Programme for 2016

“A Historical Walk around Tawney and Mount” by Anne Padfield

Anne Padfield led members on a well-prepared circular walk around Stapleford Tawney and Theydon Mount. Starting at Little Tawney Hall with its hexagonal barn, the party visited The Old Rectory, dating from the 16th…

“A Policeman’s Lot – Policing in Victorian Essex” by Martyn Lockwood

This very entertaining talk presented the progress of the police force in Essex from the early 1800’s. The talk described the slow acceptance of the police at first, by the “rich”, who had to…

“Chapels in Essex” – by Rosalind Kaye

This book is subtitled Chapels and Meeting Houses in the County of Essex, including Outer London. The book contains four directories of such buildings, those still standing and those demolished but not replaced, for…

“Dick Turpin – Fact or Fiction”

It was one of those evenings - dark, cold and forbiddingly foggy. It was just such evening when highwaymen might have appeared in Epping Forest. Without thought for their safety, and clutching their purses…

101 Uses of a Church Porch: Stanford Rivers South Porch use for “habitacion” in 1600

16th Century Greensted Wills

1841 Census – Stanford Rivers

The census is a survey taken every 10 years to collect information on the population of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1831 the censuses were simply head counts with no personal information on…

1901 Census Online at the Family Records Centre

The 1901 Census returns for England and Wales was released over the Internet on the 2 January 2002. They will be viewable anywhere with Internet access, including the Family Records Centre (FRC). If you…

A Deodnad in the Hundred of Ongar . . . ?

To be sidetracked in the Essex Record Office is so easy. Attention can wander. Mine wandered . . . wandered to an unrelated article, A Deodand in the Hundred of Ongar. What is a…

A Guide to St Martin’s Church, Ongar

A Jubilee Evening of Reminiscences of the 1950s

The Annual General Meeting of the High Country History Group was held on the 29th March, 2002. At the meeting, members of the group were requested to bring to the meeting some object which…

A Local Forest Inquisition

Accounts of court actions present an unfavourable perspective on lawlessness in the Forest. Records of good citizenship do not balance these accounts! However, the actions do provide testament to the application of justice, which…

A Mystery!

It is not usual to find the names of women on war memorials, yet on the 1939-45 memorial in St Margaret’s Church, Stanford Rivers, there are two. Joyce D.P.Hillbrown, and Theodora A. Metcalf. These…

A notable rector of Stanford Rivers

Richard Montague, rector from 1613 to 1628, was presented to the living by James 1 and was prominent in the religious turmoil which ultimately led to the Civil War. In 1624, in his own…

A Pauper Letter

[714] From Thomas Kellnby in Springfield Gaol [Chelmsford] to the overseer Theydon Mount [1831] Spingfield Convict Gaole April 20th 18[31] Sir/ I Thearfore address you with thise letter to inform you that I have…

A Pictorial Review of the Lavers

The Lavers History Group have published a collection of photographs and postcards of High Laver, Little Laver and Magdalen Laver. Including the front cover, there are 55 illustrations. The views mostly depict buildings, but…

A Policeman’s Lot

Horse stealing was a serious rural crime. In 1885, the Chief Constable of Essex, William Pointz, recorded an incident in Ongar: A man rode into Ongar late at night on a horse with: Only…

A SHORT HISTORY OF COPPED HALL

Although some distance from the High Country situated to the north west of Epping, Copped Hall stands on a ridge to the other side of the town. It is also situated on the second…

A Symbolic Alliance Between Local Recusants?

In 1623 the manor of Stanford Rivers was sold to William 3rd Baron Petre. He settled the estate on his second surviving son, William Petre, who occupied the manor house known as Bellowes or…

A tribute to Doris Messinger 1918-2014

A View of Stanford Rivers 1866

A Walk to Norton Mandeville from High Ongar

Nineteen members of the High Country History Group met in High Ongar. A hint of rain was in the air. Anybody might have suggested the group was headed for the Alps but the slopes…

Ahnentafel Numbers

Aircraft Accident

Whilst on the subject of World War II, I have for some time been trying to find out details of an accident involving two American aircraft that collided over Tawney Common in 1944, causing…

Amelius Mark Richard, 1st Baron Lambourne (1847-1928)

An Acting Committee

The group is currently in a “chicken and egg” situation: rules are being written, but a team is needed to progress both rules and activities. Volunteers were invited following the December issue of the…

An Airfield at Fyfield

An Appeal for Information

An Appeal for Information: about a Mr Mugleston who took the tenancy of Littlebury Farm in Stanford Rivers in the 1870s

An Eccentric and his Deserted Mansion

An Essex Grave Revealed

The man who cuts the grass in the churchyard of St Nicholas’, Fyfield, recently had the alarming experience of stepping back and falling into a hole which opened beneath him. Thankfully, he was not…

Anglo-Scotish Migration Database

Anniversaries

Anniversaries in 2017

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Some 49 members attended the AGM held on the 23 March at Toot Hill. It was followed by two short talks by Anne and Rob Brooks and the evening rounded off with wine and…

