Transcript of the Will of Sir William Herris made from the PCC copy held at the National Archives.

In the name of God Amen I Sir William Herris of Shenfields of the parish of Margarettinge in the Countye of Essex, Knight being in perfect memorye thankes bee given unto Almightie God do nowe Constitute and ordayne this my last will and Testament in manner and forme followinge And by this my Will I doe renounce all other wills formerly made either by word or writing. Imprimis I bequeath my soule into the hands of Almighty God hopeing and [uncertain] believinge to be saved by the sole merritts and passion of Christ Jesus my only Saviour and Redeemer and my body to bee decently buried in the Chancell of Margarettinge Church as neare unto the place where my father and wife were buried as may bee.

Item I do ordain and appoint my daughter Elizabeth Herris of Margarettinge aforesaid my sole Exeuctrix and I give and bequeath unto her all my goods and chattells aswell within the doores as without which shall belonge and apptain [uncertain] at the time of my departure whatsoever and wheresoever they are or shalbe to witt all monyes which shalbe in my house att the time of my decease, and all other monyes which are due or any Waies unto me belonginge either by bill or bond or otherwise whatsoever as also all my housholdstuffe all my plate and all my Corne [uncertain] hopps aswell those that are growinge as those that are alredy in my house: and all manner of other my goods and Chattells whatsoever.

Item I doe intreate John Raymonde of Walter Belchampe in the County of Essex Esqr and my brother Edward Herris of Much Baddow in the County aforesaid Esqr to be the Overseers of this my last Will and Testament and I doe desire them (in regard my daughter Elizabeth is very yunge and inexperienced in the world) to be assistant unto her by their best advise and Councell for the better execucion of the true intent of this my Will and I doe likewise intreate them that they Wilbe helpefull unto her in puttinge forth such moneys as shall come into her hands so that she may receive thereby the best improvement. Item I do give and bequeath unto John Raymond of Belchampe aforesaid fortie shillings forr to buy him a ringe. Item I give and bequath unto my brother Edward Herris of Baddow aforesaid fortie shillings for to buy him a Ringe. Item I give and bequeath unto my daughter Frances Raymond fortie shillings for to buy her a Ringe. Item I give and bequeath unto my sonne Edward Herris of London Mercer fortie shillings for to buye him a ringe to weare in remembrance of me and I do require my daughter Elizabeth to pay the same unto them within one month next after my decease. Item I do further give and bequeath unto my sonne Edward Herris all that my land with the appurtenances which I purchased of Clovell Tanfielde of Margaretting Esqr comonly called Thistelers Hedgrowe, or Thistelers Springe or wood or by what name soever it be called conteyning by estimacion two acres more or lesse lyinge in the said parish of Margarettinge and nowe in the occupacion of mee the said Sir William Herris. The one end thereof abuttine south East upon one croft called Hammondscroft the other end thereof abuttinge North West upon one Meadowe called Cornefeild Meadowe and one side thereof abuttinge south West upon one croft called Thistelersfeild, and the other side thereof abuttinge North East upon part of the land belonging to one farme called Borrowes now in the occupacion of John Nash, To have and to hold the said land with the appurtenances called Thistelers Hedgrowe or Thistelers Springe or Wood unto the said Edward Herris and to the heires males of his body lawfully begotten and for want of such issue to the right heires of me the said Sir William Herris for ever. Item I give and bequeath unto the poore of Margarettinge parish twenty shillings in mony tenn shillings thereof to be payed at my funerall and the other tenn shillings to be paied that daie month next followinge to the Overseers of the said parish to be then according to their discretions to the poore disteributed. In witness whereof I do hereunto sett my hand and seale this first day of August Anno Dni 1632. Signed Will: Herris. In the presence of Ol Raymond, Arthur Huntsman. The will was proved on 19 Dec 1634 - probate referred to Edward Herris son of the deceased and Elizabeth Herris daughter and Executrix.

Shenfield (now Killigrews) was originally a manorial name for the messuage held by William de Shenefelde in 1279. Morant, the County historian, writing in 1768, says that the earliest that is known as to the ownership of the estate is that it belonged to the family of Gedge or Gage. From them it passed to the Harrys or Herris family at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Harrys family, after enjoying it for many generations, sold it to Robert Wood, a mathematician, from whose heirs it descended to the Alexanders.

