High Country History Group

Thirty-nine members of the High Country History Group were present at the Annual General Meeting held in the Toot Hill Village Hall.

The main points from formal business of the meeting were:

Current membership is slightly below 100. The chairman stated that it was important for maintaining evening audiences that membership be restored to a level above 100. All members should try to recruit a member.

Accounts were presented. The accounts showed the group to have increased its reserves. However, some speakers had given their services freely, on the understanding that donations are made in lieu, and these donations had still to be made. Insurance had been paid twice in the year; this put right a minor anomaly in the accounts – insurance is now paid for the current year instead of being one year behind. Nevertheless, it had been decided by the committee not to raise subscriptions for the year 2005/6.

Ann Padfield had indicated her wish to retire from the committee. The rest of the committee were re-elected to their present positions. Richard Brady joined the committee.

The chairman thanked all the committee for their support during the year.

After the meeting, Peter Moring indicated his wish to join the committee. The intention is to co-opt Peter onto the committee in due course.

The meeting was followed by members’ contribution to the evening in the form of local, historical reminiscences.

There were enthusiastic contributions about:

1. bombing raids in the Mediterranean during WWII;
2. street lighting, or lack of it, in Theydon Bois;
3. Essex in World War I; and
4. a family history etc.

The intention is to write up notes on these to be published in the next newsletter.

Finally, cheese and wine brought the evening to a convivial close.

The Reverend L. Capel Cure J.P., Rector of Abbess Roding, born at Blake Hall, Bobbingworth in 1833, fourth son of the late Capel Cure. Educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, since 1858 has been the Rector of Abbess Roding. He is the secretary of the Boarding-out Orphan Children Committee and secretary of the Universities Central African Mission.

In 1857 he married Augusta, daughter of Sir Charles Smith, of Suttons, Stapleford Tawney.

A visit to the Senior Historical Society at the Essex Record Office, 1st February 2005

Had A. A. Milne a darker, more serious side? The thought would surely never have occurred to Eeyore. Could the bear have really been a suspect? Hard to imagine! A visit to the Essex Record Office was in order for the February meeting of the Senior Historical Society. Could my curiosity be satisfied?

The incident that launched the story took place in Honeypot Lane, 'Plotlands', where Basildon now stands. Those who lived in the area had bought plots of land on which to erect a dwelling, often of very temporary construction. The soil could be 'sticky as honey' and was difficult to cultivate in wet periods, as it was when baked hard in the height of summer. Clean water and mains sewerage were not available throughout the area. At times of relative drought, water was scarce, often collected from rainwater or, when the need arose, from ditches. Drought conditions prevailed in the August of 1906.

The Buckham family lived at Sawyers Farm. The farm possessed a pond, and the critical water shortage had persuaded a neighbouring couple, Albert and Emma Watson, to ease their own death by gathering water from this pond, believing with good ground that they had permission. Robert and Richard, sons of the Buckham family, discovered the 'theft' in progress. Richard went back to the Buckham residence, collected a gun, returned to the pond and shot the couple - dead, after reloading. Robert and Richard were both charged with murder but after the incident their lives took distinctly different paths.

Richard, 19 years old, with limited intelligence and some history of mental illness, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The resources of the family could not support adequate defence counsel. Robert, 16 years old, was acquitted of the charge. Robert served in reconnaissance in the war; indeed, he served throughout the war, even returning to the front after recovering from a left-hand injury, the usual self-inflicted wound of the soldier seeking relief from the trenches. Robert earned the Military Medal.

Marion Hill presented the story with sincerity, and the sensitivity of an author. Her book about the brothers, The Honeypot Killers, was launched at the Imperial War Museum in July 2004. Marion Hill is the author of a number of books about 'new towns' and their residents. Among other publications, either published or expected, is a book on the women who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II.

But that was not all! The Senior Historical Society enjoyed the first showing of a generous film 'trailer', produced to invite the making of a film based on the book. Actors in period costume documented the diverse opinions on the issues, including the macabre calculation of the 'drop' by the hangman, one of the Pierreponts. Good entertainment!

A proceeding from a court at Westwood near Dunwich in Suffolk in 1442 illustrates the high status of the rabbit. In the autumn of that year, three Augustinian canons from Blythburgh Priory had been caught poaching rabbits with their own, specially reared, greyhounds - a flagrant display of the increasing worldliness of the religious orders. The outraged court officials fined them the substantial sum of 46s 8d (three and a half marks), further recording that the activity had the express knowledge and support of no less a person than the Prior himself.

The high fine imposed on the priory indicates the importance of the rabbit in the fifteenth century. The story suggests that the animal, being scarce, is not native to Britain. It is perhaps surprising then to find that despite obvious success in breeding, the rabbit is a comparatively late introduction to mainland Britain, later than the period of the Norman kings.

