Transcript fo. 5r: Great Dunmow’s Tudor dialect

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1 Item to Rychard scoryar for pavynge in ye cherche[Item to Richard Scoryar for paving in the church] xd
2 &ffor mendyng of a hole on ye fuvll(??)[& for mending a hole on the ??]
3 Item payde ffor ye reste of ye gyldyng of owr ladye[Item paid for the rest of the gilding of Our Lady’s] xijs iijd
4 tabarnakyll & all ye yrynwark yt longye ye to[tabernacle & all the ironwork it belongs to]
5 Item for curtan ryngs for ye same tabernakyll[Item for curtain rings for the same tabernacle] iijd
6 Item \payde/ ffor parte off ye dore yt is sett on ye owte syde off ye new warke[Item paid for part of the door which is on the outside of the new work] xijd
7 Layd owte ffor ye stepyll [heading][Laid out for the steeple]
8 In primis – ffor ij tun off ston wt ye carryynge[Firstly, for 2 tons of stone with the carrying (ie carriage)] xxvis viijd
9 & Amd(??) all other costs & charge ye sum[& along?? all other costs & charges the sum]
10 Item payde to John Atkynson ffor viij dayes warke & halfe[Item paid to John Atkinson for 8 and a half days work] ijs xd
11 to fett ye scaffalde tymber & to gay(??) roddye[to fetch the scaffold timber & to ????]
12 ffor to make ye hardylls wt dyvers oyr besynes[for to make the hardalls (handles?) with divers (ie sundry other) our business]
13 Item ffor ij dayes warke off henry longe & hys cart[Item for 2 dayes work from Henry Long & his cart] iijs iiijd
14 to fett home tymber for ye scaffawde & ye bryke from ayston[to fetch home timber for the scaffold & the brick from Easton (ie either Great or Little Easton –nearby Essex villages)]
15 Item ffor ye borde thee(??) ij dayes[Item for the bord(er?) 2 days] viijd
16 Item to Thomas Savage ffor xv dayes wark to[Item to Thomas Savage for 15 days work to] vs
17 purvey pyce(??) stufe As ye workmen showelde need[?? ?? stuff as the workman should need]
18 Item& to sett them a werke & helpe to stage wt oyr[& to set them to work & help to stage with our]
19 Item ye same tyThomas for ij dayes jornay to camrege[Item the same Thomas for 2 dayes journay to Cambridge] ijs
20 & to dyttun to seke for ye ston my hys costs for myhys horse & hyme\selfe/[& to Duton (Duton Hill, nearby Essex village) to seek for the stone his costs for his horse & himself]
21 Item ffor goynge to haddam to speke for ye lyme[Item for going to Haddam (a village in Hertfordshire – probably Much Haddam) to speek for the lime] iijd
22 Item ffor goynge ij tymye to thaxsted for buttoll[Item for going 2 times to Thaxted (a nearby Essex town) for ??] iiijd
23 to a made ye stagynge becawce he was expert in ye making[to make the staging because he was expert in the making (of this)]
24 Item ffor a load of lyme from haddam pryce[Item for a load of lime from Haddam (a village in Hertfordshire – probably Much Haddam), price viijs
25 Item ffor a fewe of lyme fett att haddam wt ye cost[Item for a few(??) of lime fetched at Haddam with the cost] xixd
26 Item ffor xij bosshall off shalnerd lyme[Item for 12 bushalls of ?? lime] xviijd
27 Item ffor qrt naylle \and/ to john brewer of tayclay[Item for quart of nails and to John Brewer of Takeley (nearby Essex/Hertfordshire village)] ijs ixd
28 Item payde to Thomas Averell fo nayle[Item paid to Thomas Averell for nails] jd
29 Item ffor iij ston off scaffalde lyne <illegible> a half[Item for 3 stone(??) of scaffold line a half] iiijd xd
30 Item for ij ropys to wynd up ye tymber & ston pryce[Item for 2 ropes to wind up the timber & stone, price] iijs vd
31 Item to robarde kelynge ffo xxij dayes warke & half[Item to Robert Kelynge for 22 dayes work] xis
32 for to make ye stagynge wt oyr besynes wt mete & drynk[for to make the staging with our business with meat & drink]
33 Item to Thomas dygby for iiij dayes warke &[Item to Thomas Digby for 3 days work &] xixd
34 for to make hardell for ye stagynge[for to make the hardall(??) for the staging]
35 Item for mete & drynke \when we/ wente to choce ye okye[Item for meat & drink when we went to choose the oak iiijd
36 Item ffor wex & for Rofyn for to mak syme(??) for ye stayer[Item for wax & for Ruffin(??) to make ?? for the stairs. xiid

The Voice of Great Dunmow’s scribe
This blog has many readers from the North Essex and Suffolk area.  To them (and, of course, to my other readers too) I say… can’t you just hear the Suffolk accent shining through this folio!  Say the names of the following villages and towns out loud and you will hear that scribe from five-hundred years ago!  Remember, the scribe was writing phonetically, so pronounce each word out-loud phonetically and you will hear our long-dead, invisible, but always present, scribe.

    • Ayston (ie Great Easton or Little Easton)
    • Camrege (ie Cambridge – I love saying this one out loud… to start with, a nice hard ‘cAM’ and then growl out that ‘r’ to get the soft Suffolk burr to the ‘rege’!  Wonderful!)
    • Dyttun (ie Duton Hill)
    • Tayclay (ie Takeley. This town is now pronounced ‘Take-Leigh’. So try out you best Tudor accent: try the ‘Tay’ and then sound out that ‘clay’!)
    • Thaxsted (ie Thaxted, everyone I know still pronounces this town’s name as Thaxsted, despite its modern day spelling! Thaxted is one of Essex’s jewels-in-the-crown of beautiful villages.  The town has many medieval buildings still standing including the beautiful medieval church (pictured below) which is more like a cathedral in its dramatic size and dimensions and the town’s medieval guildhall.  This town is well worth a visit to tourists visiting Great Britain.  If anyone is visiting this area during June or July, then I strongly recommend the Thaxted Festival for an evening of beautiful music in a remarkable location.

