High Country History Group

No sooner do you finish putting Newsletter No. 19 together, when you have to start thinking about the next one. Our aim is to produce four issues per year in April, July, October and January. Hopefully you will find plenty of interest in this edition. With the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War there are a number of articles on this period of our history.

Three of our members, Richard Brady, Bill White and Trevor Roberts, spoke at our AGM in March of their reminiscences and these are included for you to read.

At our meeting in April, Dr Peter Kennison spoke on Zeppelins Over Essex. He introduced his subject by giving us a potted history of the development of airships. In 1900 Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin at the age of 62, built his first airship. By the start of World War I he convinced the Kaiser that his invention could be used to bomb England and he was given permission to build them for the army and the navy, on the understanding that they were not to be used to bomb his cousin the King of England and Buckingham Palace was definitely off limits.

Many civilians were killed in this country during the bombing raids, but gradually the Royal Flying Corp came to terms with this new weapon of terror. On September 3rd 1916 one was brought down at Cuffley, Hertfordshire by Lt. Leefe Robinson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic action.

On the 24th September 1916 two more zeppelins were brought down in Essex, one at Great Burstead, near Billericay with the death of all 22 crew members and another at Little Wigborough, near Colchester, the crew of which marched themselves into captivity.

In June a number of members visited Fyfield Mill and also St Nicholas's church, where they were shown around by Marcus Dain. A short description of St Nicholas's is included in the newsletter.

I am again grateful to Phil Reeves for allowing us to use material from his website on Lambourne End [www.oldlambourne.co.uk].

Currently your committee are planning a series of talks for the autumn and winter which you will hopefully find interesting and we hope you will continue to support the group.

If you have any ideas for talks or outings then let the committee know.

he brief given to Oliver Cromwell's Commissioners for the 1650 Parochial Inquisition was to “secure a preaching ministry and better maintenance of the ministry”.

The Inquisition for the Hundred of Ongar was held at the Crown, Chipping Ongar on Monday September 9, 1650.

The Commissioners were Sir William Masham, Baronet; William Masham, Joachim Matthews, Sampson Sheffield and Henry Wollaston, Esquires; and Samuel Champion, Gent. Sitting with the Commissioners were thirty-one Jurors and included Thomas Luther and Robert Waylett both from Stapleford Tawney.

“which said Jurors according to the best information they can receive and the utmost of their owne knowledge, say and returne as followeth”

Stanford Rivers

Parsonage presentative. Possessor Matthew Elliston, by sequestration; of godly conversation and an able preacher. Patron, the Chancellor of the Duchy.

House and glebe £30. Tithes £120 of which Richard Minshall, Knight, payes onely foure pounds, which he pretends by custome he ought to paye no more for About Eight Hundred Acres of land in Ongar Park which is worth Sixteen pounds per Annum for the Tythes if noe such custome be.

Stapleford Tawney

Parsonage presentative. Possessor Thomas Horrox, a godly preaching minister, by order of the Committee of Plundered Ministers (see end of article).

House and glebe £17.13s.4d; tithes £59.6s.8d. Patron Sir Edmond Allen, Baronet.

Theydon Mount

Parsonage presentative. Possessor John fferrbye, by order of the Committee of Plundered Ministers; an able godly minister.

House with one tenement and 50 acres of glebe, £50; tithe £123.19s.8d, received by Mr fferrbye by way of composition with the Parishioners. Patron Daniel Dunne.

Greensted

Parsonage presentative. Incumbent Nathan Lacye, a constant preacher and well approved by his parishioners. House and glebe £25. Tithes £25. Patron Mrs Young.

The Committee of Plundered Ministers

The Committee of Plundered Ministers was set up by the Puritan party in 1643, during the English Civil War, for the purpose of replacing those clergy who were loyal to the King. These displaced clergy were described as “scandalous”, though this mainly related to their political and theological views.

The Committee heard evidence, often from local parishioners, of the misdeeds of the parish priest. If the allegations were proved, the rector would be removed from his position, and his goods and monies sequestrated.

Essexx Constabulary, Head Quarters.

To All Superintendents - Appended below are instructions regarding the marking of "Slit Trenches". This information is to be passed to all Police personnel so that in the event of an invasion all will know how; to make such a trench at any Police Station if required.

Narrow trenches, known as slit trenches, have been found by experience to give a high degree of protection from Artillery fire and dive-bombing attack, to which we may be subjected in the event of invasion. All, therefore, who can, should dig such trenches when the time comes, and meanwhile, make preparation for doing so.

