High Country History Group

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 is well suited to the needs of the Museum yet keeps the character of the original building. The gardens of the Manor are retained at the rear of the Museum.

The Museum has four galleries devoted to Pre-Historic Harlow, Roman Harlow, Saxon to Georgian Harlow and Victorian to New Town Harlow. The Museum displays a few of the bicycles from the Collins cycle collection that previously occupied the site.

A Harlow Archive Access Point consists of copies of records, held on microfilm and microfiche, relating Harlow and all parishes in the Deanery of Harlow and the parish of Matching. Computer access is provided to the Essex Record Office. There is a local history library, well-stocked with local newspapers from 1953, census returns, maps and plans, programmes and scrap books, photos, slides, tapes and videos.

In support, there is an Interactive Room, Community Room, and Reception and Shop. We visited shortly after the Museum opened to find the Community Room filled with active 9 year-olds busily pursuing the history of Harlow.

The Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, but closed for lunch on Saturday. The Museum can be contacted by e-mail on tmoh@harlow.gov.uk
. The Museum’s website is www.tmoh.com
.

Pay a visit to the Museum when you are next in Harlow.

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 to them was reminiscent of the 1950s. Members were encouraged to record their thoughts in a few words. These thoughts are recorded here together with more observations on the decade.

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

For many, the Coronation of Elizabeth II provided that first memorable television experience. Despite a developing network of transmitters, reception was variable. Pictures were often poor, characteristically snowy and, viewed in the company of invited neighbours, at best the 12 inch (or today, 30.48 cm!) tube, meant that much had to be left to the imagination. It rained and Queen Salote of Tonga remained the memory of a persistent triumph over the inclement weather.

Loving Cup from the Coronation

“The loving cup from the Queen’s Coronation, and I remember watching it on TV. I was most impressed by the Queen’s dress which was embroidered with the emblems of all her Commonwealth countries around the world, plus England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.” - Margaret Padfield

Was it ‘Mick and Montmerency’ or ‘The Grove Family’ that followed the Coronation transmission?

Mementoes of the event survive and are still plentiful, though sometimes worn. By now, these have attained an elevated and protected, status in the household. Postage stamps commemorating the Coronation are still a popular survival. Most colonies issued one stamp in a standard design but there were exceptions. The issue helped to generate a new following of stamp collectors. Otherwise, the number of commemorative stamp issues in the 1950s was modest. The Post Office had yet to implement the policy of saturating with special issues, a strategy akin to philatelic carpet-bombing.

Coronation Teaspoon and Postage Stamps

“The coronation teaspoon has been in daily use, so much so that the silver plate has nearly all work off. The stamps of Great Britain provide reminders of the age:
1948 75th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union
1951 The Festival of Britain
1952 The Definitive Stamps of Great Britain, designed by Dorothy Wilding
1953 Coronation and the commemorative stamps of the 62 Colonies
1957 50 Year Anniversary of World Scouts
1958 6th British Empire and ommonwealth Games at Cardiff.

Commemorative stamps were produced much less frequently than they are today.”
David and Wendy Thompson - The Wilding Head was used on the early postage stamps from the present Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The nephew of the designer, Dorothy Wilding, was a contemporary at the same school that David attended.

Some mementoes carry special and personal significance.

Hand woven silk velvet for the Queen’s Coronation and Parliamentary Robes, Coronation Medal and citation for William Doe, my father

“In 1952 and early 1953, my father William Doe, a director of Warner & Sons Ltd, was responsible for the contract to weave on the hand looms at Braintree the silk velvet for the Coronation robe and crown, and the parliamentary robe worn today by Her Majesty the Queen to open Parliament. Warners also supplied all the other vestments and hangings for Westminster Abbey. My parents were at Buckingham Palace to watch the Queen leave for Westminster Abbey and return after the ceremony. My father was also responsible for the silk supplied by Warners for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress in 1948.” - Peter Doe

The Economy and Money

In 1952, heavy engineering and the production of ships and railways, supported by the mining of coal and the production of steel, dominated the economy. Perhaps surprisingly, the UK economy was the second largest in the world in 1960; today it stands fifth in the world. However, in 1952 we exported only 13.1 per cent of our output, while today exports stand at 34.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In material terms we are twice as well off as we were in the 1950s.

In real terms, our economy is now 3.4 times bigger than in 1952. This has been achieved partly through the growth in productivity, by a factor of 2.3 over the same period. Manufacturing, measured as a percentage of GDP, is now only 20 per cent whereas in the early 1950s it stood at 30 per cent. Today, the wholesale, retailing, and business services sectors, when combined, are larger that the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing has declined but the idea that in the 1950s the UK was a wholly manufacturing nation needs to be viewed in perspective.

In agriculture, the results of the increasing mechanisation in agriculture are plain to see in the High Country. Fewer people work on the land and the character and use of dwellings associated with agriculture use have changed forever.

Occasionally, it comes as a surprise to realise that a generation has now grown up without direct contact with ‘the old money’. Students undertaking history courses, for example, are now generally provided with explanations and conversions for translating sterling into decimal. The farthing, tanner, bob, florin, crown and guinea have all passed.

Building Society Share Pass Book

“My wife and I began to save when we became engaged, so the original entry includes her maiden name. The only large deposit was a wedding present. The biggest withdrawal was to deposit on our first house. The passbook pages are interleaved with blotting paper; all entries are in ink and are pre-decimal. Thirty years later, I took the book for the nearly-forgotten rump of the money to be updated. The girl at the counter blanched when she saw the £.s.d.. The book had to go to Head Office to be calculated.” - Jack Stewart

Premium Savings Bonds were introduced in 1957. ERNIE, the acronym for the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, generated the winning random numbers. ERNIE presented a more exciting way to save. At the outset, the monthly winning numbers were published widely but with a top prize in the draw of £1,000 interest waned; the prize for eight draws on the football pools was then £80,000. The top prize was gradually raised until in 1994 the top prize reached £1M, with the result that within a short period, more premium bonds were sold than had been sold in the first 37 years of their existence. Those early bonds, often given singly as birthday presents, still remain, often neglected, but rarely having contributed to their keep.

Premium Bond

“My wife and I got married in 1958. I had a new suit for the wedding. As I paid for it in cash, I was given a £1 premium savings bond. Needless to say, we have won nothing on it.” - J. Wood

Living

Everyday living in the 1950s was coloured by austerity and household economy. Rationing, introduced during the war, was progressively relaxed until 1954, but coal was still rationed until 1958. Devices such as the wire mesh soap-saver, which enabled a bar of soap to be used up completely in the interest of that additional wash, was typical of careful attention to household expenditure.

Ration Book from 1952

“I can remember coupons being exchanged at the grocery store run by Mr Liddel. This ration book still has the majority of stamps inside. Only the ones for Mr Liddel’s food have been removed.

My mother saved clothing coupons for a pair of new red shoes for me. These were duly purchased. I can then remember my mother being furious with our Labrador puppy, Trixie, for chewing the shoes.” - Anne Brooks

The 1950s brought innovation in the home; labour-saving devices; new materials; new food options. Numerous examples of these have become accepted as indispensable to modern living, whether liked or not! Terylene clothes were introduced into the UK in 1951. One year later the telephone answering machine was invented. The first electric kettle was developed in 1954. Convenience food took mouth-watering steps forward with the development of the fish finger. The appearance on the High Street of the first outlets of the Wimpy hamburger chain followed one year later. The Tetley tea bag was first introduced to the teapot or teacup in 1952.

The Government had introduced measures to improve the diet of young people.

Coupons

“In 1958, we had our son, Richard, and I was given orange juice coupons and cod liver oil coupons.” - Margaret Padfield

Personal entertainment became attainable with the transistor radio and cassette tape recorder at the end of the 1950s, shrinking the cumbersome radiogram to something more easily portable. ‘The Archers’ was broadcast for the first time in 1950.

Velcro provided cheap fasteners. Barbie dolls, perhaps mimicking the teenage female pop stars of the time, arrived just before the decade closed and have remained with us. Other everyday objects have sometimes proved strangely resilient, outliving their original purpose and becoming devoted to uses outside of the original design or intention.

Sanatogen Jar

“This Sanatogen jar is from the period 1950 to 1954. It came from Burrows Farm where my mother worked for Mrs H. Millbank. Surprisingly, the storage jar has been in use ever since.” - Margaret Wright

Education

The 1939-45 World War had restricted developments in education. The attention of authorities was diverted to matters at least as pressing and education was disrupted, through the evacuation of children, and the partial destruction of the fabric of education.

Letter dated 8th June, 1946, from King George VI

“All children of school age received a letter from the King shortly after the end of the war in which the King spoke of the ‘shared hardship and dangers of Total War’. As a small boy growing up in London, I well recall the air raids. I slept for several months in a cellar under our house, partly in a gas tent. I was evacuated to Much Hadham for a period where I slept in an Anderson shelter with the mice. My school in Loughton was hit by a Doodlebug - a cause for some rejoicing!” - Patrick Griggs

Essex was keen to present a memento of the Coronation to children.

Book, “Royalty in Essex”

“All the children in Essex were presented with this book in 1953 on the occasion of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.” - Anne Cook

“We also have the ‘Royalty in Essex’ book that was given to all Essex school children by County Education in commemoration of the Coronation.” - Phillipa Giles

Perhaps strangely, much official data on education only dates from the 1960s. Generally, education in the 1950s followed a succession from infant, through primary to secondary schools. Secondary education was selective based on an examination, the 11 Plus Exam, to determine whether attendance at a grammar school was appropriate, or whether the secondary modern school was better suited. For those considered more able, the ‘Grammar’ held the promise of education leading to A levels and possibly university, whereas the alternative would often result in an early exit from the education system at the age of 15, unfortunately.

School satchel, leather

“I passed ‘The Scholarship” in 1952, the year of the Queen’s accession. This is the satchel that was bought for me. It was used throughout the rest of my schooldays.

My daughter used it when she started school and used it until holdalls became fashionable.” - June Wood

Such selection at 11 was severe and the chance of being later transferred to the ‘Grammar’ through, for example, a 12 Plus Exam) was unusual. The availability of the ‘Grammar’ was variable across the country and attendance would often involve long, daily journeys to counter the promise of success one was presumed to enjoy in later life.

Over the last fifty years, education has become more available. If the statistics from forty years ago are compared to those of today, then the huge growth in access to education becomes apparent. At nursery level, less than a quarter of a million children under 5, 10 per cent of the total, attended school in the 1950s; today the figure is 90 per cent. The number of pupils who left school with 2 ‘A’ levels has increased from approximately 8 per cent at the end of the 1950’s to about 30 per cent in 2000. This increase is aided by the number of young people staying on past 15 in full-time education. The figure is up from 35 per cent in 1958 to around 70 per cent today.

More remarkably, perhaps, over the same period there has been a ten-fold rise in the number of people going on to higher education, to 2 million in full or part-time study today. The number of universities in the UK has risen to 90 today from 20 in 1952. Nevertheless, the suggestion remains that this increase is accompanied by a reduction in educational standards.

Hospital Nursing Certificate

“Training for the nursing profession was strict, regimental and exhausting. Patients were segregated in fifty bedded wards and drugs were limited, so strict hygiene was essential. Everything was sterilised by hand.

We worked shifts of eight hours by day and twelve at night with one day off a week. All breakages had to be paid for.

Each year, we were required to pass both a hospital and a State examination.

Today I recognise the enormous responsibility we carried for the care of our patients, with limited resources, but the training offered then has been acknowledged today as second to none.” - Anne Stewart

Family

Statistics demonstrate that relationships and family structures have changed markedly over the past 50 years. About five times as many people live alone now, to seven million in 2001. Population has risen by one fifth, yet marriage is less popular, with one quarter fewer marriages. Divorce has risen five-fold and co-habitation is now the most common form of first partnership. Both men and women can expect to live eight-and-a-half years longer.

