High Country History Group

The non-conformist Thomas Wilson of Stanford Rivers noted, in a letter of 17 March 1819, that he ‘paid £190 a year in tithe to a clergyman who only reads a sermon on a Sabbath morning.’ He added that there was no Sunday school and that ‘the labouring people are very ignorant, and have very little means of instruction’. He had been keen for some time to send students to the village from the non-conformist college in Hoxton, but had been unable to get any parishioner to agree to provide the necessary accommodation. To solve this problem, he had acquired a cottage ‘on the turnpike road’ which would be suitable for a Sunday school in the afternoon, and for preaching in the evening. This began operating every Sunday from 20 October 1819.

Attendance was such that the cottage was soon found to be too small, and plans were being discussed to enlarge it. However a local gentleman offered £100 (provided that this was matched by a similar sum) to build a chapel, and this was opened on 27 June 1820. The building was enlarged and improved in 1832, and survived until its destruction by fire in 1927. The first pastor was the Rev. William Temple but finding a successor proved to be difficult. By 1846 a new minister, the Rev H. Cock, had re-established the Sunday school. However, Wilson’s son (and biographer) noted, using a rather convoluted agricultural metaphor, that ‘the soil is unpromising, but by diligent cultivation, under the hand of a faithful labourer, it will, I trust, not prove ultimately unproductive’.

Unlike the relationship between non-conformists and the established church in other parishes, the rector of Stanford Rivers, the Rev Dr Dowdeswell, remained on good terms with Thomas Wilson and ‘manifested a disposition rather to vindicate and to defend, than to oppose, the attempt to promote education, morality and Christian instruction in the parish’. Their better than expected relationship was perhaps assisted by Wilson’s purchase of a pew in the parish church for the use of his tenants and their families!

On the 21st of November, 1794, a meeting was held at Epping Place Inn, to take into consideration a proposal of J. Conyers, Esq., of Copped-Hall, for the better relief and employment of the poor.

Mr Conyers who was unanimously requested to take the chair, opened the business in an address to the meeting setting forth the many inconveniences sustained, as well by the poor themselves, as by the public at large, from the great decline of industry among the lower classes of the community; and the consequent necessity of adopting some plan for their relief and employment, which might be advantageous to all parties. He assured the meeting, that, anxious as he was that the poor should be better maintained, and their comfort promoted, by having their attention engaged in some active employment, he did not presume to recommend a merely speculative plan of his own, but one which had been tried with success in different parts of the kingdom.

The resolutions of a Society of Industry established in Rutland in 1785 were put before the meeting and it was agreed that they should form the ground-work of a similar establishment for the Hundreds of Ongar and Harlow and the Half Hundred of Waltham.

It was further agreed that the resolutions should be sent to the Ministers, Church Wardens, and Overseers of each parish, within the said Hundreds; and that they be requested to take the sense of their respective parishes on the propriety of establishing a Society of Industry.

The meeting was then adjourned until the 12th December at which time eleven parishes expressed their approbation of the plan. Agreed that the magistrates of the three hundreds, together with the ministers, church wardens and overseers of the subscribing parishes, be appointed trustees for the management of the Schools of Industry.

John Conyers, Esq., was appointed Chairman, and the Revd. T.A. Abdy, Treasurer of the Society. Subscriptions and donations were then received from many persons present in aid of the plan.

The meeting was adjourned to the 9th January, 1795, when two other parishes joined the association. Mr. J. Jellop, Attorney of Waltham Holy Cross was appointed Secretary.

The subscribing parishes were:
Bobbingworth
Chigwell
Chipping Ongar
Epping
Loughton
Nazeing
North Weald Basset
Shelley
Stapleford Tawney
Stondon
Theydon Bois
Theydon Garnon
Theydon Mount
Waltham Holy Cross

At a meeting on the 23 January it was decided to print ‘An Address to the Public on the propriety of establishing Schools for Spinning and other Work, &c.’

The annual subscriptions from parishes to be in proportion of one per cent of the annual amount of the poor rate of each parish. That of individuals should not exceed five shillings each, but larger sums might be received as benefactions.

The premiums in clothing be given to such children of certain ages and descriptions, as shall have produced the best specimens of industry.

That any young person at going out to apprenticeship or service or on being married, with the approbation of the committee shall receive not less than five pounds or more than ten pounds.

