Priest House (School House)
Attached to the west end of the church is a timber annexe of two storeys
and an attic, known as the Priest House. We believe this was originally
for the priest or curate, replacing the home of the chantry priest endowed
by Thomas de Berdefield in 1329, which was located at the bottom of the
hill in Pound Lane.
It is difficult to put a precise date on the Priest House, owing to the various alterations which have taken place. Evidence seems to suggest that it may be as early as the late 1400s but with a substantial rebuild around 1600 and possibly altered again a hundred years later.
The present windows and door are twentieth century but the frames are probably in the same position as the originals. There was a late seventeenth or early eighteenth century red brick chimney stack that serviced the fire place on the ground floor, by the stairs, which is now hidden by a modern sink unit. The toilet was on the other side of the stairs and is now used as a storage cupboard. The door still has the wooden sliding window.
The second floor and the attic were originally open to the belfry and appear to have been boarded in during the last hundred years.
Priests’ houses attached to a church are relatively unusual in this area, being more of a feature in the West Country; this factor naturally increases the importance of this example. It is also similar in design to buildings in New England in the USA, so it is possible that whoever built it had a connection with New England.
A number of suggestions have been made regarding the use of this building other than the Priest living quarters.
R.A. Beckett, in ‘Romantic Essex’, suggests that it may have been a “Church House”, where utensils were kept for cooking a “Church Ale”, where “all things were civil and without scandal”!
Walker in his “History of a Little Town”, (Billericay), suggests that this building originated as an anchorite cell (Anchorite-someone who lives in seclusion, usually for religious reasons; a hermit). However, it appears to be too elaborate a building and there is no evidence to support such a claim.
By the time we reach the nineteenth century, Laindon had its own separate rectory. The building had been well and truly taken over as the village school and the most famous of the schoolmasters who not only taught there but also lived there was James Hornsby.
Ken Porter. Updated 7th December 2009.
