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Woodham-Ferris (St. Mary)

WOODHAM-FERRIS (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 4½ miles (S. S. E.) from Danbury; containing, with part of the hamlet of Bicknacre, 895 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the south by the river Crouch, derived its name from its situation in a thicklywooded district, and the adjunct to its name from the noble family of Ferrers, to whom the lands chiefly belonged at the time of the Norman survey. It comprises 3725 acres, of which 40 are common or waste. About a mile from the church is Edwin Hall, a handsome mansion erected by Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 13. 4., and in the gift of Sir B. W. Bridges, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £950: the glebe consists of 3½ acres. The church is an ancient edifice, with a brick tower, and contains an elegant monument to the memory of Cecilia, wife of the archbishop. At Bicknacre was a hermitage, which was superseded by a priory of Black canons founded and endowed by Maurice Fitz-Jeffrey, in consideration of certain sums of money due from him to Henry II.; it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and being almost deserted in the time of Henry VII., was then annexed to St. Mary's Spital, London.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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