Henry Fitzroy. Born Blackmore. June 1519

To commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, in Blackmore a display has been mounted around the eight sides of the Font in the Priory Church of St Laurence telling his story and connection with the village.  The display will remain in place throughout the month following its 'unveiling' at the Blackmore Village Fayre over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.  For those unable to see this in person, the eight panels are repeated below.

Henry Fitzroy

Born June 1519, Blackmore

Birth

Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII was born at Blackmore Priory in June 1519.  His mother, Bessie Blount, a lady in the retinue of Queen Catherine of Aragon, was one of the King’s mistresses.  “Without the birth of Henry Fitzroy, Bessie’s own affair would have probably gone unrecorded”.  When Bessie became visibly pregnant Thomas Wolsey discreetly dispatched her to Jericho House in Blackmore, the home of the prior Thomas Goodwyn.  “Bessie made her final appearance at court early in October 1518”.

Baptism

There is no surviving record of Henry Fitzroy’s baptism anywhere.  It is possible that the ceremony was held here at Blackmore around this Font.  Cardinal Wolsey was a godparent. He was absent from Court from 19 June to 29 June 1519.  Wolsey had been godparent for the boy’s half-sister Mary, the only surviving child born of Queen Catherine.   Could this font have been the place where the ceremony quietly took place?

Royal Visitor

Henry VIII is alleged to have been a frequent visitor to Jericho House where Bessie stayed after Fitzroy’s birth.  The King is said to have given orders not to be disturbed hence the expression used in Court, “He has gone to Jericho”.  The Priory was one of the King’s “Houses of Pleasure”.   (The present Jericho Priory was rebuilt c.1712.)   Bessie Blount may have later had a daughter by the King around 1520 at Blackmore.  She was married off to Gilbert Tailbois (or Tailboys), who hailed from a rich Lincolnshire family.  They may have married in April 1522 because “the king began to be conspicuously generous to Gilbert Tailboys”.

Henry Fitzroy Coat of Arms

Priory

Blackmore Priory was dissolved in 1527 because of its immoral goings-on.  In that year there were only four Canons in residence.   From “the records of the dissolution … it does appear that the prior was somewhat more worldly than he should have been”: its debts ran to one third of the annual income.   Perhaps the expenditure was higher than usual, sheltering a future King?  Cardinal Wolsey was granted the income from the dissolution.

Honours

Much admired and spoilt by Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy was, by the age of six, created Duke of Richmond with the titles Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Somerset.   This placed Henry Fitzroy in an honoured position because the title held precedence over all other Dukes except potential legitimate sons of the King.   By doing so, Henry VIII had elevated his son’s position in society such that he would be a more eligible bachelor.   By the age of eight Henry Fitzroy was Admiral of England, Ireland and Normandy.

Early Marriage & Early Death

Thomas Howard was the 3^rd Duke of Norfolk, a very powerful and ambitious man in the court of Henry VIII.  He brought about the marriage to Henry VIII of his nieces, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and for good measure his daughter Mary was married to Henry Fitzroy.  Henry Fitzroy died in 1536 of tuberculosis.  He was 17 years old.  His body was buried at Thetford Priory but later transferred to Framlingham Church in Suffolk, where it lies in an ornate tomb alongside other members of the Norfolk family.  Had he survived the course of English history could have changed and Fitzroy crowned Henry IX.

Mother and Son: Bessie Blount and Henry Fitzroy of Blackmore

Two books closely related to the history of Blackmore have recently been purchased for the Library of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History. ‘Bessie Blount, Mistress of Henry VIII’ (told in the title of the book by Elizabeth Norton), a lady in the retinue of Catherine of Aragon, was sent in confinement to Blackmore Priory in 1519 where in the neighbouring house she bore his child, Henry Fitzroy (told in ‘Bastard Prince. Henry VIII’s Lost Son’ by Beverley A. Murphy).

This note unravels the research and establishes whether Henry VIII may have really “gone to Jericho”.

