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History of Marks Hall >> White's Directory 1848
White's Directory of Essex 1848
MARKSHALL is a small parish near the source of a rivulet, 2 miles North by West of Coggeshall, containing only 33 inhabitants, and 834A.3R.29P. of land, all (except the glebe) belonging to William Philip Honeywood, Esq., who resides at the HALL, a large and handsome mansion in the Tudor style, pleasantly situated, on rising ground, in an extensive and well-wooded park, stocked with deer, and having beautiful gardens, etc. It had its name from the De Merc family, who also held Marks Tey and other manors in this county, and afterwards took the name of Merkshall. At Domesday Survey, this manor was held by Hugh de Montfort, and it afterwards passed to the Bohons; but being forfeited in 1163, it was granted to the Merkeshall family, who had been tenants from tbe time of the Conquest, and resided here till 1562, when John Markeshall sold the estate to John Cole, Esq. In 1581, it was purchased by Edward Deraugh, Esq., whose grandson sold it, in 1605, to Robert Honeywood, Esq., of Charing, Kent, an ancestor of the present owner, whose family were seated at Hene, in Kent, soon after the Conquest; and one of them, Sir Thomas Honeywood, was colonel of a regiment of Essex men, on the side of Parliament, in the battle of Worcester, in 1651, and was a representative of this county in Cromwell's Parliaments. The Hall, though it has now a modern appearance, retains a large portion of the ancient fabric, to which the present handsome front was added by Robert Honeywood, Esq. Various more recent improvements, by his successors, have contributed to make it one of the most agreeable and elegant seats in the county. At the entrance, over the porch, are carved various quarterings of the family arms. In the dining-room is a fine portrait of Mrs. Mary Honeywood, who died in 1620, aged 93, after seeing 367 persons lawfully descended from her;- viz., 16 of her own children, 114 grand children, 228 great-grand children, and 9 in the fourth generation.
There is an elegant marble monument, with a kneeling effigy, in memory of this venerable matron, in the CHURCH (St. Margaret) which is a modem octagonal brick building, near the Hall, and was built by General Honeywood. The altar-piece is a fine painting, representing the taking down of our Savour from the cross. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £14, and in 1831 at £158, is in the patronage of W.P. Honeywood, Esq., and in the incumbency of his uncle, the Rev. Philip James Honeywood. B.A., who has a neat modern residence with tasteful grounds, and 32A. of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1839 for 176 per annum. Richard Allen is the only farmer in the parish.
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