A Hammond postcard of Peldon Hall, its barn and lake circa 1911

Referred to as a 'mansion-house' by Philip Morant in his History of Essex (published in 1768) the building called Peldon Hall that we see today - already some 400 years old when Morant wrote about it - is an ancient 'hall-house'. Originally built in the 14th century, according to its Grade II listing, the farmhouse has been greatly added to and altered over its long history.

Peldon Hall
TL 91 NE 17/21
II
2.
Early C14 hall house, extensively altered late C16 and late C18. Timber framed
and plastered, with red plain tile roof. Two gables to south front. Two storeys.
Three window range C18 double hung vertical sliding sashes with glazing bars.
One red brick C16 chimney stack extensively rebuilt C18 and one red brick C18
chimney stack. Internally the original service wing remains, with exposed
frame at first floor. Part of C14 hall roof with arch braced collar purlin
is also in-situ. East wing is circa 1590 with stop chamfered beams. Good late
C18 staircase with stick balusters and moulded handrail, and C18 doors and fire
surrounds. Modern lean-to extensions east and west. Adjacent is the C18 bakehouse
in red brick with original red brick dog kennel.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1266674

To the north east of the farmhouse is the Grade II listed barn. Nog Sawdon who, with her three siblings was brought up in Peldon Hall Farm during the fifties and sixties tells me that the old barn used to be thatched and had to be re-roofed during her time there; the old farmsheds and the piggery were converted and made into living quarters.

PELDON CHURCH ROAD 1. 5214 Barn to north-east of Peldon Hall
TL 91 NE 17/22
II
2.
Mid C14 aisled 5 bay barn. Timberframed and weatherboarded with corrugated asbestos half hipped roof. Small gabled midstrey. Crown post roof with arch braced tie beams and halved and bridled top plate scarfs. Reversed assembly at eaves and jowled aisle ties.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1224727

Peldon had three Manors, Peldon Hall Manor, Pete Hall Manor and Peldon Rectory Manor. The latter was a very small manor, only owning 30 acres of glebe land - interestingly the entry for Peldon in the 1086 Domesday Book records there is a church with 30 acres and this seems to have remained the case into the 19th century. This Rectory Manor ceased functioning in Victorian times [see Peldon Manors, Peldon in Essex, Kay Gilmour, Chapter 12 ].The two principal Manors, between them, owned much of the land in Peldon which was then leased out to 'copyhold' tenants.

Copyhold was a kind of leasehold: land owned by the Lord of the Manor and held by tenants, could still be bought and sold and inherited by their heirs but any transactions had to go through the Manorial Courts, usually presided over by the Lord's steward. Land had to therefore be 'surrendered' back to the Lord before the next tenant was 'admitted' to it. It was customary for there to be a fee to be paid to the Lord upon such transactions and also, should a tenant die a 'heriot' had to be paid by the family.

Originally an Anglo-Saxon form of death duty, a heriot was payable to the Lord and in feudal times often involved the return of military equipment or a horse lent to the deceased. Later, it amounted to surrendering the best animal belonging to the deceased or, much later, money. There is a story that a heriot was demanded of the landlady of the Peldon Rose Inn upon the death of her husband in 1909 by the Manor of Pete Hall, possibly the last to be exacted locally. [see Chapter 12 Kay Gilmour Peldon In Essex: Village over the Marshes ]

The manorial courts kept a record of all transfers of copyhold land on court rolls whilst a copy for the tenant was written up and kept by them as proof of title - hence the word 'copyhold'. It is these documents that are so vital to the historian in researching the history of a Manor and its estate. While a few of the tenants' copies are available through Essex Record Office and the National Archives, Peldon's Manorial Court Rolls appear to have been lost many years ago.

The Manor house standing today, it is believed, replaced a much older building. Interestingly, the Colchester Heritage site, which notes all traces of 'monuments' in the borough records that a local farmer, Mr Coan, while digging in the floor of the old 14th century barn at Peldon Hall, found

a suspected Roman road or courtyard or part of the foundation of the old Peldon Hall sacked in 1381.

It further notes that

locals report that the remains of Old Peldon Hall are to the rear of the present Hall-barn complex so 'it is p erfectly possible that this may not be a road, but the remains of a cobbled yard or even part of the foundations of the Old Peldon Hall.' colchesterheritage.co.uk/Monument/MCC7402

The 'Mr. Coan' referred to above was Reginald Victor Walter Coan who had settled in Peldon in 1938 upon marrying a local girl, Evelyn Rose Gladwell. Reg was a builder who worked for Huttons and also did a lot of building on local farms, which might explain him working in Peldon Hall's barn. This report above would have been during Donald Sawdon's time, Reg Coan died in 1983 but both his sons remained and farmed in Peldon, Eric and the late Colin Coan .

A small number of ancient documents held by ERO and NA refer to 'New Hall', Peldon; this is clearly the hall associated with Peldon's Manor judging by context; the dates would accord with the building's listing that it was built in the 14th century and therefore at that time was referred to as 'new'.

The earliest of these documents (all connected with land transfers), mentions 'le newhalle' and is dated June 14th 1375 [NA E326/2907]. There are several more documents in the National Archives from the 15th century mentioning 'New Hall' and of particular interest is a 1446/7 document recording the

Grant of the Manor of Peldon and the * advowson of the church together with a tenement called New Hall'

* advowson - the right to choose the incumbents. This was a highly valued right; family members or protégés could be appointed.

Morant too, in his History of Essex, refers to 'New Hall' in recounting previous owners of the 15th century.

The latest mention of 'New Hall' in connection with the Manor of Peldon that I have found is dated 1648 when the descendants of the Darcy family were to sell the estate

These references would confirm that the farmhouse we see today replaced a much older building and was probably built in the middle of the 14th century but possibly not as a result of being 'sacked' during the Peasant's Revolt of 1381 (of which more later) due to the earlier reference to 'New Hall' in 1375.

According to the Domesday Book of 1086, William the Conqueror granted Peldon to William the Deacon. Morant says this was to pay towards rebuilding St. Paul's in London. The dates don't quite add up because the fire is believed to have happened in 1087 a year after the publication of the Domesday survey but, no doubt, subsequent income from the estate did go towards the rebuilding of the cathedral. Little is known about William the Deacon - in 1086 he was tenant-in-chief in three places - Peldon, Shalford and Wantage.

The following account of those who 'held' the Manor owes much to the writing of clergyman, Philip Morant (1700 -1770). It must be noted that those who 'held' lands and property did not necessarily live there but had tenants themselves, who, in turn, often had under tenants.

Morant tells us Peldon passed on from William the Deacon to the Bishops of London and during the 13th century a family appears called 'de Peltingdone', tenants of the Bishop of London.

According to Morant

In 1282 Walter de Peltindone
enfeoffed * John de Nevyll, and Margery, his wife, in this maner, viz. in one messuage, 360 acres of arable, and one wind-mill, which he held of the Bishop of London, by the service of one knight's fee. [Philip Morant The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex]

* enfeoffed: under the feudal system this meant giving someone freehold property or land in exchange for their pledged service

Of interest here is the mention of a windmill as early as 1282; there is still a 'Mill Field' in the tithe awards survey for Peldon Hall Farm in 1838.

How early the first windmills in England arrived is the subject of much research but it would appear this mill in Peldon was among the earliest.

...circumstantial evidence suggests that the windmill appeared in England at the time of the Second Crusade in 1189, and the structural principles were soon being widely disseminated. The earliest reference to an Essex windmill is in 1202-3. This is given in the Feet of Fines for Essex, describing the 'molendin' in 'vento' constructed on land in Anham which is now Henham in Uttlesford.
www.esah1852.org.uk/library/files/windmills-in-essex-2162120849.pdf

Returning to the de Peltindone family, according to a National Archives document, Walter de Peltindone was the son of Richard de Peltindone [NA E 326/2910]. Presumably Richard de Peltindone bequeathed Peldon Manor to his son, Walter, and this was subsequently passed on to John Neville and his wife Margaret in 1282.

The de Nevyll family (also spelt Nevil, Nevill and Neville) who were next to hold Peldon Manor were, during the 12th and 13th century, Chief Foresters of the King and an eminent family.