Thaxted Parish ChurchThe beautiful Thaxted church, home of the yearly Thaxted Festival.
© Essex Voices Past 2012.

Being able to ‘hear’ the sound of our Tudor scribe is the very reason why this blog is called Essex Voices Past and also why my pseudonym is ‘The Narrator’.  I can only merely narrate the stories from Great Dunmow’s past, the Tudor scribe can speak perfectly well for himself.

Unwitting Testimony
There are several items on this folio that we can use unwitting testimony to interpret the entry.  For example:

  • Line 3: ‘paid for the rest of the gilding of Our Lady’s Tabernacle’.  Although we are now five folios into the leather-bound churchwardens’ book, we are still on in the first year of the accounts recorded within it.  Therefore, this entry implies a couple of things, firstly the initial gilding was done (or paid for) prior to the start of the account-book (so perhaps in the years 1524-5), and secondly that the tabernacle must have been large because the payment was in (at least) two parts and this instalment was for 12s 4d (a significant sum).
  • Line 6: ‘New work’.  What new work?  It’s not itemised in the accounts and so must have occurred prior to the start of the churchwardens’ accounts in 1525-6.  The very way it’s described implies that this was an area of the church that everyone knew as the ‘new work’.
  • Line 20: the crossed out ‘my’.  This is intriguing.  Was Thomas Savage the unknown scribe?  Unlikely, as he was the churchwarden.  Also, the entries on this folio imply that he was the builder commissioned to build the steeple (and the person who contributed the largest amount towards the same steeple!)  Maybe the scribe was copying entries into the leather-bound account-book from various people’s loose receipts and he was busy word-for-word copying Thomas Savage’s receipt and accidently wrote ‘my’.

Church Steeple
Finally we are into the expenses for the building of the new church steeple.  Anyone who has seen Great Dunmow’s beautiful church will know that there is certainly not a steeple in existence now (and the church hasn’t had one in living memory).  However, here we have costs for the timber, the scaffolding, stones and limes.  Perhaps the Victorian vicar of Great Dunmow, W. T. Scott, was correct in his assessment that this merely for repairs, new windows and a wooden spire.

St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow
St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow

 

The steeple-less tower at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow.
© Essex Voices Past 2012.

 

 

 
Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

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This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Medieval Essex dialect

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo. 4v: Great Dunmow’s Morris Dancing

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.4v

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1. Layde owte for ye cherche
[Laid out for the church]
2. In p[r]im[s] ffor iiij galuns oyle ffor ye lampe
[In primis (Firstly,) for 4 gallons oil for the lamp]
vijs iiijd
3. Item for iij lampe glassys pryce
[Item for 3 glasses for the lamp, price]
iiid
4. Item ffor mendying of ye ffurnes of ye lampe to scoryar
[John Scoryar – documented as paying ‘nichell’ (nothing) to the church steeple collection.  Item for mending of the furnace of the lamp]
iid
5. Item to John bykner for stykynge of ye Rood lyght
[Item to John Bykner for striking of the Rood Light]
xiiijd
6. Item ffor strykynge of ye lyght before owre lady
[Item for striking of the light before our lady]
7. att ye hy alter & ye lyght on the basun \?li <illegible> off wax/
[at the High Altar & the light on the basin]
vijd
8. Item payde to Thom[a]s turner ffor mendynge off ye
[Item paid to Thomas Turner for mending the]
9. ledys in dyvers plasys & ffor ye longe ?? ye stepyll
[leds in divers places and for the long ?? the steeple]
vs viid
10. Item ffor slenynge[??] of ?? new clothe
[Item for sewing? of ? new cloth]
vjd
11. Item for p[ar]te of ye makynge of ye closett for ye Roode
[Item for making part of the closet for the Rood].
iis
12. Item to Marry\ou/ for mendying of ye bells on all hall[o]ws evyn
[John Mayor – documented as paying 4d to the church steeple collection.] [Item to Mayor for mending the bells on All Hallows Eve(ning)]
viijd
13. Item payde to John oltyng for mendynge of
[Item paid to John Oltyng for mending of]
14. the clapers the yere’d ffore thatt we cam on
[the (bell) clappers the years (be)fore that we came on]
vis viijd
15. Item for claperynge of iij letell bells for ye can[n]epe
[Item for ?? of 3 little bells for the canopy]
id
16. Item to kynge for trussyng up of ye bell clapper
[Item to King for trussing up the bell clapper]
id
17. Item to John Scoryar ffor mendynge of ye hutchys
[Item to John Scorya for mending of the hutches]
18. <illegible> and of ye stoles
[and of the stools]
vijd
19. Item for hys borde ye ssame tyme
[Item for his board (ie accommodation/lodgings) the same time]
iiijd
20. Item ffor ij planks ffor ye same hutchys
[Item for 2 planks for the same hutches]
vid
21. Item to wyllem hott for nayles for yeene wark
[Item to William Hot for nails for ?? work
22. for ye same hutchys
[for the same hutches]
xd
23. Item ffor oyl small nale for ye same
[Item for oil??? small nail for the same]
iid
24. Item for ij dayes \warke/ off Thomas Savage ye same time
[Item for 2 days work of Thomas Savage the same time – Thomas Savage donated the largest amount of money for the church steeple £3 6s 8d]
viijd
25. Item payde to burle in yernest off ye gyldynge off Awr lady
[Item paid to burle? in earnest?? of the gilding of Our Lady.
xxd
26. Item for xxijth li of wex for ye Rood lyrite
[Item for 22 pounds (li = libra) of wax for the Rood Light
xijs xd
27. Item to John Scoryar & Rychard hys brother
[Item to John Scoryar and Richard his brother]
28. ffor makynge off iij new stepys in ye vyce off the Rood loft
[for making of 3 new steps in the vice of the Rood Loft]
xd
29. Item ffor xviij ryngs ffor ye nayle & the settyng on
[Item for 18 rings for the nails & the setting on]
iijd
30. Item ffor a poly to hange ye basun on before owr lady of bedlem
[Item for a pole to hang the basin on before Our Lady of Bedlem (Bethleham)]
iijd
31. Item ffor scorynge off ye grate & makynge off ye got?? ye cherch walk? [Item for scoring off the grate & making off the ?? the curch walk?] ixd
32. Item ffor a parcall lyne & ffor pyns & nalls ffor \ye/ sepolk[er]
[Item for a parcel line & for pins & nails for the sepulchre
iiijd
33. Item ffor a New keye ffor ye stepyll dor
[Item for a new key for the steeple door]
iiijd
34. Item payd ffor a blakk morres coatt xiid
35. Item payde ffor a sansbell rope
[Item paid for a sansbell (sanctus bell) rope
ijd

Commentary
Yet another fascinating page from Great Dunmow’s history with so many interesting items.  On this folio, all the items are all expenses i.e. items purchased by the churchwardens on behalf of Great Dunmow’s parish church, as they were ‘Layde owte for ye cherche’.

Great Dunmow’s Black Morris Coat
One of the most important items on this folio is the entry 2nd from bottom.

  • An expense of 12d for ‘a blakk morres coatt’.

This can be transcribed as being a ‘Black Morris Coat’.  At some points in my research, I did wonder if this entry was actually a ‘Black Mores Coat’.  However, the entry very definitely shows a double ‘r’ and reading the accounts in their entirety many times over helped me hear the voice of the scribe and understand the dialect of Tudor Essex.  The double ‘r’ was meant to be pronounced, and this entry was certainly for a ‘Mor-ris’ coat, not a ‘Mores’ coat.

This entry for Great Dunmow’s Morris Coat has been much cited by historians of medieval and early-modern English drama, Morris Dancing, the Catholic ritual year, as well as English folklore.  If you have read any of the secondary literature on these topics and themes, then you will invariable find reference to Great Dunmow’s ‘Black Morris’ coat.  And this is the primary source entry for it!  However, this is the one and only documented reference to ‘Morris’ or ‘Black Morris’ in the entire hundred years of the surviving churchwardens’ accounts.  There are no other mentions.

The entry is very short and concise, so by using ‘Unwitting Testimony’, it could be surmised that the coat was not an extraordinary purchase but its cost was significant.  According to Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts, a man’s labour for one day cost 4d.  Therefore, the purchase of this coat for 12d was a noteworthy sum of money.  Moreover, the accounts were very precise that this was just one coat: ‘a blakk morres coat’ (in the singular).  This coat must have been quite a spectacular item – full of finery and regalia. Today’s East Anglian modern revival of Molly Dancing is a thought to be a throw-back from English traditions performed at May Day and Plough Monday.  Perhaps Great Dunmow’s early-modern Black Morris coat was a very early version of the magnificent robes that now adorn the modern-day Molly Dancers of East Anglia.  On the previous folio of the churchwardens’ accounts (fol.4r), both May Day and the Plough-fest were itemised as bringing in revenue into the church.  Therefore, it was more than likely that this magnificent Black Morris Coat costing 12d was worn at either (or both) festivities.

Below are photos my son took of the Molly Dancers on New Years Day 2012 at The Hythe, Maldon.

Molly Dancers of Maldon
Molly Dancers of Maldon

 

 

 

 

 

Molly Dancers of Maldon

Other items of interest on this folio

  • Rood and Rood Loft;
  • All Hallows Evening (the modern-day contraction of these words is ‘Halloween’);
  • The image of Our Lady of Bedlam (Bethlehem);
  • Sanctus bell (small hand-held bells)
  • Lamp – whatever this lamp was, it must have been large as there was a substantial yearly maintenance cost for this particular year (1525-6).  This folio documents the purchase of 4 gallons of oil for it, 3 glasses (or panes of glass) to go in it, and the mending of its furnace.
  • Lights – several ‘lights’ (ie candles) are documented on this folio.  These ‘lights’ (or candles) were all placed in front of a religious image or artefact.  Henry VIII’s increasingly attacked traditional (Catholic) religion throughout the 1530s and eventually lights were banned before almost all sacred images.  In Henry VIII’s 1538 Royal Injunctions (orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell), there were decrees against candles, tapers, and images of wax placed before any image or picture.  Lights were only allowed before the rood, sepulchre, and sacrament of the altar.(1)  Later folios of Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts show that the church had complied with those Injunctions as there are fewer expenses for ‘lights’.

Footnotes
1) Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England,1400-1580, (2nd Edition, 2005), p407.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Pre-Reformation English church clergy
– Medieval Essex dialect
– Pre-Reformation Catholic Ritual Year

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo. 4r: The Catholic Ritual Year – Plough-feast, May Day, Dancing Money, Corpus Christi

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.4r

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)
The top part of this folio has been transcribed here Collection for the church steeple (part 5).

23.                    S [decorative line separator]
24. Resayvyd of ye olde cherche wardens that is for
25. to saye wyllia[m] saud[e]r ro[b]art p[ar]car Raff melburne & \Thomas/ harvy xiiijs
26. Item Resayvyd att ye plowfest in ye towne viijs jd
27. Item off Nycolas P[ar]car of dansynge mony iiijs iiijd
28. Item off Wylyem swetyng of ye gyft of olde hall ijs viiid
29. Ite off may money the hole su[m] xxviijs iiijd
30. Ite att Corpus Xrsti ffeste xxiijs
31. Item off John pole \for a yerys farme & for a ??? vjs viijd
32.                         Rentt
33. Resayvyd the cherche rentt ffor ye hole yere ye sum xxxiiijs ijd
34. Ite off steworde for ye brykke ych [which] was left xvid
35. Ite off John atkynso[n] for a fewe bryks & a letell
36. wete lyme & a tabbe ych [which] thay carryd watt in ye sum ixd
37. Ite off ye glon?? ffor a ladder pryce iiid
38. Ite ffor a rope sold to ye good ma[n] fyche pryce xijd
39. Ite resayvyd ffor \ye/ scaffold off Thom[a]s Savage iijs iiijd
40. Sum xviij li xs vd [£18 10s 5d)
41. Sum ??th rec[eived] ?? Anni xxli ijs jd

Commentary
There are many interesting pages within the churchwardens’ account-book and this page has to rank high up the list of intriguing pages – not for what it says, but more what it doesn’t say!

