Lexden Hundred 1848 Whites Directory
LEXDEN HUNDRED Is one of the largest in the North Division of Essex, being about 13 miles in length, from east to west, and from 8 to 10 in breadth. On the north, it is separated from Suffolk by the river Stour, and it is bounded on its other sides by the Borough of Colchester, and Tendring, Winstree, Thurstable, Witham, and Hinckford Hundreds. The river Colne flows eastward, in a fine vale, through the heart of the Hundred, and receives here many tributary streams ; and the Blackwater forms part of the western boundary, at and near the small town of Coggeshall. The Eastern Counties and Eastern Union Railways traverse it from Kelvedon to Colchester, &c.; and from Marks-Tey, line called the Stour Valley, Colchester, and Sudbury Railway, is now
constructing, in a northerly direction. The latter crosses the vale of the Colneby a stupendous viaduct at Chappel, whence a branch line, now constructing, extends westward to Halstead. Lexden Hundred is chiefly included in that district of the county which is well adapted to the culture of turnips, and yields large crops of grain in wet seasons ; the soil being mostly a dry gravelly loam, and the surface undulated, and in some parts well wooded. It has its name from the village of Lexden, which is in the Borough of Colchester. Henry II granted the bailiwick of the Hundred to Robert de Argillun, and it afterwards passed to the Gernon, Peyton, Audley, and Smyth families.
During the last century, the latter have occasionally held the Hundred Court, at Stanway. The manors belong to various lords, and the soil to numerous free and copyholders. Among the principal proprietors are Lord Ashburton, Earl de Grey, Earl Verulam, Sir G. H. Smyth , Bart. , T. B. Western, Esq. , and C. G. Round, Esq. Petty Sessions are held at the Castle, in Colchester, and Mr. W. Howard is clerk to the magistrates. Ecclesiastically, this Hundred is in the Diocese of Rochester, Archdeaconry of Colchester, and Deanery of Lexden, the latter of which is divided into the Rural Deaneries of Coggeshall, Colne, Dedham, and Mersea.
LEXDEN HUNDRED Witham Division .
Acres. Population in 1841 Acres.
Witham Division
+Aldham 2040 382
Chappel 1130 429
+Coggeshall(Great) 2770 3408
§Colne, Earl’s 2910 1385
§Colne, Engaine 2920 685
+Colne, Wakes 1430 444
§Colne, White 1730 419
Copford 2350 645
§Feering 2430 817
§Inworth 1430 591
§Markshall 910 33
§Messing 2230 758
§Pattiswick 1640 375
Tey (Great) 3040 733
Tey (Little) 410 59
+Tey (Marks) 1350 397
Bergholt (West) 2271 822
Birch Great & Little 2940 794
Boxted 3120 856
Dedham 2660 1787
Donyland (East) 1430 793
Easthorpe 1300 146
+Fordham 2460 739
Horkesley (Great) 2880 730
Horkesley (Little) 1060 206
Langham 3100 816
Mount Bures 1430 282
Stanway 3440 807
Wivenhoe 1840 1599
Wormingford 2410 524
Total Colchester Div. 32,240 10,901
Witham Div. 29,820 11,560
GRAND TOTAL 62,060 22,461
LEXDEN HUNDRED is in two divisions, under two chief constables, and contains about 70,000 acres, and 23,000 inhabitants, as seen in the preceding enumeration of its thirty parishes, shewing their territorial extent, their population in 1841, and the annual value of their lands and buildings, as assessed to the property tax in 1843.