That premiums be given to such poor persons as shall have brought up four or more children (bor in wedlock) to the age of fourteen years without relief from the parish.

That it is recommended to the different parishes to provide a convenient place as a working room, and a proper person as teacher.

That it be likewise strongly recommended to the parish officers (as the most effectual means of preventing families from becoming chargeable) to furnish wheels gratis either to grown persons or children who are desirous to employ themselves, and to order the teachers to instruct them gratis, and to allow them free admission to the working room: and that the profits arising from work done by any persons not relieved by their parish, be considered as their own.

The committee next took into their consideration the manner in which the poor had been actually paid for the spinning work. It appeared, that, when the work was finished, a deduction in every pound of wool was made from the price, to be paid to the spinner, by the persons who supplied the raw materials, and that the poor were compelled to take the remainder in shop goods, instead of money. In order to relieve them of this hardship, the committee intended to employ persons to give out the raw materials, and to pay the value of all work in money.

As a check to wilful idleness, the committee requested the parish officers to give notice in their respective parishes, that applications would be made to the magistrate not to order relief to any poor family unless it should appear that every child above the age of six years could either spin or knit, or was actually employed in one of the School of Industry in learning to spin or knit. And in order to preserve uniformity and regularity in the accounts to be kept at the parishes, containing table for entering the names and ages of the scholars, with remarks on their attendance or absence, on the quantity of work done by them, and on their general behaviour.

At a meeting held on the 31st December 1795, the names of fifty two children were given in as candidates for the premiums offered to the best spinners and knitters and twenty-one parents were proposed as candidates of the premiums offered to those who had brought up four or more children (born in wedlock) to the age of fourteen years without parochial relief.

Resolved that premiums in clothing not exceeding two guineas, nor less than one guinea, should be given to the most industrious spinning or knitting candidate.
Likewise premiums in money, not exceeding two guineas, nor less than one guinea should be given to parents.

On the 22nd January the sum of £32.0s.6d given in money to the twenty-one parents and £23.10. in clothing to the thirty-one children.

At their meeting on the 11th April it was decided that in order to promote emulation among the poor, it was resolved to give to successful candidates, printed attestations of their merits and of the premiums given by the society, that the same might be hung up in their respective dwellings.

On the 12th September it was resolved to divide the candidates for spinning premiums into three classes:
1st class – children not exceeding the age of 14 years.
2nd class – children not exceeding the age of 12 years.
3rd class – children not exceeding the age of 9 years.

[details were then given of what each candidate was expected to produce to qualify for a premium.
For example: candidates for Jersey Spinning in the first class shall have spun ten dozen hanks during the trial months.]

On the 9th January, 1797, the committee distributed their annual premiums for the year 1796.

£37.5s.6d in money was given to 21 parents who had severally brought up four or more children to the age of 14 years, without parochial relief.

Clothing to the amount of £36.15s was given to 37 children who had produced best specimens of industry in spinning, knitting, and plain needlework.

List of Subscriptions for the year 1795

Stanford Rivers:

Lord Bishop of Gloucester 5s.
Mrs. Beadon 5s.
Mr. Beadon 5s.
Mr. S. Jones 5s.
Miss S. Playle 5s.

Stapleford Tawney:

Parochial Subscription £1.16s.
Mrs Clark 2s. 6d.
Mr. T. Glasscock 1s.
Mr. Luck 1s.
Mr. J. Roberts 2s. 6d.
C. Smith, Esq; 5s.
Mrs. Smith 5s.

Theydon Mount:

Sir. W. Smyth 5s.
Lady Smyth 5s.
Mr. W. Smyth 5s.

List of Subscriptions for the year 1796

Greensted

Rev. Mr. Warren 5s.
Mrs. Warren 5s

Stapleford Tawney

Parochial Subscription £1. 16s.
Cain 5s.
Mrs Cain 5s.
Miss E. Cain 2s. 6d.
Miss J. Cain 2s. 6d.
Mr. J. Roberts 5s.
C. Smith, Esq; 5s.

Theydon Mount

Parochial Subscription £1. 13s.

No candidates from the 4 parishes were awarded premiums for the year 1796.