Slit trenches should be as narrow as possible, about 2 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. 2 feet 6 inches should be allowed for each person to be accommodated. They should be at least 15 feet from the nearest building.

The earth should be piled up either side as regularly as possible, 1 foot 6 inches high. Trenches are improved by being lined with timber and stakes, old doors, old coated iron sheets or any scrap material available, but new material cannot be issued for the purpose.

A light cover of similar materials, as protection against rain and gas spray, would also be an improvement, but earth should not be piled on the cover. It will help to keep the trench if the bottom is slightly sloped and a sump-pit is dug at the lower end and filled with stones and pieces of old bricks. For the same purpose, duck-boards, made of odd pieces of wood, will be found useful.

It is not, however, desirable to dig slit trenches a long time before they are likely to be used, as they may get wet and fall in after a while, but trenches should be marked out now and, unless the soil drains very badly, a shallow excavation, about a foot deep, should be dug before, say, the middle of April in order to reduce the amount of work to be done at the last moment.

Care should be taken to have a garden spade available when required.

The following article appeared in the Parish Magazine in Winter 1983 and was written by Commander Will Messinger (the late husband of our member Doris Messinger). It seemed appropriate to reprint the article as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

In early October 1940, H.M.S. Ark Royal, the ship in which I was serving as a signal officer, came home from Freetown, Sierra Leone. The “Ark”, which normally formed part of the famous Force “H” under Admiral Sir James Somerville, had been detailed temporarily to join a force specially formed to act in support of General Charles de Gaulle and his Free French Forces in the General's attempt to win the Vichy French at Dakar over to his side. Our overtures were resisted violently by the Vichy French and the General, not wishing Frenchmen to spill the blood of Frenchmen, decided to withdraw his troops. Consequently the “Ark” was ordered home to Liverpool for a brief refit, some leave and to embark new air squadrons.

The “Ark” had been away from the United Kingdom for nearly eight months, during which time she had been constantly engaged in Norway, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and Africa. Despite the onset of winter, continuing air raids and the knowledge that we were not going to be long at home the news that we were going to get some leave, when it was announced, gave a wonderful uplift to the morale of the ship's company. It is of interest, in passing, that this was the last time the “Ark” ever returned to the land of her building. A year later she was to be sunk by a German torpedo and has since rested on the sea bed some miles East of Gibraltar.

The “Ark” arrived safely at Liverpool and was immediately placed in the Gladstone dry dock at Bootle for maintenance and repairs. Half her ship's company of about 1200 men were sent on leave for five days, the other half remaining on board until the first leave party returned.

A few days after our arrival I was free to take my leave. I had been unable to tell my parents or my fiancée, Doris, of the day when I would be arriving and had told them to expect me during the next few days.

My train left Liverpool (Lime Street) at about 11.00 p.m. I had a rather old-fashioned first class compartment to myself and was able to stretch out for what inspired to be a long, tiring, uncomfortable journey. Euston Station was closed owing to unexploded bombs and bomb damage and we were taken into West Kensington. It is a vivid memory that as I came out of the station into the Autumn sunshine a long funeral procession, with many coffins borne by all manner of vehicles and escorted among others, by many young Scouts and Guides, was passing by. The victims of air raid a few nights earlier.

Strangely I recall, I had no difficulty in finding a taxi to take me to Liverpool Street from whence I travelled to Romford, then by bus to Passingford Bridge.

I do not remember my thoughts as I walked carrying my bag up that well-remembered lane, past the spot where just twelve months previously, the girl who was to become my wife and I had become engaged to marry.

As I came to the straight lane which passes Great Tawney Hall and St. Mary's I could see a number of men working in the lane near the Church gate. As I came opposite Great Tawney Hall I met my father on his way to lunch. After exchanging greetings he started to tell me the news. Three nights before, a very large bomb had fallen in the lane close to the Church gates. It had left an enormous crater which the men I had sighted earlier were busy filling in. It was a miracle that the bomb which must have dropped from a considerable height, had penetrated to a great depth so that the blast went skywards and left the cottages and Church still standing but with many windows blown out.

My father did not seem a bit worried as he told me that come dusk the Germans would start coming over. After spending a little time with my family, I made my way up the lane to Little Tawney Hall to be re-united with my fiancée, Doris, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Padfield.

