Sketch of St Thomas the Apostle Church, Navestock Heath, Essex.

Parish church. C11-C12 origin largely rebuilt in the C13 and C14 and repaired after a land mine exploded in the churchyard in 1940. Flint and rubble with a timber-framed W tower. The church comprises a nave of four bays and a chancel of 2 bays. A single S aisle to the nave continues to the E for one bay as a chapel. The walls are rendered and the roof peg-tiled. NAVE: the S elevation of the nave has, from W to E , C13 lancet window, C13 doorway with segment headed arch and C20 timber porch, C15 3-light window with super mullions. Nave, N elevation from W to E , C15 2-light window with super mullions, C11-C12 door with semicircular tympanum and segment head with intermittent roll moulding, C15 2-light window with super mullions, C14 window reticulated tracery. CHANCEL: N side, W to E , C15 low side window, C14 2-light window with reticulated tracery and label with head stops, C14 2-light window with reticulated tracery. Chancel, S side, C14 window 2 lights, reticulated tracery. Chancel, E end C14 3-light window reticulated tracery. BELFRY TOWER: set in line with the S aisle originally faced in weatherboarding is now plastered with a steeply sloping tiled roof over its aisles and surmounted by a shingled broach spire. The tower is carried on 4 canted heavy oak posts whose framing is strengthened by long continuous passing braces carried down to the ground sills and posts of the aisles to the tower and jointed by notched lap joints. Within the tower base, 4 attached shafts with capitals and bases of perpendicular profile support an inserted belfry floor with arched braces meeting at a foliage boss. Tower formerly ascribed to the C15 but as a result of radiocarbon tests and on structural evidence, is now considered to be of the C13, probably c1250 or earlier. The doorway between tower and S aisle dated c1400 (RCHM) is probably contemporary with the inserted work and together with some reshaping of the old tower braces, represents refurbishing at the opening of the C15. The 4-bayed arcade of the S aisle is of timber, plastered to resemble C13 stone ashlar work and is now exposed at the chancel-nave junction. This core of timber is now thought to date from the C13 and to continue to the W within the imitation stone work. The various oak doors with iron work appear to be post-medieval replacements, the S door in particular copies the C12 form. FITTINGS AND MONUMENTS: the fittings include a C13 piscina in the S chapel and several C17 monuments including, chancel E wall, to John Greene, Sergeant at Law and Judge of Sheriff's court, 1653 and Anne (Blanchard) his wife, 1641, large tablet with recess containing half length figure of a man in judge's robes and flanked by Corinthian pilasters supporting an enlablature and broken pediment with 10 shields of arms. Chancel, N wall, monument of Anne (Nicolls), wife of Charles Snelling, 1625, also Roland their child, 1625, slate panel within arched marble frame, with small effigies of woman, now headless, and swaddled child, 2 shields of arms. Nave, S wall to John Greene, 1625 slate tablet in marble frame with pediment, cherubs and shields of arms. The bells include a tenor and second with the inscription,'Miles Graye made mee 1637', a third by John Walgrave of London (early C15) mentioned in an inventory dated 1458, and a fourth by John Harding c1560. The windows of the chancel retain some of their medieval exterior iron grilles with barbed terminals, most complete on the E window. (RCHM: Central and SW Essex : Monument 1: 190; Archaeological Journal: Hewett CA: The Timber Belfries of Essex: 1962-: 227; Essex Journal: Hewett CA & Smith JR: Faked Masonry of the Mid-C13 in Navestock Church: 1972-; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Essex: 1965-: 303).

 

 

Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is located approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of the parish. It covers an area of in excess of 1800 hectares (4500 acres) and had a population of 510 in 2001, increasing to 585 in 2011.[1] The name means ‘the stump on the headland’, which reflects its topography and landscape.[2]

 

 

History

The western edge of the parish was within the ancient forest of Essex, and two boundary stones still mark its limits. The church of St Thomas the Apostle dates back to the 12th century, and was subject to St Paul's Cathedral, London, which held the manor of Navestock until the dissolution of the monasteries. After this the manor was in the hands of Sir Brian Tuke and was included when he sold Pyrgo to King Henry VIII in 1544 although Navestock and Stapleford were both subsequently leased to George and Walter Cely, relatives of John Cely who had previously been Paler of the Park of Havering Palace at Havering-atte-Bower.[3]

 

Sir Edward Waldegrave was lord of the manor of Navestock under Elizabeth I [4] and the Waldegrave family remained the local landowners until the 19th century. There are various Waldegrave memorials in the parish church, including those of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave; the Hon. Edward Waldegrave, son of the 4th Earl, who drowned off Falmouth on his return from the Battle of Corunna in 1809; the 7th Earl Waldegrave and his wife Frances; and Viscount Chewton, son of the 8th Earl, who died from injuries in the Crimean War.

 

Enclosure of common land, by the 3rd Earl Waldegrave, took place in 1770. Navestock was an early centre for cricket, which has been played on the green at Navestock Side since the 18th century.[5]

 

According to the census of 1801 the population of Navestock was 623, and reached a peak of 982 in 1851. There was then a gradual decline in population during the period of agricultural depression in the late 19th century and the 1901 census recorded only 692 inhabitants. After fluctuating at around that level in the first half of the 20th century the population has declined further and was only 510 in 2001.[5] This makes Navestock unusual in that despite its proximity to London its population is below its level of two hundred years ago, although there are many travelers living on smallholdings in the area who don't register so the number is undoubtedly a lot higher than officially listed.

 

Historically Navestock was included in the hundred of Ongar. It formed part of the Ongar Rural District Council from 1894 until that authority was absorbed into Epping and Ongar Rural District Council in 1955. Following local government reorganisation in 1974 it has been part of the Borough of Brentwood. The present civil parish retains largely the same boundaries as the ancient parish as it existed prior to the mid-19th century, and forms part of the 'Brizes and Doddinghurst' district council ward.

 

Geography

Navestock remains a rural and agricultural parish despite being less than 30 km from central London. It is not served well by main roads and so despite being well within the London commuter belt has undergone little recent housing development, and retains a feeling of remoteness. There is no traditional nucleated village in Navestock, but there is a concentration of houses at Navestock Side in the east of the parish and a rather more dispersed one at Navestock Heath in the centre. The medieval church and hall are in an isolated position about a mile further north from Navestock Heath.

 

The greater part of the parish sits on top of two spurs divided by a stream flowing north into the River Roding, which forms the northern boundary of the parish. The highest point is 103m near Navestock Side in the eastern edge of the parish, while much of the centre and south of the parish forms a plateau generally above 70 metres. The land falls away steeply to the north to the Roding valley, the lowest point being below 30m where the Roding leaves the parish in the far north-west corner.

 

Landmarks

The country house Abbotswick Hall, now a Catholic retreat centre, is located in the parish.

 

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