Hugh de Neville, who died in 1234, was Chief Forester to the King, one of the four great officers of state and served under King Richard I, King John and Henry III of England. He was also sheriff of Essex and amongst the property and land granted to him was the Manor of Langham near Colchester. The John 'Nevyll' who was granted the Manor of Peldon in 1282 was in all probability grandson of Hugh de Neville.

Next, Morant tells us that in 1332 John de Langwoode (also spelt 'de langode' and 'de langod' in documents in the National Archives) gave up his interest in Peldon Manor and the advowson of the church to John de Neville's son, Hugh de 'Nevill' (died 1335).

John de Neville's grandson, also John (who died 25th July 1358), held the manor for life, and then his widow, Alice held it for the rest of her life. Alice 'presented' the incumbents to Peldon Church in both 1384 (the Reverend William de Aketon) and 1390 (the Reverend Ralph Pynsthorp de Henham who resigned from St. Mary-at-the-Walls in Colchester to come to Peldon).

A postcard of Peldon Church pre 1906; one of the ancient rights of the Lord of the Manor was to appoint the incumbent and preferment could be given to family members or proteges.

The manor was still held by the Bishops of London at this time and had clearly been sub-divided hence 'half a knight's fee'.

Is it possible that 'Peldon Manor' with the advowson of the church was one half and the farm 'New Hall' the other half? The 'remainder' had been held by William de Bohun Earl of Northampton (1312 - 1360) and his heirs following the death of John de Neville.

A deed in the National Archives from May 1376 confirms the De Bohun and Neville families both had an interest in the estate. It records the grant by Simon, archbishop of Canterbury and others, (including Sir Robert de Teye), of the manor of Peldon and the advowson of the church 'now held by the lady Alice, late the wife of John de Neville of Essex, for term of her life'. Certain rights, it goes on to record were 'of the grant of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex'. In August the same year Alice is granted 'freedom of impeachment of waste in the manor of Peldone' which meant she was not to be held accountable for any damage to the property. [NA E 326/2871]

Alice de Neville died in 1394.

It is believed that at the time of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 Peldon Hall was the home of Edmund De La Mare. [See Peldon, John Ball and the Peasants' Revolt ] The document at the National Archives ref: E326/2906 dated 10th September 1375 is a grant by three chaplains from Colchester (possibly of St John's Abbey) to a Margaret Packarde of Colchester, widow of Richard Packarde

of a tenement called 'le Newhalle' in Peldon,
with lands and rent, etc. thereto belonging, which they had of the feoffment
of the said Margaret, with remainders to Edmund de la Mare of Bradewelle
and his heirs, and to the said Margaret and her heirs

The story of the events in the Peasants' Revolt march on London has been retold many times but the march on London was only part of this grass roots uprising. All over the county of Essex, gangs set about destroying records of manorial courts, which recorded the unfree status of so many of the peasants. On 10th June 1381 there were attacks on properties of royal officials, including Cressing Temple and Coggeshall. A mob attacked St Johns Abbey in Colchester and burned documents some of which pertained to Peldon. On 12th June

A more unusual victim was Edmund De La Mare, whose house at Peldon on the Northern shore of the Blackwater estuary was broken into by a company of rebels led by Ralph atte Wode of Bradwell there they 'despoiled him of all his goods and chattels' but also carried off a 'writ patent of the King with all the muniments touching the office of Admiral upon the sea' Instead of burning the writ, however, they stuck it on a pitchfork and allegedly had it carried before them all the way to London for the meeting with the King at Mile End, and then back to Peldon again. This was clearly a symbolic action, perhaps intended to show that Ralph atte Wode had claimed the office of admiral from De La Mare. Juliet Barker England Arise: The People, the King and the Great Revolt of 1381

Edmund (De La Mare) may have been a target simply as a minister of the government responsible for the poll tax, though he may also have been held accountable for the vulnerability of the channel ports to naval attack. R H C Davis Studies in Medieval History

Juliet Barker surmises that Ralph atte Wood was from Bradwell on Sea, not the Bradwell near Braintree, and being in a coastal village had crossed swords with Edmund de La Mare before

over the seizure of his boats or their cargo, or because he had been prevented from carrying out his trade by the French ships which plagued the South East coast. Whether his reasons were personal or political he received a pardon on 20th April 1382 but when he produced it before the court to secure his release he was recommitted to prison while consideration was given as to whether his action in assuming royal office to himself put him outside the scope of the general amnesty.

Research has been on-going into those who played an important part in the Peasants' Revolt and, remarkably, names of some of those who attacked Peldon Manor are listed on the website www.1381.online

Ralph atte Wode was a leader in the attacks on Cressing Temple, the home of John Sewale in Coggeshall and

in Peldon he seized the king's books and carried them to Mile End

In Coggeshall he stole goods worth 100s from John Sewale; in Peldon also he stole goods to the value of 100s.

Other looters included John Dunnyng senior who stole 10s from de la Mare; John Pollard, John Vanne, Thomas Frost 'and others' broke in and stole goods from De La Mare's house as did William Borfare and William Sadeler. Several of them were clearly travelling with atte Wode and attacked Cressing Temple and Sewale's house in Coggeshall as well as Peldon Manor.

All the evidence would point to men breaking in and stealing money and goods, there is no mention of fire or vandalising the house.

Michael de la Pole, (c1330 - 5th September 1389) Lord Chancellor of England in 1383 who was created Earl of Suffolk in 1385, held both Peldon and Langham but as Morant tells us

...being forced to quit the realm, for being
reputed one of K. Richard the second's evil counsellors, his estates became forfeited. His son, Michael de la Pole, and Catharine his wife, daughter of Hugh Earl of Stafford, petitioned for a restitution of these maners in 1389. But it doth not appear they recovered this. [Philip Morant The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex]

The Teye family (also spelt Tey) was the next to hold the manor.

The manor passed through several generations of the family and according to antiquarian William Holman, there were five coats of arms for the Tey family depicted in stained glass in the windows of Peldon Church. Holman collected his research in the last 20 years of his life, between approximately 1710 and 1730 and visited personally every town and village in Essex. He saw and described the coats of arms in Peldon Church but they did not survive.

It appears the coats of arms of the Teyes were 'impaled' with those of their wives. 'Impaling' means dividing the shield down the middle and placing arms in both halves, the man's arms on one side and his wife's on the other. Holman refers to one coat of arms impaled with the arms of the Norbury family - Joan Norbury was the wife of Robert Teye (he died 1426) - and another with the Hussey family - Mary Hussey married John Teye of Layer de la Haye (he died 1440). This puts at least two of the stained glass coats of arms in Peldon Church in the early 15th century.

The Tey arms at Copford Church [courtesy of Chris Parkinson]

The picture above shows the Tey arms in the centre in blue with three martlets which, in England, were a heraldic version of the swift or martin. At this time the birds were usually depicted without feet - swifts are known to never roost and in the distant past it was thought they, in fact, had no feet. They were used in heraldry

as a mark of cadency for younger sons ...to symbolize their position as having no footing in the ancestral lands www.heraldica.org/topics/martlet.htm

The first of the family to hold Peldon was Sir Robert Teye, who died circa 1426 'possessed of a very large estate' throughout N E Essex which descended to his 19 year old son, John; the Bishops of London were still the owners of the Manor.

Robert Teye, who dyed in 1426, held the maner of Peldon or Peltyngdon, and the Advowson of the Church, of the Bishop of London, by fealty, and rent of 4s per ann[um] And 4 acres which made up the croft called Seven acre: And the maner of Newhall, of the said Bishop. [Philip Morant The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex]

Robert's son John died in 1440 and in the 'inquisition' held upon his death on 9th May 1441, amongst many other properties in N E Essex, the following are listed along with their value.

Peldon, the manor, annual value £10, and advowson of the church. The manor is held of the bishop of London by fealty and service of rendering 4 s.
New Hall, the manor, annual value 66s 8d. held of the same bishop by fealty only. Peldon 4 a[cre] land that make a croft called 'Seveneacre', held of the same bishop by fealty only... He died on 10 November 1440. John Teye is his son and next heir, and aged 7 and more.
[inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk/view/inquisition/25-477]

The next son and heir, also John, died in 1462, leaving a widow, Margaret. An ancient deed from 1482 with three seals, held by the National Archives, records that, although Margaret transferred Peldon Hall to others, she retained the right to appoint the incumbent and all the hunting rights.