Annual General Meeting

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The meeting attracted some 40+ members. The following were elected for the forthcoming year: Chairman: Rob Brooks Secretary: Shirley Fisher Treasurer: Vacant Newsletter Editor: Martyn Lockwood Committee: Anne Padfield Patrick Griggs…

Annual General Meeting – “The 1950’s”

The participation of members is required at the AGM! Last year, the AGM was accompanied by cheese and wine. This will be repeated. However, this year all members attending will be asked to bring…

Annual General Meeting 2004

Some 49 members attended the Annual General Meeting in March. Following the business of the evening, a number of members gave short talks on ancestors they had discovered. All were fascinating and it is…

Annual General Meeting 2005

Another notable rector of Stanford Rivers – Henry Tattam

Many distinguished clerics, en route to higher promotions, passed through the rectory of Stanford Rivers. One of the more unlikely holders of the living, the Rev. Henry Tattam 1789-1868), was presented by the Crown…

ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ

1. Thomas Greville 2. Fountain built outside the village school. 3. 1836 4. He had been hanged for burglary. 5. Field consisting of gravel soil ‘on which a goose would starve’ 6. Rev Edward…

Apotrophic Marks

Archives on Line

The Access to Archives (A2A) on line catalogue allows you to find material held in over 300 repositories across England. It also enables you to obtain copies of documents. The Public Record Office, The…

Attack on a Constable

Award for Bravery

Charles William Dunn joined the Essex Constabulary in April 1892 (as Constable 286) and during his short service he was stationed for a time at both Ongar and Epping. On the 15 June 1899…

Benefactors to the Poor of Stapleford Tawney

Bin Ends!

It is surprising what you come across when carrying out research. The following items are just a few. Essex Assizes - July 19th 1839. Edward Ayley, 27 years, a labourer, pleaded guilty to stealing…

Book Review

Book Review – “All Are Welcome”

The District of Ongar Council of Churches has produced a Millennium Guide to the churches in and around Ongar. The booklet has 24 pages packed with information and colour photographs, including all the churches…

Book Review – “ESSEX FARMING 1900-2000” by Peter Worrell

The author has been writing about agriculture in the county for more than 50 years and this book demonstrates how farming has diversified over the last century. Available through Abberton Books, Colchester, CO5 7NA.

Book Review – Field Systems in Essex

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…

Book Review – Ongar Time Line – Ongar through the ages

The Ongar Millenium History Society have produced a fascinating booklet which give dates in the history and development of Ongar from 900 – 2004. The booklet is illustrated with many views from Ongar’s past.…

Book Review: The 1953 Essex Flood Disaster by Patricia Reynoldson-Smith

Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS – The Monumental Brasses of Essex

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…

Book Reviews: (1) Colchester Castle: 2000 Years of History. (2) Jim Reeve. Secret Chelmsford.

Boxing Match at Ongar

Bygone Days

Captain Atherton Harold Chisenhale-Marsh 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers

Cardinall’s Musick

Centenary of Chelmsford Diocese (1914 – 2014)

Centenary of The Great War

Chairman’s Letter

This is the third quarterly Newsletter of the High Country History Group. We have now set the programme for the next nine months. At the outset of the Group in April, the undertaking was…

Chairman’s Letter

Happy New Year! Towards the end of the group’s second year, one landmark has been passed. The membership of the group now stands at 41 family members and 22 individual members. That makes a…

Charity

Chelmsford Chronicle, 14th March 1834 – Sheep Stealing

So numerous have been the depredations upon sheep belonging to farmers in the neighbourhood of Chipping Ongar, that as many as 50 have been stolen within a very short period. Mr Jonathan Lewis of…

Chelmsford Chronicle, 20 March, 1840 – Ongar Union

ONGAR UNION The Board of Guardians is desirous of engaging a competent unmarried female not less than 30, no more than 45 years of age as SCHOOLMISTRESS for the Instruction of the Boys and…

Chelmsford Chronicle. 6 April 1832 – YOUTHFUL DEPRAVITY

Among those lately committed to prison we find Josiah Dow, a lad of 16 years of age, who is charged with setting fire to a parcel of Hay under the following circumstances. About 3…

Chelmsford Chronicle. December 22ND 1834 ONGAR ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROSECUTION OF OFFENDERS

A General Meeting of the Members of this Association will be held in the Town Hall in Chipping Ongar, on Saturday 3rd January 1835, at three o’clock precisely for the purpose of auditing the…

Chelmsford Chronicle. June 3rd 1836 – Stanford Rivers

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…

Chelmsford Chronicle. October 24th 1834 – ESSEX QUARTER SESSIONS

Sarah Twights was convicted of stealing from the person of George Flack labourer of Stanford Rivers, a purse containing a sovereign and 7s 6d in silver. Prosecutor was drinking in the tap-room of the…

Chris Morris, A Landworker’s Struggle: an Epping Autobiography 1913-1990

Chris Morris was born to a single mother in 1913. He lived all his life in the South Woodford and Epping area. His father was believed to have been lost when the Lusitania was…

