where should it be placed?

Chadwell resident on the cover of a new book

Susan Temple lived at Chadwell Place in the early years of the 17th century. The house had been bought by her father – Sir Alexander Temple – in 1607 following the death of his first wife, Susan’s mother. He owned it until his death in 1629.

Susan was married twice. She had three children with her first husband – Sir Giffard Thornhurst – including Frances Thornhurst who was the mother of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Her second husband was Sir Martin Lister. Their son – Dr Martin Lister – was a prominent scientist and fellow of the recently founded Royal Society. Her brother, James Temple, was a regicide who signed the execution warrant for Charles I.

In 1620, her portrait was painted by Cornelius Johnson who was favoured by the new gentry of the Jacobean period. Karen Hearn has written a monograph about Johnson (published last week). Susan’s portrait appears on the cover and inside.

More details will be found on Amazon.

Thurrock Local History Society

An occasional blog about Thurrock history and heritage