Demise by Margaret Teye, widow, late the wife of John Teye, esquire, to John Palmer of Tollehunt, knight, Stephen Wyk of Salcotwygbrugh and Robert Palmer of Inwurth, of the manor called 'Peldonhalle' in Peldon with its appurtenances, except the advowson of the church there and the fishing, hawking, hunting and fowling 20 July 22 Edward IV: 1482 [NA E/326/2862]

Henry Teye, son of John and Margaret (born in 1455 died 9th September 1510) was next to inherit the estate.

[Henry was] afterwards knighted, and Sheriff of this County in 1488, and 1500. He held this maner, and Advowson, of the Bishop of London, by fealty, and yearly rent of 6s 8d. By Margaret his wife, daughter and coheir of John Grene of Gosfield, which dyed 24 September 1520, he had Thomas, born in 1483; William and John: Departing this life 9 September 1510, he was succeeded by his eldest son - Thomas - who was knighted; and at the time of his decease, 31 December 1540, left four daughters coheirs.

Although there was no male heir, Morant tells us Thomas's daughters made good marriages

Margaret, wife of Sir John Jermye; Elizabeth, wife of Marmaduke Nevill, third son of Richard Nevill, Lord Latimer; Mary, wife of Sir Thomas Nevill, brother of Marmaduke; and Frances, married first to William Bonham Esq; next to Edward Bocking; and lastly to Thomas Bonham. Upon the partition of Teye's estates, this [Peldon] fell to the share of Bonham.

It is the will of Thomas Bonham (senior) which reveals an arranged marriage between his son, William, and Thomas Teye's daughter Frances.

Thomas Bonham died in 1533 and in his will he is described as the Receiver General and as living at Stanway, Colchester. He also refers to covenants made between the two fathers concerning the marriage of their children.

Also I will that my sonne William when he shall come to hys said age of xxj yeres
shalhave all that my title and interest of and in my ferme that I have of Sir Thomas Tey knyght in Peldon in the said Countie of Essex
to his owne propre use Also I will that the said William my sonne shalbe maryed to Fraunc[es] Tey one of the daughters and heires
apparaunte of Sir Thomas Teye knyght according to suche cove[n]unt[es] as is heretofore made betwene me and the said Sir Thomas Tey
for the same mariage [National Archives PROB 11/25/90]

William Bonham did indeed marry Frances Tey and according to the History of Parliament online he sat in Parliament for Maldon in 1539. It is not clear exactly when he died but all references to him stop by 1547.

The History of Parliament on-line details how Peldon reverted to Henry VIII briefly and, equally briefly, passed through the hands of Sir William Petre (the first of a long line of the Petre family at Ingatestone Hall; the family is still there today).

He [William Bonham] served in the French campaign of 1544, the year in which he was also party to a sale of Peldon Hall manor, which had probably come to him in his wife's right. In 1544 a private bill was drafted by which Bonham was to exchange Peldon with the King for other land, Peldon being near the sea and affording a good harbour for the royal navy; this plan fell through, but in April 1544 the court of augmentations paid Bonham £680 for the manor, which, however, did not remain with the crown but was soon afterwards granted to Sir William Petre.
www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/bonham-william-1513-47-or-later

Morant continues

 For, K[ing] Henry VIII, 2 September 1545, granted it to Sir William Petre, K[nigh]t. and Anne his wife, and his heirs. The 18th of December following, they exchanged it with the King, being then valued at 34l [£34] a year for the maner of Cherstowe in Devonshire, and the Parsonage of Ging Mountney [Mountnessing] in this county.

Henry VIII died in January 1547 and it was his son, Edward VI, who granted Peldon manor and the advowson of the church to Sir Thomas Darcy, Knight.

Sir Thomas Darcy, Kt. afterwards created Lord Darcy, and to the heirs male of his body. He died possessed of it 28 June 1558, as did his son - John Lord Darcy, 3 March 1580.

Thomas Darcy was the 1st baron of Chiche (St Osyth) and married Elizabeth (his second wife), daughter of John de Vere Earl of Oxford. They have a magnificent monument in the church of St Peter and St Paul in St Osyth as does their son, John the 2nd baron and his wife, Frances née Rich; both monuments were erected by John's son, Thomas 3rd baron of Chiche.

Monument to Thomas Darcy 1st baron of Chiche and Elizabeth de Vere his wife
Photo: Chris Parkinson

Monument to Lord John Darcy 2nd baron of Chiche and Frances his wife
Photo: Chris Parkinson

Thomas Lord Darcy, son of the last, was created, 5 July 1621, Viscount Colchester, and 14 November 1626, Earl Rivers. He dyed 21 February 1639. A son of his, named Thomas, was dead before him without issue; to that his four daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Penelope, and Susan, divided his great estates.

Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was married to Sir Thomas Savage, K[nigh]t. who dyed 20 November 1635. Her father Earl Rivers, by his will dated 14 March 1636, appointed her his executrix. [Philip Morant The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex]

Sir Thomas Darcy (1506 - 1558) was 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche [St. Osyth] and served in the court of Edward VI as vice-Chamberlain of the household and Captain of the yeomen of the guard between 1550 and 1551 before being awarded the baronetcy and appointed Lord Chamberlain of the household. He was placed under house arrest by Mary I for his support of Lady Jane Grey as the successor of Edward VI; he was pardoned but lost his position.

It was during the possession of Peldon Hall by Thomas Darcy the 3rd Baron of Chiche (1565 - 1640) that Robert Brown, a Colchester gentleman, farmed it. The National Archives have Robert Brown's will which was proved on 22nd November 1595.

I geve and bequeath unto the sayd Rob[er]t Browne my sonne my lease
and farme of Peldon haule and the land[es] and ground[es] thereto belonging in Peldon in the
said County of Essex and all my goodes and stock of Cattle in and upon the same farme
Item I will that Peldon Haull with the landes & groundes thereto belonging
shalbe used, ordered & lett, w[i]th the stockes as now it is, to the best p[ro]fitt to him or them [NA PROB 11/706/304]

He goes on to say his executors are to manage his property and lands while his children are young.

It was during the Darcys' ownership and the tenancy of Robert Brown that John Norden researched and wrote his 'Description of Essex' Its full title is Speculi Britanniae Pars: An Historical and Chorographical Description of the County of Essex. Although not published until 1840, the book included a map created by Norden in 1594. Norden repeats a rhyme that was known in that period alluding to the fertility of Peldon Hall's field, Hubble down. This field's name persisted and is listed in the tithe awards for Peldon 1838 - 1840 as 'Hubble Downs', a 16 acre arable field.

Ther are in this shire some especiall groundes noted generallie, in regarde of their fertilletie, by this comon Rime or Prouerbe.

Detail from Norden's 1594 map with Colchester top left and Merea Island in lower centre

As Morant has told us, Peldon Manor was passed down to Thomas Darcy's son, John, (died 1581) and grandson. His grandson, Thomas Darcy 3rd Baron of Chiche, died without a male heir; he only had one son, also Thomas, who did not survive - leaving four daughters. The story of the eldest daughter, Elizabeth Savage, Countess of Rivers (her father's title), is a tragic one and she became a casualty of the English Civil War. As Morant wrote

She was greatly molested during the unhappy Civil wars in the last century; no less than £16,970. 9s. 10 d. being taken from her for rents, sales of wood and timber...

Elizabeth Darcy was born in 1581 and married Viscount Savage of Rocksavage in 1602 - they were to have 19 children. When her husband died in 1635 Elizabeth inherited Long Melford Hall, the Savage family home. Five years later, on the death of her father, she inherited St Osyth Priory and was created Countess Rivers for life on 21st April 1641.

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Darcy, Countess Rivers and Viscountess Savage (1581-1651)
Image 926814 National Trust.

In 1642 at the outbreak of the Civil War which set Royalists against Puritans, Catholic against Protestant, a puritan mob sacked the Colchester house of Sir John Lucas, tortured his servants and set off to attack Elizabeth's home at St Osyth. Elizabeth was known to have strong Catholic and Royalist beliefs having, in 1640, appointed a rector with the same Catholic sympathies to the church at Peldon, The Reverend John Cornelius.

