Great Horkesley Essex Family History Guide

Great Horkesley is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex.

Alternative names: Great Horksley

Parish church: All Saints

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1558
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1639; 1737; 1800

Nonconformists include: Society of Friends/Quaker

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Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

HORKSLEY (GREAT), a village and a parish in Lexden district, Essex. The village stands near the river Stour and the boundary with Suffolk, 1¼ mile S by W of Nayland, and 4 N by W of Colchester r. station; and has a post-office under Colchester.

The parish comprises 3, 048 acres. Real property, £5, 184. Pop., 769. Houses, 172. The property is divided among many. Westwood House is the seat of John L. Gower, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £1, 005. Patron, Countess Cowper. The church is ancient but good; consists of nave, N aisle, and chancel, with handsome tower; and has a very fine memorial window to Bishop Ward, of Sodor and Man. There are a Wesleyan chapel, a national school, and charities £40.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

HORKSLEY, GREAT (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, Colchester division of the hundred of Lexden, N. division of Essex, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Colchester; containing 730 inhabitants.

This parish, which is bounded on the north by the river Stour, is pleasantly situated, and comprises 3083 acres, whereof 2592 are arable, 258 meadow and pasture, and 134 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £15, and in the gift of Earl de Grey: the tithes have been commuted for £989. 17. 6., and the glebe contains 46 acres. The church consists of a nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a handsome embattled tower. There are remains of an ancient chantry (now converted into two cottages), apparently of a date not long subsequent to the time of Edward III.; in old documents it is called the Lady chapel.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848