History Part One
St Laurence & All Saints, Eastwood, Essex
Dedicated to St. Laurence and All Saints
Eastwood takes its name from its situation on the eastern side of the wood and parks of Rayleigh and Thundersley which were part of the Great Forest of Essex.It is mentioned in the Domesday Book 1086 as Estwa, being held by Suen of Essex, his father Robert having held it in Edward the Confessor's reign. Suen's son, Robert de Essex, founded Prittlewell Priory, 1100 A.D. but his descendant, Henry de Essex, forfeited all his estates to the Crown in 1163, because of cowardice in battle. After this date the Manor was generally held by the Crown. In the 13th Century the Kings of England often visited the district for hunting, making Hadleigh Castle their residence. Henry VIII was the last king to hunt here and Eastwood Lodge was the centre of the last reserved portion. At the Reformation the Manor was given by Edward VI to Lord Riche whose descendants became Earls of Warwick, then by marriage it passed to the Earl of Nottingham. The Bristow family acquired it by purchase and held it until 1866 when the estate was sold in lots: "Eastwoodbury", the large house which stood immediately to the east of the Church, was on the site of the original Manor house. It was demolished in 1954. In the course of the centuries this parish of 3,000 acres, with its scattered population, changed from a woodland to an agricultural parish and today to a largely built-up area.
The first definite record of the Church is in 1100A.D. when Robert of Essex, the founder of Prittlewell Priory, granted to that establishment the church of Prittlewell with the chapels of Eastwood and Sutton. It is evident that there was a church at Eastwood before that date, This was probably the present Norman nave with a small apsidal chancel. The walls are of ragstone rubble with some pudding stone flints and Roman and Tudor brickwork and the exterior was, at one time, covered with cement rendering which was completely removed in 1970-1971.
St. Laurence was martyred on a gridiron in 259 A.D. and this Church takes the form of a gridiron, the chancel representing the handle and the nave and two side aisles the bars. The records state that in the early 17th century the Church was in a ruinous state; this was borne out when the old exterior plastering was stripped off.
The South wall of the South aisle showed the original rubble with red Tudor brickwork on the top, three to four feet in depth and above the windows. Between the windows were patches of brick refilling a space. Probably this was an attempt at a clerestory.
The South East corner had given way and been replaced by Tudor brick, reinforced by a Tudor brick buttress. The East wall of the North aisle at some time had cracked badly and was repaired very roughly by Tudor brickwork above the window, probably done when the Church was in a ruinous state.
Eastwood takes its name from its situation on the eastern side of the wood and parks of Rayleigh and Thundersley which were part of the Great Forest of Essex.It is mentioned in the Domesday Book 1086 as Estwa, being held by Suen of Essex, his father Robert having held it in Edward the Confessor's reign. Suen's son, Robert de Essex, founded Prittlewell Priory, 1100 A.D. but his descendant, Henry de Essex, forfeited all his estates to the Crown in 1163, because of cowardice in battle. After this date the Manor was generally held by the Crown. In the 13th Century the Kings of England often visited the district for hunting, making Hadleigh Castle their residence. Henry VIII was the last king to hunt here and Eastwood Lodge was the centre of the last reserved portion. At the Reformation the Manor was given by Edward VI to Lord Riche whose descendants became Earls of Warwick, then by marriage it passed to the Earl of Nottingham. The Bristow family acquired it by purchase and held it until 1866 when the estate was sold in lots: "Eastwoodbury", the large house which stood immediately to the east of the Church, was on the site of the original Manor house. It was demolished in 1954. In the course of the centuries this parish of 3,000 acres, with its scattered population, changed from a woodland to an agricultural parish and today to a largely built-up area.
The first definite record of the Church is in 1100A.D. when Robert of Essex, the founder of Prittlewell Priory, granted to that establishment the church of Prittlewell with the chapels of Eastwood and Sutton. It is evident that there was a church at Eastwood before that date, This was probably the present Norman nave with a small apsidal chancel. The walls are of ragstone rubble with some pudding stone flints and Roman and Tudor brickwork and the exterior was, at one time, covered with cement rendering which was completely removed in 1970-1971.
St. Laurence was martyred on a gridiron in 259 A.D. and this Church takes the form of a gridiron, the chancel representing the handle and the nave and two side aisles the bars. The records state that in the early 17th century the Church was in a ruinous state; this was borne out when the old exterior plastering was stripped off.
The South wall of the South aisle showed the original rubble with red Tudor brickwork on the top, three to four feet in depth and above the windows. Between the windows were patches of brick refilling a space. Probably this was an attempt at a clerestory.
The South East corner had given way and been replaced by Tudor brick, reinforced by a Tudor brick buttress. The East wall of the North aisle at some time had cracked badly and was repaired very roughly by Tudor brickwork above the window, probably done when the Church was in a ruinous state.
Copyright 2010 St Laurence & All Saints
Eastwoodbury Lane
Eastwood, Essex
Eastwoodbury Lane
Eastwood, Essex
Website byPaul McPherson