The name given to this parish is supposed to have been derived from the brook Bird - which passes over part of it. In records it is written Bridebrook, Brodebrooke , Burdbrooke , and , in Domesday , Bridebroe .

The strong wet soil of this district is mixed with a deep sandy loam, and, in some instances, highly productive. (footnote) It is found exceedingly favourable to the growth of oak timber; and, among the fine standard trees to be seen in the pasture lands, one that was particularly noticed by Mr. Young, measured, at five feet from the ground , eleven feet nine inches in circumference . Poplar , maple , and plane tree , seem indigenous here , and are of luxuriant growth. A clump of alders, on the border of the Stour, in Bathorne Hall garden, has been greatly admired ; they are of nearly equal dimensions , the largest of them, at the height of five feet, measuring seven feet four inches in circumference, and rising to the height of from thirty to thirty-five feet of clear timber.

Birdbrook is surrounded by the villages of Ashen , Ridgwell , Stambourne , and Steeple Bumpstead ; and the river Stour divides it from Stoke and Wiscoe , in Suffolk : its distance from London is fifty - five miles , and from Saffron Walden thirteen ; from east to west it measures two miles, two furlongs , and sixteen rods ; and from north to south one mile , four furlongs , and twenty - seven rods, ( exclusive of the hamlet of Hersted Green) , and contains about two thousand two hundred and forty-four acres of land .

The situation is admired by all travellers, being upon the summit of a hill , with a descent to the north and south ; the views , in riding from Whitley to the church ( being a distance of one mile ) , are scarcely to be equalled ; the eye is thrown over a hilly , luxuriant , well cultivated country , dotted with the churches of Kedington , Clare , Stoke , Witsoe , Toppesfield , and Yeldham ; the castles of Hedingham and Clare , the seats of George W. Gent , Esq . T. Pyke , Esq . J. P. Elwes , Esq . Josias Nottidge , Esq . J. Sperling , Esq . and Mrs. Jardine ; several mills , as well as the objects enumerated , greatly enliven the view ; it is further improved by the river Stour winding its tranquil stream through the valley ; and the immediate vicinity of this central station is Whitley . rendered in a high degree interesting , by the elegantly embellished rural scenery of the seat of Thomas Walford , Esq .

A stately row of evergreen forest - trees , inter-mixed with sycamores and larches , is continued from the house to a small hill , planted with cedars , cypresses and laurels ; and from this elevation our view over the country becomes more widely extended . A wood of seven acres , not far distant , is laid out in pleasant walks , diversified by various appropriate devices; of these , the hermitage presents an agreeable rural retirement , consisting of three circular apartments , built with rag - stone , unsquared timber , and bark of trees . The whole covered with thatch , paved with pebbles and tiles , and rusticated with moss and other materials . The flower - garden is decorated with a building , classically distinguished as the Temple of Flora , and a summer - house , with ornamental trellis - work . In this inclosure there is a choice assemblage of exotic shrubs and flowers , with an extensive collection of rare English plants. Walford family .

The Whitley estate was purchased , in 1657 , by Thomas Walford , M.D. of Finch- ingfield , ancestor of the present proprietor . The house is a plain family mansion . The family of Walford was originally from a village of the same name , near Ross , in Herefordshire . The first of Henry the Fourth , 1399 , Hugh de Walford witnessed a grant of John de Monmouth , of lands given by him to the Benedictine Priory at Monmouth . The elder branch of the family afterwards settled at Salwarpe , in the adjoining county of Worcestershire , where they possessed considerable property ; from thence , the younger branches emigrated into Warwickshire and Essex , and were seated at Weathersfield in the year 1517 , and at Finchingfield in 1540. From the latter , the Walfords of Birdbrook are descended ; but so incomplete are the early parts of the registers of Weathersfield and Finchingfield , that we cannot trace the family with accuracy , until the latter end of the sixteenth century , ( 1590 ; ) from that time the following is a lineal descent to the present , but confined principally to those who were possessed of property in Birdbrook .

Giles Walford, who resided at Finchingfield in 1540 , married Joan , by whom he had four sons and three daughters . Thomas , his eldest son , married Margaret —— ; they had three sons and one daughter , Thomas , James , Robert , and Margaret . Thomas , the eldest son , in 1640 , was a student at Emanuel College , Cambridge , where he took the degree of master of arts , and that of doctor of physic , and practised afterwards at Finchingfield with such success , as to acquire a large addition to his paternal property , which enabled him to purchase several estates in the neighbour- hood : two in this parish , Whitley in 1657 , and Harsted Hall in 1670. He married Jane Guy , and had issue two sons , Guy and John ; the former died at the thirteen years , the latter when an infant . age of James , the second son of Thomas and Margaret , and brother of Dr. Walford , married ; they had three sons and three daughters , James , Thomas, Robert , Susan , Jane , and Mary . James , the eldest , inherited his uncle's estates , and resided at Harsted Hall in 1680. He married Grace Boutle , and had five sons and four daughters , Thomas , James , John , William , Robert ; Eliza , Mary , and Susan . Thomas , the eldest son , ( who married Mary Baggs , of Norwich , daughter of Baggs , Esq . governor of Cape Coast Castle , ) likewise resided at Harsted Hall ; he was many years in the commission of the peace for this county , and an active magistrate .

To him the public were obliged for assisting in convicting the noted robber Turpin, who was taken up at York for shooting a game cock , and lodged in the castle of that city , by the name of Palmer , his wife's maiden name , which was the name he usually assumed . After he was committed to the castle , he wrote to his brother-in- law , to inform him of his situation , and requesting assistance , but the postage of the letter being eight - pence , his father refused taking it ; a person in the house at the time , observing the hand - writing , said it came from his son , and , if he would permit him , he would pay the postage and take the letter , which was granted . When he had perused the contents , he carried it to Mr. Walford , the nearest acting magistrate , who sent for the schoolmaster that taught Turpin to write , and also for another person , who was well acquainted with him and his hand-writing .

After they had proved the writing to be his , Mr. Walford sent them to York at his own expense , to identify his person , for which act he received a very handsome letter of thanks from the magis- trates of York . When they first entered the castle , Turpin pretended not to know them, but soon found it necessary to acknowledge himself . When it was known that he was the famous Turpin , a number of other detainders were lodged against him , and he was executed at York . Mr. Walford died at Harsted Hall , 1741 , aged fifty - five , and was buried at Finch- ingfield ; he left issue one son and one daughter , Thomas and Mary . After the death of her husband , Mrs. Walford left Harsted Hall , and , with her son and daughter , went to reside in London . Her son , who was then about sixteen years old , and the favourite of his mother , was permitted to enter into all the gaieties of town , and , being endowed with good abilities and a genteel person , his company was courted by young men , in a superior situation in life , which led him into extravagance , and en- dangered his estate . One of his eccentricities was a visit to a friend at Cambridge , where ( without his mother's knowledge) he entered himself a fellow - commoner at Sidney College , which occasioned her a considerable expense , as well as trouble , to get him back again to town . Upon his return , she prevailed with him to study the law , under the care of a gentleman in the Six Clerks ' office , to whom she gave £ 380 , and found him board and lodging at her own house in Gloucester Street , Queen's Square , London . He continued in this office tolerably attentive till he came of age , but a few days had elapsed , when he hurried down to his steward at Finchingfield, and gave orders for all the timber upon the Harsted Hall estate to be taken down and sold . Before this order could be put in execution , he was seized with the small - pox , and died at Finchingfield, twenty - three days after he came of age . His estates then devolved to his sister Mary , who afterwards married George Gent , Esq . of Moynes , in the parish of Steeple Bumstead . She was of a more saving disposition than her brother , and , instead of taking down the timber upon her estates , nursed it with peculiar care , nearly sixty years . She died without issue , the 17th November, 1802. Her piety , benevolence and charity were very conspicuous to all that knew her , and her placid temper was a striking contrast and corrector of her husband's irri- tability . The male line of this branch of the family being extinct, we must revert back to James Walford , of Whitley , in this parish , the brother of Thomas Walford , of Harsted Hall . He married Ann , the niece of John Pyke , Esq . of Bathorne House , by whom he had seven children , Thomas , James , John , Robert , Ann , Elizabeth , and Mary; the second and third sons died without issue . Robert , the youngest, married Mary Daking, of Sudbury , in Suffolk , and had one daughter , Elizabeth , afterwards married to Thomas Selby , Esq . at Igtham , in Kent . Thomas, the eldest son of James Walford , resided at Whitley ; he married Elizabeth

Spurgeon , of Linton , in Cambridgeshire : they left issue one daughter and one son; Elizabeth , the daughter , married Allen Taylor , Esq . of Wimbish Hall , one of his majesty's deputy - lieutenants , a justice of the peace for this county , and captain of the Freshwell volunteer cavalry.