Babies’ names have changed. The following lists the most popular girls and boys names in 1952 and 2001:

1952
David
John
Michael
Peter
Stephen
Robert
Paul
Alan
Christopher
Richard

2001
Jack
Thomas
Joshua
James
Daniel
Harry
Samuel
Joseph
Matthew
Lewis

1952
Susan
Linda
Christine
Margaret
Patricia
Janet
Elizabeth
Mary
Carol
Ann

2001
Chloe
Emily
Megan
Jessica
Sophie
Lauren
Charlotte
Hannah
Olivia
Lucy

It seems remarkable that the top ten names differ so markedly for both boys and girls over the period. Today’s names are no less ‘traditional’ than in 2001, and the more recent choices for boy’s names have very strong biblical origins.

The family holiday of the 1950s still carries enduring memories. Most families afforded one annual holiday, which was usually spent in the UK at holiday camps, hotels or guesthouses at seaside resorts. The first National Park, the Peak District, was designated in 1951. Today, the majority of holidays are taken abroad. Holiday photos from the 1950s, usually black and white, do survive in corners but sometimes the memento is more notable.

Charcoal Sketch of Shirley Fisher

“I was on holiday in Devon with my family and encountered an artist sketching the scenery. My father asked him if he did portraits. He did, and for a cost of 1/6d each, he sketched my parents, my sister and myself.” - Shirley Fisher

Again, a present from a typical holiday -

1951 Necklace and Earring Set

“My best friend, Margaret, gave these to me on returning from a holiday in Llandudno. However, we often had holidays together, with parents, and thoroughly enjoyed them despite the fact we didn’t go far from our homes in Yorkshire, but to Scarborough, Skegness etc. We played tennis, swam, sunbathed and went for cliff top walks, once almost missing lunch as my watch had stopped and we’d no idea of the time. We are still good friends and recently had a wonderful day as guests at her son’s wedding.” - Maureen Meddows

and a coincidence, left at a holiday cottage -

The Illustrated London News magazine

“We discovered this copy of The London Illustrated News magazine in Cornwall in a holiday cottage that we had rented in the 1970s. The date on its cover, 25/4/59, was the date of our marriage and, inexplicably, we found it in one of our suitcases when we arrived home in Essex!” - Joan White

Transport

In 1952, there was no motorway in Great Britain. With just 3 million cars, both the bus and the train, and the bicycle, provided alternative ways of travelling even for short journeys. Less than one in six households had access to a car. More use was made of public transport, the train, and a combination of the two, the trolleybus.

A Trolleyhead

“Essex once had trolleybuses. These were electrically powered passenger vehicles and were used to replace trams in the ‘thirties and ‘forties. Their great attribute was quietness of operation. Trolleybuses were to be found in Southend-on-Sea, and on London Transport system at places like Woodford, Leytonstone, Barkingside and Ilford. As a youngster, I often caught the 661 at the ‘Green Man’, Leytonstone, to travel to London. Regrettably though, I never sampled the delights of a Southend trolleybus ride, along the seafront to the Kursaal. Trolleybuses disappeared from Southend in 1954 and from Ilford in 1959. The artefact here is a trolleyhead. It is one of a pair, fixed to long poles mounted on top of the vehicle, that pressed up on the overhead wires to collect the electric current that powered the vehicle.” - Keith Farrow

Fifty years later, the number of cars has multiplied by a factor of nine, to a total of 26.5 million and 73% of households now have access to at least one car. 85% of the passenger kilometres travelled are made on the roads by car, van or taxi. There has been a tenfold increase in the distance travelled by road, roughly proportional to the increase in the number of cars. 3,400 kilometres of motorway have now been built.

Other methods of road travel have declined. The distance now travelled by bus or coach has dropped to one half of its level in 1952, but more marked is the decline in the use of the bicycle to one sixth of its former level.

Of course, the greatest expansion has taken place in air travel. Over the last 50 years the number of passengers using the main airports in the UK has increased by a factor of 65, while the number of trips made has increased one hundred-fold!

LP “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley

“Bill Haley was the first rock n’roll star. In February, 1977, Bill Haley came to the UK. He crossed the Atlantic by transatlantic liner, docking at Southampton. The big sister of a friend of mine travelled to London on one of the four or five trains that were laid on to carry all the fans. Bill Haley must have been one of the last touring stars to travel by sea. The passenger traffic at Southampton docks remained steady but eventually declined under competition from cheaper, faster and more convenient air transport. The formerly grand and busy transatlantic passenger facilities, for example, the Great Western Hotel, with its associations with the Titanic, Mauretania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth liners, slowly succumbed during the 1960’s to the airlines.” - Rob Brooks

Southampton also supported a flying boat service, but this ceased in 1958 to be replaced by the hovercraft service to the Isle of Wight. In the early 1950s, disasters hampered air travel. In 1952, the first Comet jet service, from London to Johannesburg, commenced. Three early Comets were lost during landings, one in a thunderstorm, but it was when a Comet 1 broke up on departure from Rome on 10th January, 1954, that concerns about their safety mounted sharply. A further Comet belonging to South African Airways disappeared off the coast of Sicily on 8th April of the same year and as a result the Comet 1 was grounded. The Comet had been the first airliner to encounter pressurisation metal fatigue. Comet 4 was introduced much later on 1st October 1958.

Entertainment

Only one in six households had regular use of a car in 1952 compared to seven in ten now. As a result of the increase in personal mobility, the range of people’s leisure interests has expanded.

Now, the largest slice of our spending goes towards non-essential leisure goods and services. Over the last fifty years, patterns of entertainment have been dramatically changed. The widespread absorption of television into the home means we now visit the cinema just one tenth of the former frequency although, maybe because of some disappointment with television, this decline is currently reversing). Those queues of children outside the Odeon on a Saturday morning have vanished.