The moated manor house was built by John Berdefeld/Bardfield (1477-1514). Some of the walls are of early sixteenth century and the moat is rectangular and revetted on the inner face with early sixteenth century brick walls. At the North West and south west angles are early sixteenth century octagonal brick turrets, with moulded plinths and elaborate cappings, forming a type of pinnacle. Cruciform loops in the outer faces of each turret, inner face has doorway with four-centred. Morant said that the moat was crossed by a draw-bridge, but this has now disappeared. In its place is a solid modern bridge of timber and brickwork.

Killigrews is marked as ‘Shenfelde on the map of Essex drawn by John Norden in 1594; as ‘Shenfeld’ on John Speed’s map 1610 of Essex,; as ‘Shenfield’ on Joannes Blaeu’s 1645 map: as ‘Shenvills’ on Chapman and André’s map of the County, published in 1777; and as ‘Shenvils’ on Mudge’s Ordnance Survey map published in 1805; and on Charles and John Greenwood’s 1825 map of Essex the house is referred to as ‘Shenvils’. On the 1st edition 25” ordnance survey map (1862-1876) the house is named ‘Killegrews’. and it continues with this name on the modern ordnance survey maps. The old name ‘Shenfields’ was discarded, apparently, about 1830. This was probably to avoid confusion with the parish of Shenfield only seven miles away.

In Britton and Brayley’s 1777 Beauties of Britain – Essex the house is referred to as ‘Shenfield Hall’ with the description that ‘the house lay in a bottom, had many large buildings about it, and was surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge’. From Excursions in Essex (Vol I 1818) ‘Shenfield House is said to have been one of those to which Henry VIII used to resort for the indulgence of his private pleasures. This house, situated in a bottom, was surrounded by a moat, and had a drawbridge, at the extremity of which were two strong watch-towers of brick. It had likewise a chapel adjoining. It covered a considerable spot of ground, but most of the original buildings have long been taken down.’ The house received a new front early in the eighteenth century and a new west wing was added in the twentieth century.

About 1845 Killigrews was purchased by John Attwood, who added it to the Hylands estate. On 22 March 1854 Killigrews was advertised for sale as part of the Hylands Park Estate. According to the 1854 sales particulars (ERO SALE/B5167) Killegrews at that time comprised 242 acres. The estate was referred to as Killegrew Farm and was in the occupation of Mr Thomas Hodges. The seven bedroomed house was surrounded by an ancient moat: also included in the sale were the barns, piggery, cow house, bullock house, granary, and a chaise house with brew house attached.

Miller Christy, in his article on Killegrews in the Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society 1916, described the general layout of the estate, with its broad moat and corner turrets, as ‘having been one of those semi-fortified manor houses which were built in England during the Wars of the Roses, or shortly after their close, when, owing to the extremely disturbed state of the country, no gentleman’s seat was considered safe without certain defensive works’. Miller Christy also wrote ‘that the moat was roughly ninety yards square and fed by land springs, the surplus water draining into the river Wid. Each side of the moat was forty or fifty feet wide. Between the main moat and the river was an enclosure, now an orchard, about an acre in extent, surrounded by a second, but much narrower, moat. At one time, the approach to the house was by a drive which crossed the bridge and ran straight for about a quarter of a mile, before it joined the ‘Great Road’, but since the building of the Great Eastern Railway, which crosses the line of this old drive, it has been done away with, and a new drive has been made a little more to the northward, joining the ‘Great Road’ close to the corner of Hylands Park. The small island-garden immediately surrounding the house has all the charm which only an old garden, tended with care by a gardener possessing both means and good taste, can ever acquire. In spring its lilacs, climbing roses, and laburnums overhang the old brick walls of the moat and are reflected in the water below. A very old filbert tree, one of a row, has probably a larger bole than any other in existence, having a circumference of about three feet. In the front, a very thick hedge of large clipped box trees, probably several centuries old, lines the walls of the moat; and, in chinks of these ancient walls, grow a profusion of wallflowers, snap dragons, pellitory, and other wall loving plants. Outside the house moat are other gardens, orchards, kitchen gardens and outhouses.’

In 1920 Killigrews was sold as part of the Hylands Estate. The sales particulars (ERO D/F 33/4/70 19 December 1920) refer to the garden as being a ‘delightful old-world garden, artistically laid out, a feature being the rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs, the yews, boxwood trees, etc., rose walk, bowers, rock garden, tennis lawns and conservatory. There is an excellent kitchen garden, for the most part walled in, well stocked with choice selection of fruit trees. The orchard is similarly stocked. The residence is well screened by a belt of trees and shrubs and at the entrance to the carriage drive stand a pair of well-built and slated lodges’ Killigrews was at this time let to R.C. Morgan, Esq. on a lease for a term of 14 years from 25 March 1913. The size of the estate in 1920 was 21 acres.