[The article below was taken from ‘The Essex Foxhounds 1895 – 1926’, written by Brig. Gen. C. D Bruce, CBE, in 1926. ]

The section entitled ‘The Monday Country’ is included as it features people and places associated with the High Country. It should be taken in it historical context and is not intended in anyway as supporting fox hunting.
Editor]

The country hunted on Mondays extends south and south-east from the Epping and southward from the Epping –Ongar- Chelmsford road. A considerable portion of the area round Epping is grassland. As seen from a distance it is ideal hunting country. Anyone who recalls the view from the ridge near Bell Common along which the London Road runs, must have been struck by the fine hunting panorama, marred though it may have appeared to be by too much woodland.

Epping Forest, like the town itself, has for long been associated with hunting. The main earths hold foxes still, but in the Forest it is almost impossible to keep with hounds, nor can even the Hunt servants always know what hounds are doing. In very early days hounds were kennelled in the neighbourhood of the town. Nearly one hundred years ago Epping was described as “the grand depot where most of the gentlemen who live at a distance keep their horses.” The automobile has changed all that.

Copt Hall, a famous country-house in the annals of “the Essex” Hounds, stands - or rather stood, for the house was completely burnt out in 1914 - some two miles south-west of Epping. Now the property of Mr. E. J. Wythes, C.B.E., Copt was in 1818 the residence of Mr. John Conyers, perhaps the most famous master “the Essex” ever had. He died in 1853, up to which time hounds were kennelled at Copt Hall. Originally purchased by the great-grandfather of Mr. John Conyers about 1720, the old house was already famous as a hunting-box in the time of James II. This ill-fated King, the last of the Stuarts who threw away a throne, used to honour the then owner of Copt Hall by inviting himself to supper after stag-hunting in the Rodings. Not, it need hardly be said, quite the same style of stag-hunting as that pursued under the mastership of the late Mr. Henry Petre, Mr. Sheffield-Neave and other modern Masters of Staghounds.

When bought by the great-grandfather of Mr. John Conyers the old house at Copt Hall was past repair; it was demolished, and the present structure since destroyed by fire erected.

Within less than two miles of the town of Epping lie the most useful coverts the Hunt possesses, belonging to Major G. Capel Cure. A short but sweet hunt from Parndon Woods or Latton Park to Ongar Park is sometimes the piece de resistance of a good Wednesday.

Close to Ongar Park are Gaynes Park and Rough Tallies, both the property of Mr. Chisenhale Marsh, himself a consistent supporter of fox-hunting and in his day no mean polo player. In days now past, to the generous owner of Gaynes Park, the long defunct West Essex Polo Club owned one of the prettiest private grounds any countycould desire.

Next to the Blackmore High Woods, Ongar Park and Gaynes Park are the largest coverts drawn by the Essex Hunt. In addition to these large woodlands the Monday country is well provided with coverts of less extent, though the ever-encroaching urban conditions have brought about what is practically a new boundary in the south-west corner of the country. This boundary runs from Waltham Abbey eastward to the Wake Arms; thence to Theydon Bois Railway Station. At the station the boundary makes an abrupt turn south towards Abridge and thence on to Lambourne End and Collier Row
to the outskirts of Romford town. South and west of this imaginary line the Essex hounds no longer hunt.

Near Theydon Mount are the Hill Hall coverts belonging to the Trustees of Sir William Bowyer Smyth, which include Beachetts, Barbers and Shalesmore. In close proximity to Passingford Bridge – a good meet – Sir Drummond Cunliffe Smith’s coverts are most carefully preserved.

Across the River Roding from Suttons lies the Curtis Mill Green Covert to which curious rights of ownership are attached. The covert itself does not belong to Sir Drummond Cunliffe-Smith but the timber rights do. This covert was within the old Royal Forest boundary, as recorded in the ‘Perambulation’ of the year 1301. The Essex Field Club have re-erected the former boundary stones upon the east side of the Forest. The most northern ‘Richards stone’ stands at the north corner of Curtis Mill Green covert.

1606
John Gray and Zachee Pigot, drowned together, were buried together, 10th August, 1606.

1735
Thomas Pigot who was unfortunately killed by an unruly horse on the first, was buried on the twenty-third day of July, 1735, and Affidavit made and brought in due time of his having been buried in woollen.

1760
Joseph Marsh, an infant from the Foundling Hospital was buried on the 3rd January, 1760.

Samuel King an infant from the Foundling Hospital was buried the 30th day of January, 1760.

