1 mile west from Ongar terminal station on a branch of the London and North Eastern railway, 8 north-west from Brentwood and 21 from London, in the Chelmsford division of the county, Ongar hundred, rural district and petty sessional division, Brentwood county court district, rural deanery of Ongar, archdeaconry of Southend and Chelmsford diocese.
The small church of St. Andrew is the only existing Anglo-Saxon wood church in the world, and consists of chancel, nave and a western tower of wood with shingled spire, containing one bell, which is dated 161 &: the nave is composed of the trunks of large oak trees, split asunder and set upright close to each other, being let into a sill at the bottom and fastened with wooden pins to a plate at the top and below: the church is 29ft. gin. long, 14ft. wide and 5 ft. 6in. high on the sides, which support the roof, and is believed to be the original structure in which the body of St. Edmund, king of the East Angles, murdered by the Danes, Nov. 20, 870, had sanctuary for a time on its translation from London to Bury St. Edmunds in 1013: there are some modern carvings of St. Edmund's head and various relics: the covers of the Bible and Prayer Book in the church are covered with some of the old oak from the venerable oak tree, against which St. Edmund was supposed to have been tied at his martyrdom: the tree itself known as St. Edmund's oak, was 20 feet in circumference, with branches extending over a radius of 84 feet; it fell Sept. 11, 1848 (at which time, by a singular coincidence, the timber walls of Greensted church were undergoing repair), and on examination an old arrow head was found deeply imbedded In the trunk: there is in the church a panel picture representing the martyrdom of St, Edmund, and a painting of the saint himself, a perfect specimen of the earliest Italian art and British workmanship: there are monuments to the Smyth, Cleeve and Ord families: the church has 80 sittings.
The register of baptisms dates from 1562; burials, 1561; marriages, 1576. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200, with 2½ acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Bishop of London in trust, and held since 1925 by the Rev. Ralph William Doyle M.A. of Queens' College, Cambridge. Three yearly charities, viz. Rayner's, of £5 17s. 4d. ; Bournes', of £2, and Sammes', of £2 14s. 4d., were amalgamated in 1904 by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners.
Greensted Hall is the property and residence of Howel John James Price esq. D.L., J.P. The soil is various; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley and roots. The area is 683 acres; the population in 1931 was 119.
Letters through Ongar, nearest M.O.& T. office
PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
(For T N's see general list of Private Residents at end of book.)
Armstrong Sidney P., Silver Birch cottage
Dacre Lacey Edward, Greensted house
Doyle Rev. Ralph William M.A., (rector), Rectory
Hoare Charles Noel, The Croft
Lloyd Jones (Mrs.), Blackstock
Maud Francis Herbert, Greensted ho
Price Howel John James D.L., J.P, Greensted hall
COMMERCIAL.
East Wm. farmer, Harding's farm
King Abel, head gardener to H. J. J. Price esq. D.L., J.P
Wilson Gavin, farmer, New Hall farm. T N Ongar 98