Darkness had fallen and J.G.P. was about to pour out a glass of beer when the first unwelcome German arrived heralded by the heavy thudding noise of its teutonic engines. J.G.P. continued pouring my beer and remarked: “He will switch off his engines before he starts to drop his bombs.” He then passed me the full glass and the engines were switched off, we all went flat, the silence was eerie as we waited, then in seconds the bombs started landing. We counted twenty, each one seeming to be nearer, then the engines roared up and sat in his armchair on top of my glass of beer! The light had gone out and we were in total darkness.

Doris, being the local Air Raid Warden, was worried about those who lived near the Church from which direction the bombs had appeared to land, my own family being among those living there. We collected our tin hats, gas masks and torches and I my naval 38 calibre pistol and set off down the lane. All was well in the village so we carried on to Great Tawney Hall where we found Mr. and Mrs. Lamb, who farmed Great Tawney in those days, in front of the house in the garden. They told us that the bombs had fallen in the fields beyond the farm buildings; and such it proved to be, for it was found that a number of cattle, about 20, and several horses had been killed or seriously injured.

So ended the first night of my leave. A night in which planes kept passing over, a night of gunfire and bombs detonating. Came the daylight and quiet.

The remaining four days passed all too quickly, with many air raid warnings, bombs exploding and the sound of gunfire, but nothing too close.

I recall that on one afternoon I cycled with Doris to Stanford Rivers and kept watch with her at the A.R.P. post being very hospitably looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Billy Hinman, whose farm it still is. I am unable to recall many details of my return journey to Liverpool, but because of the uncertainty of the London stations being open I had been advised to catch a train at Watford. I hired a car from Epping and Doris and my sister Sheila came with me. When we parted on Watford station I was not to see them again for nearly two years.

I remember arriving in Liverpool and the black void of Lime Street Station. An air raid was in progress. I found a taxi and the driver offered to drive me to Bootle for a pound. As I was paying him off at the dock a German plane released a line of flares to the North East. I wondered if he was searching for the “Ark”.

I went up the gangway and was checked by the Quartermaster and his staff. The ship was very quiet. It was past midnight. I went to my cabin, which incidentally was above one of the ship's bomb magazines. I said my prayers and turned in and slept undisturbed.

Three days later the ship was undocked and with our destroyer escort we departed for the West coast of Scotland where our air squadron flew out and landed on. We set course for Gibraltar to rejoin the Admiral and Force “H”.

I was not in the “Ark” when she was sunk, having a few weeks earlier been appointed to the staff of the Vice Admiral commanding the North Atlantic at Gibraltar.

My return to Tawney is another story, a happy one for me, because three days after my arrival in England, on 29th July 1942, surrounded by relatives and friends who had been hurriedly summoned, Doris and I were married in St. Mary's. I had a whole month's leave to look forward to. The war was to last another three years.

Today, 13th November 1982, appeared this notice in the “In Memoriam” columns of the Daily Telegraph. “HMS Ark Royal - Torpedoed November 13, 1941. In memory of all who served and gave their lives in Force H.”

Commander W.E. Messinger O.B.E. R.N. (Rtd).

A travelling medicine show comes to the wild west of Essex and just like any good western ‘trouble’ soon follows.

4th–20th June 1787

I do present Oliver Mounthbank, Doctor, late of Abridge in Lambourne parish. For creating a common nuisance in ‘this’ parish by erecting a stage in the village of Abridge on the twenty day of June last near the Kings common highway and causing rope dancing and tumbling to be exhibited and performed thereon. To the great annoyance and common nuisance of all the liege and subjects of our Lord the King’s property. That was to the bad example of all others in the like company and offending against the peace of our lord the King.

Yet more trouble for the good ‘Doctor’.

We likewise present Oliver Mountbank on several informations of John Corning constable of the parish of Epping. George White const of the parish of Morton and Henry Humerston const of Lambourne. For that the said on the 18th June last in the parish of Epping, on the 14th June last in the parish of Morton, and on the 20th June last in the parish of Lambourne on the Kings Highway in the said parishes, erected a stage and exhibited tumbley and other entertainment and did vend and sale certain drugs not being authorized by law. To the great newsence of the inhabitants of the said provincial parishes.

Sub Lieutenant Walter Charles Lewis-Lavender of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was called to action in the Parish of Lambourne on Saturday 28th September 1940. His task that day being to defuse and make safe two German type C magnetic mines which had fallen close to Lambourne Church.