According to Beverley Murphy, the King’s affair with Elizabeth may have been brief and began following the pregnancy of Catherine in April 1518. “It is a sad irony that Katherine’s happy condition was probably the impetus for her husband to seek solace in the arms of Elizabeth Blount” (Murphy, 27).  Elizabeth Norton disagrees, because as early as autumn 1514 Bessie had met the King: “without the birth of Henry Fitzroy, Bessie’s own affair would have probably gone unrecorded” (Norton, 119).  The birth date of Henry Fitzroy is unclear other than he was six years of age in June 1525.  About the time that Bessie was to become visibly pregnant Thomas Wolsey discreetly dispatched her to Jericho House in Blackmore, the home of the prior Thomas Goodwyn (Murphy, 30).  “Bessie made her final appearance at court early in October 1518” (Norton, 131). 

Wolsey was charged with taking an active interest in Henry’s illegitimate child: Blackmore was “sufficiently quiet not to rouse unwelcome gossip” (Norton, 133). Henry VIII is alleged to have been a frequent visitor to Jericho House and is said to have given orders not to be disturbed hence the expression used in Court, “He has gone to Jericho”. This has entered into local folklore fuelled by Philip Morant who used these words in his ‘History of Essex’ (1768) adding that the Priory was one of the King’s “Houses of Pleasure”.  Subsequently historians have suggested that Blackmore Priory was dissolved in 1527 because of its immoral goings-on. From “the records of the dissolution … it does appear that the prior was somewhat more worldly than he should have been” (Norton, 134): its debts ran to one third of the annual income.  But then if a future King lived there perhaps the debts were with some justification? 

Henry VIII may have visited Elizabeth at Blackmore, contrary to the view expressed by Murphy. Bessie certainly did not resume her duties following the birth of Fitzroy (Murphy, 31) and there is no record of the King staying overnight (Norton, 134). But this should not suggest the King had nothing further to do with Bessie.  Blackmore is relatively close to Newhall, Chelmsford, which was renamed Beaulieu in 1523, from where the King “set out to visit her. This is once again evidence that Bessie’s departure from court was not the end of the affair between her and the King” (Norton, 134). It is possible that she later had a daughter by the King around 1520 (Norton, 139) perhaps conceived in Blackmore (Norton, 151). Fitzroy’s biographer disagrees (Murphy, 32).  

The King was delighted with the news of the birth of a son and whilst in Essex that summer might have held a formal celebration at the manor of Havering-atte-Bower (Murphy, 31).  Cardinal Wolsey was named the child’s godparent, as he had been for his half-sister Mary, the only surviving child born of Queen Catherine, some three and a half years earlier. Although no christening records survive Wolsey’s absence from Court from 19 June to 29 June 1519 may have been due to his attendance at Fitzroy’s baptism probably at Blackmore.  Could the font have been the place where the ceremony quietly took place?

Bessie Blount was married off to Gilbert Tailbois (or Tailboys), who hailed from a rich Lincolnshire family.  This may not have happened as quickly as historians have suggested: the first record of marriage is recorded in June 1522 (Murphy, 33; Norton, 139). They may have married in April 1522 because “the king began to be conspicuously generous to Gilbert Tailboys” (Norton, 141).

Historians are again divided as to whether Bessie had any involvement in Fitzroy’s upbringing. Her biographer suggests “it seems probable that she would have retained custody of her son … perhaps playing a part in raising both Henry Fitzroy and Elizabeth Tailboys until her marriage in 1522” (Norton, 151).

Much admired and spoilt by Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy was, by the age of six, created Duke of Richmond with the titles Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Somerset. This placed Henry Fitzroy in an honoured position because the title held precedence over all other Dukes except potential legitimate sons of the King. By doing so, Henry VIII had elevated his son’s position in society such that he would be a more eligible bachelor. By the age of eight Henry Fitzroy was Admiral of England, Ireland and Normandy but died in 1536, aged seventeen of tuberculosis. He was buried at Thetford Priory.  Had he survived the course of English history could have changed and Fitzroy crowned Henry IX.

Andrew Smith

Principal Sources:

Murphy, Beverley. A.. Bastard Prince. Henry VIII’s Lost Son (Sutton Publishing, 2001)

Norton, Elizabeth. Bessie Blount. Mistress to Henry VIII (Amberley, 2011)

Blackmore: Augustinian Priory

As part of our Henry VIII season ....

British History Online provides some interesting information on the Augustinian Priory at Blackmore. After the dissolution all but the Nave, which has always been used by the people of Blackmore, was destroyed. It is now the Priory Church of St Laurence.

The Victoria County History Vol II (1907) covers religious places in Essex. The House of Austin Canons – Blackmore can be found under: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39843&strquery=blackmore

John de Pleyces, one of the Priors at Thoby Priory, Mountnessing (appointed 1306) was also a Canon at Blackmore. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39849&strquery=blackmore

Blackmore Priory was granted by King Henry VIII to Waltham Holy Cross in 1532. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39852&strquery=blackmore

In relation to the Priory at Little Leighs we learn that John Webb, prior of Leighs in 1479, had also been a Prior at Blackmore and that Thomas Ellys (Ellis) who was elected in 1527, and was to be the last Prior of Leighs, was presented as the Vicar of Blackmore in 1538. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39847&strquery=blackmore

VCH Vol VIII (1983) mentions under the parish of South Weald that Boyles once belonged to Blackmore Priory. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63843&strquery=blackmore

Blackmore: Henry Fitzroy

Blackmore Priory has a royal association because it was to the neighbouring house that a mistress of Henry VIII was sent when it was realised that she was carrying his child. Her name was Elizabeth Blount, a lady in the retinue of Catherine of Aragon. In 1519, she gave birth to a son, taking his father’s name Henry, and the surname for illegitimate offspring, Fitzroy. Henry VIII is said to have been a frequent visitor to the neighbouring Jericho House, so must have known the Priory well. He gave orders not to be disturbed hence the expression used in Court, “He has gone to Jericho”. The original house is no more. The stream that feeds the moat around Jericho House is nicknamed the Jordan.

The King was delighted with the news, which proved his ability to father a son. His previous attempts with Catherine had ended in miscarriage or infant death. Cardinal Wolsey was named the child’s godparent, as he had been for his half sister Mary, the only surviving child born of Queen Catherine, some three and a half years earlier. Elizabeth Blount was quickly married off and had no involvement in Fitzroy’s upbringing.

Henry Fitzroy was much admired and spoilt by his father. At the age of six, when it was considered that a child entered adulthood, and the likelihood of death greatly diminished, Henry Fitzroy was created Duke of Richmond with the titles Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Somerset. This placed Henry Fitzroy in an honoured position because the title held precedence over all other Dukes except potential legitimate sons of the King. By doing so Henry VIII, had elevated his son’s position in society such that he would be a more eligible bachelor. His stepfather, Gilbert Taillebois (or Talboys), was knighted. By the age of eight Henry Fitzroy was Admiral of England, Ireland and Normandy. At 14 he married Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. On 23rd July 1536 he died of tuberculosis. He was seventeen. It was said that he was poisoned on the orders of Anne Boleyn, but he witnessed her execution in London just weeks beforehand. Henry was distraught and, following an offer from Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, accepted an offer to have his son discreetly buried at Thetford with other family members. It was an event for which Thomas was not thanked when the King changed his mind. Following the Dissolution of Thetford Priory in 1540, Fitzroy’s final resting place became St Michael’s Church in the shadow of Framlingham Castle in Suffolk.

For more on Henry Fitzroy go to: http://tudorhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/henry_fitzroy

Blackmore: Suppression of Augustinian Priory

Henry VIII became King of England, following the death of Henry VII on 21st April 1509. Perhaps one of the most instantly recognisable monarchs, he is known to have dissolved many monasteries (including Blackmore Priory) and ‘created’ the Church of England declaring himself ‘Supreme Head’. But the suppression of the monasteries began earlier than the 1530s.

In 1524, authority was granted by Henry to Cardinal Wolsey to dissolve a number of smaller priories. This included Blackmore. It was intended that the money raised would fund a college in Oxford. In the following year, Blackmore Priory was assessed at £85.9s.7d. In a further declaration, in March 1526, the rectories at Blackmore and Margaretting were granted to Wolsey. The legal process over, the four remaining Canons were ejected and the Priory transferred to Wolsey in 1527. However, two years later, Wolsey was stripped of his wealth when he fell out with the King over the divorce of Catherine of Aragon (Henry’s first wife). In 1531, the Priory was passed from the Crown to the Abbey at Waltham Holy Cross. This was the last monastic establishment to be dissolved, in England, in 1540. About this time much of Blackmore Priory was demolished.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - August 2008

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore.

