Hullbridge Village History

The History of Hullbridge village medieval times.

Anglo-Saxon Period 410-1066AD

The times after the Romans till the invasion of the Normans are documented within the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, this was a collection of annals in Old English. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. Multiple copies were made of that original which were distributed to monasteries across England, where they were independently updated. The originals are missing but manuscripts of all but two of the annals are kept by the British Library the other two are held at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. A very good historical website KA History Files is a good reference point to understand the introduction of the Saxons to Britain.
Important facts relevant to Hullbridge and the surrounding area are:-

The creation of East Seaxe (Essex).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Essex The name Essex derives from the Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Seaxe which was traditionally founded by Aescwine in 527 AD, occupying territory to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea.
In 825 AD it became part of the Kingdom of Wessex and was later ceded under the Treaty of Wedmore to the Danelaw control of the Kingdom of East Anglia. In 991 AD the Battle of Maldon resulted in complete defeat for the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings and led to the poem The Battle of Maldon.

Dividing the country into "HUNDREDS".

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Hundred Under the Saxons, each shire or county in England was divided into a number of hundreds, which were made up of ten tithings each. The tithings were groups of ten families of freeholders. The hundred was governed by a high constable and had its own local court called the Hundred Court. The most remarkable feature of the hundred was the collective responsibility of all the inhabitants for the crimes or defaults of any individual member.

The Hundreds of Essex were:-Barnstable, Beacontree, Chafford, Chelmsford, Clavering, Dengie, Dunmow, Freshwell, Harlow, Havering liberty, Hinkford, Lexford, Ongar, Rochford, Tendring, Thurstable, Uttlesford, Waltham, Winstree and Witham.

Battle of Assandon

The Battle of Assandun was fought on 18 October 1016. There is dispute over whether Assandun may actually be today's Ashdon, or the long supposed Ashingdon, in southeast Essex, England. There has been many arguments put forward by both eminent and local historians about where this important battle took place and the most recent views point towards Ashdon between Saffron Walden and Ipswich. For those interested I recommend reading Battle of Maldon: Fiction or Fact by Janet Copper dd1993 which is available from Essex library and come to your own conclusions.

The impact on such a decision would effect local folklore identifying the lands between Ashingdon and Rawreth(Battlesbridge) as being the land that the battle went across and that Battlesbridge was as it states where another major confrontation took place.

Saxon Finds

All over Rochford district new Saxon finds are being found and these have been captured in Rochford District Council's document Historic Environment Characterization Project dd March 2006. Some of the highlights are:- A Saxon cemetery behind Park School, Rawreth Lane, Rayleigh, Saxon artifacts at Great Wakering Brickfields and Paglesham, a sunken floored building at Barling and perhaps the most important find is at Prittlewell where a Saxon King's burial was recently found and also at Prittlewell back in 1920's they found a Saxon Burial site whilst doing railway and road works. These finds are far greater in number than those of the Roman era and more artefacts are being uncovered by people exploring fields with metal detectors.

Norman Period 1066-

Lands of Barking Abbey Pt1.

In 666AD St Erkenwald founded Barking Abbey as a Benedictine nunnery for his sister St Ethelburga.

From: 'Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey of Barking', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 115-122. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39832

Æfgiva was abbess at the time of the conquest, and William I. confirmed her possession by charter. (fn. 7) This was probably granted in November or December, 1066, as he was then staying at Barking (fn. Freeman, Norman Conquest,IV, 20)| during the building of the Tower of London, and there received the submission of Eadwine and Morkere. The Essex possessions of the abbey at the time of the Domesday survey have been given elsewhere, (fn. Victoria County History,vol i, page 448, et seq) and in addition to these it owned the manors of Tyburn in Middlesex, Slapton in Bucks and Lidlington in Bedfordshire and land in Weston (in Thames Ditton) and in Wallington hundred in Surrey.

Doomsday Book.

Around mid 1086 William Duke of Normandy the recent conqueror of Harold II, became king of most of England and when his reign was threatened by an invasion from Denmark he was forced to purchase mercenary soldiers to fight his battles. As a result he commissioned a survey of the land to find out what resources and items could be taxed within the boroughs and manors of his land. He wanted to discover who owned what, how much it was worth and how much was owed to him as King in tax, rents, and military service. This collation of data was known as the Winchester Roll or Kings Roll and is now known by its common name the Doomsday Book. The survey was conducted by splitting his land in England into 7 circuits, one of these was the now counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. The survey asked the following :

  1. What is the manor called?
  2. Who held it in the time of King Edward (in 1066)?
  3. Who holds it now (in 1086)?
  4. How many hides are there (what is its tax assessment)?
  5. How many plough(team)s on the demesne (local lord's own land) and among the men (rest of the village)?
  6. How many free men, sokemen, villans, cotta[ge]rs, slaves?
  7. How much woodland, meadow, pasture, mills, fisheries?
  8. How much has been added to or taken away from the manor?
  9. How much was the whole worth (1066) and how much now (1086)?
  10. How much had or has each freeman and each sokeman?