The entries on this page are directly after the parish collection for the church steeple so cover the period 1525-6. Therefore, they are the first receipts for money received by Great Dunmow’s church recorded in the leather account-book. Churchwarden accounts or church records for Great Dunmow prior to 1525-6 have not survived. However, several entries on this folio indicate that the previous churchwardens had also kept careful accounts prior to 1525-6.

Churchwardens – Line 24/25:
fo.2r recorded that the current (ie 1525-6) churchwardens were Thomas Savage, John Skylton, John Nyghtyngale and John Clerke. This folio records that before them, the previous churchwardens were William Saud[e]r (probably ‘Saunder(s)’ – the churchwardens’ scribe had a soft Suffolk-like accent and didn’t pronounce hard ‘n’s , see  The dialect of Tudor Essex), Robert Parker, Raff/Ralph Melbourne, and Thomas Hervy (Harvey?). As Medieval and Tudor churchwardens were often in office for two years, it is likely that these men were churchwardens for the periods 1523-4 and 1524-5. The 14 shillings which the old churchwardens handed over to the 1525-6 set was either their cash-in-hand money left over from their tenure or their own money to make up shortfall in the accounts (or a mixture of both). Medieval and Tudor churchwardens were personally liable for any shortfall in their church’s finances at the end of their period in office. It is because of this personal liability that the accounts of Medieval and Tudor churches were so meticulously documented and recorded.

Plough Monday – Line 26:
The plough-feast was celebrated on the first Monday after the Epiphany (Twelfth Day) in January and was the traditional start to the new agricultural year. The young men of the town dragged a plough from door to door in the parish collecting money. If people did not hand-over money, then a ‘trick’ would have been played on the unlucky house-holder (an event similar to today’s Halloween Trick or Treating). This ‘trick’ was likely to have involved the young men ploughing a furrow across the offender’s land. Money received from Great Dunmow’s plough-feast activities was recorded throughout the Henrician churchwarden accounts. It was likely that this was already a well-established money-making activity for the church within Great Dunmow before this first recording of the event within the leather account-book in 1526. This can be determined by the brevity of this entry which could be interpreted that the churchwardens did not need a full and complete explanation about this particular activity. This was the yearly Plough-Feast – so therefore everyone knew what happened – all that needed to be accounted for was the money received! The churchwardens’ accounts do not record what happened to the money raised from Plough Monday. However, it is likely that the money was used to maintain a ‘plough light’ (candle) within the church. The plough light was one of the many ‘lights’ banned and extinguished by Henry VIII in 1538.

The Wikipedia Plough Monday entry suggests that the Plough Monday customs were revived in the 20th century in the East of England and are associated with Molly Dancers.  Below are photographs my son took of the Molly Dancers on New Year’s Day 2012 at The Hythe, Maldon.  He’s only aged 8 so the photos are a bit blurry!  All photos are copyright of  The Narrator, 2012.

Molly Dancers, The Hythe, Maldon, New Year's Day 2012

Molly Dancers, The Hythe, Maldon, New Year's Day 2012

Molly Dancers, The Hythe, Maldon, New Year's Day 2012

Molly Dancers, The Hythe, Maldon, New Year's Day 2012

Dancing money – Line 27:
Unknown what this ‘dancing money’ was for.  Nicholas Parker was one of many Parkers in Great Dunmow but there was only one Parker with the Christian name of Nicholas. In the 1523-4 Lay Subsidy, Nicholas Parker was assessed as having goods to the value of 23s 4d.  In the parish collection for the church steeple, he was recorded as living in Bullock Row and paid 8d towards the collection for the church steeple (fo.2vfo.3r).  It was likely that Nicholas Parker collected money on behalf of Great Dunmow’s parish church for ‘dancing’ and gave that money to the churchwardens.  The churchwardens were scrupulously thorough in recording which of the many Catholic feast-days money was collected in for the church. Thus, there are receipts for ‘the plough-feast’, ‘Corpus Christi’ and ‘May Day’ on the same page as this entry.  As the entry does not specify a precise feast-day or event, it is possible that this was money collected at some type of ‘general’ dance which was associated with the parish church but not connected with any feast-days within the regular Catholic ritual-year.

Old Hall – Line 28:
Unknown what the ‘old hall’ was.  It is possible that this was a bequest in the will of a William Sweeting.  Unfortunately not many Great Dunmow wills from this period have survived and there is no trace of William Sweeting’s will from this date, so it cannot be established if this was a bequest. (A later blog will explain the reason why there are so few surviving wills in Great Dunmow.)  The only William Sweeting to be assessed in the 1523-4 Lay Subsidy had goods to the value of 40s (so was of moderate wealth).  However, it is possible that this 1525-6 entry was a gift, rather than a bequest because a William Sweeting is documented regularly in parish collections after this date in the churchwardens’ accounts.
– 1525-6 church steeple collection: William Sweeting lived in Bishopswood and contributed 6d.
– 1527-9 church bell collection: William Sweeting lived in Bishopswood and contributed 5d.
– 1529-30 church organ collection: William Sweeting contributed 2d (dwelling-places not recorded).
– 1532-3 new gild collection: William Sweeting contributed 2d (dwelling-places not recorded).
– 1537-8 great latten candlestick collection: William Sweeting contributed 1d (dwelling-places not recorded).
A William Sweeting, ‘the elder’, was the witness to the 1552 will of Robert Grene(1).

