St Mary, Little Hallingbury
St Mary, Little Hallingbury: the church under construction in the late 11th century. Illustration: Daniel Secker
Ironically, Little Hallingbury is now the larger of the two Hallingburys. This was however also the case in 1086 when the manors that comprised Little Hallingbury supported 31 households but Great Hallingbury had only 13 (VCH 1983, 113, 124). the place-name roughly translates as 'the settlement of the people in the hollow (below) the fortress'. The fortress in question is the nearby Iron Age hillfort of Wallbury ('fortress of the Britons'). South of the hillfort is the site of a Roman villa where much Roman brick and tile has been found (SEAX SMR 3589). We can be almost certain that the villa provided building materials for the church.
Little Hallingbury comprised of three seperate manors before the Conquest. One of these was held by Esgar the Staller, an important military official under Edward the Confessor. Here a church and priest is mentioned as being in existence in 1066 (Williams and Martin 2002, 1014). It is thus possible the earliest parts of the church were built just before the Conquest. Alternatively, the present church may date from shortly after the manor was granted to Bermondsey Abbey in 1093.
The painting shows the builders putting the finishing touches to the church. Rendering is being applied to the walls, the mortar of which is being made in a sunken vat-like mixer similar to Anglo-Saxon examples excavated at Northampton (RCHME 1985, 36 and Fig 5). The church is being roofed with oak shingles.
References
RCHME. 1985 Royal Commission on Historic Monuments (England), Northamptonshire, Volume 5
VCH. 1983, Victoria County History, Essex, Volume 8
Williams, A. and Martin, G. H. Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin
Ironically, Little Hallingbury is now the larger of the two Hallingburys. This was however also the case in 1086 when the manors that comprised Little Hallingbury supported 31 households but Great Hallingbury had only 13 (VCH 1983, 113, 124). the place-name roughly translates as 'the settlement of the people in the hollow (below) the fortress'. The fortress in question is the nearby Iron Age hillfort of Wallbury ('fortress of the Britons'). South of the hillfort is the site of a Roman villa where much Roman brick and tile has been found (SEAX SMR 3589). We can be almost certain that the villa provided building materials for the church.
Little Hallingbury comprised of three seperate manors before the Conquest. One of these was held by Esgar the Staller, an important military official under Edward the Confessor. Here a church and priest is mentioned as being in existence in 1066 (Williams and Martin 2002, 1014). It is thus possible the earliest parts of the church were built just before the Conquest. Alternatively, the present church may date from shortly after the manor was granted to Bermondsey Abbey in 1093.
The painting shows the builders putting the finishing touches to the church. Rendering is being applied to the walls, the mortar of which is being made in a sunken vat-like mixer similar to Anglo-Saxon examples excavated at Northampton (RCHME 1985, 36 and Fig 5). The church is being roofed with oak shingles.
References
RCHME. 1985 Royal Commission on Historic Monuments (England), Northamptonshire, Volume 5
VCH. 1983, Victoria County History, Essex, Volume 8
Williams, A. and Martin, G. H. Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin