Foxearth is a village and civil parish on the borders of north Essex and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

in England, between Long Melford and Cavendish. The neighbouring parishes are

Borley Borley is a village and civil parish in rural north Essex, England close to the border with Suffolk. It is located near the River Stour. The closest town is Sudbury, Suffolk, approximately southeast of Borley; Sudbury is also the Post Town use ...

, Belchamp Walter, Belchamp Otten, Liston and

Pentlow Pentlow is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district, in the county of Essex, England. The population of the civil parish in the 2011 Census was recorded at 227. It is just south of the River Stour, and nearby settlements include the ...

History

Foxearth is an ancient settlement in north Essex. The parish is about in circumference; from

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

seven from Halstead, and from London. The lands are very good loamy clay soil. Foxearth has always been predominantly agricultural, and had its own watermill that originally fell within a separate parish, Weston, until the year 1286, when the two manors became united. In the reign of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

, the parish was in the possession of nineteen

sochmen Socage () was one of the feudal duties and land tenure forms in the English feudal system. It eventually evolved into the freehold tenure called "free and common socage", which did not involve feudal duties. Farmers held land in exchange for cle ...

and four freemen; The

Domesday Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

survey shows that the small manor of Foxearth Hall, had become the property of Richard Fitz-Gilbert, ancestor of the lords of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. Literally "fox’s den", the village is recorded as Focsearde in the Domesday Book (1086) and

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

spellings varied somewhat — Foxherde (1202),the Feet of Fines for Essex 1202 and Foxherthe (1232), Foxhierd (1221 & 1428), Foxhole (1212 and 1314), Foxhierd (1246), also Foxhirde (1246), Foxerht (1261), Foxeyerde (1294), Foxherne (1362), Foxhorn (1363), Foxzerd (1428) and finally Foxearth (1594). Until the mid-nineteenth century, Foxearth was a typical agricultural village. The village was transformed by wealthy vicar, Rev. John Foster. In order to loosen the grip of the farmers on the community, Foster funded a brewery in the village in 1878 to provide alternative employment. The brewery was run by three generations of the Ward family. Under the Wards' influence, the village was rebuilt in red brick, with flint walls, with the brewery providing employment. It was one of the pioneers in the production of bottled beers and also produced several non-alcoholic bottled drinks. The brewery was sold to

Taylor Walker & Co Taylor Walker was a large English brewery. History Taylor Walker & Co was founded in 1730 in Stepney as Salmon and Hare, and later became Hare and Hartford. In 1796 John Taylor acquired Hare's share, and the company took the name Taylor Walker i ...

in 1957, and the last brew of of Small Best Bitter Ale was made on 19 February the following year. Although the brewery was bought back in a reverse takeover bid in 1960, it was sold again by the Ward family in 1963 to Charrington United Breweries. The brewery site was sold in 1988 with the final demolition of the building begun in the 1990s. It is now a housing estate.

St. Peter and St. Paul's church

Foxearth Church Geograph-2960203-by-Keith-Evans

The parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul's stands on the east side of the village. The walls are of flint rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs with tile and lead. The church has a tower, nave, with a north aisle, and formerly a south aisle, and a chancel; adjoining the north side of which is Kemp's Chapel, which belongs to the hall. The whole building is of stone, and at the west end there is a square tower with eight bells (now dormant save the automatic clock chimes) and which formerly had a spire. The nave is of uncertain date, but circa 1350 a north aisle was added and the chancel was rebuilt. The north aisle was rebuilt and widened around 1450, and Kemp's Chapel was added; the chancel arch was possibly removed at the same time. The west tower was added in 1862 by Rev John Foster, and the church was restored and the south porch added at around the same time. The chancel, by , has an east window of ''c.'' 1350, and of the three cinquefoiled ogee lights with leaf tracery in a two-centred head; the internal and external labels are chamfered. In the north wall is a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

doorway, and further west a two-centred arch of ''c.'' 1450 and two hollow

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

ed orders; the responds are moulded and shafted, with moulded bases and

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

. In the south wall are two windows; the eastern is of ''c.''1350, partly restored and of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a segmental pointed head, under a chamfered label; the western window is

, except the internal splays and hollow chamfered rear arch, which are of the 15th century. Between the windows is a Victorian doorway. There is no chancel arch, but between the chancel and the nave is a chamfered and moulded beam, probably of the 15th century.The Monuments of North West Essex. A survey commissioned by H.M.Government in 1909

Sources

* ''Foxearth Brew'' - Richard Morris (book covering the Brewery's existence)
Complete text of Richard Morris's book. Foxearth Brew

Local history site for Foxearth

Foxearth and Liston villages website

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Essex Braintree District