Location

The rural parish of Great Hallingbury lies about three miles to the south east of Bishop’s Stortford and was, in times past, largely dependent on the town, with its road and river communications.

It was a corn growing countryside, probably mostly barley which supplied the extensive maltings of Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and the smaller rural ones.

The pattern of roads has changed little over the centuries, although the names are sometimes different.   Beldams, probably named after John Belhume of Stortford, was formerly Wraglings Lane:  the crossroads at the Hallingbury road junction was known as Hangman’s Lane End in 1762.   The Street was Sharman’s Lane in the 16th century and Leaper’s Lane was Cross Bush Lane.   Today’s problems evidently existed at that time since there were fords at Tile Kiln Green and below the church with footbridges for which the land owners or occupiers were responsible.  

The oldest house in the village is Harp’s Farm, to which John atte Harp gave his name.

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Before the Normans

The name Hallingbury means the burh, a fortified area or dwelling of the Heallas.   This would have been Wallbury Camp which is said to be 2000 years old and to have been a place of refuge for women, children and beasts when tribal enemies threatened, rather than a fort.   Evidence of early occupation has been found in Iron Age pottery at Wallbury, Harp’s Farm and the burial urn in the foundations of the nave of the church.   It has been thought that the present Hallingburys formed a single settlement at one time but when they were separated is not known.

The Romans, who succeeded the early settlers, must have used Wallbury with its fine position overlooking the River Stort along which were a number of Roman settlements.   St. Giles’ Church has a great deal of Roman brick and mortar in its walls and the obvious re-use of the material already there shows that there was probably a Roman building on the site.   The chancel arch, which is built entirely of Roman brick, is probably the church’s most splendid feature.

 

Domesday Book

At the conquest, the Normans found a well organised village of two groups, which they named manors:  the manor of Wallbury and the manor of Much or Great Hallingbury.   Wallbury manor included Wallbury Camp, half of Woodside Green (then called Wallwood Common), Wallwood and much of the land between.   It was held by Toti, a free man, with a population of two bordars and two serfs or, in modern English, two smallholders and two slaves.   After the Conquest, it became a royal demesne, the tenant holding it by the Sergeanty of Falconry in the 12th century and, in the 13th, by paying into the King’s Exchequer one silver needle on the morrow of St. Michael.   The manor house was in the Camp.

Wallbury gave its name to the Wall family (John atte Wall) who, from the 14th century and for three centuries, leased from their overlord much of the land and dwellings on the eastern side of the village.   This included Woodside Green farm, Great Jenkins (Jenkins farm) and Romans in Little Hallingbury.

On the manor of Great Hallingbury, there were eighteen villains, four bordars and one serf (18 villagers, 4 smallholders and 1 slave).   The manor house was The Hall, although the present house is a 16th century house on the same site.   The manor lands covered much of the western part of the village and were held by two freemen and must have been much more heavily wooded than they are now, since they could support 600 swine.

Besides these two manors, Edeva held about thirty acres and Godith, a freewoman, about fifty two, with two villagers ‘in Hallingbury’.

After the Conquest, the two freemen were dispossessed in favour of the Norman, Roger de Otburville (Auberville), later by Eudo Dapifer and, in 1200, by William de Langvallei, who was Warden of the Forest of Essex and Keeper of Colchester Castle.   In 1217 King John made Langvallei’s daughter a ward of Hubert de Burgh, the Lord Chief Justice.   De Burgh married his son to this heiress and it was their descendant who married Robert de Morley of Norfolk and through whom the first of the Morleys came to Great Hallingbury.

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The Morley Family

With the coming of the Morleys began a long succession of over-lords closely in touch with the Crown and its ministers, serving their sovereign at home and abroad for more than 300 years and giving the name Hallingbury Morley to the village.   The Hall was their manor house until, in Tudor times, their large red-brick mansion was built in the park.  

A number of the Morleys lie buried in the church but their tomb stone was removed during the church’s restoration in 1874.   Their memorials in the tower and the helms on the chancel wall remind us of this once great family.

The impact they made must have been enormous, related as some of them were to the royal families of their time.   Jane Parker, daughter of the 10th Baron Morley, married Anne Boleyn's brother in St. Giles'.  Their Hallingbury hunting ground was, in the 16th century, transformed by the building of the mansion and the making of the park around it which enabled the Morley family to live in a life-style more in keeping with their status than the five rooms of The Hall allowed.   The pond in the parkland is the last remaining relic of that era.

