RAMSDEN-CRAYS, a small village, near the confluence of two sources of the river Crouch, 2 miles E.S.E. of Billericay, has in its parish 261 souls, 2260 acres of fertile land, and the small village of Crays Hill, nearly a mile S. of the church. At the Domesday Survey, it belonged to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and Ralph, brother of Ilgar. T. M. B. Batard, Esq. , is now lord of the two united manors, but a great part of the soil belongs to several smaller owners. The manor of Ramsden Crays belonged to Simon de Crei, or Cray, in 1262. The manor of Tiled Hall was formerly held by the Bohun, Vere, and the Chevre families, and afterwards passed to the same owners as the capital manor. The Church (St. Mary) is a small antique fabric, with a belfry and spire. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £20, and now at £370, is in the patronage and incumbency of the of the Rev. Thos. Knox, M.A., who has about 80 acres of glebe, but resides at Runwell Rectory. Mr. Samuel Leake Gibbons, who died in 1862, left the interest of £100 for the poor, after keeping his tomb inrepair.
Batard Thomas Matthias Beard, Esq., Three Ashes
Chapman William, boot & shoemaker
Clark Charles Cross, blacksmith
Fincham John, baker and victualler, Fox and Hounds
Gardiner George, victualler, Shepherd & Dog
Mead John, wheelwright
Scholding George, grocer and draper
Stewart James, farm bailiff
Such Henry, butcher, & John, tailor
FARMERS.
Blyth Benjamin, Hall
Stokes William
Peck John
Lucas William
POST from Billericay