May day – Line 29:
May money 28s 4d. This money received for ‘activities’ held on May-day is a significant amount of money.  Records in Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts show that an average daily wage for a labourer was 4d – thus the money raised for May-day equalled approximately 85 days from a labourer.  This was a much larger event than the yearly Plough-Feast and received more money.  From these scant pieces of evidence, it can be interpreted that the May-day money was collected from possibly the entire parish of Great Dunmow (and probably also other nearby towns and villages – as discussed in later blogs).   Again, the shortness of the entry demonstrates that receiving money from May-day was a well-established practice in Great Dunmow by the time of its first entry in the new leather account book of 1526.

This entry does not explain what happened in Great Dunmow on May Day.  Wikipedia suggests some of the activities that might have taken place at May Day.

Corpus Christi – Line 30:
Corpus Christi feast 23s.  The shortness of this entry is both intriguing and annoying in equal measures!  Once again, this was a substantial amount of money, and the briefness of the entry implies that Corpus Christi was a well established feast within Tudor Great Dunmow.  Regular Corpus Christi entries are documented throughout the rest of the Henrician Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts.  These other entries are much more detailed and thorough, allowing the modern-day reader the most amazing insight into the world of Tudor Great Dunmow and the hierarchical relationship between this small parish and their neighbouring towns and villages.  Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi feast, as documented in the churchwarden accounts, has been greatly studied throughout secondary literature on medieval English drama and late medieval religious practices.  My own Cambridge University’s master’s dissertation spent over half of the word count discussing and analysing what actually happened during Tudor Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi feast-day.  My own account provides an alternative narrative to the explanation provided by other historians (most of whom do not appear to have consulted directly with the original churchwarden accounts nor have walked the streets of the town).  As this was such a critical part of my masters’ dissertation, my interpretation of Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi plays will be discussed in detail in a later blog.

Detail of a miniature of a bishop carrying a monstrance in a Corpus Christi procession under an canopy carried by four clerics. Lovell Lectionary

Detail of a miniature of a bishop carrying a monstrance in a
Corpus Christi procession under an canopy carried by four clerics
The Lovell Lectionary. Harley 7026, f13 (England, c1400-c1410),
© British Library Board

Rent of church land – Line 33:
Total rent received in for various church lands.  In later years, church rent is fully itemised along with the name of each tenant.

Building materials – Line 34-39:
This part of the accounts is still the receipts (money in) for the period 1525-6.  These entries demonstrate that the church (and the churchwardens) were selling items of building materials to some of the townsfolk of Great Dunmow.  John Atkinson bought a few bricks and a small amount of wet lime.  Mr Fyche (Fitch?) bought some rope, and Thomas Savage bought some scaffolding.  This last item by Thomas Savage is interesting for several reasons: firstly Thomas Savage was the man who made the largest contribution towards the church steeple and was ultimately awarded the contract for building the steeple (Henry VIII’s 1523-4 Lay Subsidy Tax).  Secondly, this entry demonstrates that there were items of scaffolding within the parish church in 1525-6.  Either this scaffolding was in the church in the years prior to the building steeple or its existence was because of the construction of the new church steeple.  The Victorian vicar of Great Dunmow, W. T. Scott, in his 1873 history of Great Dunmow narrated that there was extensive building work in the church in the years before the church steeple was rebuilt in 1525-6.(2)  So there were plenty of reasons for scaffolding to be within the church.

The significance of Thomas Savage’s scaffolding will be discussed in a later blog post.

Footnotes and Further reading
1) Will of Robert Grene, husbandman (March 1552), Essex Record Office, D/ABW 16/83.
2) Scott. W.T., Antiquities of an Essex Parish: Or pages from the history of Great Dunmow (London, 1873) p.20.

For further information on the Catholic religious ritual-year in late medieval/Tudor England, see
– Hutton, R., The rise and fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400-1700 (Oxford, 1994).

For further information on the Plough-feast, see the following websites
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plough_Monday
http://www.ploughmonday.co.uk/

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Pre-Reformation English church clergy
– Medieval Plough Monday
– Pre-Reformation Catholic Ritual Year

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.4r: Great Dunmow’s collection for the church steeple (part 5)

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.4r

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1. Item John Sweynge iiij [4d] [John Sweeting]
2. Item John Chaplin nichell [blank] [John Chaplin, none]
3. Item Thom[a]s Stonam iiijd [4d] [Thomas ??]
4. Item wylyem carpent[e]r iiijd [4d] [William Carpenter]
5. Item Thom[a]s Smethe iiijd [4d] [Thomas Smith]
6. Item Wyllym maggott iiijd [4d] [William Maggot]
7. Item John maggott ijd [2d] [John Maggot]
8. Item john Whale iiijd [4d] [John Whale]
9. Item Wyllem Swetynge vjd [6d] [William Sweeting]
10. Item John powll ijd [2d] [John Paul]
11. Item Wellem ballett ijd [2d] [William ??]
12. Item Wyllem kempe iiijd [4d] [William Kemp]
13. Item Robard kempe iiijd [4d] [Robert Kemp]
14. Item John Stonerd iiijd [4d] [John Stone?]
15. Item Robard Sturton minor iijd [3d] [Robert Sturton, minor]
16. Item John prestmery iiijd [4d] [John Prestmary]
17. Item Thom[a]s Ramsolde ijd [2d] [Thomas Ramsolde]
18. Item Thom[a]s iggrom id [1d] [Thomas Ingram]
19. Item John larkyn iiijd [4d] [John Larkin]
20. Item Wylem raynold iiijd [4d] [William Raynold]
21. Item Thomas bacar [blank] [Thomas Baker]
22. Item Wellem Morres id [2d] [William Morris]
 [the remaining entries on this page will be transcribed on this blog post fo.4r (bottom)]

Commentary
Line 2: Nichell – Latin for ‘none’ ie this household did not contribute any money towards the collection.

Notes
Text in square [brackets] are The Narrator’s transcriptions.  Line numbers are merely to assist the reader find their place on the digital image.