Thomas , son of the above Thomas and Elizabeth , and the present proprietor of Whitley , was born September 14th , 1752 , the very day the alteration in the style took place . * brook In the time of Edward the Confessor , an individual belonging to the class of free- Bird- men held the manor of Birdbrook , which , with that of Bathorne , had , at the general Hall . survey , been granted to Ralph , the brother of Ilger ; in 1113 , it was granted , by Roger , son of Richard Fitz - Gilbert , earl of Clare , to Ralph Peche ; and , in 1283 , Gilbert , son of Hamo Peche , gave this , with other estates , to King Edward the First and his Queen Elinor : and that king , in 1298 , made a donation of this , with several other lordships , to the abbot and convent of Westminster : yet the Peche family continued to hold possessions in this parish . And William de Ufford , earl of Suffolk , at the time of his decease in 1381 , held one fee in Birdbrook , of the abbot of Westminster ; and that rich monastery was in possession of this estate at the time of its suppression in 1539 ; in 1541 , it was sold , by King Henry the Eighth , with the advowson of the rectory and the church , and a water - mill , to Robert Tyrell , Esq . of Warwickshire: he was son of Sir John Tyrell , of Horndon - on - the - Hill , who was fourth son of Sir Thomas Tyrell , of Heron. Thomas , his eldest son , died before him , and left an only son , of the same name , who became his grandfather's heir ; and who , dying in 1573 , left Anne , his only daughter , to inherit his estates . She was married to Sir John Dalston , of Dalston , in Cumberland , and their two daughters were their co-heiresses , of whom Dorothy , in 1589 , by marriage , conveyed this estate to Henry Gent , Esq . son and heir of Thomas Gent , of Moynes, a baron of the exchequer .

Thomas Gent, Esq. Thomas Gent, Esq. their eldest son and heir, married Isabel, daughter of Francis Thompson , Esq . of Scarborough Castle , and had an only child named Frances , a great heiress , who became the wife of Sir Edmund Alleyn , bart . of Hatfield Peverel ; they had three children , but only Arabella survived them . She was twice married ; first to Francis Thompson , Esq . of Hambleton , in Yorkshire , by whom she had one son , William , member of parliament for Scarborough , in Yorkshire . Her second husband was the Hon . Lord George Howard , one of the sons of Henry , duke of Norfolk , to whom she was married in 1698. This nobleman being a Catholic , and the lady , though of a Protestant family , professing the religion of her husband at the time of her marriage , her son , William Thompson , Esq . on this account brought a bill into parliament , to prevent Roman Catholics disinheriting their Protestant children , which was considered by his mother as in a high degree offensive ; and afterwards , in the year 1707 , a quarrel taking place between Lord Howard and his lady , it was agreed between them that they should live separate during the remainder of their lives ; Lord Howard covenanting and agreeing not to molest the Lady Arabella , but permit her the quiet enjoyment and disposing of all her plate, household goods , money , houses , lands , and estates , of what kind soever .

