Abberton

AN INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN NORTH-EAST ESSEX.

ACCREDITED TO A DATE ANTERIOR TO 1714,

arranged by Parishes.

(Unless otherwise stated, the dimensions given in the Inventory are internal. Monuments with titles printed in italics are covered by an introductory sentence, to which reference should be made. The key plans of those churches which are not illustrated by historically hatched plans are drawn to a uniform scale of 48 ft. to the inch, with the monumental portions shown in solid black.)

1. ABBERTON. (D.d.)

(O.S. 6 in. xxxvi. N.E.)

Abberton is a small parish 4 m. S. of Colchester.

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Andrew stands near the N. end of the parish. The walls are of mixed rubble with dressings of limestone; the tower is of red brick. The roofs are tiled. The Nave and probably a chancel were built or rebuilt about the middle of the 14th century. Early in the 16th century the West Tower was added. The South Porch was added probably in the 18th century. The church was restored late in the 18th or early in the 19th century (when the chancel was rebuilt on the old foundations) and again subsequently.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (19 ft. by 15½ ft.) is modern, but the lower courses of the walls are those of the mediaeval building. The plastered, two-centred chancel-arch is of uncertain date.

The Nave (29½ ft. by 18 ft.) has in the N. wall a mid or late 14th-century window of two plain pointed lights in a two-centred head; further W. is the late 14th-century N. doorway, now blocked and with chamfered jambs, two-centred arch and moulded label. In the S. wall is a window similar to that in the N. wall; further W. is the late 14th-century S. doorway, with moulded jambs, two-centred arch and label with defaced head-stops.

The West Tower (8½ ft. square) is of red brick, with some diapering in black brick, and is of early 16th-century date; it is of three stages, with a modern parapet. The two-centred tower-arch is of four chamfered orders; the responds have plain splays. The W. window is of stone and of three cinquefoiled lights, with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with a moulded label; the W. doorway, below it, is of brick with chamfered jambs and two-centred arch. The second stage has in the W. wall a single-light window, with a four-centred head. The bell-chamber has on each side a window formerly of three lights and with a four-centred head; the mullions have been destroyed.

Fittings—Bell: one by Miles Graye, 1663. Chest: In S. porch, small, iron-bound, with two locks, probably 16th-century. Communion Table: with turned legs and moulded rail, early 17th-century. Door: In doorway to turret staircase, of overlapping battens, early 16th-century. Font : plain octagonal bowl, with moulded lower edge, stem and hollow-chamfered base, probably 15th-century. Monuments: In churchyard—(1) to George Kercley (?), 1701, head-stone with skull and cross-bones; (2) to G.K., 1707, head-stone. Plate : includes an Elizabethan cup, with a band of incised ornament.

Condition—Fairly good, some ivy on tower.

Secular

(2). Homestead Moat, at Abberton Hall, N. of the church.