East Horndon, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex

Parish History
East Horndon All Saints was an Ancient Parish in Essex. The church is now redundant and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Two legends persist about the church. One tells of Sir James Tyrell who went to slay a dragon and died. It appears that he had been asked to kill a serpent-type animal which escaped from a ship in the Thames and roamed the woods round the manor of Herongate and the church, terrifying the people. He managed to slay it, chopping of its head, but he died from his exertions. His son, looking for him, trod on a bone of the animal and, gangrene setting in, he lost his leg. The is a glass window at Heron depicting a one-legged man. The legend has recently been reworked in comic book form in London Falling.

The second legend is that Queen Anne Boleyn's head or heart is buried there. There were two manors in East Horndon, Heron on the north of the church and Abbotts on the south. By the 14th century the Tyrells of Herongate had being gaining influence, and became the patrons of the church. This family demolished most of the Norman church, rebuilding it in the present style. The chancel and south transept are late 15th century. There is a splendid limestone figure of Alice, wife of Sir John Tyrell, flanked by her children all named. The south and north chapels were built for the interments of the family. The stairs to the south gallery lead to a living room for the chantry priest in pre-Reformation times, with a Tudor fireplace. Outside the church is a squat tower with distinctive corner turrets, and a stepped parapet.

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.

HORNDON, EAST (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Billericay, hundred of Barstable, S. division of Essex, 3 miles (S. E.) from Brentwood; containing 529 inhabitants. It comprises 1477a. 24p., of which 68a. 2r. 28p. are woodland, and of the remainder about two-thirds arable and one-third pasture. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £262; patron, the Rev. J. Pearson. The church is a small irregular structure, with several chapels, which contain portions in different styles; the font is Norman, and in the chancel is an octangular ceiling of wood, richly carved with armorial bearings and other devices.

From: 'Horndon, East - Horsell', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 550-553. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51045&amp;amp;strquery=all saints east Horndon Date accessed: 04 February 2011.

East Horndon is a village in the south of the Brentwood borough of Essex for administrative purposes. It is situated just south of the A127 road near Herongate. The village church (All Saints) is located to the north of the A127, and is redundant, but in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

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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