HEDINGHAM (CASTLE), a parish in the hundred
of HINCKFORD, county of ESSEX, 19 miles (N. by B.)
from Chelmsford, and 48 (N. E.) from London, containing
1163 inhabitants. This place was the head of
an extensive barony belonging to the Norman family of
De Vere, one of whom, Aubrey De Vere, Earl of Oxford, is
supposed to have founded a castle here in the reign of
Stephen. During the war between King John and the
barons, this fortress was taken by the king, in 1216;
in the following year it was surrendered to the Dauphin
of France, who had been invited to England by the insurgent
barons; and soon after the death of John it
was recovered by the Earl of Pembroke, regent under
Henry III. Many additional buildings were erected by
John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, a distinguished partizan
of the house of Lancaster, during the civil war in the
fifteenth century, who gave a most sumptuous entertainment
at Castle-Hedingham to Henry VII.: that king
subsequently caused the earl to be prosecuted for giving
liveries to a number of his retainers, in breach of the
provisions of a statute then recently enacted, for which
offence he was fined fifteen thousand marks. The succeeding
earl sold the estate, having previously dismantled
the castle and razed the surrounding edifices; but the
keep, or great central tower, is still standing, and forms
an object of considerable interest to antiquaries. Fairs
are held at Hedingham, for hops and cattle, May 14th,
July 25th, August 15th, and October 25th; and the
petty sessions for the division of North Hinckford are
held here on Tuesdays. The living is a perpetual curacy,
in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of
London, and in the patronage of Lewis Majendie, Esq.
The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is an ancient
edifice in the early English style, with a mixture of the
Norman, except the tower, which was erected about
1616: in the chancel is a superb monument to the
memory of John, Earl of Oxford, mentioned above, and
his Countess, with recumbent statues, armorial bearings,
and inscriptions. Here is a place of worship for Independents.
Some small bequests have been left by
different persons for the benefit of the poor. At
Nunnery-Street, near Hedingham, are the remains of
a Benedictine convent for nuns, founded by the De Vere
family, in the twelfth century, the revenue of which,
at the dissolution, was £29. 12. 10. On the southeast
side of the castle was an hospital, founded by one
of the same family, about the middle of the thirteenth
century, which has been long since destroyed.