High Country History Group

Essex Archaeological and Historical Congress is the umbrella organisation for local history societies in Essex. The High Country History Groups is a member of this organisation, since we believe that the Congress can offer a co-ordinating role for such societies.

Each year, Congress organises both an archaeological and a historical symposium. The Local History Symposium for this year, 2004, has the title The Church in Essex.

The symposium is to be held on:

Saturday, 20th March 2004
10.00 am to 4.30 pm
at
Christ Church, New London Road,
Chelmsford.

Speakers will include:
Professor Nigel Saul
Dr Julian Litten
Stephen Nunn
Andrew Phillips, and
Dr Jennifer Ward.

There is no limit on the number attending from societies or groups – everyone is welcome. The cost for each attendee is £15, or £10 excluding lunch.

Cheques or postal orders should be made payable to “Essex Congress”, with a stamped, addressed envelope, and sent to the Hon. Sec., Mrs G. Morris, 56, Armond Road, Witham, Essex CM8 2HA.

The recently published Journal of the Essex Field Club for the year 2002/2003 contains a paper, written by Gerald Lucy, titled “Essex erratic boulders: a gazetteer”¹. An erratic is a large boulder that did not originate from its current position. During the Ice Age, the boulder would have been carried from its origin by a moving ice sheet and deposited on the melting of the ice in its present position. This would have occurred some 450,000 years ago.

The gazetteer notes that the vast majority of Essex boulders are sarsens and puddingstones, both extremely hard silica-cemented sandstones and conglomerates, respectively. The Essex boulders are distributed mainly in the northwest of the county (in the districts of Braintree, Chelmsford, Epping Forest and Uttlesford).

The search and recording of erratics in Essex has a history going back to 1830. The Journal paper, building on earlier recording, develops a gazetteer of known erratics in Essex. The list is limited to those boulders which are larger than approximately 150cm x 90cm x 45cm, following from the traditional measure of 5’ x 3’ x 1’6” used in the early recording. The quoted measurement records the size of that part of the stone that is visible. Generally, only those boulders that can be seen from the public highway are included. Often they are to be found in churchyards, and occasionally churches are discovered to have used a glacial erratic in their foundations.

One entry in the Journal records:
“Stanford Rivers
Hidden in the grass by the road near the entrance to St Margaret’s Church (TL 534009) is a sarsen (90 x 85).”

Are there more in the High Country?
We are able add one more to the list. An erratic sits outside Temple Cottage, near to Coleman’s Farm in Clatterford End, Toot Hill. The stone has been moved from the vicinity of Burrows Farm, about 300 metres to the north. The stone is visible from the bridle path. We have reported this to Gerald Lucy. Are there any more?

Remember that this year is the tercentenary of the death of John Locke, England greatest and most influential philosopher. The Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge, is organising a residential course at Madingley Hall on the subject of John Locke and his philosophy. The course will run from Friday, 20 August, to Sunday, 22 August 2004. The full title of the course is John Locke: Politics, Philosophy and Religion and the Dawn of the English Enlightenment. The lecturer will be Dr Mark Goldie. The weekend will include an optional visit to High Laver, Essex, where Locke spent his last years and where he is buried.

Those paying Council Tax in Essex, will have noticed the effect of changes made by Government to the rate support grant. These changes have forced local councils to examine their budgets in order to make savings. The results of these savings on support for heritage and culture are now becoming apparent.

The Essex Record Office, which the High Country History Group visited last year, is one organisation targeted. The post of County Archivist was dispensed with over one year ago. There have been four holders of the position covering 64 years; Derick Emmison (1938-49), Ken Newton (1969-78), Vic Gray (1978-93) and Ken Hall (1993-2002). After the axing of the position, Ken Hall continued as head of the Essex Record Office. The loss of this well-established title is to be regretted and the tradition of outstanding archivists within Essex has been severed.

Now Ken Hall has been made redundant. This redundancy follows hard on the heels of the failure to replace one of the two senior archivists, on her promotion to the position of County Archivist in Hampshire. Richard Harris, the remaining senior archivist, has assumed responsibility for the Essex Record Office. Savings have not stopped there. The bookshop has been closed and associated savings have been made to the staffing on the front desk.

Closer to the High County, it is understood that the budget of the Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey, is likely to be hit by a cut of some £30,000 to £40,000. Such a cut in the budget of a small museum is likely to have serious repercussions for the activities of the museum. There are signs that such action reflects a consistent trend within local councils. Have museums and record offices enjoyed increased funding in recent years? Have they now been capped at recent funding levels or do the cuts signal the start of an attack on such institutions?