1761
Judith Barnes, an infant from the Foundling Hospital was buried on the 25th August, 1761.

1767
Josiah Thursbury an infant from the Foundling Hospital was buried on the 12th day of April, 1767.

The Moletrap pub has been a popular and well-known local landmark for centuries. As the only pub in the country called “The Moletrap”, the story about it being built on the proceeds of a new type of moletrap has often been quoted by locals and journalists. Its future is currently in doubt (it closed on New Year’s Day 2019), so this seems a good time to look back into its story more closely.

The pub is located on the south-east corner of Tawney Common amongst a small cluster of houses known as Woodhatch. Next door there is a 17th century house now split into two cottages, then Woodhatch Farm and, a little further away, a pair of brick cottages built soon after 1900 to replace some earlier ones nearer the farm. Chapman and Andre’s map of 1777 shows a block of buildings in the right place, as does an estate map of 1749.

Until 1851, Tawney Common really was a common: open grassland with scattered trees and bushes and a small wood in the middle. It would have been grazed by cattle and/or sheep belonging to local farmers, with gates rather than cattle grids at various key locations to stop the animals straying off the common. Around the edges of the common were cottages, most of them with associated allotments. These can all be seen on a map of 1850, which names Samuel Threader as the occupier both of the building now called the Moletrap, and also of an allotment or garden opposite.

In 1838, the Tithe Map shows the same situation, still with Samuel Threader as the occupier. Samuel left a will, which was quite unusual for someone who describes himself as a labourer. He must have been better-off than many of his farmworker neighbours, because he actually owned his house freehold – “a dwelling house and garden ground now in my occupation with all the appurtenances thereto belonging”. He left the building and land to his eldest son, also called Samuel, and the contents – furniture, clothes and, surprisingly, a silver watch – to his other son John. The residue, presumably cash, was to be used to pay for the funeral, and whatever remained was divided between John and his older sister Rebecca. Samuel’s wife Mary had already died some years before.

Samuel made the will in 1831, signing with a cross because he couldn’t write, and died in March 1840. The following year saw the first English census, which recorded the residents of each household, their ages and occupations. The census has been taken every 10 years ever since. Living in the house in 1841 were Samuel junior (aged 27)), his wife – another Rebecca – and 5-year-old Joseph, their only child. Significantly, Samuel’s occupation was given as “Mole Catcher”.

Traditionally molecatchers, armed with their own hand-made traps, were employed by landowners to rid them of the “little gentlemen in black velvet”. A large estate such as Hill Hall or Gaynes Park might employ their own full-time molecatcher; sometimes parish officials paid for them to be destroyed; and sometimes a molecatcher might add his skill to other agricultural work. He would be paid for each dead mole he could produce, and at certain times, when moleskin clothing was fashionable, he could sell the skins to a fur dealer.

Moles have never been a great fit for the fur trade because they’re so small – an adult measures only 4.3 to 6.3 inches long. The tiny pelts are cut into rectangles and sewn together into plates which are almost always dyed because natural colours are so variable, making it difficult to find a large number of matching pelts. The most common colour is dark grey or “taupe” (French for mole), but light grey, tan, black and even white have all been observed.

These plates are – or at least were – then made into coats or trousers requiring 500 pelts or more, the lining of winter gloves (fur side in), and a very soft felt for premium top hats. (Cheaper hats used rabbit while everyday hats used American beaver.) Above all, though, moleskin has always been associated with the fronts of waistcoats .

There is no hard evidence that Samuel Threader invented a new type of moletrap. Or if he did, he never took out a patent, which involved an expensive and complicated legal process. And he didn’t build the house: the maps show that it was already there. Its carpentry and design appear to date from the late 18th or early 19th century. But – Samuel did trap moles, which could be a lucrative source of income.

The 1851 census records Samuel simply as an “Ag lab” (agricultural labourer), with no mention of molecatching, although he was probably still using his skills. 1851 was a significant year in the history of Tawney Common. The Lord of the Manor, Sir William Bowyer-Smijth of Hill Hall, enclosed the common with hedges by a private act of parliament. He was at the time the sitting MP. His plan was to create a new farm and take advantage of the high price of corn at that time. This took a couple of years, but “New Farm” (later re-named Mount Farm by the Galloway family) was finished by 1853, a date carved on a post in the large barn. Sir William was by no means the only landowner to enclose former common land. Parliamentary enclosure had been going on since the 18th century, with no compensation for the cottagers who had lost their grazing rights and allotments.

