The estate of GREAT WATERHOUSE, in times of very great rains, is surrounded by water; and the passage to and from it rendered it impassable unless in a boat. In October, 1762, some gentlemen who had been here upon a visit to Samuel Lewin, Esq. the present occupier, and had staid only a few hours in diverting themselves by forming a little concert, upon their return very narrowly escaped perishing, in attempting to pass the waters in their carriages: with very great difficulty some, and after the most imminent danger others escaped;, but Mr. Warrecker, of Baddow, a gentleman who kept in the coach, was, with it and the horses, carried by the strength of the stream, and it was nearly three days before either he or the carriage were taken out. Notwithstanding its situation, the lands belonging to it are exceedingly fertile. HOOKS' FARM, and fifty acres of land in Writtle, were given by Mr. Thomas Hawkins, September 10, 1500, to William Carpenter, the then vicar, and others, for the use of such poor people as should from time to time, dwell in six almshouses in the churchyard of Writtle; continued down by feoffment, by the three or four survivors. The vicar and churchwardens to place or displace the poor people. These, and five other almshouses contiguous, are repaired at the charge of the parishioners. In the middle of a wood called Highwood Quarter, about four miles north-east from the church, was a hermitage; the founder of which was Robert, a monk: king Stephen, at the time of his founding it, granted not only the necessary grounds, but also whatever wood might be wanted for the building: he likewise gave the founder pasture for his cattle, and greatly assisted in the undertaking. From Robert it went to the abbot and monks of St. John's, at Colchester; who had several additional benefactions and assistances granted them by king Henry the Second. However it fell a sacrifice, with many others, to king Henry the Eighth. The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is a strong building, covered with lead; it consists of a body, two noble aisles, and had a lofty tower of stone, with a lanthorn at top, top, and in the tower, eight bells*. In the year 1143, this church and its appurtenances was given by king Stephen to the monks of Bermondsey, in Surrey; and afterwards by king John to maintain the poor in the hospital of the Holy Ghost, at Rome, belonging to the English; which being an alien foundation, was seized by the crown: in 1399, William of Wickham, bishop of Winchester, and founder of New College, Oxford, having obtained a grant of this church, settled it upon the warden and fellows, who have been the proprietors of the rectory, patrons of the vicarage, and ordinaries ever since: being a peculiar jurisdiction belonging to New College, it is subject in all spiritual matters to such commissary as is constituted by the wardens and fellows of that house; for which reason it is exempt from all episcopal visitation. The rectory of this parish is a manor, called The Manor of Romans fee, or Rectoria de Writtle, otherwise Roman, on account of the rectory's belonging to the aforesaid hos pital at Rome: the court is kept at the parsonage house. * At noon, March 28,1808, the north-west corner of the venerable tower of Writtle church, in Essex, which had shewn for some time past evident marks of decay, came down with a most tremendous crash. The remainder of the tower having lost the support of this corner and its buttresses, opened to the eye of the astonished beholder a scene which imagination alone can form. The bells were seen hanging in the steeple, suspended in the shattered and momentary crumbling fragments of the then still venerable pile; the clock revolved in an unusual manner; and thus rested the scene until the hour of twelve at night, about which time the north part of the east, and the whole of the west side, bent to the hand of Time, hurling in its course the bells and clock-work, and converted in an instant that once majestic fabric into ruins. The jangling of the bells was to the inha bitants a sure token of its total destruction. The body of the church, previous to that moment, had received no damage; but a part of the east side falling upon the roof, forced its way through to the singing gallery, carrying in its course vast sheets of lead, the weight whereof, and the immense force of the stones from the tower, which was about twentyeight yards in height, dealt destruction in their course, crushing to atoms the gallery and seats beneath. The humble, residents of a cottage near the church very reluctantly" quitted their dwelling ten minutes before the fall of the ruins, which le felled it to the ground. The tower has been since substantially rebuilt. The rectory and vicarage are adjoining, and both pleasantly situated on the south side of the churchyard. This parish, not only on account of its extent, but of its consequence in former times, as well as on that of its