It appears that the Lady Howard sold the estates as soon as she conveniently could , after she had them again at her own disposal . But these estates having intermediately belonged to Lord Howard , who was a Catholic , had on that account been doubly taxed , agreeably to an act of parliament then in force ; and the lady had to apply to the Court of Exchequer to procure a Protestant instead of a Catholic taxation, * on the sale of these estates to Samuel Rush , Esq . of Clapham , in Surrey . Mr. Morant's statement , that this transaction CHAP . V. took place in 1714 , appears to be erroneous ; the agreement between Lady Howard and Mr. Rush was executed the 16th day of January , 1716 , but the purchase was not completed till the death of Lord Howard , two or three years after . There were included in this purchase , besides the manor of Birdbrook , the following estates in this parish : Bayley Hill farm , the Eagle farm , Parkwood , Rogers at the corner of Parkwood, the advowson of the rectory , and the water - mill at Bathorne End , called in the writings a double - water corn - mill. In 1724 , John Rush , Esq . succeeded his father in these estates, which , in 1767 , he bequeathed to his brother, Samuel Rush; from whom , in 1783 , they descended to Sir William Beaumaurice Rush , knt . of Wimbledon House , in Surrey . The manor-house is near the church , and the view from the back part of the building , over a well - wooded country , is extensive and singularly beautiful . Bathorne , or Baythorne Hall manor , in Domesday named Barberitnam , in Edward Bathorne . the Confessor's reign was in the possession of a thane named Inguar ; and at the general survey belonged to Ralph , the brother of Ilgar . It afterwards became the inheritance of the Wanton family , seated at Ashdon and Wimbish . Sir John de Wanton held this estate , by serjeancy , of the Lady Elizabeth de Burgh . On his death , in 1347 , he was succeeded by his son , Sir John de Wanton , whose widow , Margaret , had it as part of her jointure , and which , on her death , descended to his two daughters , Elizabeth married to Robert Pakenham , and Margaret , whose husband's name was Harleston , and each left a son , co - heir of the estate ; which , on the death of Robert Pakenham , in 1399 , † became the sole property of his kinsman Ivo , the son of John Harleston , who died in 1403 . The next possessor of this estate , on record , was Edward Macwilliam , of the family of that name , of Stambourne Hall . He held it , in 1479 , of Cicely , mother of King Edward the Fourth , as of the honour of Stambourne . John was his son and heir ; and his great grandson , Henry Macwilliam , Esq . died in 1539 , holding this estate of the dean and chapter of Stoke ; whose son Henry , his successor , married Mary , widow of the celebrated Sir John Cheke , and daughter and co - heiress of Richard Hill , Esq . He died in 1586 , and his widow had the fifth part of this manor in dower , till her decease in 1616. Henry , their only son , was killed in a duel , in 1599 ; and their five daughters being co - heiresses of the estate , the four youngest of them sold their respective shares to Sir John Stanhope , knt . who had married their eldest sister Margaret . He was created baron of Harrington in 1605 , and died in 1620 , leaving two daughters , and his son and heir , Charles , lord Stanhope of Har- rington , who married Dorothy , sister to Edward Barrett , lord Newburgh , and , in 1648 , he and his lady , by indenture , conveyed this estate to George Pyke , Esq . whose daughter Elizabeth , marrying John Crouch , Esq . of Buntingford in Hertfordshire , † had this estate for her portion . The issue by this marriage was Pyke , John , and Thomas . Pyke Crouch , Esq . was of the Middle Temple , and married Catharine Carew , daughter of a Turkey merchant , by whom he had John , George , Thomas , and Catharine . John Pyke Crouch , Esq . of Bathorne End , married Sarah , only daughter of Sir John Bendish , knt . of Bumsted Steeple . Bathorne Park . The manor - house of Bathorne Hall is on the banks of the Stour . It was formerly the mansion - house to this estate , and the residence of the Macwilliam family . The Gothic arches , particularly the one over the