The mines were adapted sea mines each containing about 700 KG of high explosive. The bomb fuse mechanism on this type was controlled by a clock, which was normally timed to explode the mine about 22 seconds after its fall. If it failed to do so, it might be restarted by the slightest movement, even a footstep. The amount of the clock already run off could not be known, and once it was restarted time for escape could not be more than a few seconds.

Magnetic mines were first dropped over London in September 1940. Several bomb disposal officers had been killed whilst attempting to defuse this new type. Being aware of this fact Lieutenant Lewis-Lavender came forward without hesitation for the perilous work of making them safe.

After successfully defusing the closer of the two mines Lieutenant Lewis-Lavender retired to take tea with Mr and Mrs Stephen Padfield of Lambourne Hall.

Shortly after beginning work on the second mine Lieutenant Lewis-Lavender was killed by its explosion.

He was survived by his widow Frances and five children.

A memorial to this brave officer can be seen in Lambourne Church.

Travelling up from Theydon Mount or Epping, just after you’ve turned the sharp left-hand bend on to Tawney Common, there is a sentry box. It is set approximately one hundred yards along on the left-hand side of the road a few feet back from the road. The box measures approximately 3 ft by 2 ft and is made out of half-inch thick iron sheets riveted onto the frame.

Dora Fathers can remember the box being there in the 1920s and she and other children used to play around it. It was also used as a sentry box in the Second World War when two British Marauder aircraft collided over the common a hundred or so yards in front of the box, killing all the occupants of the aircraft. At the time Dora was on leave for a few days at home and the explosion blew out the windows in both her and her mother’s house and shrapnel set fire to the sofa in her front living room.

A few weeks later the game keeper within the nearby Beech Wood found what he thought was a glove but on picking it up he discovered that it was a glove that also contained the hand of one of the aircrew, after which incident he stopped picking up further pieces of clothing.

It was obvious that the sentry box was erected well before the 1920s and probably during the First World War. Nobody knew or could suggest why it was there until I spoke to Arthur Galloway. Arthur lives at Mount Farm on the common. He remembers being told that the box was erected during the First World War to stop people travelling along the road past it when practice firing was occurring on the other side of Mount Wood near North Weald. At the time the forest was far less developed and practice rifle bullets used to come through the woods and on to the common. Now the purpose of the sentry was to divert people around the common via the Mole Trap to avoid any risk. What would happen if you were travelling from Toot Hill? I wouldn’t say since there isn’t an equivalent box at the other end? Therefore the mystery continues!

On the night of 23rd March 1942 the Wellington bombers of 148 Squadron, stationed at Kabrit, on the shores of the Great Bitter Lake, in the Canal Zone Egypt, were directed to bomb a German Base on one of the Greek Islands.

Myself and the crew were flying the only Wellington Mark 2 aircraft, which had the more powerful Rolls Royce Merlin engines to enable it to carry a single 4,000 pound bomb. However the bomb was so large that the bomb-doors had to be removed, and the bomb stuck out into the airflow. This upset the aerodynamics of the aircraft, slowed us down, and consequently reduced our range. We were therefore unable to reach the Greek Islands, and instead were ordered to go alone to Tymbaki, near the South Coast of Crete, where the Germans were thought to be building a new airfield.

On reaching the target area, we were unable to make out anything, which might be considered to be a large construction area, and were puzzled at the lack of any enemy anti-aircraft fire. Not wishing to waste our bomb, we made several runs, and eventually dropped the bomb on a cleared area with what looked like temporary buildings on it. We then returned to our advanced landing ground in the desert about 15 miles south of Tobruk, as we were unable to reach Kabrit with the remaining fuel.

About a month later we were called to the briefing room at our base, Kabrit, where an army Captain Intelligence Officer told us how on that night he had been keeping watch from a nearby hill top at Tymbaki, in order to assess the progress the Germans were making with building the airfield, when he heard a lone aircraft come over. The officer heard us make several runs across, then drop a single bomb dead in the middle of the Germans’ accommodation camp, just about wiping out everything and everybody. He was most impressed. What also impressed him was the fact that he had only conveyed the information about the building of the airfield three days before. It is also very rare to get such first hand eyewitness accounts of individual bombing results.

