Great Sampford Essex Family History Guide
Great Sampford is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. Michael
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1559
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1629; 1802
Nonconformists include: Baptist
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
SAMPFORD (Great), a village and a parish in Saffron-Walden district, Essex.
The village stands on the river Pant, 3¾ miles NE by N of Thaxted, and 5¾ SW of Birdbrook r. station; and has a post-office under Braintree, and a fair on Whit-Monday. The parish comprises 2, 224 acres. Real property, £4, 119. Pop., 865. Houses, 192. The manor appears on record as a domain of Edward the Confessor.
The manufacture of straw plait is carried on.
The living is a vicarage, united with Hempstead, in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £255. Patron, Lady Eustace. The church is ancient.
There are a Baptist chapel and charities £7.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
SAMPFORD, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Saffron-Walden, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 3¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Thaxted; containing 877 inhabitants.
The parish comprises 2247a. 2r. 29p., of which 1620 acres are arable, 426 meadow and pasture, and 104 woodland. The surface is pleasingly undulated, and the scenery enriched with ornamental wood; the soil is luxuriantly fertile, and along the borders of the Freshwell rivulet are fine tracts of meadow and pasture land.
The village contains some good houses. The straw-plat manufacture has been lately introduced, and affords employment to several of the inhabitants.
The living is a vicarage, with that of Hempstead annexed, valued in the king’s books at £18, and in the patronage of Sir William Eustace, K.C.H.; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The great tithes for both parishes have been commuted for £1185. 3. 2., and those of the vicar for £360; the appropriators have 206½ acres, and the vicar 16½ acres, of glebe.
The church, situated on an eminence, is a handsome structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower strengthened by buttresses; the interior is rich in details, and contains some stone stalls of beautiful design.
There is a place of worship for Baptists.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Essex
- Civil Registration District: Saffron Walden
- Probate Court: Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of London (Essex and Hertfordshire Division)
- Diocese: Pre-1846 – London, Post-1845 – Rochester
- Rural Deanery: Sampford
- Poor Law Union: Saffron Walden
- Hundred: Freshwell
- Province: Canterbury