picturesque situation, has been the residence of many wealthy families; on which account the church is supposed to contain more marble monuments and memorials than other throughout the county. The most remarkable is placed against the wall on the north side of the chancel it is a composition of several kinds of marble, and of alabaster; sixteen feet high, and six broad. Between two pillars, supporting an elegant cornice, is seen a beautiful representation of an angel, with the strongest ex. pression of sorrow pictured in the countenance: in the left band is held a sickle; and the right hand rests upon part of the cornice. Over the head is a nymbus, upon which is written: Translated: Sol Justitiæ. The Sun of Righteousness. Upon part of the cornice this line: Vos estis Dei Agricultura. Ye are God's Husbandry. The figure stands upright upon a rock, placed upon several wheatsheaves: upon the rock is wrote; Petra erat X PS. That rock was Christ. Upon the bands of the wheatsheaves: Si non moriatur non reviviscit. If a corn of wheat fall not into the ground it cometh not up again. Beneath, upon a small ornament, is written: Nos sevit, fovet, lavit, coget, renovabit. He zho has planted, nourished, and expiated for us, will assemble and restore us. In a line with the last written, upon a pillar on each side; Messores congregabunt. The reapers will gather us. VOL. VI. No. 132. Under Under this last inscription is the likeness of a fan, used in husbandry; within which, upon a scroll, is a Latin inscription, thus translated: In memory of the dead. John Pinchon and Dorothy Weston, once one flesh, Now one carcase, wait for, in this tomb, the coming of Christ. They lived a pattern of matchless faith towards God; Of mutual harmony to one another, And reciprocal love towards men, If you cannot believe this on the word of an inconsolable son, In the mean time beware uttering any harm of them, The arms of this family are carved, painted, and gilt, within the resemblance of a shovel under the fan: and below them, inlaid in brass, in three small tables of marble, are three armorial shields of the same family. On each side this monument, close to the pillars, is the representation of two angels, weeping. They are cloathed as servants in husbandry; and the monument throughout is decorated with all the different implements used in that profession. Against the same wall, another monument represents the father with his four sons on one side, the mother and her six daughters on the other, all in postures of devotion. Over their heads, on a plate of a brass, a Latin inscription, the substance of which in English is: Do you think this man dead! It cannot be. Death is the passage to life. His death was as pleasing to God as his life had been to man. As he loved, so was he beloved by all. As he chose He ceased to be a God for, so God chuses him for, his own. man as he grew to be an angel; and he relinquished his own to remain with his God. Underneath, on another plate of brass, is engraved, Neere unto this place resteth in peace the body of Edward Eliott, late of Newland, in the countye of Essex, Esq. son of John Eliott, of Stratford, in the countye of Hertforde. He tooke tooke to wyfe Jane, one of the daughters of James Gedge, son and heire of Margaret Gedge, one of the daughters and heires of Thomas Bardfield, of Shenfield, in the countye aforesayd; by whome he had yssue iiii sonnes and vi daughters, whereof he left living three sonnes and five daughters. They lived together in married estate xxxviii. yeres, and he deceased the xxii day of De cemb, in the yere of owr Lorde 1595, Etatis suæ 60. On the south side the chancel an elegant monument, in memory of the right honourable Sir John Comyns, knt. his bust, dressed in his baron's robes. His character is thus inscribed: Near this place lies interred, the body of that great and good man, the Right Honourable Sir JOHN COмYNS, knt. late Lord Chief Baron of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer. Universally esteemed one of the brightest ornaments of the bench, and ablest lawyer of his time; who departed this life on the 13th day of November, 1740, aged seventy-three. That a character of so much piety, learning, and merit, should not be buried in obli vion, but remain a shining example to others, this monument (out of duty and gratitude) was humbly erected to his memory by his nephew and heir John Comyns, of Hylands, esq. 1759. Cui Pudor & Justitiæ soror Incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas, Quando ullum invenient parum. The whole of the workmanship is masterly, and the design of the artist elegant. Upon the ground close to the communion rails, are se veral stones to the memory of divers branches of the Comyns family; the Petres; Fithlers, &c. Within the east wall of the north aisle a plate records as follows, a worthy character: Oh when shall faith of soul, sincere, Of justice pure the sister fair, FRANCIS'S HOR. KK 2 Neerê |