Aythorpe Roding, High Easter, Good Easter and Great Easton - six rural parishes in West Essex.....

Aythorpe Roding is where my John Moreton was baptised in 1695 and his parents married there and were laid to rest in the churchyard.  A recent discovery is my Richard Haddon (Hayden) Jr married Ann Monk there in 1771 and she was baptised in this church in 1752.  Also, my Knights and Cavells are from Aythorpe Roding (and thus there are probably more ancestors to discover from this pretty little village).

This is a 13th century church set away from the village and down a quiet lane, although there is evidence that the village once surrounded the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the Rev Crook did the honours then....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.... after enjoying this peaceful spot it was off down the road to High Easter....

 

 

 

 

 

... and the cut backs are causing there to be, erm, no cutting back!

 

 

 

 

... and High Easter is where the said Richard Haydon Jr was baptised in 1748 and his parents were married and are buried in the churchyard..... also my Witham family were there in the mid to late 1700's and my Charles Lanham married there in 1804....

 

 

What a fabulous church, the present chancel and nave are in large measure of early Norman date, about 1100 AD, but building in the 14th and later centuries added to (or took away from some would say) this lovely church.  A scheme of enlargement was started in the early 14th century, but thank goodness it was stopped otherwise there wouldn't be anything left of the Norman building  ......

 

 

The quoins at the north-east and south-east are formed of Roman tiles....

 

 

... and Roman tiles popping up elsewhere ...

 

 

... the remnant of a 13th century lancet window...

 

 

... Philip G M Dickinson in the leaflet I purchased from the church describes these carvings as "two men (?)" and Arthur Mee in The King's England - Essex says they are "quaint carvings of a horseman and a woodman".......

 

 

... and a winged animal....... how cute!....

 

 

 

 

... again, nice views from the churchyard.... 

 

 

 

The font from which my ancestors were baptised ... it is 14th century.....

 

 

12th century south doorway.....

 

 

 

... late 14th century chest which has 17th century lock fastenings.  There are signs that there were earlier locks, so maybe the trunk was broken into in the 1600's (probably some rogue from Aythorpe Roding!)....

 

 

This stone mortar was found when in 1968 some repairs to the chancel were being carried out, it was discovered embedded in the walling.  Some authorities suggest it could be Roman but said more likely to be 14th or 15th century.  It is thought to have been used in the manufacture of leading for stained glass windows........

 

 

St Edmund and St George .... I think St Edmund should be our Patron Saint....

 

 

... beautiful ceiling dating from 1500 installed at the expense of  Sir Geoffrey Gate Captain of the Isle of Wight and later the Marshal of Calais (under Henry VII) - five tie-beams, moulded and battlemented and profusely carved with animals, foliage and The Green Man

 

 

I'm sorry this photo is blurry (it isn't that I've been on the beer, again) ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

... next stop Good Easter where my Ann Cumberlodge (great name!) was baptised in 1662, and where later she married my John Judd (who was from Takeley)..... also I have Reeves and Lanhams baptised here....

Lovely views of the valley of the River Can....

 

 

The church was built around 1200 with later extensions and was renovated following a fire in 1885 but many of the 13th and 14th century features were preserved during the renovations, which is fab .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whipping post, I'm hoping, for their sakes, that my people were well-behaved ......

 

 

A carved chair of Cromwell's time.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The roadside barn at Falconer's Hall a few yards from the church ... an important early medieval complex of timber framed buildings....

 

 

 

 

And last stop .. Great Easton, where my Perry's were from - David Perry was baptised there in 1592 and his son Richard in 1626, Richard married Ann Golston there in 1656 and his grandparents were married there in 1578...... and what a beautiful village it is too!  The church isn't too shabby either - and dates from the early Norman times but built on a site of an earlier Saxon building...

 

 

 

 

 

..... fairly modern interior due to restoration in the late 1800's....

 

 

more wonderful Roman tiles and bricks in the surrounds of the now blocked-up 12th century windows ....

 

 

 

 

Soooooo pretty......

 

 

 

12th century door.....

 

 

What is left of a Saxon fort (a mound about 20 feet high surrounded by a dry ditch) lies in the grounds of Easton Hall.....

 

 

.... it's very special and a privilege to be able to visit these lovely villages and I marvel at the thought that 'my ancestors were here'.