The rabbit, unlike the native hare, is a French introduction. In 1176, it was known that there were rabbits on the Scilly Isles. It is likely that they had reached the Isle of Wight by 1225. Some rabbit bones have been unearthed at Rayleigh Castle, indicating that they had been buried there probably in the first quarter of the thirteenth century; they had been eaten there but not necessarily raised there. The origin of these rabbits may have been the islands off the Essex coast, such as Foulness and Wallasey, both manors in the Honour of Rayleigh.

The earliest reference to the rabbit found in Britain is a mention in a charter of 1204. The existence of a coneygarth dates from 1241, when the king ordered hay to be carted from his cuningera at Guildford. There are earlier indirect references; for example in 1235, the king presented a gift of decem couninos vivos from his park in Guildford, and in 1242 he sent men there to catch thirty or forty rabbits secundum quod invenerint prefatum cuneram fertilem. No case of trespass involving the rabbit has been traced before 1268, when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, complained that his 'coney warren' (or coneygarth) at Isleworth, Middlesex, had been broken into.

A royal charter conferred the right of 'free-warren'. It permitted the recipient the sole right to hunt specified beasts within the warren. These beasts ranged from the fox, hare, pheasant, partridge and rabbit, but did not include the beasts of the Forest, deer and wild boar. At this time there were many such grants made, enabling landowners to breed and hunt these 'lesser' animals. However, only occasionally do these grants mention the specific animals reserved for the owner; most commonly such named animals were the hare and fox, at least into the early thirteenth century.

The Spread of the Rabbit

In 1240, the king ordered a supply of rabbits from a number of his sheriffs; three returns were received - 100 rabbits from the bishop of Winchester, 200 from the Earl of Warenne, and a further 200 from a court high official. In 1243, the king had requested 200 from the estates of the bishop of Winchester, 100 of these coming from the Isle of Wight, and 300 from the estates belonging to the archbishop of Canterbury. Parks would have been stocked with live rabbits, and this trade between king and aristocracy was an indication of its status and value. The rabbit would eventually be served at the royal table.

The critical period for the spread of the rabbit appears to be from about 1230 to 1250 when there are numerous records of the stocking of parks. The breeding would be encouraged by the construction of low mounds, 'pillow mounds', to enable the rabbit to colonise easily. Such an earth mound is depicted in the Luttrell Psalter, published between 1320 and 1340, the rabbits within the mound depicted as being attacked by a pine marten. As may be imagined from the care devoted to its rearing, the rabbit remained a very expensive meat during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, costing four or five times as much as chicken, and hence was regarded as a luxury. In consequence, the skins were also much in demand as well.

By 1305, the rabbit population was sufficient to enable skins to be exported and a record from the port of Hull, dating from 1305, refers to the export of 200 fells or skins. By the mid-sixteenth century, rabbits were plentiful. Conrad Gesner wrote in 1555: 'There are few countries where coneys do not breed, but the most plenty of all is in England.' At about the same time Richard Hakluyt pointed that the export of black coney skins might well be increased, presumably because they sold at a premium.

Later Developments

The right to keep and kill rabbits was exclusive to the owners of free-warren. It was a valuable privilege. Most East Anglian villages had been granted free-warren by the 1280s. The rabbit did not colonize easily, and it is likely that most warrens were artificial creations. Few medieval warrens culled more than 3,000 rabbits in one year but culling generally fluctuated wildly. Henry III requested the bailiff of Guildford to send fifty rabbits to Windsor but only if the loss could be sustained.

Enclosed deer-parks were sometimes used for breeding rabbits, sometimes excluded from crops through the use of an internal ditch. A substantial deer-park at Lopham produced 300 rabbits for the Countess of Norfolk in 1386. Most warrens, although not necessarily allowing the hunting of the rabbit, had been founded by the late thirteenth century, but sometimes the rabbit (cunicularium) was subsequently added to a charter.

By 1341, there are indications that the rabbit population was thriving, with land uncultivated and crops being reported as destroyed by them. In 1391, Mildenhall, in Cambridgeshire, had lost its oat crop through such activity. There were complaints that church tithes had reduced. Poor winters in the mid-fifteenth century required warrens to be restocked.

Warreners were well paid. At Dunningworth the warrener was paid fifty-two shillings a year, while in the fifteenth century, the warrener at Ely Abbey was paid £5, but the Abbey reserved the right to dismiss him if the work was unsatisfactory. The warrener could be assisted by additional men or by a ferreter.

Revenues from the rearing of rabbits increased markedly in the fourteenth century. At Lakenheath, for example, revenue from the warren was double the revenue from wool, previously the staple product from the demesne. Exporting the skins was now 'big' business and there are numerous examples of enabling licences being granted by the king. John Calwere shipped 12,000 fells to Flanders in 1365, and in 1383 Collard Chierepetit exported 10,000 to Holland; William Groom and others each exported 5,000 fells of rabbits.