back door , which is similar to the one introduced in the reign of Henry the Seventh , show it was either rebuilt or under- went a considerable repair by one of the Macwilliam family , the then possessor . Most probably the latter , for the handsome stone chimney at the east end was cer- tainly of earlier date . Had the house been rebuilt , the chimney most probably would have been of brick , which , in Henry the Seventh's reign , began to be very fashionable . The park and adjoining lands were a prior and separate purchase from Bathorne Hall , and a capital mansion , situated opposite to what is now the Swan Inn , was taken down , and the materials used in building the present mansion . These lands , in 1591 , were the property of Robert Rewse , who resided in the mansion , but whether they were devised at his death , in 1616 , to his son Robert , is not known . They were afterwards the property of Fitz - Ralph Chamberlain , Esq . who sold the mansion and lands to Thomas Thompson , of London : his executors conveyed them , by deed of sale , in 1640 , to George Pyke , Esq . of Binsted , in the county of Southampton , whose son , CHAP . V. George Pyke , Esq . of Mildred , in Cambridgeshire , built the present mansion in 1668 . It contains seven rooms upon the ground floor , and , instead of chambers over the hall , a balustraded gallery surrounds it , which gives a communication to four bed - rooms , and adds a magnificence to the hall not met with in the present mode of building . This gallery was the promenade for the ladies every Thursday , when it was the fashion to keep open house for all visitors who chose to call and regale themselves , whether neighbours or strangers . This festive and hospitable custom ceased at the death of the first John Pyke , or soon after the year 1738 . Formerly in the dining - room window there were two ovals , with the arms of Wil- liam Pyke and Mary Upton , and John Crouch and Elizabeth Pyke , painted on glass ; and , over the hall door , three escutcheons , with the arms of different possessors , cut in stone . In the year 1801 , the gate and court walls were taken down , and the house new fronted , sashed , and greatly improved by the present possessor , George Pyke , Esq . The park , which was formerly stocked with deer , has several fine oak pollards ; one , handsomer than the others , is about half way between the south - west corner of the house and the park pales ; the branches grow so regular as to form a circle , whose diameter is upwards of eighty feet . Green . Harsted or Hastings Green , is a hamlet to Birdbrook , surrounded by the parishes Harsted of Finchingfield , Stambourne , and Steeple Bumstead ; a junction of the two latter entirely divide it from the parish of Birdbrook : it is three miles from the church . The principal estates in the hamlet are Harsted Hall and Symples , now called Harsted Green Farm , and part of Messings . Hall . Harsted or Hastings Hall , is a reputed manor , supposed to have derived its name Harsted from Robert de Hastings , who , in the reigns of Edward the Second and Third , held , of the honour of Clare , two knights ' fees in Birdbrook , Foxearth , and Harlow . This estate is believed to have formed part of the fees belonging to Richard de Clare , earl of Gloucester and Hertford , who died in 1262 ; it was holden under him by Simon de Blaveny , and is supposed afterwards to have come into the possession of the Wanton family , and of the Pakenhams , one of their co - heirs . In 1499 , George Pakenham , of Hempstead , died without issue , holding this estate of the king , as of the honour of Clare . Margaret and Elizabeth , his brother's daughters , were his co- heiresses . Of these , Elizabeth marrying John Heron , son of Sir John Heron , of Hackney , had by him Richard Heron , who , by his wife Jane , daughter of Andrew Benloes , of Finchingfield , had Sir Edward Heron , created serjeant - at - law in Hilary Term 1594 , and constituted one of the barons of the exchequer in 1607. His first wife was Anne , daughter of David Vincent , Esq . of Lincolnshire , by whom he had Edward , John , and William : his second wife was Dorothy , daughter of Anthony Maxey , Esq . of Bradwell , near Coggeshall , by whom he