Christmas Eve: taken from Leaves of a Hunting Diary

Christmas in the Trenches

Church Heritage in Essex

The Diocese of Chelmsford, which was created in 1914, has over 600 churches of which 410 represent medieval parishes. Although the Diocese includes those parts of Essex now in Greater London, the modern county…

Churchwarden’s Presentments 1750 to 1826 for Greensted, Stanford Rivers, Stapleford Tawney and Theydon Mount

Civil Registration Districts for Ongar

Birth Deaths and Marriages were required to be registered from 1837. The country was split up into a number of registration districts of which Chipping Ongar was one. Created on the 1st July 1837.…

Commercial and Mail Coaches at Epping

To London The Stortford Coach at 5p.m. The Fakenham at 8a.m. The Norwich Coach at 9a.m. The Cambridge “Times” at 10a.m. The Cambridge Coach at 2p.m. The Bury Coach at 11p.m. The Swaffham Coach…

Coopersale House, Theydon Garnon – an enigma

Coopersale: taken from Kelly’s Directory 1933

Copped Hall

A number of members, and some non-members, have already indicated their wish to visit Copped Hall on Sunday, 1st October. A short letter accompanies this Newsletter to each of those members, individual or family.…

Cowman to Major: the story of Major James William Joseph Millar, D.S.O., D.C.M.

Craven Ord, FRS, FSA, of Greenstead Hall, Antiquary and Brass Rubber

Cricket at Stapleford Tawney

Dating Hedges with Anne Brooks

The chilly midsummer weather relented sufficiently to make our walk along the hedgerows a pleasant and instructive afternoon stroll To the casual uninformed eye a hedge is just a line of trees and shrubs…

Death of Sir William Bowyer Smijth, Bart

Dedication of Church at Theydon Mount

Dedication of Church at Theydon Mount, taken from the Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society 'New Series' Volume 12 Part 3 (1911)

Donation to Victoria County History of Essex

Your committee is mindful of the need to occasionally support those organisations and projects that actively promote local history. Using primary historical sources, The Victoria County History is writing the history of the counties…

Dr. Livingstone I Presume!

Epping Forest District Council Coat of Arms

ARMS: Argent a Cross engrailed Sable over all a Bugle Horn ensigned with an Ancient Crown Or on a Chief Vert four Axeheads bendwise Argent. CREST: On a Wreath Argent and Gules upon a…

Epping Workhouse and the case of Mary Ann Reid

Essex Archaeological Society visit to the High Country in 1908

Essex Churches Then and Now: a talk to be given by the Essex Society for Archaeology and History on 27 April 2017

Essex Excavations: The Fenwick Treasure found at Williams and Griffin, High Street Colchester, and the mansion at Marks Hall

Essex History Group

Essex Hymn Writers (Pt 1)

The following article will appear in the next edition of the Essex Family Historian. It was a discussion about the hymn writer John Ellerton, who wrote the “The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended”,…

Essex Hymn Writers Part II

Essex Place Names. A review of the recent talk.

Essex Quarter Sessions Order Book (1652 – 1661)

Essex Quarter Sessions Order Book 1652-1661

Essex Records Office

Essex Royalist Clergy – and Others: taken from Essex Review

Essex Wills

Essex Witch Trials

Ex-Inspector Weeden Dies

Extensive Fire at Greensted

Family History Books Collection

Farming in Stapleford Tawney 1902

Fire at the Blue Boar, Abridge

First World War Trunk returns to North Weald Station

Firstly I must apologise

Firstly I must apologise for the delay in issuing this newsletter. Having moved house in July I have at last found time to sit down and put it all together. I can assure you…

For Your Diary

Visit to Copped Hall Look Back in Ongar

Forthcoming Events

FORTHCOMING EVENTS Thursday 13 April – 8.00 pm Toot Hill Village Hall “A Policeman’s Lot” – Policing in Victorian Essex Illustrated talk by Martyn Lockwood Wednesday 24 May – 10.30 am (Meet at Little…

Forthcoming Events

Forthcoming Events for Your Diary

Forthcoming Events for Your Diary A Visit to Copped Hall 2.30pm, Sunday, 1st October (Meet at the gates of Copped Hall at 2.30pm; the gates are off the Upshire road.) A guided tour of…

From the Greensted Registers

From The Papers

From The Papers

From The Papers

From the Papers

From the Papers

General Election Barometer

George Eland – Historian of the Courts of Great Canfield

The following follows a short article that was written for the Newsletter of the Friends of Historic Essex. Thousands of local historians enthusiastically and diligently research and document their church, their parish, their town,…

Great War Story

Green Man Public House, Toot Hill – an update

Greenstead and the Course of St. Edmund’s Translation

Greenstead Church by Henry Laver F.S.A

Greensted and the Course of St Edmund’s Translation: taken from the Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society (New Series, Volume 10, 1907)

Greensted Church and James Barlow, an historical record of his life

Greensted Hall, the Seat of Captain Budworth

Greensted Mystery (Part 2): Revd Benjamin Pratt

Greensted Mystery: “The cover of the Journal shows an oil painting of the Reverend Benjamin Pratt, A.M., Founder of the Living of Greensted”. But who was he?