Collection of bird’s eggs and “The Observers Book of Birds Eggs”

“As a country schoolboy, born in 1950, I spent many happy hours scrambling around the hedgerows of Stapleford Tawney, collecting bird’s eggs. I would ‘blow’ the contents, making holes with a pin at each end, and identify them using the Observer book. At the time considered an innocent and healthy hobby. It is now a criminal offence!” - Duncan Padfield

More recently the widespread penetration of the computer into the home has provided families with a range of additional pursuits in the form of computer games, word processing, publishing and, more recently, access to huge information databanks. The transition of computer systems from a few large mainframe computers in the 1950s, carrying out calculations of national importance, to the distributed home computer, each possessing greater computing power, is a trend that was wholly unexpected. Even CEOs of major international computer companies failed to anticipate the trend. The capability to communicate with others worldwide through the Internet, selectively and even when not directly known, completes a staggering revolution in interpersonal communications really commenced only at the start of the twentieth century.

Dramatically, home entertainment changed in the 1950s. The fragile shellac of 78 rpm records, was to change to the more durable vinyl LP, at 33 1/3 rpm, pioneered by Columbia in 1948, and a 45 rpm format, from RCA in 1949. Records now became available to most young people at a price that they were prepared to afford. Elvis Presley was one of the first to profit from these developments. From 1956, Elvis Presley records sold hugely However, Elvis enjoyed nine top twenty hits until his first chart number one.

78 rpm “Hound Dog”; Elvis Presley

“This was my first love. The record label still retains traces of lipstick. Was the lipstick Lucky Pink?” - Christine Marchant

Hound Dog reached number two, spending 16 weeks in the charts. Blue jeans were also part of this teenage revolution in spending habits. They first sold in the UK in 1955. They were different, fashionable and comparatively cheap.

My Mother’s Dress

“I am wearing my mother’s dress, one of those she wore when courting my father. It is white cotton with mauve roses, shoestring straps, a ruched bodice, which was originally boned, and a small skirt that would cover a net underskirt. There is a contrasting wrap to go with it. At some time it was in our dressing up box and I have worn it to dances. I will keep it and pass it on to my daughter for dressing up in fancy dress in the future!” - Phillipa Giles

The formality of the dance or the ball of the 1950s has largely passed.

Dance Card

“In 1955, I went to the Scotch Bachelor’s Ball, where we were given cards. As the first half hour before the dancing began, you filled it in to arrange you dancing partner.

In 1956, we got married. We met at the Young Farmer’s Club. Maurice belonged to ‘Harlow” and I belonged to “Ongar”. It was known as the Marriage Bureau for the Young Farmers.” - Margaret Padfield

The 55th Aldeburgh Festival takes place this year.

Programme, Aldeburgh Festival, June 14th to 22nd, 1952

“In the early days of the Festival, before Snape Maltings, concerts were heard in the Jubilee Hall and the Parish Church. Lectures were held in the Church Hall, Baptist Chapel and the Cinema. It was all very informal and friendly.

I went to the Kathleen Ferrier recital in the Parish Church. When a concert was due there, streams of folk would be heading in that direction carrying cushions as the pews were very uncomfortable.

Tickets on sale at the Festival Office were priced at 3 shillings each. The complete programme book was 6 shillings.”

Jean Millbank

The festival, founded by Benjamin Britten in 1948 lost some of its importance following his death in 1976. The auditorium at the Maltings was burnt down on its first night in 1969 but was rebuilt in time for the festival the following year. Alas, Kathleen Ferrier died tragically in the year following the date of the programme. Was the programme book a bargain at 3 bob?

Sport

Sport in the decade will be remembered for some legendary achievements against a background of increasing professionalism.

At the end of the decade, the maximum weekly wage for a footballer was limited to £20 during the season and £17 in the summer. A strike threatened and the maximum wage was abolished on January 9th 1960, partly to counter players moving to Italian clubs. John Charles had already moved to Juventus, where his salary was trebled. Charles, the ‘Gentle Giant’, was paid a signing-on fee of £10,000, equivalent to 10 years salary in the English First Division. There was concern that the loss of the maximum wage would encourage wages to spiral out of control in the Football League!

F.A. Cup Final programme and ticket from 1950

“This was my granddad’s programme and ticket from the 1950 F.A. Cup Final between Liverpool and Arsenal. Arsenal won 2-0 in very wet and muddy conditions. Joe Mercer captained Arsenal and Phil Taylor captained Liverpool. Denis Compton, the England cricketer, played for Arsenal. At half-time, Denis, flagging in the conditions, was given a glass of brandy to revive him.” - Robin Fisher

In cricket, amateurs played alongside professionals, as they had always done. The Gentlemen, amateurs, still played the Players, professionals, at Lords annually. In 1957, the batting of the Gentlemen included the Reverend David Shepherd, Peter May, Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter, while the Players could muster the strong bowling attack of Frank “Typhoon” Tyson, Freddie Trueman and Jim Laker. Denis Compton captained the Players in his last professional season. In the absence of one-day cricket, cricket grounds hosted representative games, perhaps oddly viewed today; England versus The Rest; The North versus The South; Under Thirty-Two versus Over Thirty-Two.

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships were strictly amateur throughout the decade. A professional circus, led by Jack Kramer, toured extensively providing spectacular entertainment throughout the decade. Kramer, having won Wimbledon in 1947, joined Bobby Riggs, the winner of all three male Wimbledon titles in 1939, in the circus. In the 1950s, Frank Sedgman and Lew Hoad, both Wimbledon singles winners, among several others, turned professional, leaving the amateur game poorer for their absence. The major tennis tournaments were only opened to professionals in 1968.

Wimbledon programmes from the 1950s

“I played at Wimbledon during the amateur days when professional tennis took the form of a travelling circus. The programmes recorded most of the results. I played Rod Laver at Wimbledon but prefer to forget the score. The amateur days were reflected by the home players travelling to the courts by bus, and players getting to the third round earned themselves a player a meal ticket.”