But Samuel Threader retained his garden allotment because he owned it freehold, and continued to live in the same house. The newly created farm and the boom in agriculture probably helped to increase employment locally and perhaps put a few more pence into workers’ pockets. Samuel seems to have taken advantage of this potential market and by 1861 he is recorded as “Beer House Keeper”. In 1871, the property is described as a “Beershop” and named for the first time specifically as “Moletrap”. Samuel was living there with his wife Rebecca and 11-year-old grandson, another Samuel. Charles Doe and his family were living in “Cottage adjoining”, which may refer to the left-hand extension of the main building. It seems not to refer to the detached cottages next door, which are named as “Trapgate Cottages” and housed three families.

Samuel died in 1879 and Rebecca took over the licence. The photo below shows Rebecca (on the right) with her name as licensee. At that time only the passage and the room to the right were used as the pub. Rebecca carried on the business in her own name, no doubt with the help of her grandson Samuel, a farm labourer, and grand-daughter Ann. In 1891, 80-year-old Rebecca was being assisted at the beerhouse by a different grand-daughter, another Rebecca, probably the woman on the left in the photo. Grandson Samuel was still living there.

Rebecca finally died at 83 in 1894, having run the pub as a widow for 25 years. Her grandson Samuel took over the licence and it seems that half his extended family moved in. His widowed mother, his younger brother John, his married sister and her husband and child, and another niece all lived there with him. One of the nieces, Lilian Hull (nee Tarling), described in a letter what the Moletrap was like when she was there as a child.

“Saturday evening was always special. The men used to collect in the old tap room and have a ‘sing song’. Each man had a song of his own. One I remember was ‘Soldiers of the Queen’. Always sung by Mr John Summers, who was Game Keeper for many years in the Bitchett Wood. Another was ‘The Soldier who never returned’.

In those days there was a seat all round the wall of the tap room. In the seat on the left of the fireplace was a hole with a drawer under and some very heavy pennies which the men used to play pitch penny, also on one of the tables was drawn a shove halfpenny board. The halfpennies were worn smooth even in my childhood. Another thing they used to play was quoits, in the small meadow belonging to the house down the hill a little way on the left. If you don’t know what quoits are, they were round steel rings, sharp one side and they were thrown a certain way.

The house was open all day except Sunday. Anyone who could prove they had come over three miles could have refreshment on a Sunday morning.

Most men liked their beer in pewter mugs. China ones was also used. Glasses were for very special people and lived on a shelf in the passage way leading to the cellar at the back.”

Samuel Threader died unmarried in 1903 and his brother John, who until then had worked at the blacksmith’s in Theydon Mount, took over. In 1907 John fell foul of the Sunday trading law mentioned by Lilian – that only genuine travellers were allowed to be served.

The Chelmsford Chronicle reported that John Threader had been summoned before Ongar magistrates “for serving men with drink during prohibited hours”. Two men from Ivy Chimneys, two from Epping and one from Epping Upland were also summoned for being on licensed premises on a Sunday. The local policeman, PC Danes, reported that he had seen the landlord serve them out in the yard with one drink, and his niece with another. Jacob Miller, the farmer at New Farm, obviously wasn’t keen on the pub and said it was regular practice for men like these to visit the house on Sunday mornings, and they were nuisance to the neighbourhood – which was denied by Threader. Although the men all lived more than three miles away, it was decided that they were not bona fide travellers and had walked there specifically to get a drink. John was fined 10s, with 4s 6d costs, and the men were also fined.

John was the last Threader at the Moletrap. He sold it in 1910 and later worked as gamekeeper on the Suttons estate until his death in 1928.

The new landlord was a local man, John Dockerill, who took it over with his wife Sarah, but according to Lilian Tarling, the actual owner by then was the brewery. During John Dockerill’s time, the Essex Hunt used to meet outside the Moletrap a couple of times a year, in February and November. A photo of the meet in 1929 shows a mother from the cottages next door holding up a little child over the fence to see the spectacle. According to the late Doris Messinger, the child caught cold and later died. Little Catherine Tarling (a relative of Lilian Tarling) was buried in the tiny grave just inside the Tawney churchyard gates.