The early-modern spellings of the inhabitants of Great Dunmow have been transcribed into modern English so that family historians and other researchers can pick up these names via internet search engines.  Please leave a comment if you can improve the modern-day spelling or transcribe any of my question marks.  The other hundred or so names written within this list will appear over the next few days, followed by an analysis of the names on the list and the reason for the church collection.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Building a medieval church steeple

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.3v: Great Dunmow’s collection for the church steeple (part 4)

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.3v

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

  1. Item Thomas chapman iiijd [4d] [Thomas Chapman]
cherche end 2. Item Rychard bowyer xij [12d] [Richard Bowyer]
  3. Item Thom[a]s Dostetur ijs [2s] [Thomas Dowsetter/Dowset]
  4. Item Robard Mede ijs [2s] [Robert Mead]
  5. Item Thomas Wolray ixd [9d] [Thomas ??]
  6. Item Robart kekynge viijd [8d] [Robert Keking?]
  7. Item Rychard Wales viijd [8d] [Richard Wales]
  8. Item Mother skylton iiijd [4d] [Mother Skilton]
  9. Item margarytt Sawlen iiijd [4d] [Margaret Sawlen]
  10. Item Wyllem phelyp iiijd [4d] [William Phillip/Phelp]
  11. Item john bokk [blank] [John Book]
  12. Item John kynge iiijd [4d] [John King]
  13. Item john Akkynsone iiijd [4d] [John Atkinson]
  14. Item Robart Aschebye iiijd [4d] [Robert Ashby]
  15. Item Robard Rolfe iiijd [4d] [Robert Rolf]
  16. Item Wyllem Aylett iiijd [4d] [William Aylett]
  17. Item Father braybroke iiijd [4d] [Father Braybrook]
  18. Item harry rerdlay ijd [2d] [Harry ??]
Bygwod quart 19. Item John Matkyn iiijd [4d] [John Matkin]
  20. Item Thom[a]s More viijd [8d] [Thomas Moore]
  21. Item Robard Melburne vid [6d] [Robert Melbourne]
  22. Item Rychard Sanders[o]n viijd [8d] [Richard Sanderson]
  23. Item henry sharpe viijd [8d] [Henry Sharpe]
  24. Item John Carver ijd [2d] [John Carver]
hywode qter 25. Item Wyllem longe iiijd [4d] [William Long]
  26. Item \John/ playell iiijd [4d] [John Playel]
  27. Item Robard p[ar]car att caunare iiijd [4d] [Robert Parker at ??]
  28. Item Jone glascokke viijd [8d] [Joan/Jane Glascock]
  29. Item father howchy[n] viijd [8d] [Father Hutchinson?]
  30. Item Robard hochyn viiijd [8d] [Robert Huchinson?]
  31. Item John hankyn iiijd [4d] [John Hankin]
  32. Item Rychartt P[ar]car iiijd [4d] [Richard Parker]
bosshopwode qter 33. Item John longe junior xxd [20d] [John Long, junior]
  34. Item Henry longe ijs [2s] [Henry Long]
  35. Item John Nyghtyngale iiijd [4d] [John Nightingale]
  36. Item Rychartt carpentr vjd [6d] [Richard Carpenter]
  37. Item Thom[a]s kyunt[o]n iiijd [4d] [Thomas ??]

Commentary
Line 17 & 29: Father = ‘old man’ ie a local aged man

Line 8: Mother = ‘old woman’ ie local aged woman, probably a widow as this is a list of heads of households.

Line 2: Church End, the area of the parish where the parish church is located (nearly one mile from the main town)

Line 19: Bigods Quarter – an area in the north of the parish.  Bigods was one of Great Dunmow’s medieval manors.

Line 33: Bishopswood Quarter – an area to the south of the parish.

Notes
Text in square [brackets] are The Narrator’s transcriptions.  Line numbers are merely to assist the reader find their place on the digital image.

The early-modern spellings of the inhabitants of Great Dunmow have been transcribed into modern English so that genealogists, family historians and other researchers can pick up these names via internet search engines.  Please leave a comment if you can improve the modern-day spelling.  The other hundred or so names written within this list will appear over the next few days, followed by an analysis of the names on the list and the reason for the church collection.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Building a medieval church steeple

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.3r: Great Dunmow’s collection for the church steeple (part 3)

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.3r

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1. Item Wyllem barcar viijd [8d] [William Barker]
2. Item John hrady(??) iiijd [4d] [John ??]
3. Item mother hotte iiijd [4d] [Mother Hot]
4. Item John Maryou iiijd [4d] [John Mayor]
5. Item Thom[a]s myllett ijd [2d] [Thomas Millet]
6. Item John Scoryar \nichell/ [blank] [John Scoryar]
7. Item Cateryn Lott viijd [8d] [Catherine Lot]
8. Item Wyllem Davy iiijd [4d] [William Davy]
9. Item Mother Longe xxd [20d] [Mother Long]
10. Item Jone palgrave wedow id [1d] [Jane/Joan Palgrave, widow]
11. Item Wyllem baysy xijd [12d] [William Bass?]
12. Item Robard Fest iiijd [4d] [Robert Fest]
13. Item baldwyn tyler nichell [blank] [Baldwin Tyler]
14. Item Thomas Farethe[??] iiijd [4d] [Thomas ??]
15. Wyllem Nyghttyngale iiijd [4d] [William Nightingale]
16. Item Robard bothe ijd [2d] [Robert Both]
17. Item Stevyn Sturt[o]n ijd [2d] [Steven Sturton]
18. Item Wyllem Sewerd viijd [8d] [William Seward]
19. Item Edmund Fuller iiijd [4d] [Edmund Fuller]
20. Item Nycolas Aylett xvid [16d] [Nicholas Aylett]
21. Item Nycolas parcar viijd [8d] [Nicholas Parker]
22. Item Wyllem p[ar]son iiijd [4d] [William Parson]
23. Item John Exylby iiijd [4d] [John Exilby?]
24. Item Jamys Stowte iiijd [4d] [James Stout]
25. Item Wyllem mede iiijd [4d] [William Mead]
26. Item Rychard Cokke xijd  [4d] [Richard Cook]
27. Item Wyllem tayler glover viijd [8d] [William Tayler, glover]
p[ar]sonage downe 28. Item Thomas Dygby iiijd [4d] [Thomas Digby]
29. Item John Alyn iiijd [4d] [John Allen]
30. Item Thom[a]s kyng iiijd [4d] [Thomas King]
31. Item George owr nychell [blank] [George Ower?, none]
32. Item John Weste iiijd [4d] [John West]
33. Item Thom[a]s Thake ijd [2d] [Thomas Thake]
34. Item John Harvy iiijd [4d] [John Harvey]
35. Item Robard mason iiijd [4d] [Robert Mason]
36. Item Rychard storyer iiijd [4d] [Richard Story?]
37. Item mother bowyer iiijd [4d] [Mother Bowyer]