John Ward

Athletics remained amateur, apart from the The Powderhall Sprint, run in Edinburgh, but open only to professionals! Professionalism in rugby union is a recent and generally resisted, development; previously the two rugby codes had followed quite distinct paths.

Perhaps the 1950s hosted the transition of sport to the modern era. The growth of professionalism is both a cause and an effect of this. Professionalism was a reaction to the need of all sportsmen and sportswomen to obtain support to enable both time and equipment to be devoted to raising performance. Emil Zatopek adopted a training routine that is still regarded as punishing today. Having won both the 5,000m and the 10,000m at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, Zatopek entered the Marathon, his first. In a well-known exchange with Jim Peters of England, Zatopek enquired whether they were running fast enough. “Too slow” was the unwise reply. Zatopek accelerated to win his third gold medal easily. Zatopek, a Czech army officer, was promoted through his athletic success.

Instances of the transition to the modern era in other sports can be suggested. There are links. In football, Stanley Matthews, of Blackpool, finally won his Cup Final winner’s medal with Blackpool in 1953 after a career, which started with Stoke in 1932; later in the decade the 17 year old Pele became the youngest player to play in the final stages of the World Cup. In 1953, Gordon Richards, later knighted, finally rode a Derby winner, Pinza, at his twenty-eighth attempt at the age of 49. The following year, Lester Piggott won the first of his nine Derby victories. In boxing, Joe Louis made an ill-considered comeback in 1951 against Rocky Marciano, and the young Marciano knocked him out in the eighth round. In 1960 Cassius Clay, won the gold medal at the Rome Olympics as a light-heavyweight, one early step to becoming the best-known sportsman in modern times. Arnold Palmer won his first US Masters title in 1958, so creating a tournament link that has only just ceased.

. . . . and lastly, Roger Bannister ran the first 4 minute mile. Was this as fast as a man could run? No, the world record now stands to at 3m 43.13s!

. . . and finally

It is quite possible you recall the 1950s vividly. This is true for me. Is it because it coincided with my schooldays when the mind was open to new experiences, uncluttered with acquired knowledge and irrelevancies? Or is it because the decade could be viewed with an emotional detachment permitted by the general absence of responsibilities? Or were the 1950s, in reality, colourful, fresh and vivid and a decade of innovation and change?

Of course, there is much that has not been mentioned . . . . The Festival of Britain . . . . the Cold War . . . . Eisenhower and Churchill . . . . Stalin . . . . Bulganin and Kruschev . . . . the conflict of Korea . . . . the Hungarian uprising . . . . Nasser and Suez . . . . Sir Anthony Eden . . . . Telstar . . . . Sputnik and the dog, Laika . . . . Burgess and Maclean . . . . Hillary and Tenzing . . . . the Munich air crash . . . . Puskas . . . . the Hungarian football team . . . . 6-3 and 7-1 defeats . . . . Anita Lonsborough . . . . Cliff Richard . . . . zebra crossings . . . . ITV . . . . myxomatosis . . . . smog . . . . the M1 . . . . and parking meters . . . . . . . . . . .

Thanks are also extended to the members of the High Country History Group who entertained with their reminiscences at the group’s Annual General Meeting on 29th March, 2002.

Acknowledgements in the preparation of this article are also due to the Internet, and in particular the National Office of Statistics and the St Osyth Parish Magazine for July 2001 . . . . among many others.

In 2005 Rob Brooks led a ten week course for the Ongar branch of the WEA entitled ‘The Royal Forest of Essex’. These notes were written by him, and are reproduced in his memory.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Introduction

At the outset, we need to be clear about the meaning of the term Royal Forest. In referring to an area as Royal Forest, we mean that Forest Laws placed restrictions on its use. The convention is to use capital letters here to distinguish this precise meaning from forest to denote a large wooded area. Hence Forest has a legal interpretation; this implies that the association with trees is coincidental … although not irrelevant!

The Norman kings introduced Forest Laws to preserve for themselves unhindered hunting of venison, venison being deer (roe, fallow and red deer) and wild boar. At the whim of the Norman kings, large areas of England were designated Royal Forest. The Forest Laws were restrictive and intentionally oppressive for those inhabitants living under them, and as a consequence the Laws were much resented. These laws were not part of Common Law, and a separate judiciary was required to administer them.

Some time after the Norman Conquest, the whole of Essex became a single Royal Forest, one of some seventy Forests to be so created. Essex was the largest. In the 13C., at their peak, the Royal Forest covered about one quarter of the country in large swathes.

In the course we will examine the history of the Royal Forest with particular reference to Essex. This history extends to the present day. Essex is fortunate in retaining remnants of Forest, notably the ancient woodlands of Hainault, Epping, including Wintry Wood to the north of Epping, Kingswood, near Colchester, and Writtle. Most notable is the wood-pasture of Hatfield Forest, which uniquely retains the traditional open pasture in a form close to that which probably existed in Norman times.

There are several themes running through the course. Apart from the changing structure and history of the Forest of Essex, these themes include the legal background to the Forest and the social consequences, the changing use of the Forest, including hunting, agriculture and timber production, and an appreciation of trees and their management.

At the end of the course, those attending will have established a broader understanding of the Royal Forest. Within a wider context, the course will provide the background necessary to enable attendees to develop a greater understanding of physical landscape features. It is hoped that the course will provide the framework for an enhanced, enthusiastic and developing appreciation of the English landscape using sources available.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 1.
Anglo-Saxon Essex

Objective

We need to look before the Norman Conquest to establish the position held by both woodland and the practice of hunting, and we will then be able to recognise the changes brought about through the Norman Conquest and the imposition of the Forest Laws.

In recent years, the Anglo-Saxons and their achievements have been undergoing some re-evaluation; for example, as presented in the autumn TV programme, Britain AD. The Anglo-Saxon system of local government through hundreds and parishes was probably without parallel in Europe. Two examples of Anglo-Saxon culture may be mentioned in passing, the Alfred jewel, held in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and a portable sundial, residing in Canterbury Cathedral. The re-evaluation is being continued through the strong line of research of landscape historians and archaeologists.