H.M. The Queen

The Queen is the fifth longest serving British(*) monarch. (She becomes the fourth longest serving monarch on the 21st June, 2002). Only four other kings and queens in British history have reigned for 50…

Hainault Forest

Harriet Archer-Houblon: born 1812, Coopersale House, Theydon Garnon

Hatfield Broad Oak

The Domesday Book assessed the value of Hatfield Broad Oak, then Hatfield Regis, as £85, this value was the sixth highest in the county. It was only in the early 1500s that the size…

Heritage Information & Records

This group maintains the Essex Heritage Conservation Record (ECHR) which is a computerised database of all listed buildings and all known archaeological sites in Essex. There are well over 30,000 entries on the database…

HILL HALL

Did you know Hill Hall is now open for tours? A magnificent Elizabethan mansion of national importance, Hill Hall in Theydon Mount is now fully restored and its residents well and truly settled in.…

Hill Hall and Copt Hall

taken from Memorials of Old Essex (published 1908)

Hill Hall, Theydon Mount – a Haunting!

History and Archives Under Threat

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…

Homeless in Stanford Rivers

Hue and Cry: Stanford Rivers Imprisonment for Fowl Stealing, 1897

Humphrey Repton (1752-1818)

Repton was a pioneer in the field of landscape architecture. He was also the most famous landscape gardener of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He created, transformed or improved over two hundred places in…

In Memoriam. Lewis Newcomen Prance

taken from the Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society ('New Series', Volume 13, 1913)

In the Footsteps of Marconi

Chelmsford can claim to be the birthplace of radio. Guglielmo Marconi (1874 - 1937) arrived in England in 1896 and took over a former silk mill in Chelmsford in 1898 and established it as…

In The News

Inquest of the body of William Reed, 1788

Insolvent Debtor

Internet

INTERNET Love it or hate it there is a vast amount of information to be had from the Internet. The following are just a few of the sites you may find interesting. www.CyndisList.com A…

James Ford, a Forgotten Essex Antiquity (1779-1850)

John Carey map of North Weald, c.1790

John Locke (1632-1704) at Otes, High Laver

Tercentenary In 2002, a popular BBC television series set out to discover the Greatest Briton. From a list of 100 Great Britons, viewers were invited to make their own choice. Not easy! Who was…

John Locke at Madingley Hall

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…

Kelly’s Directory of Essex 1933 – Theydon Mount

Lambourne End

Law and Order

Leverton Charities, Waltham Abbey

Leverton Charities, Waltham Abbey. A manuscript volume in private hands

Listed Buildings in the High Country – 1. Theydon Mount

Listed Buildings in the High Country, Stanford Rivers – Part 1

Local Elizabethan Wills

The Essex Record Office has now completed the publication of the series Elizabethan Wills of Essex. These twelve volumes of transcriptions are the result of the painstaking work of F. G. Emmison, a former…

Mad Dog

Mashams

Many members of the High Country History Group will remember the evening visit to Mashams in High Laver two years ago. A combination of circumstances, including a reduction in the number of school visits…

Medieval Deer-Parks

On 17 July, members of the High Country History Group visited Ongar Park Wood. The weather was dull, hard to remember now in a late summer of so many warm, sunny evenings. Our guide…

Memorial to Edward, Lord Hay

The other day I wandered into the Guards Chapel in Birdcage Walk, London, and saw commemororated on the roll of honour, the name ‘Edward Hay, Lord’. In the churchyard at St Michael’s, Theydon Mount…

Memorials against the Police

Memories of Theydon Mount

Merit Badge

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…

More about the Petres of Stanford Rivers

MORNING OR AFTERNOON MEETINGS?

Would you prefer to have an occasional meeting during the day, either morning or afternoon? Would this be more convenient during the winter months? Please let the editor have your views.

Mother and Son: Elizabeth Blount and Henry Fitzroy, born Blackmore

Mr Charles Edward Hunter

Mr Edwards

Mrs Charles Hunter, Hill Hall

My Favourite Ancestor – a life from the First World War, Joseph Brady, contributed by Richard Brady.

This is the story of my grandfather, Joseph Brady, who was bom in Dublin, Ireland, in September 1884 and died in Loughton, knocked down by a bus in October 1943. All the information has…

My Favourite Ancestor – A touching recollection of Thomas Turner and a Post Office employee’s retirement from David Blackwell

Thomas Turner was a Pickwickian figure hailing from Forest Gate. I knew little about him until quite a short time ago, when my father suddenly offered me a notebook recording the walks made by…

My Favourite Ancestor – Anne Padfield describes the life of a notable Scottish cleric, Robert Murray McCheyne .