These steps are to be deplored. Local cultural and heritage services will decline as a consequence. Apart from this, the axing of senior positions will destroy career paths for young, aspiring archivists. It will reduce the confidence of those wishing to deposit archives in the Essex Record Office. Once shattered this fabric cannot be easily rebuilt. The fabric of culture and heritage is fragile. Please let your council know of your concern!

In 1871 the Chief Constable of Essex instituted the Merit Badge (or Star), which was to be awarded for ‘highly distinguished and discreet conduct in the discharge of their duty, particularly when accompanied with risk of life, personal courage and coolness aided by marked intelligence.’

The Badge, originally worn on the collar but eventually worn on the sleeve could only be issued to not more than 10 Sergeants with an additional pay of 2 shillings per week and 20 Constables with an additional pay of 1 shilling per week. The badge was subject to forfeiture for misconduct.

One such recipient of the Merit Badge was Pc 47 Noah Gibbons, who was the village constable at Stanford Rivers.

He was promoted to Merit Class on the 1st May 1880 for courage and tact in apprehending a man who had been poaching. P.C. Gibbons at 4.30am on the 24th April was on duty at Stanford Rivers when he stopped a man, who attempted to throw the constable and grabbed his hair. A severe struggle ensued, with Gibbons getting the best of him. A search revealed 2 dead pheasants, and also a loaded double-barrelled shotgun. P.C. Gibbons took the man to the police station and charged him with having unlawful possession of game on the highway.

When he appeared before the Ongar Magistrates, the Chairman of the Bench also directed that a charge of assault be entered and offender was sentenced to 14 days hard labour. Pc. Gibbons was called by Captain Budworth, Chairman of the Bench who addressed him, giving great credit for his pluck and tact in bringing the man to justice. A letter from Capt. Budworth to Superintendent Simpson stated “it will give me great satisfaction to see P.C. Gibbons promoted.”

The man was fined £5 with 7/6d costs and 2 months hard labour in default.

Gibbons reached the rank of Superintendent and retired on the 30th September 1909.

William Lack, H. Martin Stuchfield and Philip Whittemore, (Monumental Brass Society, London, 2003), pp. 922, in two volumes. Available from Monumental Brass Society, Lowe Hill House, Stratford St Mary, Suffolk CO7 6JX (tel: 0208 520 5248) at £35.

The preface states: “This volume, devoted to the county of Essex, lists existing brasses, indents and lost brasses, with illustrations of all figure brass pre-dating 1700, selected indents and all later figure brasses.”

This volume follows the approach of earlier volumes in the County Series published by the Monumental Brass Society. The format of earlier lists of Essex brasses, compiled by Rev. Herbert Haines, in 1861, and Mill Stephenson, in 1926, has been continued here. A numbering convention clearly distinguishes between existing brasses listed by Mill Stephenson, existing brasses not originally listed, and lost brasses and lost indents. Illustrations are taken from collections of rubbings and are sometimes complemented with a photograph.

The introduction provides a summary of the more interesting brasses; brasses of national importance; “palimpsests”; unusual brasses; lost brass and discoveries; distinguished people commemorated in brass, and so on. This summary is useful, providing a guide for the selective visitor. The introduction also includes a short commentary on antiquaries and documentary sources having relevance to monumental brasses. Finally, the troubling aspect of the loss of brasses is considered.

The index lists people, places and coats of arms but not brasses by type or category. A chronological list of early figure brasses, a bibliography and a list of abbreviations complete the volume.

The first line of the preface probably indicates that the decision to spit the intended volume into two (volume one lists parishes A-K and volume two parishes L-Y) was forced on the publishers, confronted with more than 950 pages in total. Even in two volumes the book will require careful handling in its soft back form. The production is slightly “pinched” in order to keep the total pages to a minimum, but this has not been done to compromise the text or illustrations. For one new to monumental brasses, the list of abbreviations, for example, might have been included in both volumes.

However, this is inconsequential carping. Nothing should detract from this superb achievement in the publication of the definitive work on Essex monumental brasses. In the preface, the authors welcome any alterations or corrections. It remains to those who possess the volumes to get to work. Those who do not, the volume should be considered an investment in the future study of Essex churches.

The book is dedicated to Nancy Briggs whose scholarly contribution to the volume is warmly noted.

John Hunter, (The Essex Society for Archaeology and History, 2003), pp. 41, £5.95 including postage and packing.

