Henry's restaurant, Aveley Essex

admin sinfulldude · Henry's restaurant, Aveley Essex

(was written and posted by madmart former forum's ADMIN )

Henry's restaurant :- formerly the Henry Gurnett, Aveley Essex

Henrys as it is know as now has gone under a few name changes other the years.

The site that is now occupied by the building is listed in the Domesday Book under the name of Kelituna (Kenningtons) by 1086 the manor was part of the fief (portfolio of lands) held by the French Baron William de Warenne (I) Earl of Surrey, he however rented it out to Wulfbert, his underlord. The Manor was passed down the family line until around 1300 when the land was rented by Henry Gernet. Henry now had a large estate in Wennington, Aveley and Rainham.

This large estate descended, including Kennington's, to heirs, until 1620 when it was bought from Sir William Ayloffe by Sir Edward Barrett, and was thus merged into the Belhus estate.

Kenningtons House (now Henrys) was a timber-framed building of two storeys. It was originally an isled hall of much style.

The building was built between 1275 and 1310. But over the years has gone under some re-modelling. In 1380 the building was extended to the south and in the 17th Century the brick chimneys were added and then in the 19th Century the inside of the building was modernized.

The building remained within the Belhus estate until 1937 until it was sold off to Essex County Council. The building then fell into disrepair until in 1979 when it was turned into a Pub and Restaurant.

Map Date :1872-1873

It has been very hard to track down all of the occupants of the building over the years and it seems that once the building and the manor were merged into the Belhus estate, the census records are not clear on which house is which, therefore leading to difficulty in tracking the names of the occupants.

As with all old buildings there are rumours of misdeeds and murders attracted to it.

Locals believe that a man was hung from one of the beams in the building, while others talk of a headless horseman.

The headless horseman tale I have come across before when I have been researching the Belhus estate and in fact I was told the story when I was a child.

It is said that late at night a headless horseman can be seen riding across the old Belhus estate to where the main gate once used to be.
If your lucky enough to speak to some elderly residents of South Ockendon or Aveley they might also tell you a tale that they were told when they were young, this is of a young lady of ill repute that visited the house but was never seen again,

some say that she knocked on the door of the house one cold winter night asking for some warm food and drink only to be turned away,

it is said that she was found nearby in the morning and had died of the cold.
But others say, she was chased by a local who knew of her nature and she fell in the mote and drowned.

But as I am sure you are aware, both tales tend to pop up all over the British Isles and are attributed to lots of locations…. but Henrys does have a mote!

There is also a pond in the grounds of Henrys, some believe that this pond was used in witch trials and had once had a ducking stool, but I believe that the pond is what is left over from the moat.

This might sound far fetched until you learn that 5 women were accused of being witches in the local area.

1580 Joyce Duckerell of South Ockendon
1583 Agnes Billinge of South Ockendon
1584 Agnes Byllynge of South Ockendon
1592 Elizabeth Boxer of Aveley
1616 Margaret Lambe of South Ockendon

and four more just down the road in Rainham

1574 Margaret Saunders of Rainham
1576 Margaret Saunder of Rainham
1593 Margaret Saunder of Rainham
1632 Mary Cutford of Rainham

Although some of the above names do look suspiciously similar!

All would have undergone horrid treatment and if they were lucky enough to survive, they would have then been taken to Chelmsford for a proper trial.

Of course, these women are the only ones that we know about, there are many more that were accused of being witches that never survived even to be put on trial.

As for the building now, it is a very pleasant Pub and Restaurant but there are some strange goings on.

When staff lock up of a night-time, footsteps can be heard coming from the restaurant above even though no-one is up there and a door in the main bar bangs loudly as if some is trying to get into the building.

The kitchen has also had it share of strange events. A gas burner has been found turned on in the morning and kitchen equipment never seems to stay were you put it.

This last one seemed to be repeated all over the building. Paperwork always seems to go missing, glasses have jumped off of the bar area, and staff often feel very breezes even when the heating is on full.