Born in Edinburgh in 1813, the youngest son of a Writer to the Signet (Scottish lawyer), Robert Murray McCheyne was part of the great 19th century religious revival in Scotland. A remarkable scholar, he…

My Favourite Ancestor – Anne Stewart has close links with George and Robert Stephenson, railway engineers

I and my cousins have always been made aware, by parents and relatives, that our family has a strong link with George and Robert Stephenson, the railway engineers and bridge builders. George Stephenson (1781-1848)…

My Favourite Ancestor – Bill White relates the dark deeds associated with John Thortell, of his late wife’s family, dark deeds that are still remembered in wax

These are not strictly my Ancestors, but those of my late wife. I thought they would be of interest. Seven generations, back in the 1820s, John Thortell of Norton Hall, Fakenham, was an officer…

My Favourite Ancestor – Fred Archer, the legendary jockey, contributed by Robin Fisher

My favourite and most famous relative is Fred Archer who, as any horseracing fan would know was one of the most successful jockeys this country has ever known. Fred Archer was born in 1857,…

My Favourite Ancestor – Keith Farrow remembers his grandfather, Joseph Farrow 1877 – 1948.

I don’t remember my grandfather, Joseph Farrow. He died shortly after I was born. Neither do we know much about him; family history was either taken for granted or simply not considered important in…

My Favourite Ancestor – Lieutenant Millbank, from the age of Nelson, contributed by the Chairman

Lieutenant Henry Millbank, from my wife’s family, fought at Trafalgar in 1805. At the time he was serving as Master’s Mate on board the Colossus. The Colossus was a new ship, launched at Deptford…

My Favourite Ancestor – Maurice Padfield describes the arrival in Essex of the Padfields.

The Padfields in Essex can be traced back 100 years or more. The story has to start way back in the early 1800s when times were very prosperous for the farming community. Most of…

My Favourite Ancestor – Patrick Griggs learns the origin of a firstname from Captain Spear.

t was not until I was sorting through a file of family papers that came from my father’s house that I discovered why I had the middle name of Spear and why the family…

My Favourite Ancestor – Primarily about his father’s experiences in World War Two as a member of Dad’s Army (the Home Guard) and, latterly, the BBC TV programme of the same name, Trevor Roberts recollects

My father was member of the Local Defence Force (the Home Guard) formed in 1940 as an auxiliary defence force against the threat of an invasion of the United Kingdom by German forces from…

National Library of Scotland maps

Never Mind The Dovecotes

News In Brief

No 277 Squadron RAF

NOEL GAY (1898 – 1954)

Buried in St Margaret’s, Stanford Rivers, Noel Gay was a prolific composer and lyricist, responsible for many of the most popular and memorable songs in the UK during the ’30s and ’40s. Born Richard…

North Weald Memorial Museum

The last fighter squadron to use North Weald was 111 Squadron who left in 1958 and the airfield then became home to a maintenance unit. In the sixties, the aerodrome was used as a…

Notable Anniversaries in 2015

Notable Anniversaries in 2016

Notes on Overseer’s Book of Accounts for 17723-1823 for Stapleford Tawney

In the year 1723 Edward Luther was Rector of this parish and signed the book at the Vestry as such. E. Smyth, of Hill Hall, also signed. At this vestry meeting a document was…

Oak Cottage, Clatterford End

The smallest house in the High Country conceals its appeal. While Sir Thomas Smyth was conceiving and building the fine Hill Hall, an artisan was eyeing a strip of waste land by the side…

Obituary – Ken Feakes

Ken was devoted to the community. He joined June Lucas to edit the High Country Magazine following the death of the Revd David Callum. The magazine presented local news, articles, and literary offerings to…

Obituary. Sir Richard Smijth, Rector of Stapleford Tawney with Theydon Mount, 1837

Official Opening of the Stanford Rivers Fountain on the Occasion of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee

In September 1898, Lady Cunliffe Smith opened the fountain in front of Stanford Rivers parishioners who assembled en masse,. Through the tap, water from the terra cotta fountain gushed forth “bright and clear”. Two…

Ogborne’s History of Theydon Bois and Theydon Mount 1817

On Matters Ecclesiastical!

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a Rector and a Vicar? Well..... A Rector was originally the incumbent of a parish who received all the tithes and customary offerings and dues.…

Ongar and District Cottage Hospital, 1928-1939

Ongar Association Against Murderers, Housebreakers, Horse and Sheepstealers and Felons of every description

Ongar District Cottage Hospital War Memorial Scheme

Ongar Radio Station – North Weald (Part 1)

Ongar Radio Station – North Weald 1939-85 (part 2)

Ongar Through The Centuries. 40 Little Known Facts: a booklet just published by the Ongar Millennium History Society

Ongar Union Workhouse

Many of you will know that the old Ongar Union Workhouse at Stanford Rivers, is currently occupied by Piggotts. A planning application has been submitted to Epping Forest Council for a proposed redevelopment of…