The village farms and humble cottages developed around the perimeter of the park, many of them held by a manorial rent – the tenants owing their lord a day’s work or the use of their horses and carts or supplying so many capons or eggs every year.   When they died, the lord took their best beast and their next of kin had to pay a fine to continue living in the same dwelling.

Hallingbury Place and Estate was later sold to Sir Edward Turnour for £15,000.   He became a Member of Parliament and at one time held the post of Speaker.   Upon his death in 1676, he was succeeded by his son, also Edward, who was knighted by Charles ll and became Member of Parliament for Orford, Suffolk.   He died in 1721 and was buried at St. Giles’ Church, Great Hallingbury.

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The Houblon Family

The estate was vested with trustees to be sold.   Nine years later, it was bought by the Reverend Jacob Houblon for his nephew Jacob, who then repaired, enlarged and modernised the house.  

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, John Archer Houblon was a leading figure in the civic affairs of Bishop’s Stortford and was very much a benefactor and a builder in the villages serving his estate.   Examples of his works exist to this day – the beautifully restored Church of St. Giles’ (1874);  churches and their vicarages which he helped largely to build at Bush End and Hatfield Heath;  East and West Lodges, the former village school (1851) and numerous well-built semi-detached houses for estate workers – all serving as a fitting memorial to his care and concern for the villages and their people.   He also bought the manorial rights of Hatfield Forest, enclosed it in 1854 and carried out a huge drainage programme, some of which is evident and operational today.

The Houblons remained in occupation until the death of John Archer Houblon in 1891 and his wife Georgina in 1896, at which time the estate passed to a nephew, Major George Bramston Eyre of Welford, who changed his name to Archer Houblon on inheriting the property.

In 1909, Hallingbury Place was rented by Mr. & Mrs. Lockett-Agnew and more modernisation took place.   Mrs. Locket-Agnew was a keen gardener and redesigned the grounds, which included the building of the water gardens and laying out the rose gardens.   During their tenancy, the military commandeered the parkland and King George V was entertained on 19th February, 1915, when he reviewed 33,000 troops before their departure to France.   George (now Colonel) Archer Houblon died in 1913 and Mr. Lockett-Agnew in 1918.   From this time until her death in 1922, Mrs. Lockett-Agnew lived alone, tending her gardens from a wheel chair.

Captain Henry Lindsay Archer Houblon inherited the estate and offered it on lease but no one came forward and eventually it was put up for sale. In October 1923, the great house was demolished, the materials and contents put up for sale and the estate broken up.

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Twentieth Century

However, it appears that social stability was maintained under the new landlords and village life continued somewhat uneventfully between the two World Wars, with agriculture remaining as the major source of income and employment.   The church and school generated considerable social activity, which progressively assumed greater importance in other forms as working hours became regulated.   In 1930, the need for a modern Parish Hall was apparent and money was raised to fund the carefully designed and well-constructed building which we use to this day.   It became widely used for men’s club activities, dances, whist drives and theatrical shows.   The adjacent field was purchased for the village by the Parish Council in 1991 for car parking and recreational use and the Village Hall and Field are now administered by the Great Hallingbury Village Hall Committee – a charitable trust.

During this period the installation of water and electricity supplies materially improved the quality of village life.

The second World War left Great Hallingbury relatively unscathed but the newly constructed air-base at Stansted later provided the basis of major impact on the village.

The years following World War ll brought about the most far-reaching changes ever to befall the village, particularly in agriculture.   The horse gave way to the tractor and mechanical farming in general changed the landscape from small fields to prairie acreage, leading to major reductions in manpower.

In 1972, the building of the M11 Motorway was started following a route which divided the village;  the road was officially opened in June 1975.   The building of the road meant that the Village School had a temporary influx of new pupils but it was finally closed in 1981.

Discussions on the development and enlargement of Stansted Airport started in 1964 and continue to this day.   The traffic from the airport is a dominant factor in villagers’ lives and further expansion is generally opposed by residents, supporting the policy of the Parish Council.   The twentieth century closed dramatically in December 1999 with the crash of a Korean Airlines jumbo jet, just 150 yards beyond the nearest houses in The Street.

The twenty first century continues with technological advances.   Broadband internet access was available throughout the village in early 2004.

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If you would like to read more on the history of Great Hallingbury, please see the publications listed on the page for Great Hallingbury History Society.