Finchingfield Essex Family History Guide
Finchingfield is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. John the Baptist
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1617
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1629; 1715; 1800
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
FINCHINGFIELD, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Braintree district, Essex.
The village stands on an affluent of the river Pant, 5 miles ENE of Thaxted, and 6½ SW of Yeldham r. station; and has a post-office under Braintree.
The parish comprises 8, 387 acres. Real property, £14, 455. Pop., 2, 441. Houses, 531. The property is much subdivided. The manor was held, in the reign of Edward III., by John de Compes, for the service of turning the spit at his coronation. A few acres are under hops. The straw-plait trade has employed many of the inhabitants, but recently underwent depresssion. The parish is a meet for the East Essex hounds.
Both the head living and another living called St. John’s are vicarages in the diocese of Rochester. Value of the former, £733; of the latter, £200. Patron of the former, the Rev. J. Stock; of the latter, the Bishop of Rochester. The churches of both are good; and there are an Independent chapel, and charities £111.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
FINCHINGFIELD (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Braintree, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 5½ miles (E. by N.) from Thaxted; containing 2262 inhabitants.
This extensive parish is bounded on the west by the river Pant; the surface is generally low, and the soil varies from a deep rich loam to light gravelly pasture-land bordering on the river.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £18; patron, the Rev. J. Stock; impropriator, R. Marriot, Esq.: the great tithes have been commuted for £1506. 5., and the vicarial for £733. 10.; the glebe comprises nearly 3 acres.
The church, pleasantly situated on a hill, is a substantial edifice of stone, with a tower, formerly surmounted by a spire, which was blown down in 1702; the chancel contains two chapels, in which are some ancient and interesting monuments.
A chapel has been erected at Cornish-Hall End, in the parish, the patronage of which is vested in the Bishop of London; it is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, and the net income of the incumbent is £100.
There is a place of worship for Independents.
William Bendlowes, in 1576, founded an almshouse for four widows; and Ann Cole, in 1730, gave the fourth share of a farm now let for £60 per annum, for instructing and apprenticing children.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Essex
- Civil Registration District: Braintree
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Middlesex (Essex and Hertfordshire Division)
- Diocese: Pre-1846 – London, Post-1845 – Rochester
- Rural Deanery: Hedingham
- Poor Law Union: Braintree
- Hundred: Hinckford
- Province: Canterbury