Light can be both a blessing and a nuisance. Natural light, or solar radiation, is essential to life as we know it but it has its limitations; it is only present when the sun visits us once a day. Prehistoric man very sensibly went to bed at nightfall until he discovered fire and used simple combustion to provide light. Eventually, scientists such as Michael Faraday devised more sophisticated methods so modern man now defies nature by creating his own form of illumination without which our civilisation as we know it would not exist. But this has its shortcomings.

The world now suffers from increasing pollution caused by mankind and, surprisingly, light is one of them. Astronauts viewing the South East of England see a mass of illumination interspersed with some dark (light free) areas. A particular local “bright spot” is the junction of the M11 and M25 motorways which forms a great illuminated cross when viewed from the high point at Mount End. This illumination together with that from Epping and Loughton provide reasonable background lighting for the villagers of Theydon Bois who have strongly resisted the installation of street lighting to preserve their rural environment. Many residents here have installed their own exterior lighting instead, which is adequate for their needs. But residential and industrial lighting can be a nuisance, to say the least, when it is of unnecessarily high intensity and badly sited; golf driving ranges and car parks are typical examples.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England has launched a light pollution awareness campaign, which warns of the problem of nuisance lighting and its affect on the environment, generally. Quite often birds, especially Robins, are confused by the absence of darkness, sing through the night and then either drop off their perch through fatigue or sleep through the dawn chorus. But a most serious aspect is the resulting colossal waste of energy in a world where natural resources, which are not infinite, are in increasing demand.

But there can be a bright side. In the small hours of a morning some while ago, an expectant mother from Debden was returning home from the Princess Alexander Hospital in Harlow following a false alarm for the birth of her child. However, on passing through Theydon Bois the alarm became reality with the baby demanding to enter the world. The grandmother who was driving, stopped the car and looked for help (mobile phones had yet to appear). She spotted a solitary light in the darkness, which proved to be a house porch lamp, and so knocked on the door. This was opened by a lady, who by chance, was a nurse and who immediately took charge. With the expectant mum safely in her house she then left and promptly returned with a neighbour who, again by chance, was a doctor and who was pleased to be involved, even at this early hour. Within a short time both had successfully delivered a healthy baby girl.

So this combination of useful light acting as a beacon in the darkness of the countryside, and the actions of a very Good Samaritan and Michael Faraday, helped bring a child into an increasingly polluted world suffering from energy waste and excessive illumination.

Do you need all that lighting?

The Ongar Millennium History Society organises The Marian Slade Lecture annually. Next year Dr Mark Goldie, Churchill College, Cambridge, will be the guest lecturer and he will be speaking on John Locke in Essex.

John Locke lived in Otes in High Laver, where his stay has already been described in an earlier issue of this newsletter. His philosophy was one of the cornerstones of the Constitution of the United States. John Locke was buried in 1703 in All Saints, High Laver.

The lecture will take place at 8.00 pm on 17 March, 2006, in the Church Rooms, Castle Street, Chipping Ongar.

The admission charge will be announced nearer the lecture date. Your support for this lecture would be much appreciated.

People have worshipped God in this church for nearly nine-hundred years and they continue to do so today. The building we now use may have replaced an earlier Saxon church because Fyfield was already a well-established community by the time of the Domesday survey. Building started around the year 1120; about fifty years into the Norman administration and shortly after the lord of the manor had presented the tithes of Fyfield and the right to appoint the incumbent into the patronage of the Cluniac priory of Bermondsey. That right was released back to the lord of the manor near the end of the twelfth century, and there it remained until modern times.

There is no evidence that the lord of the manor lived in Fyfield in medieval times but at least one is buried here. Henry, third Lord Scrope of Masham and lord of the manor of Fyfield was executed at Southampton shortly before Henry V sailed for victory at Agincourt in 1415 and it seems that, with his head displayed on the Micklegate Bar in York, his body was returned to Fyfield. Buried on the north side of the tower, his tomb was covered when the organ was built in 1900 and it is not easily visible. However, a contemporary drawing shows a worn and broken ledger stone with empty recesses for brasses in the form of a long-staffed cross, flanked by two small banners.

Today’s building originally comprised a thick-walled nave with a tower, fairly unusually, at the east end. There may have been a small apse beyond the tower, giving shelter to the altar, of which nothing survives above ground. A spiral stair approached from inside the church, gave access to the second stage of the tower.

Less than a hundred years after it was built, the walls of the nave were demolished and first the north aisle, then the south, was added. In the fourteenth century, the chancel and two porches, of which that on the north side is the only survivor, were built, largely completing the present ground plan.