[they] marched out from Colchester and attacked Lady Rivers' house at St. Osyth "and found it a rich prize". Having entered the house they pulled down, cut in pieces and carried away the valuable hangings, beds, couches, china and other furniture, broke the windows and did not leave a door or a window bar behind them. Lady Rivers escaped to her house at Long Melford in Suffolk. From there she barely escaped with her life but her house there was rifled also.

St Osyth's Museum website tells us the hall at Long Melford was also set on fire.

...Lady Rivers' losses at both homes were valued at £100,000 at least, and by some who knew the furnishings and remarkable contents, at £150,000. Soon after the sack of St. Osyth, Lady Rivers with great trouble obtained a pass to enable her to leave the country, but while she was making preparation, her coach and horses were taken from her and she had great difficulty in getting them restored. St. Osyth's Priory guidebook 1986

Elizabeth fled yet again to London where she was later arrested and consigned to the debtor's prison. She later petitioned parliament for the return of her estates which was eventually successful but she was bankrupt and the estates were in total disrepair. www.stosythmuseum.co.uk/people/elizabeth-savage

Back in the Manor of Peldon there would have been a tenant in the hall so the hall wasn't targeted as far as we know but the Reverend John Cornelius had his home at Peldon Rectory attacked and looted by a puritan mob [See Sequestration of The Reverend John Cornelius, Peldon's Rector, During the Civil War in 1643 ]

According to Morant on 26th October 1647 Elizabeth appointed trustees to sell the Peldon estate for her, Richard Viscount Lumley, Henry Nevill of Cressing-Temple, and Isaac Crème, Gent.

St Osyth Priory Guidebook tells us Elizabeth was arrested for debt in 1650, she died in poverty on 9th March 1650/1 and was, we are told, buried at St. Osyth, although no evidence exists today.

The sale of Peldon Manor by Elizabeth's trustees to Thomas Reynolds was momentous, taking Peldon Manor out of the hands of the nobility and selling it to an industrialist and tradesman.

The Essex Records Office holds a document of Bargain and Sale of the Manor and the advowson of Peldon's Church between The Right Honourable Elizabeth Countess Rivers and Thomas Reynolds, merchant, for £1,200 on 23rd April 1650. [ERO D/DZf 9]

Thomas Reynolds was a wealthy clothier who lived in Colchester; Morant tells us

He built the large brick house without East-gate, now belonging to John-Blatch Whaley Esq

He became an Alderman and in 1654 became Mayor of Colchester and again in 1662. His first Manorial Court held at Peldon Manor was in 1650, the year he became owner of Peldon Hall. From the booklet about the church of St James the Great, Colchester, written in 1954 by the Reverend M M Martin, we learn that Thomas was a master bays maker of the parish of St James

but was not a very pleasing character. He tried to cheat his Dutch weavers by paying them in kind instead of in money, but in 1637 the Star Chamber took the matter up and ordered that the foreigners should be paid double for all their arrears of wages and be refunded their costs and that he should go to prison. He promptly paid up.

The National Archives have a will from Samuel Munt who was a copyhold tenant of Peldon Hall (and of Thomas Reynolds) at the time of his death in 1657/8. Disappointingly, Peldon Manor is not mentioned in the will but this is not unusual since the tenancy will have been subject to manorial custom. He owned a lot of land in the Clacton, Holland and Thorpe area which he bequeathed to his children.

There is a tantalising thought that he could be related to the Munt family from Great Bentley - not far from his other properties in Tendring. A hundred years before on 2nd August 1557, three members of the Munt family, William, his wife Alice and their daughter, Rose Allen, were burned at the stake in the yard of Colchester Castle for refusing to renounce their Protestant beliefs during the reign of 'Bloody' Mary.

Lord of Peldon Manor, Thomas Reynolds, died in 1665 and he and his wife Margery (née Decoster), daughter of a rich London merchant, Samuel Decoster, are buried in St James's Church, East Hill, Colchester, (she died in 1649), marked by an oval alabaster tablet with a richly sculptured border on the South wall.

Oval tablet commemorating Thomas and Margery Reynolds at St James Church, Colchester

Thomas was succeeded by his son, Samuel, who went on to become Member of Parliament for Colchester. Samuel was born in 1642 and married Judith Samford at Moze in Essex on 27th August 1665. They had 6 girls two of whom died and 5 boys one of whom died. He was a magistrate and Captain of Militia when in 1679 he first contested the borough unsuccessfully but went on to be elected as Colchester's MP in 1681, 1689 and again in 1690 during the reigns of Charles II and William and Mary. Samuel was to move into his father's house, now No. 86 and 87 East Hill, Colchester, following his election in 1689 and received King William on his first visit to Colchester.

Philip Morant wrote of him

In this parish [St James] just without East Gate lived Samuel Reynolds Esq who was one of the representatives for this borough in the last Parliament of King Charles II and in the first and second Parliaments of King William and Queen Mary. He died August 23rd 1694. His heirs have since parted with the House he lived in but still have Estates in this County, particularly at Peldon. The History and Antiquities of the Town and Borough of Colchester, Philip Morant

The memorial to Samuel is set in the floor of St. James' Church, East Hill, Colchester and reads

Here lieth the Body of Samuel Reynolds Esqre;
who after he had long served his Countrey, and this
Town as their Burgesse in divers Parliaments,
departed this life August 23. Anno D[omi]ni 1694
Aetat 52 [at the age of 52]

Samuel's family inherited a business that was in decline

His sons suffered much from the decay of the weaving industry St James The Great, Rev MM Martin

They inherited debt too.

He left a burdened estate to his son Samuel whose negotiations for marriage were complicated by a suspected debt of £3,000 at least part of which was due to Samuel Reynolds Senior having 'spent a great deal in carrying on an election' The House of Commons 1690 -1715 Constituencies by David Hayton

Following the death of Samuel (Senior) in 1694, his son, Samuel, succeeded to the Peldon estate. Samuel (Junior) was born on 25th July 1666 and baptised at St James's Church, Colchester. He attended Colchester Grammar School and went to Grays Inn at the age of sixteen. Samuel served as Clerk of The Peace at Chelmsford 1702 - 22.

In a Poll book for 1715 Samuel Reynolds Esq is listed as having property in Peldon but was living in Colchester.

Samuel (Junior) married Frances Pelham and was succeeded by his second son Charles Reynolds, who died in 1760 and left no direct heir.

Susan, the daughter of Samuel Reynolds (Senior) and his wife, Judith, was born on 16th April 1681. She first married George Jolland on 12th September 1708 at Copford and following his death married The Reverend Francis Powell who was born 29th September 1682 and was baptised at St Mary at The Walls in Colchester. There was a boy from her first marriage, The Reverend George Jolland, and a son and daughter from the second marriage, William Samuel Powell (1717 - 1775) and Susanna Powell; the latter died in 1796 in Colchester having been the Matron of the Chelsea Hospital.

It was William Samuel Powell who inherited the Reynolds' family estate in Peldon upon the death of Charles Reynolds.

A relation with whom he had very little acquaintance, and less expectation from, Charles Reynolds of Peldon Hall Esq, left him the estate and manor of Peldon Hall in Essex together with other estates in Little Bentley ...he well deserved it for he was both hospitable and generous and being a single man had ample means to exercise his generosity. The greatest part of his fortune was left to him in 1759 by Mr Reynolds a relation of his mother. A New and General Biographical Dictionary

William, schooled at Colchester Grammar School, was to be Archdeacon of Colchester from 1766 to his death and probably never lived in Peldon Hall, nor indeed did any of his Reynolds predecessors. He became master at St John's College, Cambridge, and remained unmarried without issue. He was buried in the college chapel at St Johns College, Cambridge.

In Powell's will of 11th November 1771 his niece and adopted daughter, Susan Jolland, a spinster who lived with him, was appointed as his executrix. She was also principal beneficiary being left all Powell's 'Real Estates, Lands and Tenements'.

With ownership of this Estate passing to the Jolland family in the 1770s, all the property and land was divided up between members of the family.

From her will made on 21st August 1775 and proved May 25th 1776 [National Archives PROB 11/10/9] it is clear Susan was still living in Cambridge at the time of her death and she bequeathed her Peldon estate of considerable value to her father, the Reverend George Jolland.