had James Heron , Esq . of Pantfield . Edward , the eldest son , was created knight of the bath in 1603 , and , by his wife Anne , daughter of Sir Henry Brook , knt . had Edward and Henry . The estate was purchased of this family by Thomas French , who died in 1629 , and it after- wards became the property of Thomas Walford , Esq . by marriage with whose daugh- ter it was conveyed to George Gent , Esq . of Moynes , whose descendant is the present possessor . Bayley Hill . Various estates . Andrews . This farm is about a mile from the church , at the west end of the green , called Bayley Hill . Bayley Hill is a corruption of the word Ballium , an outer or inner court , or fortification . This is on the contrary side of the parish from the military way , neither are there any traces of intrenchments at this time to be seen ; yet probably there were formerly , as the name implies , and would have continued till this day , had not the plough and the spade been found more beneficial to mankind than the sword and the spear . It certainly is a fine situation for a fortress or an encampment , being the most elevated spot of ground in the parish ; and lately , in land - draining a field adjoin- ing Parkwood , called Mortlocks in the map , some antiquities were found at the north corner , where , upon a more minute investigation , there is the appearance of a fosse having been filled . This farm was purchased , with the other estates in Birdbrook , by Samuel Rush , Esq . in 1716. A cottage in Lower Leys pasture , since taken down , and some lands called Polleys , were afterwards purchased by him , and annexed to this farm : the whole is now the property of Sir William Beaumaurice Rush , knt . An estate , consisting of two farms called the Moat and Fowels , as appears by an old map of the parish , of the date of 1591 , was the property of Mortlock . It afterwards became part of the estate of Sir Gervase Elwes , bart . of Stoke College , Suffolk , from whom it passed to Sir Harvey Elwes , who entailed it first on his nephew , John Elwes and his heirs ; and , in default of such issue , to John Timms Harvey Elwes , grandson of his sister Amy . Upon the death of Sir Harvey Elwes , in 1763 , it came to John Elwes , Esq . who , in 1789 , was succeeded by J. T. H. Elwes , a colonel in the army , who afterwards arrived at the rank of a general . On his death , he left his estates to his eldest son , John Payne Elwes , Esq . To the same proprietor also belongs Hunnicks , or Honenechs , which , from Sir John Mordaunt , knt . passed to Richard Tyrell , Esq . and was sold by him , in 1563 , to William King . It after- wards belonged to the family of Pepys , and was sold by Samuel Symonds Pepys , Esq . of Cambridge , to Sir Harvey Elwes . A farm named Andrews has continued more than three hundred years the property of the Gent family , being part of the Moynes estate in Steeple Bumstead , which came by the marriage of William Gent with Joan , daughter of William Moyne , Esq . about the year 1470 . Mr. Morant , in his History of Essex , says it was purchased by the above Joan Gent , in 1494 , but the following extracts from the original deeds , prove it their pro- CHAP . V. perty prior to this date . " March 1st , 1472 , twelfth of Edward the Fourth , a feoffment from Thomas Stoke , William Gent , and Joane his wife , to Thomas Westle and Robert Aglewood , of the manor of Moynes , & c . " Another deed mentions , " September 6th , twentieth of Edward the Fourth , in 1480 , Thomas Bendish the elder , Esq . makes a warrant of attorney to John Holyoke , to make livery and seizin of the manor of Moynes to Joane , the wife of William Gent , Esq . " wells . Remarkable springs were , in the time of the Saxons , much resorted to by invalids , Chad- on whom they wrought , through their medicinal virtues , what were then considered miraculous cures : this led the monks to monopolise and dedicate them to their favourite saints , to whose intercession in heaven , and their prayers on earth , they art- fully attributed the advantages received . The name of this estate is from a well of this description , dedicated to St. Chad , and is also distinguished by the circumstance of there having been numerous Roman antiquities dug