104 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
modern ones to suit its altered destiny. The stone sills to a pair of external
niches—probably once windows—in the south-west wall bear on their
upper surfaces the date 1659 and the names HES CAMBELL and THO
CAMBELL respectively (for Thomas Cambell and his wife Hester, the
then owners). The stone balls and shields which once adorned the
entrance gateposts to the large walled-in garden and which bear the arms
of Cambell, Willington and Corsellis, now serve as ornaments at each side
of the doorway to the 18th century farmhouse. The site of the original
larger mansion is evidenced by the fragment of vault still remaining in the
garden. Mr. Crouch furnishes the following account of this historical
property :—
" The manor of Clay Hall was held under the Abbess and Convent of
Barking by a quit rent of 15s. 3d. (equal to about £9 to-day) and the
following services, viz., that the tenant should come in person to the
Abbey Church of Barking on the eve of St. Ethelburgh the Virgin—
the foundress of the Convent— and there attend and guard the High
Altar from the first hour of Vespers till 9 o'clock the next morning, and
that he should be ready at all times, with a horse and a man, to attend the
Abbess and her Steward when going upon the business of the Convent,
anywhere within the four seas, and lastly, that the Abbess should have by
way of heriot upon the death of every tenant his best horse and accoutre-
ments. (Mr. Lethieullier's MSS. from Esch. 15 Edward IV.) The lord
of the manor of Barking, of whom a large portion of this estate was until
recently held, was entitled to the two best live beasts on the death of the
tenant. I understand that on the death of the last tenant, the father of
the present occupier, he did not have to part with his "two best live
beasts." Whether before the Reformation or since there were therefore
certain disadvantages in being a tenant of Clay Hall.
" Joan, daughter and heir of John Trusbutt, Esq., of Holm, Norfolk,
and relict of Thomas Colt, of Greys in Cavendish, Suffolk, died in 1475,
holding Clay Hall of the Abbess of Barking, when it descended from John
Colt, her son.
" In the Royal Survey of 1617 Sir Hy. Colt is said to be the owner of
Clay Hall and 506 acres 1 rood 28 poles land adjoining, and the house
is described as 'one fair Capitall Messuage, called Clayhall, with fair
gardens, orchards, walks, courtyards and houses of office thereunto
belonging.' The land was valued at £15 per acre. The Hall remained in
the possession of the Colt family until 1628, when it was sold by Sir Henry
Colt (died 1635), fifth in descent from the first Colt owner, to Sir James
Cambell, grandson of Robert Cambell, of Foulsham, Norfolk, branched out
of Scotland. His brother Robert carried on the family and had two
sons, James, of Woodford, and Sir Thomas, of Clay Hall. It is this Thomas
whose initials occur on one of the balls now flanking the entrance of the
house, and on the chapel, and whose arms are in the granary, of which more
anon. (Plate 7.)
" In the Survey of 1680 Sir Henry Cambell Bt. is stated to be the owner
of Clay Hall, for which he paid to the lord of the manor a quit rent of
£2 12s. 81/2d.
'' The Cambells were merchant princes ; two became Lord Mayors of
London, Sir Thomas Cambell in 1609, and Sir James Cambell, of Clay