Broomfield, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex

Parish History
Broomfield St Mary is an Ancient Parish in Essex. The church is one of only six churches in Essex with a round tower. The tower is Norman and shows many re-used Roman bricks, as does the rest of the church.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

Broomfield had two priests c. 1175 but from the earlier 14th century the parish was served by a succession of parochial chaplains. In 1450 there was also an anniversary chaplain and an endowed light in 1547. In the later 16th century there were difficulties in finding priests to serve the church: a French priest lasted six weeks and 'upon the soden departed'. In 1576 the church lacked a communion cup and there were no quarterly sermons. Among the curates of the 17th century, some resident, were Hannibal Potter, ousted as president of Trinity College, Oxford, for reading the Book of Common Prayer, and John Prince, removed at the Restoration. George Hellier, curate c. 1678-c. 1710, was accused, probably unfairly, of being a nonjuror. Thomas Milward, curate 1778-85, held four other local livings. In 1815 only one service was held each Sunday, but by 1827 both morning and afternoon services were held. There were resident priests from 1861 to 1953. A church house is mentioned in 1597; it belonged to Broomfield manor and by 1664-5 appears to have been a poorhouse. The church of ST. MARY AND ALL SAINTS, apparently so called in 1443 as in the 20th century, but known simply as All Saints in 1313, is built of rubble with ashlar dressings. It comprises a chancel with north chapel, a nave with north aisle and south porch, and a west tower. The nave may retain a 12th-century plan, but a blocked 14th-century doorway in the chancel and the tower of the earlier 15th century are the earliest surviving parts, the nave, chancel, and porch having been rebuilt in the early 16th century and the north aisle c. 1535. Richard Dulverton (d. 1443), chaplain of Broomfield who repaired and decorated the church, is commemorated by a brass in the church. Nave and aisles retain their latemedieval roofs, and there are fragments of glass of the same period, including an inscription to Alice Reskymer, prioress of Buckland in 1436 and 1457, and some early 16th-century heraldic glass. The bench ends, one with the name of the carver, Simon Warman (d. 1585), are of the mid 16th century. The chancel was partially rebuilt and furnished in the 18th century and the east window, inserted in 1913 in place of an altarpiece, was glazed by Morris and Co. A gallery was removed in 1854. A cup and cover are dated 1635 and there are two patens of 1709 and a flagon of 1721. There were five bells, the oldest by George Purdue dating from 1606, and there are two early 18thcentury bells. The registers begin in 1630 and are complete. The churchyard cross is of the late 13th or early 14th century.

From: 'Broomfield: Church', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6: Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and neighbouring parishes) (1992), pp. 14-17. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18502&amp;amp;strquery=broomfield Date accessed: 20 February 2011.

St Mary with St Leonard, on Church Green is part of Chelmsford North Deanery. There is also a Methodist church, at 124 Main Road. Broomfield Hospital is one of the largest in the east of England. It is a national specialist centre for Plastics and Burns treatment. Broomfield is a former village and now residential suburb situated immediately to the north of Chelmsford, in central Essex.For administrative purposes it is part of Chelmsford Borough.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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