All the above questions to be recorded three times: in the time of King Edward (1066), when William gave it (often 1066), and now (1086) and whether more can be had than is had (in other words, can the manor raise more tax revenue)?
http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/hundred/rochford/ There were 27 places in the Hundred of Rochford in the Doomsday Book. Hullbridge was listed under Hocheleia (Hockley) which was listed as having 59 Households, one of the largest in the doomsday book and much more than anything in the Rocford Hundred. This was split into the three lords of the land in 1086:-1) St Mary Barking Abbey; William of Boursigny,2) Godebald father of Robert: Odo and 3) Payne with the last two being under the tenancy of Swein of Essex.

New King William II.

With the death of William I, his thrid son William inherited the throne and was crowned at Westminster Abbey 9th Sept 1087. William never married and was constantly warring. Occupied first with fighting his brother in Normandy, who made claim to his throne of England and then various revolts from Scotland and Northumbria.
In 1095 the first crusage begins and ends 1099. This was followed by William II's death in 1100 when he was killed by an arrow whilst out hunting in the New Forest.

New King Henry I

Henry was the youngest son of William I and was crowned August 3rd 1100 at Westminster Abbey.
Henry does marry, to a Saxon princess Edith the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. This with the introduction of a charter of liberties for the Saxons help unite the Normans and English (Saxons). After the marriage his wife is named Matilda, a name more acceptable to the Normans.

Henry has to hold of an invasion from his brother Robert who is captured and as a result Henry becomes the Duke of Normandy as well as the King of England. Henry died 1135 whilst in France, poisoned ! He leaves a will stating his eldest living child should inherit the throne. With the death of his son at sea in 1120 this meant the throne should have gone to his daughter Matilda, but this was not accceptable to the nation and so Henry's nephew Stephen was elected to the throne.

New King Stephen I

Lands of the Abbey Pt2.

From: 'Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey of Barking', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 115-122. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39832

Stephen appointed Adeliza the sister of Payn Fitz John. He confirmed the possessions and liberties of the abbey, restoring to them the lands which Henry I had afforested,( afforested: To convert (open land) into a forest by planting trees or their seeds ) and in addition granted the hundreds of Becontree and Barstable, offering the latter grant in person at the high altar. Adeliza founded the hospital of Ilford and received confirmation of the liberties of the abbey from Henry II, dying probably in 1173; when Mary,the sister of Thomas Becket, was made abbess in reparation for the death of her brother. (fn. Chart. 7-8 Rich. II, No. 33; confirmed in Chart. 1 Hen. IV, pt. 1, No. 3; Chart. 1 Hen. V, pt. 1, No. 1; Pat. 2 Hen. VI, pt. 3, m. 1816; Pat. 4 Edw. IV, pt. 3, m. 22-30. and Matt. Paris ,ii, 287)
Until 1214 the abbesses had been nominated by the king, but in that year John, under pressure from the pope, granted the right of free election to the English churches, and from thence till the dissolution we find the elections of the abbesses of Barking, as a royal foundation, recorded on the Patent Rolls.

In 1221 licence was granted to the abbess to take estovers and to hunt hares and foxes in her wood of Hainault. (fn. 31)
In 1290 she had a grant of free warren in Lidlington and Hockley. (fn. Chart. 18 Edw. I, No. 18.) The total valuation of the abbey's temporalities given in the Taxation of 1291 amounted to £300 13s. 1¼d., of which £19 3s. 6¼d. was in Hockley. In 1315 the church of Mucking was appropriated to the abbey, and a vicarage ordained.(fn. 26) The churches of Barking, Dagenham and Horndon on the Hill had already been appropriated at earlier dates; and so were also later those of Tollesbury in 1355, Hockley in 1382.

From 12th century Hullbridge became an important crossing for followers of St Thomas Beckett who made pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Walsingham, Norflok. As a result a small chapel was established near the river and was known as St Thomas's Chapel possibly because of Thomas's sister being an Abbess and the Abbey who owned the land. This building stood until c1536 and Henry VIII's dissolution claimed it. The Abbey on 14th Nov 1539 was handed over to the crown and its demolition started Jun 1540 and went on for 18 Months.

In the History of Rochford Hundred by Phillip Benton 1857 page 187 Hullbridge is listed as being Whoulnebregg 1375 Ct, Wolvebrigg 1377 Cl, Whulbridge 1492, t Eliza EAS (NS) iii, (OS)i, -bredg 1559 Ct, Hul(l)brigge 1480 Will, -bridge 1540 Ct, 1545 LP, Hulbredge 1544 FF, Hollbridge 1492 EAS (NS) iii, -brigge 1494 ib. "The bridge over the Huolne or Wholve, an old name of the Crouch supra 6.

The bridge was identified later as being made of stone as depicted in Linda Griffith's records of the Rochford Hundred History Societies history of Hullbridge. In the garden of Hockley House are stones reserved from bridge.

A hollow in the riverbed does exist near the Anchor Inn. It is believed this hollow (sump) was formed by the tidal flows of the river between the two main supports of the bridge. It is well known that the River Crouch has very dangerous under currents which helps verify this belief.

The collapse of the bridge must have helped the development of Battlesbridge, a short trip further up river. A Granary and Mill have existed there since early times.

The following is a list of known Ferrymen at Hullbridge:-

Acknowledgement is made to the following contributions that this history was compiled from:-