England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ramsden Crays St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Ramsden Crays lies in southern Essex about 3 miles southeast of the town of Billericay, Ramsden Crays is not marked on modern ordnance survey maps but lies west of its twin parish of Ramsden Bellhouse and north of Crays Hill, the latter forming the major settlement within the parish. Crays Hill lies on the A129 road linking Billericay and Wickford. Modern developments have come to this area as the London to Southend railway line passes through the northern part of the parish. Prior to modern developments Ramsden Crays was a largely arable farming settlement albeit with extensive woodland in that northern portion, some of which remains to this day. Ramsden Crays is drained eastwards by the infant River Crouch which flows the short distance into the North Sea through Burnham on Crouch. Ramsden Crays is sited at between 20 & 30 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where local heights rise steadily northwestwards reaching 90 metres within Billericay. Ramsden Crays parish was on the small side, even by Essex standards, covering 1,200 acres it would have supported a population of just under 300 parishioners. In Domesday times the two Ramsdens were returned in combination so it is tricky separating the two manors of the Crays portion, documentary evidence states that the portions held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux and one Ranulf were the Crays portion in which case it could offer just 2 ploughs and small meadows but extensive woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church was declared redundant in 1993 and has been converted into a private dwelling, it lies at the northern end of Church Lane which runs north from the A129 at Crays Hill across the Crouch valley. The church was so extensively restored in the 1860s that little remains to make dating possible. Retained features including a 13th century lancet of the Early English Gothic remain as well as 15th century windows. The weatherboarded belfry is also 15th century. Church Lane runs north from Crays Hill for almost a mile before reaching the site of the former church, as the building is now a private residence there is no access to that albeit the owners do permit visits to the churchyard graves.