up here , in Oxley field . In 1591 , it was the property of Edward Whitehead , who was succeeded in this possession by Dr. Clark , from whom it was conveyed , by will , to Mr. John Hudson , and , by marriage with his daughter , to David Barley , Esq . of Youngsbury , in Hertfordshire . The Wash or Shop farm , in the old map called Leaman's , is a copyhold of Bird- The brook Hall . It belonged to E. Thompson , Esq . of Haverhill , whose daughter carried it , by marriage , to Robert Finn . In 1737 , it belonged to Richard Finn , then to Thomas Webb , whose executors sold it to Dr. Gibbon , of Hadleigh , at whose death , in 1804 , it was bought by John Frost , the tenant ; he dying in 1807 , it was purchased by Mr. G. Rawling , of Andrews farm . Wash . mill . This mill is of very ancient date , notwithstanding Lord Kaimes ' observation , " that Water- we had neither water - mills or wind - mills in England in the reign of Henry the Eighth . " Lord Kaimes made no allowance for the improvement of arts between the south and north countries ; he judged from the Earl of Northumberland's household book , which mentions their using the horse - mill at that time : he justly observes , the first invention we read of for grinding corn was the querns or hand - mills , next the horse - mill ; im- mediately to the horse - mill succeeded the water - mill , and , last of all , the wind - mill . * Water - mills are mentioned in the old charters , as early as the years 664 and 944 , and wind - mills as early as the reign of King John . In the year 1200 , there was a wind - mill standing near the nunnery , at Canterbury . In the year 1555 , there was a wind - mill upon Messing farm , in this parish . When Richard de Clare removed the monks from Clare Castle to Stoke , he gave them the water - mill at Stoke in exchange for the water - mill at Clare . In the year 1225 , it was ordained that millers should have but one half - penny for a quarter of wheat grinding ; the price increased as the value of money was less , or the grain cheaper ; but of the poor people that , by gleaning or otherwise , were possessed of small quantities of corn , and could not pay in money for the grinding , a certain toll or portion of the meal to the value allowed was deducted : this was the origin of toll . Many other instances could be produced to show the antiquity of mills . Without any others , this mill at Bathorne would have been sufficient proof , for , at the time of the general survey of the kingdom , by order of William the Conqueror , notice was taken of the mill at Bathorne , in this parish , and entered in Domesday - book— " Semper i molendinum tunc et post val ' vii libras , modo viii . " It then belonged to Ralph , brother of Inquar , the owner of Birdbrook Hall and Baythorne Hall ; from him it passed , with those estates , to Roger , second son of Richard , earl of Clare , who granted it , with Birdbrook Hall estate , about the year 1113 , to Ralph Peche . In 1283 , Gilbert , son of Hamo Peche , gave it , with the above estate , to King Edward the First and his Queen Eleanor . In 1294 , the king gave it to the abbot and convent of Westminster ; the abbey of Westminster was possessed of it till its sup- pression , 16th January , 1539 , then , with Birdbrook Hall , it became the property of the crown . The 10th of June , 1541 , King Henry the Eighth sold the manor of Birdbrook , advowson of the rectory , and this water - mill , to Robert Tyrell , of Warwicks , in Essex . This mill passed , by marriage , with the above manor , to Sir John Dalston , of Cum- berland , Henry Gent and Thomas Gent , Esqs . of Bumstead , Sir Edmund Alleyn , bart . of Hatfield Peverel , Francis Thompson , Esq . of Hambleton , in Yorkshire , and Lord George Howard , whose wife , Lady Arabella , sold it , in 1716 , to Samuel Rush , Esq .; it descended to John , his son , who was succeeded by his brother , Samuel Rush , Esq . of Benhall , in the county of Suffolk . From the above , it appears that the water - mill has been part of the Birdbrook Hall estate , from the Conquest till the year 1779 , when it was sold , by Samuel Rush , Esq . to Mr. Richard Fitch . The church is dedicated to St. Austin , and the nave is of one pace with the chancel