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History of Great Dunmow (Dunmow)

Great Dunmow
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History of Great Dunmow >> White's Directory 1848

White's Directory of Essex 1848

Great Dunmow
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Quality reproductions of old photographs.

DUNMOW, (GREAT) a small ancient Market Town, which gives name to this Hundred, and to a Polling District, a Deanery, and a large Union and Police Division, is pleasantly situated on a gravelly hill, of considerable height, in a salubrious and fertile part of the county, on the western side of the river Chelmer, and on the Braintree and Bishop Stortford road, about 9 miles West of the former, and the same distance East of the latter town. It is 12½ miles North North West of Chelmsford, and 37 miles North East by North of London. It consists principally of two streets, and is well lighted and paved, and supplied with good spring water. Its parish had 1828 in 1801, and 2792 in 1841; and contains 6746 acres of land, including many farms extending three miles North and North East of the town; and the sylvan suburb of Church-End, on the banks of the river, near Newton Hall, the ancient seat of the Rev. Sir A. B. Henniker, Bart. Near the river are some of the finest meadows in the county, and the higher parts of the parish form a large extent of excellent corn land. Dunmow is supposed by some antiquaries to have been the site of a Roman station. Bishop Gibson considered it to be the Caesaromogus, of Antoninus; and Drake, in a letter published in the 5th vol. of the Archaeologia, strengthened its claim to this appellation; not only by referring to the situation of the town on a Roman road, but also by mentioning Roman coins that had been found here; particularly a gold coin of Honorius, and some large brass ones of the Emperor Commodus, found in a field at Church-end. In Viscount Maynard's park at Easton Lodge, near Dunmow, Roman Denarii, have been found of Gallienus, Tiberius, Posthumius, Victorinus, and others of the "thirty tyrants." At Merks Hill, in this parish, several small urns, and some pieces of brass and copper coins of Trajan and Antoninus, were discovered in a gravel pit, in 1760.

Henry III. granted to John de Berners, in 1253, a charter for a market, to be held at Dunmow every Saturday, but after been long in a declining state, it was discontinued some years ago, but was revived in 1838, and is now held on Tuesday, for corn, cattle, etc. Here are also two annual Fairs, for cattle etc. on May 6th and Nov. 8th. The town was incorporated, by a charter, granted in the 2nd of William and Mary, and confirmed by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth, in the 32nd year of her reign. Its government was vested by the charter in a recorder, bailiff, and 11 burgesses. Twelve of the latter are still elected yearly, and one of them is chosen as bailiff; but their municipal regulations and authority have long been obsolete, and they now merely appoint a constable, fix the assize of bread, examine weights and measures, and regulate the markets and fairs. Formerly the bay and say trade flourished here, but it has been extinct many years. The parish is in the liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster, and is divided into quarters, one of which is called the corporation quarter, and confined to the town and the immediate suburbs; and the others are in several manors, the largest of which is Great Dunmow, which belongs to Viscount Maynard, and was held at the Domesday Survey by Richard Fitzgislebert, and Hamo Dapifer. The latter became sole owner of the manor, which afterwards passed to the Clare and Mortimer families. The heiress of the latter was grandmother of Edward IV., and this manor continued in the Crown, till it was sold to William, the first Lord Maynard, as parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster. It had anciently an extensive park with a large mansion called Dunmow Lodge. The manor of NEWTON HALL, near Church-End, was held by Geofrey de Magnaville at the Domesday Survey, and afterwards passed to the Goldington, Gosnold, and Dyer families. It was purchased about a century ago by an ancestor of its present owner, the Rev. Sir Augustus Brydges Henniker, Bart., who is rector of Thornham-Magna, Suffolk, where he resides. His father was created a baronet in 1813. The Hall is an old decayed mansion, occupied only by a servant, but it is said a new one is intended to be built, on a better site. An estate called Southall, belongs to the Almshouses at Mile-end, near London, vested in trust with the Drapers' Company. The other manors and estates in this extensive parish are Merks, Mynchons, Shingle Hall, Martels, Bigods, etc.; belonging to Sir G. H. Beaumont, Bart., Lady Fitzgerald, and several smaller owners, mostly free, and partly copyholders. The manorial custom of the flitch of bacon, belongs to the adjoining parish of Little Dunmow.