NAVE

The nave was built in the twelfth century, under the direction of the recent Norman conquerors. The remains of the three feet thick walls may be seen at each end of the arcading for the north and south aisles. There was probably a barrel roof originally but now the nave roof is fifteenth century, with crown posts and four-way struts supported upon massive oak tie beams. Now look at the chest. It was made for the church in the mid-eighteenth century. It is simply constructed of deal, with oak boards for the lid, which pivots on strap hinges. There were three locks originally; the Rector and the two Churchwardens holding one key each. Two operations boards hang on the west wall, one of which carries an extract from the will of the 17thC rector, Dr Anthony Walker, a cleric of great distinction in that turbulent century.

FONT

Carved from Purbeck marble, the font is as old as the church itself and was a standard Norman design, produced in quantity at Corfe in Dorset. Look for the vine leaves flanking a central fleur-de-lis on two sides and the blank arcading on the others. It may not have belonged to Fyfield originally. By the early thirteenth century it had been discarded and then spent several centuries outside. The lead liner, not usually needed with Purbeck marble, was probably fitted when the font was salvaged in the mid-seventeenth century and was found to be cracked. The octagonal base is much later than the bowl. It is constructed of plastered brick and replaces the original polypod base which comprised a central column flanked by four slender shafts.

AISLES

North Aisle

Construction of the north aisle was well under way by about 1195. Look for the spurs carved on the base of the westernmost column of the arcade, which are an indication of the Transitional period between the Norman and Early English styles. In the east corner of the aisle is an elaborate, fifteenth-century niche. This would have housed a religious statuette, in this case, probably the Virgin Mary, until the Reformation of the sixteenth century, when all such “Popish idols” were removed for protection, lest they be destroyed by the Puritans.

South Aisle

Work on the south aisle commenced around 1250 and the octagonal columns and the moulding of the arches are of slightly later style than their counterparts in the north aisle. In mediaeval times, the walls and arcade were painted with scenes from the Bible to illustrate the Bible stories for a largely illiterate congregation and fragments of colour have survived in several places. The side windows in both aisles are in the Decorated style, but only the westernmost ones are original.

TOWER

The tower and nave together are the oldest parts of the church building and are constructed largely of local flint rubble. The lower parts of the tower survive from the twelfth century but, by the time of his visit in 1760, Morant found that the second stage had collapsed some time before. It was rebuilt a few decades later in red brick. The original spiral stair, entered today from outside the tower, but originally through a low doorway from inside the church, just to the right of the organ, climbs to its second stage, which is now used as the bellinging chamber. The two arches to the nave and chancel would originally have been very small, limiting the congregation’s view of the altar. The chancel arch was rebuilt in 1893 in a style to match the arch to the nave which had been rebuilt in the fourteenth-century. It was probably the rebuilding of the nave arch which so weakened the tower and caused its eventual collapse three-hundred years later; certainly by 1683, the Archdeaconry Visitation noted the presence of a crack in the steeple which “seems dangerous” as well as cracks in a chancel window.

ORGAN

The organ, which has two manuals and eleven stops, was built in 1900 by Eustace Ingram at the expense of the rector, who was a Doctor of Music. Apart from installation of an electric pump, it is unchanged from its original specification and is one of the finest parish church organs in Essex. The superseded, hand-pumped bellows can still be seen from the back of the instrument.

CHANCEL

The chancel retains most of the structural features with which it started in the fourteenth century. The stepped sedilia of three bays, which gave easement to the clergy during long services, has carved heads which include the Abbot of Bermondsey, then patron of Fyfield, and St Nicholas, to whom the church is dedicated. St Nicholas was a fourth-century BC bishop in what is now Turkey and through the various legends about his miracles there runs a constant theme of gifts of life and freedom to children. For this reason, he was an immensely popular saint and many thousands of medieval churches were dedicated to him. Today, children recognise him by his popular name of Santa Claus. Note that each of the heads was disfigured by the Puritans by having its nose knocked off. Now turn to see the moulding over the east window. You may need a torch and binoculars to spot the nine carved heads down the right hand side, while on the left side the following await discovery: an otter, a polecat, pine martin or fox, a dog, a huntsman with horn, a dog’s head, a rabbit and a hawk. The piscinas of the same date but the adjoining credence is comparatively modern. The two easternmost of the four side-windows have single shaft jambs and deeply moulded capitals. There has long been a tradition that a bone-pit, sealed long ago, lies beneath the chancel floor, but the evidence contradicts this. An arch, beneath the east window and visible from outside, once allowed visitors to view relics stored in the back of the altar.

