Belchamp-Walter (St. Mary)
BELCHAMP-WALTER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Sudbury, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 4 miles (W.) from Sudbury; containing, with North-Wood and North-End, extra-parochial, 698 inhabitants. It is skirted on the south-east by a small brook, which separates it from the parish of Bulmer, and falls into the river Stour. The Hall, situated near the church, is a spacious mansion of modern erection, and contains many stately apartments, and a splendid collection of paintings by the first masters. The living is a discharged vicarage, consolidated with that of Bulmer, and valued in the king's books at £6. The church is a handsome edifice, partly of stone and partly of brick, and consists of a nave and chancel, with a tower; the chancel contains a marble monument to the Raymond family, and there are also some remains of a very ancient monument to one of the earls of Essex.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.