Who Do You Think You Are?

The BBC magazine of the same name (Issue 12) tells me that ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ series 5 begins on Wednesday 13 August, 9pm, BBC One. Celebrities featured are Patsy Kensit (13 August), Boris Johnson (20 August), Jerry Springer (27 August), Esther Rantzen (3 September), David Suchet (10 September), Ainsley Harriott (17 September), Jodie Kidd (24 September) and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (1 October).

There are always a number of interesting articles in the magazine. This time there is a look at old post boxes. Coming soon to this blog – after our commemoration of the First World War – I will be on the look-out for Victorian pillar boxes (and lamp boxes) in the Blackmore Local Area. Incidentally, in 1512, Henry VIII appointed Sir Brian Tuke as Master of the Posts. Tuke has a local link in that he acquired land around the Blackmore (Essex) district around the time of the Dissolution.


Family History – Blackmore

Blackmore Area Local History is here to encourage folks to look further into local, family and social history so I was interested to learn from the Daily Mail how Roy Blackmore has traced his family back to medieval England and the time of William The Conqueror. He began researching his family tree in 1975, long before the days of Internet. Like some of my relatives, genealogy then was poring over old records and footslogging around churchyards.

“Once Roy had assembled what family historians call the 'bones' of the tree - names and dates of births, deaths and marriages - he set about giving them flesh. He tracked the Blackmore surname to a village in Essex of the same name.

'In the tenth century, monks spoke of the Blackmores as being yeoman farmers. They were Saxons, fair-skinned people from northern Germany, who came over in the fifth century after the Romans had left. The original spelling was Blachmer.'”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1040009/Meet-family-How-eccentric-spent-30-years-tracing-family-tree--hes-related-William-Conqueror.html


Ingatestone United Reformed Church bi-centenary

The history of an Independent Chapel in Ingatestone, which later became part of the Congregational Union and more recently Ingatestone United Reformed Church, is being researched by an amateur local historian. Chris Harvey, a former resident in the village, aims to publish a book two hundred years after the Church’s founding in 2012. Chris writes on Great Baddow online (link below): “I am particularly interested in people with memories and/or photographs of the 1970s or earlier, for example uniformed organisations such as Boys Brigade or Girls Brigade. I am already in touch with local church members and have access to church records, and also those in the Essex Records Office dating back to the 19th century, but any other information from anyone with knowledge of that church in the last century would be appreciated.”
http://www.greatbaddowonline.co.uk/300706newsletters/020708july2008newsletter/view?searchterm=ingatestone


Folklore In Essex

I have just finished reading a book entitled ‘Folklore in Essex’ by Sylvia Kent. It is a broad sweep of life and tradition in Essex and has much coverage of the local area, including the Wheat Whoppers Ball at Blackmore, our village’s link with Henry VIII and William Byrd of Stondon Massey to name but three. There is also a chapter on Essex’s musical tradition: Ralph Vaughan Williams’ visits to Ingrave, Brentwood and other places in Essex in the pursuit of folk song collecting. You can read more about RVW this month on this blog. Coincidentally the day I finished reading this interesting book, Sylvia Kent announced on her blog a reprint of the work. Sylvia Kent is a local photographer and freelance writer.
http://sylviakent.blogspot.com/2008/07/folklore-of-essex-from-history-press.html


Ingatestone Hall is Wicked

A history of Ingatestone Hall, home of the Petre family for over 500 years, has appeared on Wikipedia. Follow this link: http://www.powerset.com/explore/semhtml/Ingatestone_Hall


Brentwood and District Historical Society visit Blackmore & Stondon churches

On 12 June 2008, as part of their summer programme, a local history group visited two of our local churches. Follow this link to see The Society’s web entry: http://www.essexinfo.net/brentwoodhistorical/photos/album?album_id=996810


Blackmore Area Local History

Blackmore Area Local History will be launching a website very shortly – http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/. Pages on the site will include an index of Blackmore people, a transcript of the 1910 Electoral Register for Blackmore (Essex) and a copy of the booklet I wrote in 2005 entitled ‘Hatched, Matched and Despatched’, which is a brief survey of Blackmore’s Baptism, Marriage and Burial registers. This blog will not be closed and will continue alongside the main website. As mentioned, over the next three months the blog will be dedicated to local events surrounding the First World War (the Great War as it was then known), it being 90 years since the end of hostilities in 1918.