Ongar Union Workhouse Staff 1901

Ongar’s First War Memorial

Opening of a Jubilee Fountain at Stanford Rivers, 1898

Paganism, early Christianity and Beauchamp Roding church

Palaeography

Parliamentary and Parochial Electors for Stapleford Tawney, 1914

Photographing the High Country

Are you a photographer? Do you have an interest in photographing the buildings of the High Country? Would you like to participate in a small team to carry out such a project during 2001?…

Place Names Quiz

Place Names Quiz (answers)

POST MILLS

The windmill at Aythorpe Roding is a type known as a post mill. The earliest kind was a fixed structure usable only when the wind was blowing in the right direction. Originally it had…

Pre-History and Glacial Erratics

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…

Private Victor Albert Burton

Programme 2013/2014

Programme for 2015

Programme for 2017

Programme for 2017

Programme of Events 2014

Project?

Project? In addition, it is hoped that members will participate in a group project. There have been many suggestions from the acting committee; these include capturing a photographic record of the High Country today,…

Protest Against thr Rural Constabulary 1841

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…

Queen Victorias’s Golden Jubilee 1887

As we prepare to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee this year, let us look back at the only other Queen’s Golden Jubilee in British history, from the handwritten parish records of Stapleford Tawney [Essex…

QUIZ – 25 Questions to test your knowledge of the High Country

He was commemorated in brass, as an infant in swaddling clothes, in Stanford Rivers in 1492. What was the infant’s name? How did the parish of Stanford Rivers commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria?…

Rainbird?

Does anybody have any information on the Rainbird family who lived in Stanford Rivers in the 19th century? Thomas Rainbird, unmarried and aged 60, of Stanford Rivers is mentioned in the Census of 1851.…

Rare Garland Discovered in Theydon Mount Church

One now forgotten custom was to carry a garland, in the shape of a crown adorned with flowers and paper trimmings, at the funeral of an unmarried girl and to hang it in the…

Rector in Court Scene

Report of the Annual General Meeting

Revelations of ‘Club Life’ at Stanford Rivers

Richard Beadon, Rector of St Margaret’s Stanford Rivers

Richard Mulcaster, Rector of Stanford Rivers 1598

Rob Brooks

As many of you are aware our Chairman, Rob Brooks suffered a serious heart attack on the 18 January and he remains seriously ill in hospital. Our thoughts and prayers are with Anne, Susannah…

Romans About

Romans in Essex? Colchester comes to mind immediately, but Roman occupation had been widespread. There is evidence that Harlow was a religious and trading centre of local importance before the arrival of the Romans.…

Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton FRS (31 May 1845 – 15 February 1940)

Royal Visit to Greensted Church

Saving The Century: Victorian Society Exhibition

Sayings – A Square Meal, Show a Leg

Second World War Airfields in Essex

Service to be Proud Of

James Woolmore had served as churchwarden at St Margaret’s church, Stanford Rivers for 55 years when this photograph was taken in February 1905. During his long service he served under four Rectors. James died…

Sir Charles CUNLIFFE SMITH

Sir Charles CUNLIFFE SMITH, of Suttons, Romford, died there on Monday, at the age of 78, after a long illness. Although born in London (the only son of the 2nd baronet of the title,…

Sir Hubert Ashton

Sir Thomas Smythe (1513-1577)

Thomas Smythe was born at Saffron Walden, Essex, 23 Dec 1513, the eldest son of John Smith (d. 1547) and Agnes Charnock (b. Lancashire; d. 1547). His father was wealthy: served as sheriff of…

Situation Vacant – Honorary Treasurer

Charming Local History Committee, genuine, desperately seek Lady or Gent, age 16 to 100, High Country based, for companionship at local history activities, to manage finance for small group, no previous experience necessary, GSOH…

Snippets From The Archives

John Hanson Rector of Stapleford Tawney committed adultery with his housekeeper, Anna Lamborne and only had to do penance and pay 10 shillings to the scholars at Oxford. ** William Norrington of Theydon Mount,…

Some C16th Stanford Rivers Wills

St James Church, Matrden Ash, Ongar

St Mary’s church, Hatfield Broad Oak.

There is something about country-church graveyards that their town and city counterparts lack. Usually tucked away from the community they serve,they offer an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity that can soothe away the stresses…

St Michael the Archangel, Theydon Mount – An appreciation: Historical & Architectural

The endless tides of history have washed the green hill-country of Theydon Mount a thousand years. Nothing more important in the life of the parish than the building of its church has happened there…

St Michael’s Church Theydon Mount 400th Anniversary Weekend, advertisement

Stanford Rivers and John Stuart, Viscount Mount Stuart

Stanford Rivers Incorporated Workhouse & the New Poor Laws

Stanford Rivers Vestry Minutes – 2nd October 1817

Stapleford Tawney Airfield before WWII

I had intended to write about one Essex airfield near to the High Country but was diverted onto another, literally but not physically! Of the two, only one of these is still in operation…

Stappleford Tawney Airfield During World War Two

In the last newsletter we looked at the history of Stapleford Tawney during the years leading up to 1939, when it was a busy commercial airfield. Our story continues with its role during World…