Saturday last died Miss Jolland, niece to the late Dr.
Powell, Master of St. John's; a lady, whose loss will
be greatly lamented by her friends, and those who ex-
perienced that charitable benevolence which her ample
fortune enabled her to dispense. She has left the bulk
of it to her relations, except some few legacies...
[Ipswich Journal 18th May 1776]

In the will, Susan directed that after her father's decease the estate be divided up between her brothers; the Reverend George Jolland died in 1778.

I give and devise the said Maner of Peldon and the said
Farm called Peldon Lodge and Billets with the Lands
Tenements and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or
therewithall used as the same is now in the Tenure or
Occupation of the said Benjamin Cook or his Assigns at
the said Yearly Rent of one hundred and fifty pounds
unto my dear Brother Charles Jolland his Heirs and
Assigns for ever [NA The Will of Susan Jolland PROB 11/1019/286]

It is not clear how long Peldon Hall remained in the ownership of Susan Jolland's relations. We find her brother, Charles Jolland, in the capacity of Lord of the Manor of Peldon Hall named on a court document at ERO in 1791 and again as landlord in the Land Tax Redemption records of 1798 for Peldon.

It seems Charles Jolland and his sister Catherine Hodgson were the last of their family to hold land in Peldon. Catherine died in 1807 and her will, written in 1805, reveals

the greater part of my Estates in Essex having been
lately sold by me and conveyed to several
purchasers [The Will of Catherine Hodgson NA PROB 11/1461]

Her brother, Charles Jolland, died in Lichfield in 1813. Both were widowed and neither seems to have had children. When Charles gave up Peldon Hall and the title Lord of the Manor is not clear but no mention of it is made in his will.

Now we enter an era when auctions of either the freehold of the Estate and Title or the lease start to appear in the newspapers.

The first of these is dated 1807 and reveals that the Manor, Peldon Hall Farm and Lodge Farm were being sold. Mary Wilsmore was the tenant of Lodge Farm and Lionel Jessop the tenant of Peldon Hall Farm.

By Linton and Lavallin, on Saturday the 3rd Day of October next,
at the Three Cups Inn, Colchester, at Three in the afternoon.
THE MANOR OF PELDON, with the Fines,
Quit Rents, Rights and Immunities, together with those
Two very desirable Freehold Farms, called Peldon Hall and
Peldon Lodge, containing together by survey four hundred and
eighty-four acres, three roods and twenty-eight perches of fine
arable meadow and pasture land, in a high state of cultivation, in
the several occupations of Mrs. Mary Wilsmore, and Mr. Lionel
Jessop, under leases, the former expiring at Michaelmas 1809, and
the latter at Michaelmas 1811, when a very considerable advance
may be made upon the low rents under which they are now re-
pectively held. This Estate is most desirably situate on an
eminence commanding a fine view of the adjacent country, and
of the beautiful Island of Mersey, within one mile and a half
from the Stroud, from whence corn is shipped for London, and
coals, chalk, and manure, landed, distant 7 miles south of Col-
chester, 12 from Malden, 22 from Chelmsford, 51 from London,
roads to all which places are excellent. The farms are divided
into convenient inclosures and are well fenced, and well planted
with timber. The barns, houses, and buildings, are convenient and
in a tolerable state of repair.
Printed particulars, and plans of the estate may be had of Mr.
Firmin, the steward of the manor, at his offices, Dedham or Col-
chester, and of Samuel Taylor Esquire, No 37, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, London [Morning Post 30th September 1807]

An auction of Live and Dead Farming Stock of Lionel Jessop, the tenant of Peldon Hall mentioned above, was advertised for Friday 27th September 1811

All the good and useful farming implements in Husbandry part of the Household Furniture, Brewing Utensils and other effects of Mr. Lionel Jessup of Peldon Hall, Essex (leaving the farm) comprising 8 useful cart mares and geldings, 40 fat hogs and shoates; 2 good road waggons, 3 broad wheel tumbrels, 1 narrow ditto, 4 foot ploughs, 3 gangs of harrows, a 2-horse roll, 5 score of new oaken hurdles, 13 sets of good cart and plough harness and some of the most useful implements of husbandry in fair condition.
The Household Furniture etc consisting of bed-steads, chairs and tables, good corner buffet, coal range and stoves, fenders and fire irons, copper boilers, tinned meat safe...140 gallon brewing copper, 2 washing ditto, mash and wort tubs, seasoned beer casks etc etc [Suffolk Chronicle 14th November 1811]

Lionel Jessop lived in Peldon at least from 1787. He married Sarah West in 1786 at St Giles Church in Colchester. They had nine children all baptised at Peldon Church but sadly they buried their son, Lionel, in Peldon churchyard on 5th April 1790. Another document recording an apprentice's indenture is dated 3rd September 1790 in which Lionel is described as a wheelwright of Peldon; his apprentice M West Beerman is presumably a relation of Lionel's wife.

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Land Tax Redemption Record - Peldon 1798

Lionel's name also appears in the Land Tax Redemption record of 1798 as a tenant of Charles Jolland who was then Lord of the Manor. From an indenture concerning Badcocks Farm in Abberton, it seems the family then moved to Abberton Hall. The same Lionel Jessop, a farmer, died in Great Clacton in 1829, conclusively identified by the names of his children in his will. [see ERO The Will of Lionel Jessop D/ABW 128/1/34]

Lionel appears in the vestry accounts variously as overseer, assessor, surveyor and churchwarden, sometimes being responsible for two or three of the offices in the same year. His name first appears in 1795 as an overseer and the last time we see his name is in 1810 when he was churchwarden, surveyor and overseer. Clearly from the above Live and Dead stock sale he was about to move from Peldon.

Does the sale of Peldon Manor, above, dated 1807, the year of Catherine Hodgson's death, perhaps reveal the end of the Jollands as Peldon's Lords of the Manor and the arrival of the next owner, Joseph Quincey?

From a manorial document held by Essex Record Office we know that Joseph Quincey was Lord of the Manor in 1818 and his steward was Peter Firmin (1764 - 1826). We also know from the deeds of Pete Tye Farm, Peldon, that Quincey's wife, Sarah, already had connections with Peldon before their marriage and had become owner of Pete Tye farm in 1777. Joseph Quincey also bought New Hall in Little Wigborough probably in the early 1800s.

The same Land Tax Redemption record of 1798 above also lists a 'John' Quincey as a Peldon landlord, was this a spelling mistake? (There is also a Rev 'Richard Hodson' listed as a Peldon landlord, was this also a mistake and was it in fact the Reverend Robert Hodgson, husband of Catherine née Jolland?) It is worth noting that although properties may have been bequeathed to men's wives in that era, it would be their husbands who owned them.

The history of Peldon Hall throughout the 19th century is tied up with the history of a family who lived there as tenants for over 50 years, the Bean family; well before the family moved to Peldon, the 'patriarch' Samuel Edwin Bean worked for Joseph Quincey.

The family history and notes written by Willoughby John Bean, who was born at Peldon Hall in 1855, are invaluable in illuminating the next period of the Hall's history although it has to be said his memory is not always perfect when it comes to dates and of course, he had no access to Ancestry or the British Newspaper Archive!

It would appear that Joseph Quincey's insurance agent, Billy Newman, was a friend of the Bean family. Willoughby's grandfather, Samuel Edwin Bean [1779 - 1852], who first came to this area after the Napoleonic Wars, was offered the tenancy of New Hall, Copt Hall Lane, Little Wigborough by Quincey and seems to have worked for him as a kind of land agent, collecting rents. Samuel Edwin was to move his family some years later to Peldon Hall. It is interesting that Joseph Quincey was a timber merchant and several of the auction advertisements refer to Peldon Hall being well-stocked with timber.

Quite early in the eighteen hundreds Quincey bought from a Mrs. Firmin Peldon Hall and the Manor of Peldon, which included the Glebe fields and Cottage opposite New Hall in Little Wigborough so that the Clergyman of Little Wigborough paid and no doubt still pays quit rent to the Lord of Manor of Peldon, a small yearly sum.

Whether the Firmins were in fact possessed of the Manor between the Jollands and the Quinceys I cannot confirm. As steward of Peldon Manor it is possible Peter Firmin was involved with the sale on behalf of the Jollands. Firmin died in 1826.

