1848 Whites directory Runwell
RUNWELL, a scattered village and parish on the north side of the vale of the Crouch, 4½miles N.W. ofRayleigh, and 10 miles S.E. by S. of Chelmsford, contains 324 souls, and 2,059A. OR. 31P. of land, chiefly a clayey loam, and extending in gentle slopes two miles north from the river, to which it adds a tributary stream. Thos. Kemble, Esq. , is lord of the manor, and owner of most of the soil , and has a pleasant seat here, called New Runwell Hall, the old hall being now a farm house. This manor was given by King Athelstan, granted it to Sir John Gates ; and it afterwards passed to the Tongue, White, and Rogers families. At the north end of the parish are some remains of an ancient manor house, called FLEMYNGS, which was a seat of the Flemyng family, in the 14th and 15th centuries, and was a very extensive mansion, but the chief part was pulled down many years ago, or destroyed by a fire , which is said to have demolished thirty rooms, and a large chapel. Before this accident, it contained above 50 spacious apartments. It had an extensive park and a large warren. Fragments of coffins and human bones have frequently been thrown up by the plough, near the site of the chapel. From the Flemyngs, this estate passed to the Sulyards, who held it till 1540 ; and it afterwards passed to the Garney, Wright, Holt, and other families.
The Church (St. Mary,) is a venerable fabric in the perpen- dicular style, consisting of a brick nave, chancel, and north aisle, and astone tower, containing four bells, and crowned by a shingled spire. Part of the ancient wooden screen remains, and in the aisle , is a mural monument, with the effigies of Eustace Sulyard and his wife, cut in brass. In the chancel , is a grey marble monument, in memory of Edward Sulyard, the last of his family, who died in 1692. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £13, and in 1831, at £480, is in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. Thos. Knox, M.A. The glebe is about 20A. , and the tithes were commuted in 1845, for £556 per annum. The Rectory House is a handsome new building, with tasteful pleasure grounds. The parish is mostly freehold, and a great part of it is occupied by the farmers of the surrounding parishes.
Wm. Cleeve, Jas. Sneezum, and Hy. Tilbury, have land here.
Kemble Thos. Esq. , New Runwell Hall
Knox Rev. Thos. , M.A., Rectory
Raven Robert, shopkeeper and vict. , Quart Pot
Start William, carpenter & parish clerk
FARMERS .
Cousins William and Saml., Old Hall
Farrow John, Chalk lane
Moss John, Stacey’s
Salmon John, Poplars
Tuckwell Thomas, Mill hill
Williams Joseph, Church end
(Letters via Ingatestone.)