By 1933, there was a new landlord, 30-year-old James William Smith. His parents and younger sister lived there too and helped with the pub. In May 1936, James also had a problem with the Sunday trading laws and appeared in court . Pubs were allowed to start serving at noon, but two police officers visiting at 11.30am saw four men in the tap room playing at the pin table with glasses of beer nearby. Various excuses were made: that the beer was left over from the previous night (despite it still having a head), that it was only shandy, that the men had only gone there for ‘biscuits and a rest’, and that they were waiting until midday to drink it. Smith and one of the men, who was witnessed actually drinking his beer, pleaded guilty, but the others were let off. Interestingly, two of the men came from as far afield as Homerton in Hackney.

The Moletrap was in the newspaper again in 1939, when a fire was reported :

“Occupants of the Moletrap Inn, Stapleford Tawney, left their rooms early yesterday in their nightclothes when old beams over the fireplace in the bar parlour caught alight. People from adjoining cottages formed a bucket chain from the tap on the green outside to the house and got the fire under control.”

By then, James Smith’s mother Florrie had died, and his father Cornelius, a fishmonger turned “general dealer”, married Hilda Power, the daughter of the farmer at Woodhatch next door. It was just after WWII broke out, and she was 32 and Cornelius was 68! After both Cornelius and James had died, Hilda ran the pub herself for several years .

Arthur Bard (known as ‘Nip’) took over the pub in the 50s. It had a reputation even then for being in a remote and unexpected location. Arthur had a business card printed, claiming “It takes Radar to find it!” Radar had only been properly developed in the 1930s and it was acclaimed as an exciting new technology that helped us win the war. Nip himself had been in the army for a number of years before moving to the Moletrap. At this time the pub area was still tiny: a hatch at the end of the passage for the bar, and the small room to the right.

Nip died in 1967 and his wife Carol took over for a few years until a short-term manager was appointed, who lasted until John and Kit King arrived . The Kings opened the centre room to left of the passage, almost doubling the seating area, and started serving a limited choice of food. In the summer it was a popular choice for motor bikers, who could be heard roaring round the lanes at closing time. When the Kings retired, the brewery (McMullens by then) decided to sell. The new owners were Dave and Jean Kirtley. They expanded the food side of the business and, as a Free House, sourced a range of quality beers, much appreciated by their CAMRA fans. As business grew, and assisted by their sons Will and Jim, they built a larger kitchen with accommodation and extended the pub area into the left hand end. For many years the pub thrived, its quirky individualism, great beer and good fresh food appealing to its many fans.

Sadly in the last couple of years, a combination of ill-health, increasing age and bereavement made running the pub too difficult for the Kirtleys. After serving the local and wider community for 160 years, the Moletrap closed its doors on 1st January 2019.

In the gloom of Brexit, it is perhaps useful to reflect on the historical aspects of our long and troubled relationship with Europe, and the movement of its citizens, even if the language has changed. To our medieval ancestors, ‘strangers’ and ‘foreigners’ were individuals from other parts of England, whereas ‘aliens’ were those from countries under a different ruler. ‘Aliens’ were not allowed to work or trade, but could apply for ‘letters of protection’ which enabled them to do so, usually for a limited period. There were two other possibilities for European settlers – firstly, to obtain ‘letters of denization’ which allowed them to buy and devize land (but not to inherit it, or to hold any office under the Crown) – and secondly by naturalisation through a private Act of Parliament. Apart from those wealthy or influential enough to obtain naturalisation, additional restrictions were placed on those with letters of protection or denization during periods of heightened international tension.

These procedures were recorded centrally, have survived in the National Archive at Kew, and now enable researchers to identify medieval settlers from Europe. As these individuals were taxed at twice the rate of the native English, it is also possible to identify them from the sums paid in the tax returns which have also survived. A recent national research project has created a database, free for anyone to search, on www.englandsimmigrants.com.

One might have expected to find to find migrants in a market town such as Chipping Ongar, but none appear on the database covering the medieval period. Instead there are a scattering of individuals in the surrounding countryside – Navestock, Lambourne, North Weald, Stapleford Tawney and Fyfield, all of these settlers only identifiable in the 1440s from the double rate of tax they were obliged to pay. Some of the surnames suggest their country of origin, for example the Navestock resident Gylmyn Flemmyng must have come from the Low Countries. Unfortunately there is no indication how these individuals were earning a living, or why they had settled here, apart from two individuals.