Quincey was a timber merchant of London - Albion Place, Albion Square, in the parish of Christchurch, Surrey which was probably on the river south side as he also owned the Albion Wharf & in those days merchants had a habit of living at their place of business. He was a wealthy man, his will was proved for over £64,000. Among other property he owned a number of farms in Essex & a little in Suffolk. He either kept his own rent roll of these farms or employed someone to do so as the rent account book is in a clear clinical handwriting for 1827 to 1831 when the heading becomes S E Bean in account with Mrs Sarah Quincey & it is evident that Edwin Bean becomes Mrs Quincey's agent for the collection of rents, & general steward on the death of Mr Quincey; & it would seem that Mrs Q had in her own right from then \on/ the Essex estates together with the use of the house at Albion Place & another at Ilford named Geareys as well as the ownership of the furniture at both. Mr Bean receives a commission of 2 ½ % on all rents collected. At 1831 the rent roll stood at just over £2000 but it had dwindled to about £1500 by 1843 - 4 when Mrs Quincey died. The farms were at Ongar, Marks Tey, East Hanningfield, Peldon, Little Wigborough, West Mersea, Bromley & Dovercourt. Willoughby Bean [FBQ_110 ]

Presumably the next tenant struggled to make a living and pay the rent since the stock, all the crops &c at Peldon-hall Farm including Wheat, Beans, Oats and Potatoes was to be sold under a distraint on Monday 6th October 1817.

In 1823 Peldon Hall Farm's copyhold lease was once again for sale; unfortunately no biographical material has been found about Verlander or Thorp.

PELDON HALL, ESSEX
TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION
By HAWES & FENTON
On the Premises, on MONDAY, the 29th Day of September,
1823, by Order of Messrs. VERLANDER & THORP, who
are leaving the Farm,
All the useful and valuable FARMING STOCK on
Peldon Hall Farm, comprising ten capital cart mares
and geldings, handsome bay colt, rising two years old, four
ditto cows, two yearlings, twenty shotes and pigs, three
sows, three waggons, two tumbrels, three ton carts, four
ploughs, crab harrow, sets of light ditto, two rollers, carts
and plough harness, capital threshing machine, dressing
ditto, and other useful implements, which will be inserted
in Catalogues, to be had prior to the sale, at The Fox,
Layer; King's Head, Wigborough; Lion, Abberton;
Rose, Peldon; place of sale; and of the Auctioneers, Mersea and Colchester.
Sale to commence at Ten o'Clock.
[Essex Herts Mercury 16th September 1823]

Following Joseph Quincey's death in 1829, his widow, Sarah, continued as Lady of the Manor; three of her Manorial Court Barons are advertised in the newspapers to be held at 'Hall Farm' in January, October and November 1831. By now Peter Firmin had died and his son, solicitor, Harcourt Firmin, was the steward of Peldon Hall Manor. Sarah died in 1844 and her huge estate was auctioned but, as we shall see, she had sold Peldon Hall and Manor before her death.

One of the Quinceys' tenants was John Sach, who was farming Peldon Hall by 1831 although he appears in the village a decade earlier signing the churchwardens' accounts. In 1830 he and his wife, Sarah, had their son, John, christened at Peldon Church.

That year Sach was a member of the jury for a notorious murder trial at Chemsford, that of Captain William Moir. [see Essex Herald C'ford 3rd August 1830]

In 1831 Peldon Hall was advertised to let.

PELDON HALL FARM
TO BE LET
The above ESTATE; comprising a Dwelling-
house, 2 Barns and other Agricultural Buildings,
with 207 ACRES of useful Arable Land, now occupied
by Mr Sach. Possession may be had at Michaelmas next.
For particulars, and to treat for hire, application
must be made to Mr. Bean, Little Wigborough, near Col-
chester; or at Mr. Firmin's Office, Dedham
[Suffolk Chronicle 3rd September 1831]

Financial troubles were clearly the cause of Sach relinquishing the farm, confirmed by a comment from Willoughby Bean

A Mr Sach was tenant of Peldon Hall and our Grandfather had considerable trouble with him because for some reason Sach did not pay his rent.

Sach also had trouble with paying the poor rate.

Poor-rates Mr John Sach of Peldon Hall appeared to shew cause why he had not paid 10l 14s [£10 14s] the amount of two rates for the relief of the poor of the parish of Peldon. He stated that he was unable to pay the money, inasmuch as the Sheriff was in possession of his effects. This reason did not appear satisfactory to the parish and the Overseer obtained a warrant of distress against Mr Sach. [Essex Standard 1st October 1831]

The next week it was reported he had paid it.

It appears Sarah Quincey then sold up to John Mann, for in 1834 he was letting the farm to a new tenant.

Live and Dead stock auction by order of Mr Mann proprietor who has let the farm [Chelmsford Chronicle 5.12.1834]

It is quite possible this was when the Bean family became tenants. According to Willoughby Bean's account

I am not sure of the date when [Samuel] Edwin Bean hired Peldon Hall or if he did so from Mann or Manns Ex[ecut]ors but my impression is that it was about 1836

It is likely to have been from John Mann, not his executors - he didn't die until 1849. Willoughby is able to fill in a little bit about the man.

There used to be a sketch in chalk of Mr Mann's head and round shoulders in the riding stable, curly hair, he was I believe quite a character, very tall & a good rider to hounds on one occasion his horse went down & when it got up left Mr Mann where they fell; a neighbour began to chaff him "I thought you said no horse could throw you", Mr Mann replied "Well I have still the saddle between my legs", and so he had, the girths broke when the horse fell & left saddle & rider on the ground

In his family history, Willoughby covers the terminating of John Sach's lease, the ownership of the Manor by John Mann, followed by his nephew, Captain John Pratt and his nephew in turn, also John Pratt. It appears it was Samuel Edwin Bean who was called upon to remove the John Sach and arrange the sale of the farm on Sarah Quincey's behalf to John Mann.

Finally, two things happened at once - I might say three things - (1) Sach vacated the farm (2) Quincey sold both the farm and Manor to Mr. John Mann of Whyvenhoe (it was, perhaps still is, Mr. Mann's profile in chalk which our Uncle Willoughby sketched on the wooden partition in the riding stable; I renewed this on one of the last occasions that I was there). (3) Mr. Mann let Peldon Hall to our Grandfather (* in 1823) for thirty years 212 acres at £200.

* the year differs from his other account and doesn't add up. Nor does the 30 year lease agree with the next entry.

When our Grandmother Bean died [1848] the Peldon lease was just at an end or had been renewed by Mr. Mann, our two Uncles William and Willoughby, carried it on for a year together, but William married and went to Cobben End near to Epping and near to Little Laver, and Willoughby intended to carry on by himself but he died before he had been on his own for a complete year, and our Father [Alexander] took over the lease and moved up to the Hall from Newhall where he had been for about a year after our Grandfather died...

The author of The History of The Bean Family, Catherine Frances Burgess (née Bean) writes of her grandfather, Samuel Edwin.

Often has my mother described him to me! Tall and very upright with a quiet dignified presence and a countenance of the kindest and gentlest expression. He always wore long black coats with velvet collar and flowered satin waistcoats, then the fashion of the day: his ankle shoes tied with black ribbon. He was devoted to his charming pretty wife; she was considered extremely pretty and was loved by all who knew her

Willoughby's account of him is as follows

Several people have told me that our Grandfather was a big man standing over six feet, but I do not know the colour of his hair, eyes, or if he wore a beard he was an officer in the Militia of his day & rode a big horse; when the agricultural riots against using machines (horse power) for threshing corn were on he rode alone to Coppid Hall & dispersed a crowd who were raiding the cellars there. Yet he drove a mule in his chaise. 

Samuel Edwin died aged 72 on 21st June 1852. His property and effects at New Hall, Little Wigborough, were sold in 1853. Both he and Frances are buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Peldon.

Willoughby lived at Peldon with his father until his father died, and for one year longer when he too died a bachelor. The two girls Fanny [Frances] and Emmy lived at Peldon with their father as well as Aunt Louisa and the boys as they grew up and the family must have been packed a bit close for I remember two additional bedrooms being built and we were fairly thick then. 

