The History of St. Nicholas Church - Part 3
Following Pell, there were no more rectors of national repute and tracing the history of the church is difficult, as records are poor. We know most about Dr Pell because he is the subject of a chapter in John Aubrey's 'Brief Lives' written in the 17th Century. There appear to have been few additions, if any, to the building itself and the church appears today, with the exception of minor maintenance works, as it probably did at the beginning of the 18th Century. It was that century which saw the commencement of the keeping of church registers with any consistency and burials as long ago as the 1739's may be seen in the registers.
With the exception of the installation of the organ, St Nicholas has seen little structural alteration during the 20th Century. However, extensive repair work has been carried out during the 1980's and 1990's. In the mid 90s,it was upgraded to Grade 1, from being simply 'listed'.
St Nicholas is in the Deanery of Basildon, Diocese of Chelmsford, of the
Church
of England.
Dunton is now part of the Parish of St Nicholas. The Team Parish of Basildon (comprising of St Nicholas, Laindon, Holy Cross, St Peter's, Nevendon, and the New Town centre church of St Martin) was created circa 1974 to cater for the rapidly growing population. On Nov.30,1990 the Team Parish was dissolved and the districts of Laindon and Dunton were formed into the new parish of Laindon with Dunton.
The Dunton Register, which is written in Latin is kept in the Record Office in Chelmsford, as are the St Nicholas Parish Records.
Information taken from 'The Scurvey Parsonage' A History of St, Nicholas Church, Laindon, by C.D. Alderman M.A. (Oxon.)
On the west end of St. Nicholas Church is a small building, which was originally the Priest House and which then became the school house. It was the first school in the Basildon area.
In his will, dated 16th May 1617, John Puckle, left all his land in trust to pay for a school master. James Hornsby, who was the last school master, worked at the school for 48 years and received a sum of £20, twice a year.
In November 1874, there were 41 children attending the school, 20 of whom were on the Puckle Foundation. In that year, the eldest child was twelve years old and the youngest, Thomas Spooner, was five.