Commentary
Line 3, 9, & 37: Mother = ‘old woman’ ie local aged woman, probably a widow as this is a list of heads of households.

Line 6, 13, & 31: Nichell – Latin for ‘none’ ie this household did not contribute any money towards the collection.

Line 28: Parsonage Down, an area of the parish next to St Mary the Virgin parish church.

Notes
Text in square [brackets] are The Narrator’s transcriptions.  Line numbers are merely to assist the reader find their place on the digital image.

The early-modern spellings of the inhabitants of Great Dunmow have been transcribed into modern English so that family historians and other researchers can pick up these names via internet search engines.  Please leave a comment if you can improve the modern-day spelling or transcribe any of my question marks.  The other hundred or so names written within this list will appear over the next few days, followed by an analysis of the names on the list and the reason for the church collection.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Building a medieval church steeple

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.2v: Great Dunmow’s collection for the church steeple (part 2)

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.1v

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1. Item myles doklay iiijd [4d] [Miles Dorkley]
2. Item John Swetynge viijd [8d] [John Sweeting]
3. Item Robarde Suttun iiijd [4d] [Robert Sutton]
4. Item myles pumfrett iiijd [4d] [Miles Pumfret]
5. Item Roba\r/d parcar bocher iiijd [4d] [Robert Parker, butcher]
6. Item Thomas veutun iiijd [4d] [Thomas Ventun ??]
7. Item John Carvar iiijd [4d] [John Carver]
8. Item Wellem George vid [6d] [William George]
9. Item \[illegible]/ John P[ar]car tyler [blank] [John Parker, tyler]
10. Item John kynge habbardasshar iiijd [4d] [John King, haberdasher]
11. Item John Saucum ijd [2d] [John ?]
12. Item Thomas Clerke viijd [8d] [Thomas Clark]
13. Item Rychard Fuller xijd [12d] [Richard Fuller]
14. Item Father best nichell [blank] [Father Best, none]
The hye strete 15.Item John Decon viiijd [8d] [John Deacon]
16. Item Essabeth barun iiijd [4d] [Elizabeth Brown/Baron]
17. Item Andrew Powlter ijd [2d] [Andrew Poulter]
18. Item Thomas Averett xijd [12d] [Thomas Everit]
19. Item Thomas harvy xvid [16d] [Thomas Harvey]
20. Item father Dane iiid [4d] [Father Dane]
21. Item Elisabeth grene iiijd [4d] [Elizabeth Green]
22. Item Rychard Dyctatt viijd [8d] [Richard Dowsett]
23. Item John p[ar]car whelere viijd [8d] [John Parker, wheeler]
24. Item Mother skypton xijd [12d] [Mother Skipton]
25. Item John hunwykk iiijd [4d] [John Hunwick]
26. Item John vyntner iiijd [4d] [John Vintner]
27. Item John bykner xijd [12d] [John Bikner]
28. Item wylyem hotte iiijd [4d] [William Hot]
29. Item Rycharde prentyc viij [8d] [Richard Prentice]
30. Item Robard Draper xijd [12d] [Robert Draper]
31. Item Mother parcar wedow viijd [8d] [Mother Parker, widow]
32. Item Wylyem blythe iiijd [4d] [William Blyth]
33. Item Thomas hert nichell [blank] [Thomas Heart, none]
Bullok rowe 34. Item John Suttun iiijd [4d] [John Sutton]
35. Item Thom[a]s Godsalfe ijd [2d] [Thomas Goodself]
36. Item harryy keme iiijd [4d] [Harry Kemp]

Commentary
Line 14 & 19: Father = ‘old man’ ie a local aged man

Line 23 & 30: Mother = ‘old woman’ ie local aged woman, probably a widow or spinster as this is a list of heads of households.

Line 14 & 32: Nichell – Latin for ‘none’ ie this household did not contribute any money towards the collection.

Line 15: The High Street, an area of the town about one mile away from the parish church.

Line 34: Bullock Row, a street in the town behind the area of the High Street.

Notes
Text in square [brackets] are The Narrator’s transcriptions.  Line numbers are merely to assist the reader find their place on the digital image.

The early-modern spellings of the inhabitants of Great Dunmow have been transcribed into modern English so that family historians and other researchers can pick up these names via internet search engines.  Please leave a comment if you can improve the modern-day spelling.  The other hundred or so names written within this list will appear over the next few days, followed by an analysis of the names on the list and the reason for the church collection.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Building a medieval church steeple

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.2r: Great Dunmow’s collection for the church steeple (part 1)

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.2r

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1525-6)