I do not know whom Mr. Quincey bought *Peldon Lodge from, it may have been Mrs. Firmin or may not, but he did own both farms, and it was probably he that transferred the twenty acre field High Rows and the plantation from the Lodge farm to the Hall, but it was our grandfather who shifted the entrance road to the Hall from the East side of the Berry pond and put it opposite the entrance to the Mersea road. Willoughby John Bean

* as we have seen from the auction of 1807, Lodge Farm and Peldon Hall farm were being sold together

This c. 1911 image shows the entrance to Peldon Hall Farm on the right, positioned where it still is today. According to Willoughby Bean it was moved east to west to this current location by his grandfather. Hall Cottage is in the middle distance
View looking west - St Ives Hill is on the left.

This map above is a detail of Chapman and Andre's map published in 1777. The entrance to Peldon Hall is where it was sited originally

Writing from memory I am not sure if Mr. Mann died before our Grandfather, but when he died he left the farm and Manor to his nephew Captain Pratt also of Whyvenhoe, whom I remember quite well, amongst other voyages he used to fetch guano from the Falkland Islands. He owned more than one ship of about 300 tons I believe, but he left off sailing them himself a few years after having Peldon Hall from his Uncle. He died in the seventys.

Captain John Pratt was a Wivenhoe ship owner. In his will dated 31st May 1873 and proved 12th January 1874 he left his Wivenhoe home to his wife and made various bequests to five nieces, a nephew and a sister.

And I give and devise unto my said nephew, John Pratt and his heirs all that my Messuage, farm and lands called Peldon Hall situate at Peldon in the said County of Essex or in some adjoining parish or parishes with the appurtenances to the same belonging. And also the Manor or reputed Manor of Peldon Hall together with the Cottages some time since purchased by me and now held with the said farm. And all other my real estate in Peldon aforesaid subject however to any mortgage that may be upon the same. [The Will of John Pratt amongst deeds in private ownership]

His nephew, also John Pratt, is subsequently listed as Peldon's Lord of the Manor and a principal landowner in both the 1874 and the 1882 Kelly's Trade Directories; what happened to him subsequently has not been discovered.

When Captain John Pratt died he left the farm and Manor to his nephew John Pratt who was I think a grocer at Langham, a village to the east of Colchester Willoughby John Bean

Catherine Burgess writes that Samuel Edwin's son, Alexander, after a year at New Hall was the next to live at Peldon Hall

...then, with his wife and infant son, Alexander Thomas, moved to Peldon Hall two miles off, resided there some years. He also lived for a few years at Paslow Hall, High Ongar, Essex, and again returned to Peldon, and finally to his own estate the 'Firs', West Mersea, where after a few years of failing health he died.

Alexander Bean died aged 67 on 21st May 1886 at the 'Firs', West Mersea and was buried in Little Wigborough churchyard beside the graves of his brother Algernon and his sister Eleanor.

Alexander's son Samuel Edwin took on Peldon Hall immediately but by the 1891 census he was living in Copt Hall, Little Wigborough with his mother.

In 1882 the Manor of Peldon Hall and Peldon Hall Farm were advertised for auction on 7th July; we see a first description - albeit brief - of the old farmhouse. Particulars could be had from Henry T Tiddeman, solicitor 50, Finsbury Square, London EC who could possibly have been acting for John Pratt although Tiddeman subsequently seems to be the owner.

...comprising about 210 acres of first-class arable, meadow,
and woodland, and suitable farm buildings. The old farm-
house contains three sitting rooms and six bedrooms

As is found in the particulars of other farms at this time an appeal is made to the hunting, shooting and fishing 'gentleman' offering "attractive sites for the erection of a gentleman's residence" affording

...capital ground game and
other shooting, wild fowl being also plentiful in the neighbour-
hood. All manorial and other rights, also the valuable timber
will be included in the purchase

In 1883 there was a court case at the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, the plaintiff was Henry Thomas Tiddeman and the defendant, George Alexander.

..Henry Thomas Tiddeman was the owner of certain lands, tenements etc comprising the manor or lordship of Peldon near Colchester to the extent of 210 acres and the buildings thereon known as Peldon Hall Farm. The plaintiff caused the same to be offered for auction at the Mart Tokenhouse-yard, London and the defendant George Alexander became the purchaser for the sum of £4,240.

It appears George Alexander paid a deposit and signed a document agreeing to complete the purchase; the conditions said the sale should be completed on 29th September 1882. George Alexander refused to complete the purchase

on the ground that the particulars of sale contained
two untrue and misleading statements, namely
1. That "the estate contains brick earth in
considerable quantities" and 2. That "the
property is approached by good roads".
The plaintiff alleged that these statements were
perfectly true... [Chelmsford Chronicle 9th November 1883]

The justices urged the men to come to some agreement which they did!

It would seem Tiddeman remained owner and a few years later Peldon Hall was sold at auction on August 2nd 1888.

PELDON HALL ESTATE
On Thursday Mr. R.J. COLLIER offered at the
Mart, Tokenhouse-yard, the manor or lordship of
Peldon, near Colchester and the freehold estate
known as "Peldon Hall" with house, agricultural
buildings, and farm of 232 ½ acres. The biddings
started at £2,000 and the property was bought in at
£3,500. It was then put up in two lots, the first lot
being bought in at £1,700, and the second at £1,800
[Essex Standard 4th August 1888]

The same date 4th August 1888 the Essex Standard ran the story of another court case where Tiddeman was being sued. This is an interesting article for it gives us the only reference so far found to Peldon Hall being damaged by the earthquake of 1884.

HARRISON v TIDDEMAN Mr Henry Harrison, a wheel-
wright, blacksmith and painter, of Abberton, sued Mr H S
Tiddeman, a solicitor of London, to recover £29. 1. 7. balance
due for work done by plaintiff at Peldon Hall....The defendant is owner of Peldon
Hall, and it was alleged that in July 1886, he requested
plaintiff to prepare an estimate for some repair
to the property, which had been damaged by the earth-
quake. [Essex Standard 4th August 1888]

The report goes on to say that Harrison then undertook additional 'extras' (authorised by the farm bailiff of another local farm) wanting to make the farmhouse 'respectable and watertight', but did not have a signed contract. The judge found for Tiddeman.

In 1894 Kelly's Trade Directory, Peldon Hall is recorded as being the residence of Gaius Foskett.

In electoral rolls for 1895, and 1899 Foskett is resident in London but the Peldon Hall address is given as his property.

By the time he became Lord of Peldon Manor, James Gaius Foskett was a retired builder. Born in Buckinghamshire he started out as an apprentice bricklayer. He went on to bring up his family in the Paddington area of London and it is doubtful he lived at Peldon Hall but had a bailiff run the farm while he used it as an occasional country residence.

The Chelmsford Chronicle of 31st May 1912 advertised that Gaius Foskett Lord of the Manor was to have a live and dead stock sale by auction in June, having sold Peldon Hall Farm. Described as an "Important sale of all the agricultural live and dead stock. hay straw etc and household furniture" the sale was held at the farm over two days.

By 1912 Foskett was back in a London address and in the deeds of Peldon Hall Cottage, we discover the sale of the whole estate by Gaius Foskett to John Whitton Wilkinson was completed on 30th May 1912

An entry in the Peldon School logbook on June 10th 1912 refers to the sale, no doubt a momentous day for the village.

The sale at Peldon Hall accounts no doubt for some absentees [Peldon School Logbook ERO E/ML 36/3]

Foskett died on 25th Feb 1919 in Cricklewood aged 92.

In the Kelly's Trade Directory of 1914, John Whitton Wilkinson is listed as living in Peldon Hall and in 1915 his son, John, enlisted to fight in WW1; his address in 1915 is given as Peldon and his name appears on the Roll of Honour in Peldon Church.

John Whitton Wilkinson was involved in one of the most memorable events in the history of Peldon and the Wigboroughs when in 1916 zeppelin L33 came down at Little Wigborough. John Whitton Wilkinson was one of Peldon's Special Constables in WW1. Most of the men on the photograph of these Special Constables (below), feted because of their arrest of the whole German crew of the airship, have been named but there are a notable few exceptions, namely the vicar, The Reverend Bowring, and John W Wilkinson. In this picture below, surely the man exuding confidence, well-dressed with waistcoat, bowtie and a panama hat, second from right, must be Wilkinson, Lord of Peldon Manor? All these men were presented with engraved watches for their role in the incident; does Wilkinson's family still have this memento?