The book is the first in a New Series of Occasional Papers celebrating 150 years of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History. John Hunter’s interest in the Essex landscape will be well known through The Essex Landscape: a Study of its Form and History recently published in 1999. In the preface, Chris Thornton, President of the Society, has referred to the book as “a call to arms”. This is just what it is! The author exhorts the reader to dissect the Essex landscape, discover the clues to its previous existence, and reconstruct the history.

Under the section ‘Scope for Research’, the approach is described as a synthesis of deskwork and fieldwork. Deskwork is concerned with the available information sources such as county or local histories, cartographic evidence, additional documentary evidence such as court rolls. An important Essex resource is the records held by the Essex Heritage and Conservation Record maintained in County Hall by the Essex County Council. Of course, maps provide a rich source of evidence and valuable clues to the development of the farmed landscape can often be determined from field names in the Tithe Award maps of the parishes of Essex. Again an important local resource is the developing series of booklets on parish place names, the Essex Place Names Project run by the Society.

As Hoskins said, fieldwork involves getting one’s feet wet! The author promotes a total approach to the observation of the physical features is the present landscape. These are not just boundaries and banks and their generic shapes, but ditches and lynchets, caused by regular ploughing patterns. Hedges can often be persistent and revealing landscape features, their structure, species distribution and species counts can provide evidence of both age and purpose. Tree structure and size can also provide evidence of their use and age.

Four case studies have been chosen to illustrate the process. In Cressing, the demesne of the Templars, and its tithe free status, determined the medieval landscape, indicators of which are visible today. In the case of Little Easton, Broxted and Tilty, early maps can add much to our understanding not only of the demesne farms, which are still recognizable, but also of areas where “peasant” farms have disappeared. Maps of Littley Park shed light on the process of disparking. The parallel parishes of Little Warley, Childerditch, West Horndon and East Horndon are believed to facilitate seasonal migration of cattle and sheep between pastures. They follow the line of droveways, their origin dating perhaps from pre-history.

The book is completed with a short introductory commentary on the formative influences on the Essex landscape. The book is available from Dr Chris Thornton, 75 Victoria Road, Maldon, Essex CM9 5HE. Cheques should be made payable to “Essex Society for Archaeology and History”.

Stebbing church 1856

The most outstanding feature of the churches of Great Bardfield and Stebbing is the mediaeval stone rood screens. With the exception of Trondheim cathedral in Norway, they are the only two screens of their type in the world.

Rood screens were normally constructed of wood and serve as a divider between the chancel and nave. The Great Rood itself is a crucifix upon which is the figure of Christ, his face still and at peace, and the rood was usually flanked by figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. A loft erected over the screen provided access to the rood and enabled tapers and candles to be lit in its honour. Stone stairs were built in church walls in order to reach the lofts.

At Great Bardfield and Stebbing the rood screens are of beautiful stone tracery. They were erected in the 14th century but suffered much in the period of the Reformation. The stone steps which once led to the rood loft can still be seen in the wall at Stebbing Church; and also in evidence are stone corbels which once supported the loft. The screens themselves were necessarily much restored in the 20th century.

Trondheim was at one time the main city of Norway and its cathedral was built in the 12th century. It too suffered much decay and destruction during the Reformation. One wonders whether its mediaeval stone screen was somehow by the same architect as those of our two churches in Essex?

Great Bardfield Church was built in the 11th century and amongst the list of recent incumbents of the Church is a Richard Oswald Masheder from 1947 to 1974, whose son is Charles Masheder, our own Rural Dean for Ongar. To commemorate Richard Masheder’s period at Great Bardfield is a stained-glass window dedicated to St. Cedd.

Also at Great Bardfield is the tomb of William Bendlowes (1516-1584), who was a Serjeant-at-Law. Educated at Cambridge, he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn and called to the Bar at the age of 23. He contributed to the prosperity of Thaxted by persuading clothiers to come into the town, He was returned to the House of Commons in three Parliaments representing Cornish boroughs, he was appointed to rid Essex of heretics and in 1555 was promoted to Serjeant-at-Law, a post which he retained until his death.*

The two churches are well worth a visit, especially to see their remarkable mediaeval stone screens. I found them to be open to visitors during the weekdays, and in addition in the attractive village of Great Bardfield is a small museum. If there is any time remaining in the day a visit to nearby Thaxted is recommended.

To be sold by auction by James Haslam two desirable and substantial timber built messuages in four tenements with Bakehouses and Ovens, a Butchers Shop, three sheds, excellent well of water, productive gardens and fruit trees with good fences, situate on the high road from Ongar to London, near Stanford Rivers chapel with a frontage of 300 feet in the occupation of Charles Carter, John Flanders, Samuel Flanders and Michael Connolly, tenants at will. at the low rent of £20 per annum.