Poaching was a flourishing pastime as court proceedings document. In 1435, the parson of Cressingham, Norfolk, owed a £10 amercement for poaching in Swaffham. In 1425, Thomas Sherman, an Augustinian canon from Blythburgh Priory, was known as 'a poaching canon'. Another Blythburgh canon, leased well-trained ferrets to other poachers! The poacher often used a lurcher (a greyhound/collie cross?) for poaching on open ground.

Poachers in the mid-fifteenth century had organised themselves into gangs. A Thetford gang of the 1440s, attired in 'soldiers tunics, steel helmets, bows and arrows', and sometimes 'cudgels and staffs' attacked and wounded three members of a rival gang at Elveden, Suffolk, and then 'unjustly imprisoned' them in the town of Thetford.

The exploitation of the rabbit in farming gives some idea of the willingness of the farmer to adapt to changing conditions. The decline in arable farming is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the rearing of rabbits, both for meat and for the skins. However, the position of the rabbit formed an important component of medieval life and its agriculture.

I discovered recently an excellent website containing the history of the Parish of Lambourne and I am indebted to Phil Reeves, who is responsible for the site, for allowing us to quote from it.

I recommend that you visit the site, which can be found at www.oldlambourne.co.uk.

Our first story concerns the activities of resurrectionists in 1821, who were apprehended whilst operating far from their usual London haunts by a brave village constable.

1st November, 1821

James Adam, Constable of Abridge, went last night about nine o'clock to the Blue Boar having heard there were two men there with a horse and cart of a suspicious appearance. There the name of the cart was William Hollis of Thomas St Newington Surrey No 146174. The men got in the cart and went in the direction of Ongar, i.e. the churchyard. The constable went to get his mare but before he could do so the cart returned with a third man through the village along the London Road at rapid speed.

He did not have the chance to stop the cart for two miles at Chigwell. When he did there were four men in the cart. He took two men into custody but in the scuffle two men escaped. The men charged were William Crouch and James Crouch.

On searching the cart he found a female child's body of Mrs Barker, which had been buried the Sunday before; in the cart was also a shovel.

John Jones, undertaker, stated that on Sunday 28th October last, he conducted the funeral of Sarah, the infant of William Barker, shoemaker for Abridge, and screwed the lid of the coffin she was to be in and saw it placed in the grave made in the churchyard.

William Barker went about ten o'clock to the Blue Boar to see the body of a child taken from some men at Chigwell from the cart, and found it to be the body of his daughter Sarah, age eight years old, buried in Lambourne Churchyard the Sunday before.

To be buried in Stanford churchyard near where my father, my mother and brother lie. I owe Reynolds of Brentwood 6s. 8d. and William Sstarkie 5s. To my son William, 20s and a chest with a fair spring lock; and to Mary my youngest daughter, 20s and a chest. The residue of my goods to Denis my spouse wife, whom I make executrix. I ordain John Saring and John Marchall overseers, and for their pains 20d apiece.

Witnesses: Richard Williamson, curate there; John Saring; John Marchall; Barthw. Combes. [No probate clause].

To Thomas, my son, my black mare and two young heifers of two years, to be in the keeping of his mother (not named); she to have the profit until he is 21. If she keeps herself a widow, if she marry, to deliver his portion to my overseer; he to have the putting forth of his stock. If Thomas dies before, to be divided equally betwixt my two daughters. To my eldest daughter, Margaret, 5 nobles and my youngest daughter, Julian, 4 nobles, each at marriage. I will that my wife keep Thomas until he is able to be put forth to service and to get his own living. The residue of my goods to my wife, also my cattle and lease of my house. I make her my executrix.

I ordain William Nicholson of Stapleford Tawney, overseer, desiring him to take pains if so be my wife fail in anything.

“Zeppelins Over Essex”

Dr Peter Kennison

8.00 pm, Thursday, 28 April 2005

On the night of 19 January 1915, the first Zeppelin bombing raid on Britain was mounted by Germany. In the raid, attacking the East Coast, two civilians were killed in Yarmouth and two more died as a result in King’s Lynn. Zeppelins, able to carry a heavier complement of bombs, had introduced into the war the capability for the bombing of towns and cities on a much larger scale than was previously possible. The effect of civilian casualties forced an active defence to the Zeppelin and local airfields were involved.

Peter Kennison, who lives locally, is an authority on the Zeppelin and a keen philatelist who has specialised in the Zeppelin cover.

Visit to Fyfield Mill and St Nicholas, Fyfield

7.00 pm, Thursday, 16 June 2005

The Couling family, the owners, have restored with great care the small water mill in Queen Street, Fyfield. The mill, situated on the River Roding, can be operated. It is intended to visit the church of St Nicholas close by. Light refreshments will be provided. A charge will be made for this visit to cover a donation to the mill.

Source: High Country History Group newsletter, forthcoming meetings notice, 2005.