John Whitton Wilkinson appears in Kelly's Trade Directories for 1922 and 1925. He died in 9th June 1927 in Peldon. His widow, Christine Louise Wilkinson appears in the 1929 directory and also in the Essex County Standard's local news column for Peldon allowing a visiting scout troop to camp on her land in 1932.

A map of the Peldon Hall Estate from the particulars of its sale in 1934

On 27th November 1934 Christine Louise Wilkinson of Peldon Hall sold to brothers William Vincent Jones and Richard Watson Jones, farmers in Purleigh and Stow Maries respectively.

On the 7th August 1943 Peldon Hall Farm a freehold agricultural occupation of 250 acres and four brick-built cottages was sold by auction by the Jones's by then of Lawling Hall, Latchingdon.

Messrs. Fenn, Wright, and Co.
sold at auction at Colchester on
Saturday Peldon Hall Farm, with
244 acres, for £4,900, purchasers
being Messrs, F. Wadley and Co.,
Ltd. [Chelmsford Chronicle 13th August 1943]

Then on 29th September 1943, F Wadley and Co Ltd of Barrack Street, Colchester took possession of Peldon Hall Farm from the Jones's.

All that freehold land and farm known as Peldon Hall Farm with the
farm house Four cottages and yards barns stables outbuildings and
appurtenances to the same belonging containing in the whole 244 acres
and 7 perches or thereabouts situate in the Parish of Peldon in the
said County of Essex [Deeds of Peldon Hall Cottage in private ownership]

In 1948 the Wadleys sold up and on 29th April had a live and dead stock sale prior to moving on. Their stock included 76 home bred store cattle, 15 to 30 months 7 young in-calf cows and a pedigree Lincoln red bull with four working horses and extensive modern farm equipment including two tractors and a 'crawler'. On 30th April 1948 Wadley sold to Friendship Estates Ltd. Little has been discovered about Friendship Estates other than to say it appears they were founded in 1935 by Frederick Cooke and were based in Yorkshire. There is a company today of the same name and the managing director is great grandson of Frederick Cooke; it is still a family-run farm and has a reputation for producing quality animal feed.

The next owner, Donald MacKinnon Sawdon, born in 1916, came to Peldon Hall Farm just after WW2 having bought the farm from Phil Cooke of Friendship Estates.

View south with Peldon Hall Farm and Church on horizon in the 1970s
[photo courtesy of Nog Sawdon]

From the deeds for Peldon Hall Cottage, one of four cottages that belonged to the estate, it appears Sawdon had taken out a mortgage loan from Friendship Farms after the war; he paid off £20,750 on 9th January 1961 by which time the farm had an acreage of just over 291 acres. Since then his son John (1949 - 2015) and grandson, Tom, have added hugely to the farm's acreage.

There were four cottages attached to Peldon Hall. Peldon Hall Cottage built circa 1891, also known as The Pink Cottage, housed the Reynolds family in the 1960s, Ben was farm bailiff to Peldon Hall and the path from his back door up to the farm was still there when Chris and Archie Moore bought the cottage in 1965.

Peldon Hall Cottage in the 1920s when it was a police house, probably on a lease from the Peldon Hall Estate

A terrace of three other Victorian cottages called Peldon Hall Cottages also belonged to the farm but are now in private ownership.

Peldon Hall Cottages are on the left, Malting Cottage and Malting Farm in the distance. The black weatherboarded cottages on the right are no longer there.

Donald Sawdon studied modern languages at St. John's College, Oxford - by the age of 16 he was writing poetry in German! He worked in Cairo and Alexandria during the war and was at one point kept prisoner on Elba, accused of taking photos of sensitive military operations; his mother had to appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury to intervene. He worked for MI8 or 'Military Intelligence Section 8', which was a group responsible for signals intelligence and from 1942 - 1945 he worked in Hut 3 at Bletchley Park with Alan Turing on the Enigma code.

Donald Sawdon as a student at Oxford [photo courtesy of Nog Sawdon]

His grandfather, John Stanley Sawdon (1861 - 1910), was Mayor of Bridlington, where there is a statue of him erected by public subscription to his memory. Donald was born in Lytham St Annes in 1916 and his father, also John Stanley Sawdon, who was qualified as an Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers, built the esplanade there in 1916.

During his, sadly short, career John Stanley Sawdon was assistant to the Borough Surveyor of Cheltenham, in 1908 Deputy Borough Surveyor of Margate, where he was associated with a variety of municipal undertakings. In 1914 he was selected for the appointment of Borough Surveyor of St. Anne's-on-Sea, and occupied this office at the date of his death. He was elected an Associate Member on the 3rd December, 1912.

In 1916 St Anne's was very proud of their new gardens and concert hall.

Nearly £20,000 has been spent in making the beautiful gardens, which are now a magnificent asset to the town. Every natural feature of the original Gardens has been preserved, and a pleasant and successful innovation is the breaking away from formality - we have gardens, not a park. The fine trees have been retained, giving the gardens a leafiness and shade which is lacking in other parts of-the town.
Mr. J. S. Sawdon, A.M.I.C.E., is also responsible for much of the substantial work in the scheme which has given St. Annes a magnificent play-ground and a glorious beauty spot.
amounderness.co.uk/the_new_gardens.html

The completed Ashton Pavilion in 1916. Image with thanks to amounderness.co.uk

THE ASHTON PAVILION
CONCERT HALL FOR SUMMER OR WINTER
The above drawing represents the Ashton Pavilion, opposite the St. George's Road entrance to the Ashton Gardens. It was designed by Mr. J. S. Sawdon, A.M.I.C.E., Surveyor to St. Annes Council, and is being erected under his supervision. When completed it will be a handsome and tasteful structure, and well-built, which is a characteristic of Mr. Sawdon's work. amounderness.co.uk/ashton_pavilion.html

John Stanley Sawdon was to die young in 1916 at the age of 34 leaving Donald, under the age of one, and a widow, Ethel.

Nog thinks of her father, Donald, as a 'gentleman farmer'. He'd always wanted to 'till the land', and he broadcast radio programmes on agriculture in German from Alexandra Palace for the World Service fortnightly. Once in Peldon he became best friends with Robert Davidson's father, Andrew, at Brick House Farm, Peldon where they would meet every Saturday along with Victor Gray from New Hall, Little Wigborough.

Donald Sawdon at the back of Peldon Hall [photo courtesy of Nog Sawdon]

Donald met his wife Yorkshire-born, Margaret Mary Watkin née Davis through her sister while working at Bletchley Park and they married in 1948; all their children were born in Peldon. Mary worked for the Samaritans; she loved antiques and kept a significant collection of Caughley porcelain, she also wrote a book on Victorian skirt grips

A History of Victorian Skirt Grips by Mary Sawdon. Published 1995 by Midsummer Books. Image thanks to Primrose Hill Press

Sadly, Donald Sawdon like his father had an untimely death and died in a car crash in the USA aged 63.

John Sawdon took over the farm following his father Donald's death in 1980, and for the last ten years his son, Tom, has been at the helm.

As for the Manor of Peldon, during John Whitton Wilkinson's Lordship, under section 128 of the Law of Property passed in 1922, previous copyhold tenants became freeholders. However the title 'Lord of the Manor' was not abolished and the reforms of 1922 did not remove all the rights held by the Lord of the Manor. After 1922 the rights were no longer attached to land ownership and could exist independently of the land, hence today, the fashion for selling just the titles. The act did confirm many of the historic rights long enjoyed by the Lord of the Manor including the right to hold markets and fairs, the right to common land and manorial waste, rights to mines and quarries, timber rights, fishing rights and others were to remain.

Descendants of Richard Watson Jones from Latchingdon, one of the two brothers who owned Peldon Hall between 1934 and 1943 kept the title and remain Lords of Peldon Manor owning Church Green, Peldon Common and Pete Tye Common. Richard's son, Peter Frederick Jones was for many years Lord of the Manor until his death in 2024 aged 93 and presumably his son has assumed the title.

Church Green Peldon, in front of Sleyes and Priest's House is still owned by the Lord of Peldon Manor

Elaine Barker
Peldon History Project

Thanks to
Chris Moore
Nog Sawdon
Bill Tamblyn
Tony Millatt

Read More
History of the Bean Family by Catherine Frances Burgess
Bean Family History by Willoughby John Bean.
Peldon Hall Farm today www.peldonhall.com

Peldon History Project
More Peldon History.