Marks (manor house)

[4] The manor lay partly in the parish of Dagenham and partly in the Liberty of Havering[4] with notable burials and marriages being carried out in the parish church in Romford, located in the market place.

[5] While originally constructed by the de Merk family the manor had changed hands and in the middle of the 15th century was held by Thomas Urswick, Recorder of London.

However a survey made for him soon after this describes the building as "a great house in decay"[8] and there does not seem to be any evidence that Francis Bacon ever resided at Marks, so that by 1589 George Hervey had been installed as tenant, going on to purchase the manor outright in 1596 for £1500.

On his death in 1605 Sir George Hervey bequeathed 'the Manor of Marks in Hornchurch in the Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower held freehold' to his son Sir Gawyn Hervie, Knight[9] who lived there until his death in 1627.

[11] Gawen Hervey left the manor to his nephew Carew Hervey Mildmay, and as he was a Parliamentary commander in the Civil War Marks was attacked in June 1648 by Royalists on their way to Chelmsford,[5] although the house remained in the family as a document of 1652 is signed by Carew Mildmay of Marks.