Anglo-Saxon Woodland and Hunting

Woodland was of great importance to the local economy. Woodland provided timber for building and tools, and fuel for heating. Woodland beech and oak mast supported pigs and cattle. Honey would be a valued product from woodland.

Woodland also provided an area for recreation in the form of hunting. The laws of Cnut implied that areas for hunting were reserved and landowners were permitted to hunt on their own land. Techniques used in hunting would include hunting with dogs from horseback for royalty and hunting using nets for the commonalty. The practice of rearing animals both for food and for hunting is indicated by frequent reference in charters to a hagu or haia, meaning a hedge or fence; these words, Old English and Norman, respectively, were used to describe some structure either for the containment of animals, primarily deer, or for use in hunting game.

Alfred the Great is reputed to have excelled in the art of hunting. Edward the Confessor was aid to have enjoyed the sports of hawking and hunting whenever he had completed his devotions. There is a record of the king's huntsmen being fed and clothed, and being given presents, and at least for royalty, the practice of hunting appears well developed.

Anglo-Saxon Landscapes in Essex

There is evidence of Anglo-Saxon landscapes locally. The parishes of the Rodings, north of Chipping Ongar, of which there are eight remaining:
Beauchamp Roding,
Berners Roding,
Margaret Roding,
Leaden Roding,
High Roding,
Aythorpe Roding,
White Roding, and Abbess Roding,
formed an Anglo-Saxon estate. A ninth parish, Morrells Roding, has been absorbed within the parish of White Roding. Four churches existed in Rodings manors by 1086, and 16 separate manors are mentioned in Domesday. Eight parishes were in existence by 1250; maybe the parish church of White Roding took the role of a minster church within these parishes; but the evidence is not strong enough to support a firm conclusion.

St Andrew's, Greensted-juxta-Ongar, was traditionally thought to be of Anglo-Saxon date. This date has been progressively revised, making the church 'younger'. Recent dendrochronology results have determined a date of between 1040 and 1086; so the church might even be Norman … but at least the logs are Anglo-Saxon!

The date of St Andrew's now corresponds closely to the earliest recorded date of a deer park in England. A will of 1045 makes reference to a 'deer huge' at Chipping Ongar. The boundary of Ongar Great Park was about one mile west of St Andrew's. A partial bank, characteristic of such parks, is still in evidence. The park was about 5 miles in circumference and the bank, built to retain the deer, would have been a prominent structure of necessity.

The Norman Conquest

William I was a keen huntsman. Norman hunting traditions, added to an interest in the subjugation of the populace, resulted in William introducing Forest Laws, giving hunting rights to the king over large areas of England irrespective of land ownership.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 2.
The Norman and Angevin Kings

Objective

There are pre-conquest references that indicate the existence of hunting in England and there is some evidence that hunting was organised and included the rearing and management of deer. The Royal Forest is usually taken to be a Norman introduction. In this session, its development by the Norman and Angevin kings will be discussed. The extent of the Royal Forest increased throughout the period, eventually covering 20% of England. Essex was a Royal Forest, and the largest of the Forest areas in England.

Royal Forest

A Royal Forest is an area subject to Forest Laws. These were drafted to protect venison for the purpose of hunting. Areas designated Royal Forest were associated with poorer land. Woodland was needed for cover for deer, but apart from this requirement, there is no direct correlation of Forest with trees. However, the result of the Laws was to ensure that the king and his followers enjoyed a controlled, near monopoly of hunting.

Hunting was a tradition of the Carolingian kings. William I is quoted as loving "the tall deer as if he were their father". A Norman king was able to satisfy his desire for the hunt by designating a Royal Forest at his whim; the inhabitants, urged by severe penalties for transgressions, would be made aware that Forest Laws would be applied.

Forest Laws

The Forest Laws were intended to protect deer and provide an environment in which deer would flourish. There is no original version of the Laws from the reign of William I, and it must be anticipated that they evolved subsequently. The year 1184 was a watershed; the administration of the Forest needed attention and it was necessary to demonstrate that the Laws were not the whim of the king. In 1184, the Assize of Woodstock (also the Assize of the Forest) incorporated the fundamental Forest Laws.

Effectively, Forest Laws conveyed to the king Forestal Rights, the right to keep deer, to hunt, to fine transgressors and collect the fines. The landowner owned the soil, the timber and woodland, and the grazing, but commoners, also had established rights, for example rights to timber, often for particular purposes, and grazing rights. Of course, the King was a landowner, owning his estates within Forested areas, but the king might also license important landowners to hunt in their own private Forest, referred to as a chase, in exchange for revenue generated for the exchequer.

As may be expected, these Laws placed restrictions on inhabitants; for example, by restricting the development of land for agriculture or housing, because of the need to maintain the cover for the deer, through restrictions on the protection of crops because of the need to allow the free-running of the deer, and placing limits on the keeping of dogs. There were also many corrupt practices that caused conflict between the king and barons, coming to a head in the Magna Carta of 1215. The issue of the Royal Forest was sufficiently important to warrant four chapters within the charter.

Following John's subsequent rejection of the charter, and his death, the demands of the barons were revised and presented to the king, now Henry III, through the regent, in the Charter of the Forest of 1217. This charter, in 17 chapters, presents a broad summary of the grievances of the barons, and landowners and commoners, associated with the Law of the Forest. Perhaps it is significant that the charter does not request the complete rejection of the Laws, maybe in endeavouring to request what is judged to be achievable, but it does seek to outlaw some of the associated corrupt practices.