Blackmore: Jericho Priory

Many visitors to the church are intrigued by the house behind the wall known as Jericho Priory. Whilst some know that this was the birthplace of Henry Fitzroy (1519 – 1536), King Henry VIII’s bastard son, others are then disappointed to learn that the building subsequently was reconstructed. Revd. Philip Morant, one of Essex’s earliest historians in print (1768) suggested that, “This is reported to have been one of K. Henry the Eighths Houses of Pleasure; and disguised by the name of Jericho. So that when this lascivious Prince had a mind to be lost in the embraces of his courtesans, the cant word among his courtiers, was, that He was gone to Jericho. Here was born his natural son, by Elizabeth Tailbois, daughter of Sir John Blount” [Morant. p57]. It is highly unlikely that Henry Fitzroy was conceived in Blackmore, as some locals would like to claim. What is more probable was that Elizabeth Blount, later married to Gilbert Tailbois, was sent for a period of confinement to Blackmore Priory when clearly seen in Court she was with child. Blackmore Priory in 1518 was a small, quiet, Augustinian Priory which nine years later was suppressed by Wolsey having only four Canons in residence. The Nave of the former Priory still exists as the Nave of the Church. The remainder was pulled down by the Smyth family around 1540 – 1543 after acquisition of the site. The footprint of the Priory foundations is now in the garden of the private house, referred to as ‘Jerico’ in the will of John Smith, dated 1543. The family built Smyth Hall, to the south of Wenlocks Lane, and were present in Blackmore for five generations until 1721. Smyth Hall was also known as Blackmore Manor. Morant says that the site of the Priory was sold by Thomas Smyth about 1714 to a ship builder, Jacob Acworth. William Holman (1719), from whose manuscript work Morant drew material, wrote, “The manor of the priory of Blackmore lyes by the Church and be called Jericho most of it is pulled down & new built under the foundations … they dug up bones & found a coffin of lead about a yard away full of … bones. Jacob Ackworth of London Kgt a Shipwright bought the Estate of Mr Smith about 7 years ago” [ERO T/P 195/9 #20 f10]. Holman adds that Ackworth was “knighted at Portsmouth August 30 1722 by Kg George [IV]”. Down the years the house has had various names: Manor of the Priory of Blackmore (or Blakemore), Jericho Priory, Jericho and, Blackmore House. Architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner in the first edition of ‘Buildings of England – Essex’ (1954) referred to the building as Blackmore House. In the latest edition, updated by James Bettley (2007), it is referred to as Jericho Priory, giving it a date of c1715-20, perhaps a little later, and adding to Pevsner’s commentary, “On the garden front deep plaster coving fills the recess between the tower arches” [Bettley/Pevsner. p142]. Pevsner though thought the building akin to the mid-sixteenth rather than the early eighteenth century, giving Syon House near London and Ince Castle in Cornwall as examples. David Coller in ‘The People’s History of Essex’ (1861) adds that the house subsequently underwent “many changes, improvements and enlargements, to adapt it to modern requirements. Sir Jacob Ackworth, who purchased it, at the beginning of the last [eighteenth] century … made many additions to it; and in the course of the works a small lead coffin, about a yard in length, and filled with bones was exhumed. Other memorials of the past have occasionally been turned up on this spot; but, save for the church near, not a stone or other fragment of the Priory now remains. Even the foundations have gone. We recollect some forty years ago [c1821] observing a stone which appeared to have been taken from the old ruins, upon which an inscription was still half legible, used as a door-step for a house in the neighbourhood. The shrubberies and lawns of Blackmore House have long since extended, and flower-beds have been planted, and kitchen gardens flourish in luxuriance over the very spots where the friars feasted and monks prayed” [Coller. p221]. The stream that feeds the moat around Jericho House is nicknamed the Jordan. The proximity of the garden to the church appears to have been a problem. In 1817, the Archdeacon of Essex made a Visitation to inspect the church building. A catalogue of failure is recorded [ERO. D/AE/V36. Vol I. f95]: Remove the Earth and Rubbish from the Church and Chancel where necessary as much as may. The Tiling is getting very indifferent and must from time to time be repaired and at such times new Lathed. Weather boarding and shingling wants painting. Shingling wants repair. Underpinning of Tower wants repair. West end Wall of Tower wants a whole colour. Remove the Ivy from the South wall. Grub up the Fig and other Trees on South side and stop the Eaves. Same side window frames so[uth] side want repair and paint. Fruit Trees East End of Chancel must be taken down and the Wall repaired and well secured. NE Buttress wants repair and a Pipe placed to take off the Water. Remove the Gutters from eaves on South side unless the drain is properly attended and kept clean by Mr Preston. Solution of Vitriol. Vestry must be repaired with White Brick. Owing to the general bad state and conditions of the Church the Archdeacon did not make any Order but deferred doing so until he had considered the same more fully. The margin note states: The Chancel pavement of this Church as green as a Pasture Field and the Church the most cold wet and comfortless of any in the Archdeaconry there being only two loop hole windows on south. Earlier (1766), Revd Thomas Smith described Blackmore as “a small village con[sis]ts about 50 families”, having “about 80 houses” in 1790 and “about 100 families – about 500 souls” by 1810, with “three families of note, Mr Crickett, Mr Waller of Fingrith & Mr Fearths of Jericho House” [Guildhall Manuscripts ms9558. Diocesan Book 1766 – 1811]. White’s Directory (1848) states that W.T Longbourne, gent, occupied the Priory, and Kelly’s Directory (1856) confirms the name as William Thomas Longbourne. Coller says that in 1861, “the manor of Blackmore, and that of Fingrith … belong to James Parker Esq.” [Coller p222]. About this time Jericho came under the ownership of Edgar Disney. It formed part of a more substantial estate covering Copyhold Farm, High House, Hardings Common Farm on Paslow Common and Burgess. This was a total of 255 acres in Blackmore and 207 acres in High Ongar. The assignment of the lease of the Jericho Priory Farm estate in 1872 referred to the vendor’s obligation to leave “all hay, corn, and straw in ricks, bins or on the threshing floors” [ERO D/Dw T73]. In the north aisle of the church are two memorials recalling Edgar Disney:

Sacred to the memory of Edgar Disney of The Hyde Ingatestone Essex and of Jericho Blackmore Esquire Born 22nd December 1810 Died 8th December 1881 He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life St John chap iii, ver. xxxvi Also: This tablet is erected by the Rev W Callendar Vicar of Black more in grateful recognition of the kindly munificence of Edgar Disney Esq of the Hyde Ingate stone to whose generosity (independently of various donations from Parishioners and others) the successful restoration of the Church of St Lawrence is mainly due 1878 The churchyard was enlarged in 1885, through a gift of land by “Edgar John Disney of Jericho House … Lieutenant Colonel of the 3rd Battalion Essex Regiment” [HALS. DSA 1/15/3 f395]. Presumably this was the son of the above. E J Disney was churchwarden in 1885. Thomas Reed Hull was certainly living at Jericho in 1885. His family resided there for some while. He gave land for a churchyard extension in 1899 [ERO D/C/C50/2]. Thomas Reed Hull, of The Priory Blackmore, was buried on 4 February 1915. The final record appears in 1927 when James Henry Hull, again, gave land for a churchyard extension but reserving exclusive right of a portion, but it was never used [ERO D/C/C78/2]. He was the Vicar’s Warden in 1926. The Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for 1940 record that, “Lady Reckitt also offered the gardens of Jericho Priory to augment in any way Church funds, either by way of a small charge for admission on Sunday evenings, or to hold a Sale of Work” [ERO A10631]. The house was used during the war for military purposes. On the social side, in the 1960s the Church held an annual Garden Fete and a Flower Festival. The Rose Garden at Jericho Priory was also used “by kind permission of Mr & Mrs E B Marriage”. The Marriage family were owners of Jericho Priory until the late 1970s. Andrew Smith Bibliography Bettley & Pevsner. The Buildings of England. Essex (2007) Coller. The People’s History of Essex (1861) Morant. The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex. Volume I (1768) Essex Record Office Guildhall Library Manuscripts Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies

Blackmore: Priory Church of St Laurence

Extract from the former Guide to the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore, written in 1966 by Constance Simmons. Text updated for this blog. This Guide was superseded by a newly written edition in 2005.

It has been suggested that the earliest possible date for the first building of the church is 1150, but a more likely date is 1170. The earliest style of architecture in the present church is late 12th century. Remains of this can be seen at the west end of the Nave, in the doorway to the Tower and the arches up in the walls north and south of the West End.

We know that Richard, Bishop of London (1155-62) gave authority for the foundation of the priory. It was endowed by the de Samford Family who held the Manor of Fingrith. The Foundation was for a prior and 12 canons of the Augustine Order. There are records of the Priory of Blackmore sending canons to act as ministers at nearby Margaretting, Willingale Andrew (Willingale Spain), and further afield, at Great Hormead in Hertfordshire.

There are indications that the original priory church had a lofty nave with side aisles which had lean-to roofs at a lower elevation. There is a string on each outer side of the west end arches where the side aisles roofs rested. The west wall of the nave was an outside wall and the Norman doorway was the main entrance.

The Priors worshipped regularly each day. Their route through the cloisters into church was illuminated by means of a cresset stone.

During the 13th century the priory must have flourished. The north aisle is 13th century, early English in style and may have been part of an enlargement project. The stone pillars of the north aisle probably date from this period. Later still, towards the end of the 14th century, one roof was erected over the nave and side aisles, with good rib mouldings and with bosses and shields at the intersections.

The bell tower was built in 1400. It is one of the finest of its kind. We now know that the nave roof, north door and bell tower are all contemporary.

Blackmore Priory was one of the first monastic establishments to be dissolved by Henry VII. In 1527 many of the smaller communities were liquidated – conclusive evidence that this had continued as a small priory. It was granted with its endowments to Cardinal Wolsey. Later it was returned to the Crown (1529). Next it was given to Waltham Abbey (1531) which later was dissolved with other larger monasteries and our priory was returned to the Crown.

John Smyth bought the Priory from Henry VIII in 1540. He was auditor to the King. The Smyth family were to hold an influential place in the life of the village for five generations, through to 1721. Various inscribed slabs in the floor of the Church indicate a succession of Smyths.

The Smyths built Smyth Hall half a mile from the church using material from the priory including stained glass. Smyth Hall was demolished in 1844 and some of the stained glass found its way to Brizes at Kelvedon Hatch.

Throughout the middle ages, the parishioners of Blackmore had used the Nave of the church to meet as well as attend worship. John granted the parishioners use of the Chancel but when his son, Thomas, inherited the Priory he claimed the chancel to be his own and removed the right of the chancel (1581), but the parishioners asserted their claim to the church. The claim was upheld in the Ecclesiastical Court in 1583.

The north and south dormer windows and the brick piers and arches of the south arcade belong to the Tudor period, but whether they were built before the period of destruction or were part of the reinstatement, it is almost impossible to decide.

From 1600 to the present time there have been no structural alterations of importance.

Blackmore's Parish Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials date from 1602. During the Civil War and under the influence of the Puritans the Church suffered neglect and disuse – as the gaps in the old Church Registers show.

Archdeacons visited the Church in 1686 and directed repairs which were – or were not – carried out. The existence of five bells in the tower was noted. These had been cast in Colchester about 1646.

In 1877 and 1898 - 1902 extensive restorations were carried out. In 1905 a carved wooden screen was erected at the entrance to the chancel. This will now be seen on the north side of the chancel enclosing the vestry, having been moved in 1988.

Kitchen and toilet facilities were created in the north west corner in 1990 and a Children's corner enclosed in the south west corner, and renamed the Rainbow Corner, in 2005.