1848 Whites directory Chignal Smealey

1848 Whites directory Chignal Smealey

CHIGNAL SMEALY, or Little Chignal, is a very small parish near the source of a rivulet, 4½ miles N.W. of Chelmsford. It has only 94 inhabitants, and about 400 acres of land, belonging to Col. Austen, Mr. L. Lindon, and other freeholders. Dives Hall, an old manor house, partly encompassed by a moat, was mostly built by the Luckyn family, from whom it passed to the Brand, Marple, and other families. The Church (St. Nicholas,) is a small brick fabric, with a tower and one bell. It has recently undergone many repairs. In 1847, a new north aisle, with 112 free sittings, was added by sub- scription, at the cost of about £360. ‘The discharged rectory, valued in K.B. at £5. 6s. 8d. , and in 1831 , at £124, is in the alternate patronage ofCol. Austen and Mr. Cook; and in the incumbency of the Rev. Thos Lawton, of Suffolk. Dr. Surridge, of Felstead House, officiates. There is 184. of glebe, but no parsonage house. There is a small Independent Chapel in the parish. The poor have, for dis- tribution in bread, the dividends of £133. 6s. 8d. three per cent.
Consols, purchased with £100, left by Lady Falkland, in 1776.
The FARMERS, &c. are
Wm. Barker, Dives Hall; Richard Buttle, maltster, Beremans ; John Wm. Drake, Langleys ; John Chesson, blacksmith ; and Wm. Harrington, vict. , Wheat Sheaf.