Stondon Massey: High Country Strays in Stondon Massey Parish Register

Talk on Humphry Repton

We were joined by members from the Ongar Millenium History Group on the 25th October, for this talk on the landscape gardener, Humphry Repton, given by Anne Padfield. An audience of some 68 people…

That’s My Seat – Anne Archer of Theydon Garnon

The 1831 Census for Stapleford Tawney

The Baker of Great Barfield

The following article was sent in by Patrick Griggs and is taken from the handwritten copy. It seems appropriate to publish this article at this time as it is the 300th anniversary of the…

The Bell House Estate, Stanford Rivers

The Bell House estate was owned and occupied by a branch of the Petre family for much of the 17th and 18th centuries. An account book in the Essex Record Office reveals a little…

The Bigamous Baronet – A scandal at Hill Hall

Our local Elizabethan mansion, Hill Hall in Theydon Mount, is currently being redeveloped as luxury apartments, after a splendid exterior refurbishment by English Heritage. It is proving very popular, as over half the apartments…

The Budworth Family of Greensted Hall

The Church in Essex

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…

The Churches Conservation Trust

The Trust (formerly The Redundant Churches Fund) was set up to care for Church of England churches no longer needed for parish use. All the churches are architecturally or historically important with most Grade…

The Churches of Great Bardfield and Stebbing

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…

The Congregational Chapel,Stanford Rivers

Built 1820. Destroyed by fire 1927. The Chapel stood on the corner of London Road, Stanford Rivers and Church Road. All that remains today is the boundary wall and a headstone from one of…

The Desecration of Essex

Yet again Essex is threatened. The planned multiplication of transport links with London now challenges any peace remaining in the Essex countryside. Does Essex have to play the host to these insidious threats? Does…

The Diary of Anna Reeve of Stondon Massey, 1888

The Dorchester Labourers in Greensted

During the first half of the 19th century, since the ending of the Napoleonic Wars, agriculture had suffered during a period of crisis. Falling wages contributed to hardship for the agricultural labourer. Indeed, wages…

The Draper’s Corner Oak

The Epping Railway Company 1859-1863: taken from the Essex Review

The Epping Union Workhousue

Following the High Country History Group’s recent visit to the Records Office at Wharf Road, Chelmsford, I received a list of Essex Records Office events, one of which was an opportunity to view the…

The Essex Coat of Arms

The coat of arms for Essex is a historic one - and stretches back into history. The name Essex means “Land of the East Saxons” and refers to the invasion and settlement in Britain…

The Essex Great War Archive Project

The Essex History Group Programme

The Essex Place Name Project

The Project has the aim to record names of roads, streets, fields, farms, houses, woods, inns, rivers, streams, mills, owners and tenants from old documents and maps, dating from current Ordnance Surveys, through 19th…

The Essex Police Museum

The Essex Police Museum was established in 1991 with the aims ‘to advance the education of the public in the history of Essex in general and in the Essex Police Service in particular by…

The Essex Record Office

Collects and preserves the county’s written heritage. The archives of countless local organisations, families and individuals are stored there, ensuring that they can be studied by present and future generations of researchers. The archives…

The Great Fire, Stanford Hall, 22 September 1907

The Green Man Public House, Toot Hill

The Greensted Tithe Dispute

Tithe was a tax fraught with difficulties both in fair administration and efficient collection. Its origins date back to the earliest days of the church, when the parish priest - in exchange for looking…

The Harlow Museum

Harlow has a new Museum. Opened in March 2002, the Museum has taken over the leafy site of the 19th Century Stable Block of Mark Hall Manor at 5, Muskham Road, Harlow. The site…

The Historical Register for 1738

The Home Guard Pocket Book 1942

The Honeypot Killers

The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales

The Jubilee at Stanford Rivers

The Jubilee at Stanford Rivers

On 1st January 1900, celebration of the new century in London was muted due to the Boer War. British forces were under pressure and resources were stretched. In Stanford Rivers, however, planning for the…

The Mole Trap Public House, Stapleford Tawney

The Ongar Hundred

The Ongar Hundred Workhouse

[Report from the Poor Law Commission in 1838] “The Governor is a retired supervisor of excise; his former occupation has accustomed him to accuracy in accounts, and his services on the Kent and Sussex…

The Ongar Union Workhouse

Established in 1834 as a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act of that year, the Ongar Union comprised some 26 parishes under the control of a Board of Guardians. The workhouse was established…

The Overseers’ Book of Stapleford Tawney

The Parish School

In an occasional series we will look at the 4 village schools which served the High Country area, none of which unfortunately survive as schools today. Stanford Rivers school was opened in 1850. By…

The Past

One aim of the High Country Community Magazine now sadly defunct) was to record our past, and our present for the informing of the future. Set against geological time the whole of Human history…

The Petre’s of Stanford Rivers

The Picture of St Edmund at Greensted Church: taken from the Essex Review

The Pilgrims Way: a reference to St Edmund

The Post Office Rifles at Ongar

The Queen’s Jubilee and the Woes of Stanford Rivers

The Rabbit in the Medieval Economy

The Revd. Sir John Ayloffe Bt., Rector of Standford Rivers

The Reverend Capel Cure

The Royal Forest of Essex

The Royal Forest of Essex (Part 2 of 2)

The Rules of Navigation

The sad story of Mr Mikkish

The Shipwreck of Greensted’s Stained Glass

The Story of Welford & Sons, Ltd.