One, a surname-less John, was working as a servant to Roger Spyce of Stapleford Tawney. The other, Nicholas Touk of Stanford Rivers, is rather surprising and the records provide considerably more detail. He came from France, and in 1337 was granted letters of protection ‘in consideration of services to Queen Isabella’. The record also notes that he was parson of Stanford Rivers, and this is confirmed in Newcourt’s Repertorium which gives the induction of ‘Nic. Touch, clericus’ in 1326/7, presented by the church’s patron, the recently crowned King Edward III.

Some background history is needed to understand the significance of this basic information. Queen Isabella, daughter of the King of France, was the wife of King Edward II whose reign was dominated by the consequences of his infatuation with Piers Gaveston. Queen Isabella took an active political role, both before and after her husband’s murder in 1326/7. We will probably never know what part Nicholas Touk played in her affairs but, being French, he may have come to England as part of the Queen’s extensive household which numbered 500 or so. Nothing more is known about Touk himself, though he probably died in 1348 when the next rector succeeded to the parish. But why had he been parson of Stanford Rivers for nearly 10 years before he required letters of protection in 1337? The answer is almost certainly that this year marked the commencement of the Hundred Years War and England was making very active preparations for a continental offensive, with Essex effectively being put on a war footing. At such a time anyone with European origins might be regarded as suspect.

On June 29, 1926, the Queen honoured Sir Robert and Lady Hudson by driving from Buckingham Palace to Hill Hall. Her Majesty arrived in time for luncheon and stayed until after tea. The Queen made a thorough examination of the house and grounds, planted a copper beech, and visited the little church of St Michael’s. The Rector, the Rev. S.M. Stanley who there awaited the royal visitor, had the honour of pointing out the ancient monuments of the Smythe family and explaining to Her Majesty the nature of the repairs and alterations in the church. The Queen cordially approved of the contemplated works.

‘On Saturday June 18th a Service was held at Stapleford Tawney Church for that and Theydon Mount parishes in commemoration of the Jubilee of the Reign of Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. The special service was used and a sermon preached by the Rector. The lesson was read by Sir Charles Cunliffe-Smith Bt, nearly all the parishioners being present. [This part of the sentence was vigorously underlined.] Church crowded. Medals were presented to all the parishioners in the Churchyard and an adjournment made to Church Mead4 where a band enlivened the proceedings. A substantial meal was served in the Hoppet – Sports, swings, donkies [sic], fire [or fine?] balloons etc. Beer, tobacco and ginger beer, a lovely warm afternoon.

Over the entrances to the Mead and Hoppet, arches with inscriptions and a number of large flags had been placed. About £40 was expended including presents to those who were absent through infirmity.’

Protest Against the Rural Constabulary

To the Worshipful the Magistracy of the County of Essex in Quarter Sessions Assembled. The humble petition of the inhabitants and rate payers of the united parishes of Stapleford Tawney and Theydon Mount in the County of Essex.

Herewith, that although the rural police has made a considerable addition to the Burtherns laid upon your petitioners, it has not answered the ends for which it was instituted, within the parishes: the number of depredations during the night, having increased rather than diminished since its institution.

That it seems to your petitioners impofsible to prevent such depredations in ….. localities, without an increase of expense, too great to be borne by rural parishes.

That your petitioners consider themselves by the Act of Parliament, entitled to a strict equality of taxation, for the usual police, with the Towns and Larger Villages; whereas in reality, the Burthern of this Force falls most unequally upon portions of the Count strictly against rural, the Towns and larger Villages having nearly all the Benefit from the Police; which is rarely seen in the more secluded situations.

Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray he Majesty’s Justices of the Peace of the County of Essex, in Quarter Sessions assembled, to take into their serious consideration whether it is not expedient forthwith to report it as their opinion to one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, that the rural Police should be discontinued in the County of Essex.

The above resolution were agreed upon at a meeting of the Inhabitants and Rate payers of the two united Parishes aforesaid, holden in the Vestry Room of Stapleford Tawney, on Monday Dec 27, 1841; Sir Edward Bowyer Smijth of Hill Hall, in the chair.