PORCH

In the fourteenth century, porches were built to both the north and south entrances but the one sheltering the south doorway was removed sometime during the last century. The north porch has been infilled with brickwork but it still reveals the original timber supporting its gable.

TURRET STAIR

This is the oldest surviving part of the building. Men have steadied their climb of the stairs for nearly nine-hundred years by holding onto the brick newel and I suggest that you do the same.

BELLS

The bells are housed in a belfry of re-used medieval timbers. There is a peal of six bells in the key of B flat. Five of the bells were cast in 1862 and the tenor was added in 1950. They replaced the peal of bells which had been recast by the distinguished seventeenth-century rector Dr. Anthony Walker. The bells were tuned and rehung in a metal frame in 1964.

CHURCH YARD

Originally, the churchyard was much smaller than it is today. By the beginning of the twentieth-century, it was so crowded that extra land was purchased for future burials. In 1923, most of the gravestones in the old graveyard were laid flat. They are all still there today, but the turf has gradually closed over them. Since then, the burial ground has been enlarged twice more. There are several important tombs in the old burial ground and at least four of Fyfield’s past Rectors can still be located through the inscriptions on their monuments. The twenty pollarded lime trees along the boundary to the road are over a century old.

In England, control of the Shires was from the early 11th century delegated to ‘shire reeves’, an office retained by the Normans. From the 12th century, what came to be called sheriffs were generally chosen annually by the Crown to prevent them building excessive local powerbases. They became the most important executive figure in each county.

Gradually other officials, such as Coroners, and Justices of the Peace took much of their authority and during the 16th century sheriffs courts lost significance. Commonly called the High Sheriff the position retains considerable social cachet and up to the 19th century he remained important through his control of shire elections.

The High Sheriffs are still appointed today although they only have ceremonial and minor judicial powers.

Below is a list of High Sheriffs appointed for the County of Essex from this locality:

1761 – Sir Charles Smith, Bart., of Theydon.

1773 – John Archer of Coopersale.

1798 – Capel Cure of Blake Hall, Ongar.

1809 – J. Rutherford Abby of Albyns, Stapleford Abbots.

1811 – Charles Smith of Suttons, Stapleford Tawney.

1828 – Sir Charles Smith of Suttons, Stapleford Tawney.

1830 – Capel Cure of Blake Hall, Ongar.

1843 – H. J. Conyers, of Copped Hall.

1846 – John Clarmont Whiteman of The Grove, Theydon Garnon.

1852 – Sir Charles Cunliffe Smith of Suttons, Stapleford Tawney.

1875 – Sir Thomas Neville Abby of Albyns, Stapleford Abbots.

1873 – Philip John Budworth of Greensted Hall, Ongar.

1884 – Sir Thomas Neville Abby of Albyns, Stapleford Abbots.

1889 – Sir William Woweyer-Smith, Bart., of Hill Hall, Theydon Mount.

1892 – William Swayne Chisenhale-Marsh of Gaynes Park, Coopersale.

To the Editor of The Times

Sir,—We read that the demolition of air raid shelters has now been stopped throughout the country, in view of the possible renewed demand for these. I venture to suggest that—in London at any rate—large underground shelters be excavated under such open spaces—squares, gardens, and parks—where such work does not conflict with buildings. If, as we all hope, they are not needed for the present defence, bombed sites are built over, the parking of cars will soon become an almost insoluble problem.

The proposed new shelters would—in times of peace—serve as covered parking places, where cars could be left for the day in safety, on payment of a small fee. In this way the interest charges on the capital expended could be met, and the savings of uniformed attendants employed by the few existing such shelters would ever arise, as they would form a permanent addition to the parking facilities of London. Being in constant use they would always be aired and in good order, and be available as bomb shelters at a moment’s notice.

I am, &c., Drummond C. Spencer Smith, Suttons, Stapleford Tawney, near Romford, Oct. 7.

Ongar Millennium History Society present Memories, Memorials & Amusements at St Martin’s Church, Chipping Ongar.

Saturday 10th September 2005

11am onwards – History is Fun: Activities for all the family.

2.15pm – Family History Talk by Eric Probert.

Come along and find out how to start, or progress with your own family tree.

Our members will also be on hand to help with your questions and queries about where to look next.

Exhibitions, activities and refreshments.