Some 17th Century House Improvements

In 1663, Samuel Hall became Rector of Theydon Mount and moved into the parsonage house (TQ491993) near the mansion of Hill Hall. He left amongst the parish records, a list of the improvements he made to the house over the next few years.

“The parlour of the parsonage house and the parlour chamber were glazed and boarded Anno 1663.
The garrets over the parlour and Hall chambers were boarded 1664.

The east side of the parlour and Hall and porch were lathed and covered with haire morter, 1664.
The kitchens end on the same side was done, 1666.
The Hall chamber was torched over between the gists, 1664.
The parlour and parlour Chamber was done so 1666.
The garret windows were new glazed 1666.
The brewhouse was built new from the ground and the wharfe made 1663.
The garden and court yard were new paled 1665.
All cost 130li By Samuel Hall, Rector who was inducted into this church June 1663.
The orchard and garden were gravelled and the quodling hedge made by him 1668.”

NOTES:
glazed/new glazed: It is unlikely that a house of this status would have had unglazed windows in important rooms as late as 1663. The glazing of the parlour and the parlour chamber must have been re-glazed, The garret windows though were ‘new glazed’ in 1666, i.e. for the first time.

boarded: This seems to mean that the floorboards were renewed.

torched over between the gists: Torching was a kind of daubing or plastering applied, in this case, between the joists. (It is more commonly mentioned in documents as being between rafters.) The undersides of the floorboards would originally have been visible from the room below, and they were then covered, either for insulation or visual appeal. Here it appears that the joists themselves were left showing.

wharfe: Was this some sort of terrace?

quodling hedge: This is a variant of codling of codlin, a type of apple.

A map of 1657 by Thomas Lane a detail of which is reproduced here, shows the parsonage as a medium-to-large house, facing east. Samuel Hall paid tax on seven hearths in 1671-3, a second only to Hill Hall in the parish. His predecessor paid only six, the new brewhouse probably accounting for the extra hearth. The orientation of the building confirms that only the most visible face was lath and plastered in 1664 and 1666.

Sadly the house has not survived. The grounds of Hill Hall were re-planned by Humphrey Repton, who suggested that the demolition of the parsonage would improve the mansion’s southern vista.

Today the site is covered by lawns. Not a trace remains above ground of any of the features so proudly listed by the Rector.