The church of Great Dunmow parish is a large and handsome structure, in the decorated English and perpendicular styles, and is situated at Church-end, on the well-wooded banks of the Chelmer. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and consists of a nave with side aisles, a chancel with a south aisle; and a lofty embattled tower containing six bells. The large east window is a fine specimen of the decorated style, and it and some of the other windows were formerly richly embellished with stained glass, of which some fragments still remain. About the western door are thirteen shields of arms, belonging to families who contributed to the building and repairs of this large church, which is the head of the Deanery of Dunmow. About 15 years ago, 230 additional sittings were provided, and 200 of them are free. The interior is neatly pewed, and has many monumental inscriptions. In 1479, the Rectory, was appropriated to Stoke College near Clare; but in 1590, it was granted to the See of London, for ever. It is a manor, and is now held on lease by Sir G. H. Beaumont, Bart. The Vicarage, valued in K.B. at £18.13s.4d., and in 1831 at £429, is in the patronage of the Bishop of London, and incumbency of the Rev. H. L. Magendie, M.A., who has a good residence, near the church. The tithes, were commuted in 1843, the rectorial for £625, and the vicarial for £580 per annum. Mr. George Cheek is the clerk, and Mr A. Barfield, jun., organist. There are in the town three chapels, viz., a Friends Meeting house, erected in 1833, at the cost of £500; an Independent Chapel, built in 1705, and repaired and enlarged in 1822; and a Baptist Chapel, erected in 1823, at the cost of £900.

Great Dunmow
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The TOWN HALL, near the centre of the town, was built in 1578, and repaired in 1760 and subsequent years. The County Court, for Dunmow District is held monthly, in the large upper room, which is also used for public meetings, lectures, etc. The POLICE STATION is a neat and substantial building, erected in 1842, by the County Magistrates, at the cost of £1200; and has a court room, in which Petty Sessions, are held for Dunmow Hundred, on the first Monday of every month. The Gas Works, are rented by Messrs. Suckling and Carter. DUNMOW SAVINGS BANK was established January 1st, 1818, and is open on the first and third Tuesday in every month, at the Town Hall. On Nov. 20th, 1846, it had deposits amounting to £20,178, belonging to 686 individuals, and 42 Charitable and 11 Friendly Societies. Mr. W. I. Clayton is the treasurer; the Rev. H. L. Magendie, secretary; and Mr. A. Barfield, clerk. A numerous and well-conducted Friendly Society, holds its meetings at the Town Hall; and in the large upper room are delivered the lectures given to Dunmow Literary Society, which has a good library and reading room. Here is also a Building and Investment Society.

Dunmow Agricultural Society was established in 1835, and holds an annual ploughing match, and a show of fruit, vegetables, and flowers. It is under the presidency of Viscount Maynard, and one of its annual prizes is a gammon of bacon, given to the married couple (labourer and wife) who have brought up the largest number of children without parochial relief, and placed them in respectable service. This prize is in memory of the ancient jocular custom at Dunmow Priory. The NATIONAL SCHOOLS occupy a commodious building, erected in 1836, and are attended by about 120 boys and 100 girls. The dividends of £191.2s.2d. three per cent. Consols, derived from the legacy of the Rev. John Mangey, in 1782, are paid towards the support of the girls' school. Here is also a large British School, erected in 1844,at the cost of £650, on land given by E. B. Jones, Esq., and now attended by about 90 of either sex. Dunmow Diocesan Commercial School, was established in 1845, for boarders and day scholars, in connexion with the Essex Board of Education, and under the patronage of the Bishop of Rochester, and the superintendence of the clergy. The terms are 20 to 22 guineas per annum for boarders, and one guinea per quarter for day scholars; but extra charges are made for Latin, French, and Mathematics, of two guineas each per annum. Dunmow Church Sunday School Union, embraces many schools in the neighbouring parishes.

Church and Poor's Land, etc.:- Lands and tenements for the use of the Church and Poor of Great Dunmow parish, have been vested in trustees from an early period, but the precise nature of the trusts and the names of the donors are unknown. Most of this property lying in Dunmow has evidently been vested in trust since the reign of Richard II., and its proceeds were at an early period applied to the repairs of the parish church, and now amount to about £35 per annum, exclusive of the Almshouses, on Parsonage Down, occupied by 12 poor people; the School-house, near the King's Head; and the Church House, which is let by the parish clerk for his own benefit. The other portions of what may be called the Dunmow Estate, consist of the Church Mead, (1A.,) let for £4; the Mill Pasture, 2A.1R.32P., let for £12.5s.; a cottage in Church street, worth £5 a year; a cottage and 3 roods of land, near Slutt's Green, worth £4 a year; and Crane's Farm, which comprises 12A. 3R. 22P., let for £14.5s. per annum. The Thaxted Estate, was purchased in 1652, with £230 bequeathed to the poor by the Glasscock and other families, and now consists of a farm of 31A. 36P., near Cutler's Green, let for £30 per annum. Before the new appointment of trustees, in 1833, the whole of the above rents had been for many years applied to the support of a school.

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