1.  Thys ys the cownt of thomas savage John
2.  Skylton John nyghtyngale & John clerke cherchwardens
3.  of myche Dunmowe electe & choes be ye hole p[a]rysche the
4.  upon ye dedicacion day the yere of owre lorde god m cccccxxvi [1526]
[gap]
5.   Resaynyd of ye perrysche to the makyng off ye Stepyll
6.   \Imp[ri]mis/ M[aster] Robard Sturt[o]n sumtyme    vycar of a late tyme vs [5s] [Robert Sturton, retired vicar]
7.   mayster vycar thatt now ys vis viijd [6s 8d] [William Walton, vicar]
8.   Item for Sur John mylton iijs [3s] [Sir John Milton, parish priest)
9.   Ite[m] for Sur Wyllyem Wree xxd [20d] [Sir William Wree, parish priest]
10. Item M[r] kynwelmerche xviijs [18s] [Mr Kynwelmarshe]
11. Item Robard lovedaye vs [5s] [Robert Loveday]
12. Item John parcer Fletcher xxvjs viijd [26s 8d] [John Parker, fletcher]
13. Item John longe the elder xs [10s] [John Long, the elder]
14. Item Wylyem Whale iijs iiijd [3s 4d] [William Whale]
15. Item Wylyem Struttan ijs viijd [2s 8d] [William Sturton]
16. Item Raff Melburne xxd [20d] [Ralph Melburne]
17. Item wylyem fyche xxd [20d] [Willliam Fitch]
18. Item John Dygby xiid [12d] [John Digby]
19. Item Wylyem Sauder xxd [20d] [William Sauder]
20. Item John Ramsolde xijd [12d] [John Ramsold]
21. Item Grefyn Apryce ijs [2s] [Griffin Aprice]
22. Item John Colen xxd [20d] [John Colen]
23. Item John Cokke xxd [20d] [John Coke]
24. Item John Bemyche [blank] [John Bemish]
25. Item Thomas Bemyche ye elder xviiijd [18d] [Thomas Bemish, the elder]
26. Item Thomas Bemyche junior xiijd [13d] [Thomas Bemish, junior]
27. Item Thomas Weytt Wheler iijs of iiijd [3s 4d] [Thomas White, wheeler]
28. Item Thomas Weytt otherwyce callyd turner xijd [12d] [Thomas White alias Turner]
29. Item Thomas Savage iijli vis viijd [£3 6s 8d] [Thomas Savage, churchwarden]
30. Item John Joye xxid [21d] [John Joy]
31. Item John Freke xijd [12d] [John Freke]
32. Item John Foster xijd [12d] [John Foster]
33. Item John Tottryche viijd [8d] [John Tottrich (or Dottrich)]
34. Item John raynolde dyer viijd [8d] [John Reynold, dyer]
35. Item Thomas moyne viijd [8d] [Thomas Moyne]
36. Item John Skylt[o]n iijs iiijd [3s 4d] [John Skilton, churchwarden]
37. Item Robard maye xijd [12d] [Robert May]
38. Item Robard sturt[o]n cherche clark viijd [8d] [Robert Sturton, church clerk]

Notes
Text in square [brackets] are The Narrator’s transcriptions.  Line numbers are merely to assist the reader find their place on the digital image.

The early-modern spellings of the inhabitants of Great Dunmow have been transcribed into modern English so that family historians and other researchers can pick up these names via internet search engines.  Please leave a comment if you can improve the modern-day spelling.  The other hundred or so names written within this list will appear over the next few days, followed by an analysis of the names on the list and the reason for the church collection.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

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You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Building a medieval church steeple

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcript fo.1v: Great Dunmow’s local history – medieval manors

Great Dunmow's churchwarden accounts Essex Record Office D/P 11/5/1 fo.1v

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
(late 1520s)

1. Thys ye the cownte of Thomas Savage John
[large gap]
2. The churche \yard/ Fence
3. Imprimis on the sowthe syde begynnyng at the tenement of John keme
4. downe est ward ij p[er]che to be made bye clapton hall and bumstede hall
5. Next olyves makes one p[er]che
6. the next mynchyn dit[to] p[er]che
7. the next martelle motrelle makes dit[to] p[er]che
8. the next portery makes dit[to] p[er]che
9. the next byrde \howse/ that Garrett dwellythyed makes dit[to] p[er]che
10. the northe syde the fence
11. Fyrst the parsonage begyns at the vykaryge wall one p[er]che
12. the next Newton hall makes one p[er]che
13. the next lynllsaw one a p[er]che
14. the next John long for hys hawse and land called brodegoes one p[er]che
15. the next younges so called makes dit[to] p[er]che
16. the next Mr Raymond for ?olys dit[to] p[er]che
17. the next Mr Joyner for frestone hall otherwyse called byggood ij p[er]che
18. the next John mylbarne for markes hall & ij p[er]che
19. all the Fence from the fence of marke downe to
20. the mede ys comonly made bye the p[ar]ysshe besyde

Commentary
The first line of this folio is the start of a heading for the churchwardens’ yearly return. The rest of the page (in a different handwriting) appears to have been written at a later date and is a list of some of Great Dunmow’s manors. This was possibly written in 1528-9 around the same time that there was a collection within the parish church for a church fence. However, the handwriting on this folio is not the same as handwriting on the page where the collection for the fence is detailed (fo.7r).  The names of the men written on this folio can be cross-referenced to other entries in the churchwarden accounts to date this folio to the late 1520s.

The medieval manors mentioned on this folio were:
Line 4: Clopton Hall (also known as Southall)
Line 5: Olaves (also known as Shingle Hall, in modern times known as Olives)
Line 6: Minchins
Line 7: Martels (also known as Martins)
Line 12: Newton Hall
Line 17: Bigods (also known as Alfrestons)
Line 18: Merks Hall

(Two of Great Dunmow’s other medieval manors were not mentioned in this list – the manors of Great Dunmow and Little Garnetts)

Today the majority of the original medieval buildings have long since gone but the legacy of Great Dunmow’s medieval heritage remain within the names of farms, roads and areas of Great Dunmow. The manor-house of Newton Hall was rebuilt in the nineteenth century but the majority of its land is now taken up by the sprawl of the local Helena Romanes secondary school. Merks Hall has been rebuilt in recent years and is now the home of today’s new generation of wealthy landowners – popstars; The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett and his wife Natalie Appleton of All Saints are its current incumbents.

Terminology
perch:
a unit of measure used for measuring length, area and volume
imprimis: (line 3) ‘In the first place’. Used at the start of a list of items.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

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This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Great Dunmow’s Medieval manors

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.