Will re Southfields, Dedham, [D/ABW 8/80] &

AGNES WODD of Southfield House in Dedham widow. 21 November 1583. [For John Wood clothier, see Volume IV, p. 320]. [BW 40/37]

 

To Richard my son these rooms in my house in Dedham, i.e., the great parlour, two butteries with two cellars under them, the hall, the weighing house, the burling shop, together with the parlour sollars and all the other sollars over the said rooms on the west side of the great messuage called commonly the Southfield House unto the gatehouse or gallery, and the gatehouse and chamber over the same. To him also South Field (containing 10 acres) and another close (3 acres) adjoining the messuage on the west part, and a barn standing in the gravel pit, with a parcel of ground in the field where the barn standeth (11/2 roods) for a way for him and his assigns to and from the barn, together with the now usual way from the barn field to the messuage, also the gardens from the said way lying about his part of the house; Richard to have his and their entrance, egress and regress into and from his part of the said rooms through the usual south gate of the messuage leading and being over the cellar belonging to John my son; together with half the yard room lying between Richard's and John's parts of my said tenement.

To John all the other rooms of my house, i.e. the little parlour, the cellar under it, the chamber over it, and all other the houses and rooms from the chamber and parlour on the south side and east part of my said capital messuage to the gatehouse on the north side of the said messuage; also free egress, regress and liberty to John through the gatehouse; and half the yard room between Richard's and John's parts; with the barn, stable, cotes, outhouses, yard rooms and orchards and all other the lands, meadows and pastures to the capital messuage belonging. Upon condition that John shall not molest or claim as heir to his late father any title unto Southfield given to Richard in this my testament, and if he do so to lose and forfeit his whole legacy and portion to Richard.

To Richard the bedstead, table, painted cloths and portal in the great parlour and the painted cloths hanging alongst the long table there. To John a trundle bedstead. The residue of my goods, ready money and movables unbequeathed shall be divided into two equal parts, Richard to have one and John the other.

To Edmund Browne my daughter's son £6 13s. 4d. at 23. To Agnes Browne my said daughter's daughter £3 6s. 8d. at 20. Provided always that my tenant George Bygges shall quietly have and enjoy the capital messuage, houses, lands and commodities for 7 years yet to come from Michaelmas last according to a lease of the date hereof without any let or interruption of Richard and John, their executors or assigns, anything in this my testament notwithstanding.

I make Richard and John executors, charging them to agree and live together like brethren in unity and peace. In case any ambiguity arise between them, they shall be decided by the good discretions of my trusty friends Richard Clarke the younger and George Bygges of Dedham, whom I ordain overseers.

To widow Durraunt 3s. 4d. and widow Aylmer 6s. 8d.

Witnesses: Ralph Kinge, Richard Clarke the elder, Richard Clarke junior, George Bigges.
[Emmison, F. G., Elizabethan Life: Wills of Essex Gentry and Yeomen, (1980), p.160]

Southfields is a fine half-timbered building with a courtyard plan and is connected by tradition with the cloth trade. It is said to have been 'a bays and says factory'.23 The will of Agnes Wood, widow of clothier John Wood of 'Southfields House', 21 November 1583 ties this fine property to the cloth trade. On line 12 is mentioned the weighing house and 'burling', which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as 'the dressing of cloth, especially by removing knots' and dates an early reference to the burling of cloth to 1530.

Though the woollen industry had existed in Essex at least since the C13th, it was the 'new draperies' of the sixteenth century which brought a prosperity to Essex towns and villages to rival the profits from agriculture. The new draperies were introduced to Essex by refugees from the Spanish persecutions in the low countries. The first considerable 'Flemish' arrivals in Colchester came by way of Sandwich probably in 1570-1571. 'Bays' and 'says' were lighter than the Essex or Suffolk broad cloths and far more economical in wool. The 'say' which became the chief product in Colchester at one time was a short light cloth used for shirts and linings. 'Bays' were also 'thin light cloths, but finely woven and un-ridged, one side was sheared and cottoned with hot irons while the other was smooth and retained a long nap'.24 In 1571 there were 185 aliens in the town of Colchester, of whom 177 were 'Dutch'. By 1586 a head count showed a remarkable increase to 1278 strangers. The 'Dutch Congregation', for they were allowed their own church, were granted a charter and the privy Council despatched letters to the town recommending that these strangers should be favoured and cherished since the town had benefited so greatly from the new draperies, [Acts of the Privy Council, 1601-4, 31 December 1603]. The 'Dutch' quarter of Colchester which clustered around West and East Stockwell Street remains a feature of tourist trails around the town tothis day.

Will re: Southlands, Dedham