Punishments, Disafforestment and Revenue

Although it is (dubiously) romantic to think of heavy medieval punishments being meted out to transgressors, evidence for this appears to be scarce. It must have been realised that fines or amercements were more rewarding that gratuitous violence! What then could you do if you were afforested (deemed to come under the Forest Laws)? You could buy yourself out! There were a number of these, but in the Forest of Essex, the area north of Stane Street was disafforested by the Earl of Oxford in 1204 for the sum of 500 marks and 5 palfreys. This was a typical settlement, although the sums of money and the areas in other disafforestments varied considerably. Of course, the timing of these coincided with periods when the Exchequer was short of money, particularly around 1190, in the time of Richard I, and 1202, King John.

Administration

The Law of the Forest was a departure from Roman Law, which allowed the freedom to hunt on your own land. Forest Laws were not incorporated within Common Law and their imposition required a new and separate judiciary. The Chief Justice of the Forest headed the judiciary. In addition, a number of officials were required to police the Forest and manage the resources of deer, timber, and grazing.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 3
The Growth of Deer Parks

Objective

The development of the Forest System enabled and extended greatly the opportunities for courtly hunting of venison over wide areas of England. Parks for rearing and managing deer reflected this growth. The construction and maintenance of a park large enough to accommodate a herd of deer would have been an expensive undertaking. It is surprising that these parks were apparently so numerous, but still the value of deer meat was beyond price. Here we will look at the purpose and growth of the deer park.

Pre Domesday

There is one clear reference to a pre-Domesday park — that of Ongar Great Park but it would be strange if this park was unique. In the Domesday survey of 1086 a total of 37 parks are recorded but, surprisingly, Ongar Great Park is not one of those included. However, this total is probably confused by the use of different terminology within Domesday; for example, a park in Holt, Norfolk, is referred to as porcus (a pig) rather than the correct parcus. There is also uncertainty about the use of the words huga, haw, or hays to describe some pre- and post-Conquest landscape structures'.

Subsequent to Domesday, and certainly after 1200, state and court records become more plentiful. Lists of deer parks can be compiled through the seeking out of references to parks in medieval wills, charters and state records. The compilation of sets of these references has been advanced by a number of authors.
Medieval deer and deer farming are poorly documented in these records. (Was this because they were commonplace?) Commonplace or not, and despite the value of the meat, the endeavour was still just for the wealthy. The bank and pale, required to confine the deer, was expensive to maintain, and deer needed feeding during harsh winters.

Domesday Deer Parks

Of the 37 deer parks in England mentioned in Domesday, just one is in Essex — at Rayleigh. This entry is unusually descriptive since not only is a vineyard also noted there but the yield of the vineyard is also described. Other Domesday entries can be concisely descriptive in other senses; for example:
"Kingsley ('Cheshire): … and there is a hawk's eyrie and 4 enclosures for [catching] roe-deer. TRE it was worth 30s now 6s."

The Growth of the Deer Park

As noted above, Shirley (1867) concluded that there were more than 300 medieval deer parks in England at the height of their popularity. Cantor expanded the list so that over 100 were noted within the county of Essex. It is perhaps surprising that he current total for Essex currently stands at over 160.

The earliest reference to a particular deer park in the records provides a clue to the date of the foundation of the park, and usually also gives the ownership. By examining these first mentions, the trend in the growth of the deer park can be reasonably established … or is it just establishing the pattern of the growth of records?

It is well-known that Writtle possessed two deer parks:

Horsfrith Park: "Licence for Richard de Brus to impark his wood at Horsfrith, which is within the metes of the forest of Writele with his 'minds thereto pertaining, and to hold the same in fee-simple." June 7, Westminster, Cal. Pat. 1280

Chignal and Wrytle: "Licence, … , to Thomas de Weylaund to enclose and impark two groves in Chigenhale, Tany and Wrytele, containing 14 acres, and 16 acres of land there within the bounds of the forest of Essex." April 29, Westminster, Cal Pat. 1286

Thomas de Weylaund was one of those medieval personalities that lurched from success to penury and disgrace in no time at all. A member of the judiciary, he was accused of being an accessory to murder, fuelled by complaints of misconduct, during an absence of the king when abroad. He was tried, found guilty and given three choices, all of them unpalatable, he "abjured the realm", to return to England after several years in France.

The Rabbit and Rabbit Farming

The rabbit is a comparatively recent introduction into England. In 1240, the king was ordering rabbits from his lords. Pillow mounds, constructed to encourage burrowing, and present in both Epping and Hatfield Forests, are evidence of rabbit farming.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 4
Law and Order in the Forest

Objective

The maintenance of law and order in the Royal Forests required both a separate judicial system, because the body of law lay outside Common Law, and officials to administer the system, to police the Forest, and to dispense justice. Since the extent of the Forest at its peak amounted to around 20% of the land surface in England, these tasks proved often to be a burden for both citizens involved and judiciary. However, strict imposition of the law through fines and amercements brought rewards for the Exchequer.

The Chief Justice of the Forest

That the king invested the authority for the running of the Royal Forests in the hands of the Chief Justice of the Forest is maybe a simplification but it is convenient. The Chief Justice was responsible also for king's demesne woods within the bounds of the Forest. Henry II, maybe because of the wide duties involved, divided the position into two by appointing a chief justice for North of the Trent and one for South of the Trent. These posts had a long history and their abolition along with the posts of other Forest officials were terminated by an Act passed only in 1813.

Notable, early, and sometimes infamous, holders of the position included Hugh de Nevill, to be followed by his son John, and Robert de Passelewe . Robert de Passelewe ousted several Forest officials from their positions: John de Nevill was accused of serious offences and was removed from office, as was Richard de Montfichet from his position as Warden of the Forest of Essex. The deed returning the Forest of Waltham to the care of Richard is preserved in the Essex Record Office.

Warden of the Forest of Essex

Richard de Montfichet was the first holder of the title of Warden of the Forest of Essex. Richard died in 1205, and his son, also Richard, succeeded to the title in 1215 as of hereditary right, and on payment of £100. Richard led an eventful, 'medieval life', being stripped of his lands on two occasions but nevertheless recovering favour with the king both times. The tasks of Richard de Montfichet would have been various. Often quoted is the order from Henry III, sent from Marlborough on 3 December 1238:

"To Richard de Muntfichet: Contrabreve to cause to be taken in the forest of Essex, both within and without the king's park of Havering, 80 live does and 40 live bucks for the use of the count of Flanders, and to deliver them to Reynold Ruffus, the king's yeoman, and to cause to be made in his bailiwick such cages as shall be needed to put them in."