Text from United Dairies “Our Notebook January 1926”. The growth and development of Welford and Sons Limited. during the past 80 years affords an instructive illustration of the process of evolution in the dairy…

The Tithe Commutation Awards – Part 1

That Burdensome Tithe By the early nineteenth century, the payment of the tithe had become inconsistent, burdensome and outdated¹. In England and Wales, the tithe represented the payment of one tenth of farm production…

The Token Coinage of Essex in the Seventeenth Century

The Tolpuddle Martyrs and Greensted

The Woodman Public House

Theydon Mount Constable

Theydon Mount School

Theydon Mount School

Log Books from 1894 to 1932 for the former school have survived and are now found in the Essex Record Office at Chelmsford and they provide a social picture for the time. Below I…

Theydon Mount Wills during the reign of King James I (1603 – 1625)

Theydon Mount Wills: Family Connections using Wills preserved during the reign of James I (1603-1625)

Theydon Mount: Quatercentenary

This Might Be Useful

Threatened Closures of Stapleford Tawney and Theydon Mount Schools in 1911

To The Freeholders of the County of Essex

Gentlemen Having seen in the Chelmsford Chronicle of the 9th instant, Sir William Smyth’s resignation of the Verderership of the Forest of Waltham, I have been encouraged by several of my friends to offer…

Toot Hill Windmill

Toot Hill Windmill – a disaster revisited

This post mill was built in about 1815 and is best known for a dramatic incident on 18 June 1829 when it was severely damaged after being struck by lightning. The miller, Joseph Knight,…

Tragedy at Theydon Bois 1940

Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society

Transportation reprived (of Samuel James of Theydon Garnon, 1797)

Tribute to Rob Brooks (1945-2013)

Unhealthy Occupation

Unlocking Essex’s Past

This is the name of a new website which will allow you to explore over 33,000 historic sites in Essex, digitally, dating from the Stone Age through to the Cold War. This site is…

Verdun Oaks

Vestry Order Book for Stapleford Tawney (commenced 1824)

Village Building in the High Country

Anne Padfield delivered the first talk to the High Country History Group. The talk was held in the Parish Room, St Mary’s Church, Stapleford Tawney, on Thursday 24th February. The talk presented an illustrated…

Visit of Queen Mary

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…

Visit to Aythorpe Roding Windmill

Some 24 members visited the windmill on Sunday 16 September and spent two hours being shown round the mill. Built in approximately 1760, it is a large post mill on 4 floors, now restored…

Visit to Ingatestone Hall

Some 26 members visited Ingatestone Hall, the home of Lord Petre, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, on the 8 July. The Petre family have lived at the hall since 1540. The hall is mentioned in…

Visit to The Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey

Saturday, 16th August, 2003 Twenty-eight members of the High Country History Group and friends visited the Royal Gunpowder Mills. This was the first visit to the site for most of the party. At noon,…

War Memorials

War memorials are a familiar site in the landscape of the United Kingdom. They provide insight into not only the changing face of commemoration but also military history, social history and art history. There…

West Window, St Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount

What the Papers Say (1945 – 1955)

What The Papers Say: extracts from Chelmsford Chronicle, Lincolnshire Echo and Essex Newsman

White Bear Public House, Stanford Rivers

White’s History, Gazetteer & Directory of Essex ~ 1848

GREENSTED is a small scattered village and parish, about one mile W. of Chipping Ongar, from which it is commonly called Greensted near Ongar, to distinguish it from Greensted near Colchester. It has only…

William Nayler

The entry in the burial register at Stanford Rivers read: “William NAYLER, aged 25 of Ilford, buried on the 20 August 1816 by the Rev DOWDSWELL, the Rector.” Nothing unusual in this, but at…

William Pittam

William Sworder of Stapleford Tawney

Willingale Walk

Willow Cottage, Curtis Mill Green

If you turn off the Passingford Bridge roundabout down a dead-end road, you pass first through an avenue of stately trees, then by an octagonal lodge marking the former entrance to Albyns, a grand…

Wills to 1720 Online at Essex Ancestors

World War II Airfields in Essex

World War II: If the Invader Comes

World War One Films: David Welford, our treasurer and film addict, reviews the history of films factual and otherwise relating to the Great War.

Zeppelins Commemoration, September 2016: Memorial unveiled at Billericay, and Zepfest at Little Wigborough

Zeppelins Over Essex 31 March 1916: forthcoming talk on 31 March 2016

Zeppelins Over Essex: Sources for Talk