Edward Bowyer Smijth, Bart.
Francis Tanner (Churchwarden)
John Smith
James Spencer
Thomas Rumball
Samuel Miller
Edward Hyde
John Mumford
Phi… Bailey
Thomas Shepher
Daniel Rumball
William Wood
Elizabeth Purviss
Mary Smith, Lady. Suttons
H Soanes (Rector)
Jon. Stokes
Richard Young
Charles Stevens
John Pavitt
Henry Stannard
Mary Cooper
William Dawkins
Christiana Worters
William Flack
William Sworder
James Wood
Charles Clark
Samuel Threader
John Rumball
Charles Osborn
Ann Stubbins
James Worters (Churchwarden)
+ 3 other names indecipherable.

From the Daily Sketch, Monday June 3rd, 1940.

One man died and another was seriously injured when sentries fired on a car that did not stop on the main road near Stapleford Abbotts. The dead man, the driver of the car was Joseph Henry Vaughan, aged 20 years, of Whitman House, Bethnal Green, E. His companion is in hospital.

Lights were flashed to signal the car to stop on Saturday night, but it drove on, and a sentry had to jump clear to avoid being run down.

The two sentries fired and the car was topped by one of the uninjured passengers.

At and Inquest held at Romford a verdict of justifiable homicide was returned.

[No further information was given in the newspapers concerning this incident. It is probable that the incident occurred near Stapleford Airfield.]

Sir Charles Cunliffe Smith, of Suttons, Stapleford Tawney, died there at the age of 78, after a long illness. Although born in London (the only son of the 2nd baronet of the title, by his wife, a daughter of William Gosling, of Roehampton), Sir Charles was intimately connected with Essex during the whole of his life.

Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he succeeded his father in 1831, when he was only four years old, and as a large landowner and landlord, has always been popular in the county. He was a good sportsman, and in his younger days a frequent follower of the hounds; a typical country squire, whose tenants and servants were content to remain with him and to seek no other homes. He was the oldest of the county magistrates, having been placed on the Commission of the Peace for Essex in April 1851. He was High Sheriff in 1852, a D.L. for the county, and until quite recently chairman of the Ongar bench of magistrates, from whom, on his retirement, he received a handsome presentation. Sir Charles married in 1855 Agnes Frederica, youngest daughter of Capel Cure, of Blake Hall ; their golden wedding was celebrated a few months ago.

He is succeeded by his elder son, Drummond Cunliffe Smith, born in Grosvenor Street, W., in 1861, and leaves another son and two daughters. Suttons is situated in the parish of Stapleford Tawney, and there Sir Charles was buried on Friday.

Chelmsford Industrial Trail

Originally devised and written by Stanley Wood in 1987

Revised and updated by Tony Crosby and Dave Buckley

Stanley Wood produced the original trail because he recognised the importance of the story of Chelmsford’s place in the industrial development of the UK in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has now been brought up to date in this attractively produced 54 page booklet. Wood’s text has been largely retained, with shaded boxes providing updated information on what has changed or disappeared in the last 30 years. In this way, the development of Chelmsford from manufacturing town to a retail and services based city can clearly be seen.

The Trail is in two parts, each around 3.25 miles long and estimated to take two hours.

The first part starts at the Stone Bridge in the High Street and covers the industrial heritage of the Moulsham Street area, including Moulsham Rope Works, Crompton & Company and the National Steam Car Company. The trail then covers some railway history before returning along New Writtle Street and finishing at the world’s first wireless factory, opened by Gugliemo Marconi in 1898 in Hall Street.

The second part starts with Moulsham Mill and the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, then follows the River Chelmer and finishes at the former sites of the Hoffman and Marconi factories in New Street.

The booklet includes numerous colour photographs and a clear map showing the trails and highlights along the way. It is also packed with fascinating information, making it a good armchair read as well as a walking guide.

The booklet is available to buy at the Chelmsford Museum, the Ideas Hub in the Chelmsford library and at the Hop Beer shop, 173 Moulsham Street, Chelmsford. Cost is £4. It can also be obtained by sending an email to essexiag@gmail.com for £4 plus P&P.

High Country Programme for 2019

25 July

The National Memorial Arboretum

Maggie Piper

22August

The Princess Alice Disaster

Martyn Lockwood

24 October

The History of Ongar Public Houses

Anne Padfield

28 November

Blackmore Anniversaries

Andrew Smith

Meetings are held in Toot Hill Village Hall.
Meetings start at 8.00pm.

Members £1 ~ Visitors £3.
Refreshments