The Unpaid Officials

The responsibilities of unpaid officials were generally to audit and maintain the state of the forest. Regarders were knights, appointed by the king, to carry out the triennial regard of the forest. Twelve knights were appointed for each Forest. The regard involved a perambulation of the boundary of the Forest, noting purpresture, the encroachment of settlement into the Forest boundary. Appointment to this unpaid post, naturally unpopular with the inhabitants of the Forest, was often unwelcome.

Verderers reviewed the state of the vert, the cover for the deer. Destruction of the vert, particularly assarting, was noted and reported. The numbers of verderers varied depending on the size of the Forest - eighteen in the Forest of Essex in the 13C, and two in Rutland. Verderers are still active in Epping Forest. Agisters collected the agistment, the payment for the feeding of pigs on the beech and oak mast within the king's woods.

The Paid Officials

The paid officials of the Forest included hereditary foresters of fee, riding and walking foresters, and woodwards. The task of the foresters was to police the vert and the venison, often a dangerous task since poaching gangs might be large, assisted by dogs, and armed. Foresters were permitted to carry bows and arrows for their protection.

Woodwards were appointed by the owners of woodland within the Forest. It was a requirement that each wood should have a woodward to manage the veil and the venison; Should the post of woodward be vacant without good cause then the wood would be transferred to the king. Woodwards were not armed.

Courts

The setting and collection of the fees for agisting, feeding was set at the Swanimote or Swanimote. Preliminary hearings of trespasses occupied Attachment Courts, which were intended to take place every 40 days. Such courts dispensed small fines where appropriate but more serious cases were hear at the Forest Eyre before the Chief Justice. Special and general inquisitions were held into any death of venison or serious trespass involving the veil, preliminaries to the Forest Eyre.

The Royal Forest of Essex
Part 5
Forest Fieldwork

Fieldwork in local history has become firmly established over the last forty years since pioneering work at Leicester University. Quantitative techniques have been proposed and tested in a wide range of localities, placing the subject on an increasingly secure footing. Many excellent books express this growing confidence of the subject.

Dating of Trees

The contention is that the girth of a tree, when measured at a height of around 5 feet (variously 1.3m or 1.5m), increases at a rate of one inch per year. Applying to the period before a tree attains full maturity, this is valid for a wide variety of trees. However, it must be anticipated that this correlation between girth and age of a tree can only be a 'rule of thumb' since growth can be modified by local conditions of soil, drainage, and environment, and the management history of the tree - the growth of a tree is arrested following pollarding. However, the rule is convenient and non-invasive, and can be tested whenever a mature tree is felled, of course.

In Essex, the best concentration of ancient trees is in Epping Forest with a likely count in excess of 50,000 such trees. The remaining old woodland in Hainault Forest has many fine trees. Small groups and isolated trees of note are widely distributed in Essex.

Dating of Hedgerows

In a similar manner a rule of thumb has been established for the dating of a hedgerow. The technique depends on counting the number of different 'woody' species within a group of 30m lengths of the hedgerow. The age of the hedge in years is then the average of the number of species over the number of lengths in which the count has been made, multiplied by 100. So if the average number of species is 4.3, then the age of the hedge is 430 years. Minor improvements in the technique might involve discarding lengths exhibiting a low count (the section might have been replanted) and those with a high count (maybe the section formed part of a garden).

Place Names

The study of place names owes much to the English Place-Name Society. Recently, a national dictionary of place-names has been published. Involved in the dictionary, and notable in her own original work, is Margaret Gelling who has analysed place-names and the correlation of elements of those names with landscape features. A number of elements in these names apply to woodland or clearings; for example:
fyrhth(e) meaning 'land overgrown with brushwood' (e.g. Thrift Wood)
hangra 'sloping wood on a gentle slope' (Birchanger)
holt 'single species wood' (Hainault Forest, Bergholt)
hyrst 'wooded hill' (Buckhurst, Doddinghurst, Hawkhurst, Midhurst)
leah 'forest, wood, glade, clearing' later 'pasture', 'meadow'
sceaga 'small wood' (Bramshaw, Strumpshaw)

In total, about eighteen such elements can be identified with woodland and clearings, but some of these are regional and a few are rarely encountered.

Maps

Clearly maps are sources of considerable information although the amount of information and its accuracy depends very much on the date of their compilation. County maps date from the 16C, but being county wide they are 'pictorial' rather than an accurate representation of the county; for example, John Speed's map of 1610 of Essex depicts 49 (deer) parks, including Writtle Park but not Horsefrith Park.

Similarly, estate maps, often colourfully drawn, date from about 1560, but they should not be expected to be the result from an accurate survey. However, parish maps, which accompanied the tithe award assessment of around 1840, are generally well surveyed and detailed but the scale of the survey is variable from parish to parish. The tithe award assessment attempted to determine the award in terms of a financial contribution. Tithe maps are valuable since each field and wood is represented along with a record of the field name, owner, tenant, acreage and broad land use category.

The early Ordnance Survey maps exhibit great detail at 6" and 25" scales. Those at the largest scale show individual trees. Map analysis of the structures within a map can provide additional clues to the development of landscape features. Analysis of 'T-junctions' within a map can be used to suggest detail within the map, particularly when related to the relative dating of features.

Physical Landscape Features

Finally, there are those features still visible within the landscape. These include a wide variety of physical clues such as wood pasture, (uniquely) preserved at Hatfield Forest, banks, coppice banks, boundary banks, assarts or agricultural clearance, evidence of purpresture or encroachment, and evidence of the management of woodland trees, coppicing and pollarding, charcoal burning and even abandoned saw-pits.