High Country History Group

Several members of the group went on the trip to Ypres from the 3rd to the 5th of September, with Major Graeme Cooper as our guide. During the three days we visited many of the sites associated with the battles of the Western Front, including on the Sunday before we came home a visit to Passchendaele which has become synonymous with the misery of grinding attrition warfare fought in thick mud, at an estimated cost of some 310,000 allied casualties.

Members of the group were also able to visit cemeteries where relatives lay buried and pay their respect (see the story of Fred Cearns in this Journal). On the Saturday evening we attended the very moving ceremony of the Last Post at the Menin Gate, where several wreaths were laid by members.

This is our second trip with Graeme (previously to Waterloo), and we look forward to our next.

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Sadly I have to report the sudden death of one of our members, Martyn Kindred, who died recently. Martyn had been a member for several years. His funeral took place on the 30th September at Hainault.

Durrant’s ‘Handbook For Essex’ was published in Chelmsford in 1887, written by Miller Christy. It is mainly a parish by parish guide but its introductory pages contain fascinating information about Victorian Essex. One section is devoted to ‘dialect’. It begins: “The dialect spoken by the Essex peasant still retains much of the original Saxon, and is fairly rich in old English words used by Chaucer and other writers, but now commonly dropped. It is usually spoken with a drawl that is by no means pleasant to an educated ear, but is less broad than the dialects of Kent and Suffolk, both of which it somewhat resembles, and it lacks the strong whining character of the latter. The number of provincial words used in Essex has been set down as 589, though on somewhat weak authority. The School Board is, however, rapidly sweeping away local peculiarities of speech from all parts of the county”. In rural communities words associated with farming were prevalent, as we saw last month. A ‘Dew-bit’ was a ploughman’s early breakfast – horses were got ready for the day as early as 6am – whilst ‘Beaver’ was a ploughman’s lunch taken about 11am. Another dialect word meaning the same thing is ‘‘Levens’ from which we now sometimes refer as our mid-morning break of coffee and biscuits as “Elevenses”. Still on the subject of time, ‘Fours’ was a dinner taken at that time, especially when harvest was in progress and the day was far from over. Finally, for now, those who travel to Ongar will come to the Four Wantz Roundabout. Originally it was a crossroads but the word ‘want’ and ‘wantz’ is Essex dialect for roads meeting.

William Byrd, the Elizabethan composer, lived at Stondon Massey for the last thirty years of his life, dying in 1623. He was a Catholic but avoided the severest penalties because of his association with the Chapel Royal and the sovereigns: Queen Elizabeth I (who loved his music) and James I. Recently evidence has come to light which provides an insight into this composer’s life as well as his music.

Two leading Byrd scholars, Kerry McCarthy and John Harley, have announced in the Musical Times (Winter 2009) the discovery of ten books containing Byrd's signature which had hitherto eluded nearly all other scholars. These books are in libraries spread across the United Kingdom and the United States of America but the authors have inspected each one and confirmed the identifications of the signatures to be genuine.

It is thought that Byrd may have collected books because of his association with the publishing trade. Alongside Thomas Tallis, Queen Elizabeth granted him exclusive right to publish music.

The discovery of these books is important because, like any personal library, they reflect the tastes of the owner. Nine books are about religion, but more accurately the politics surrounding the Catholic and Protestant situation of the time, taking the Protestant side of the argument. One, ‘The unmasking of the politike athiest’, published in 1602, is a violent attack on the Roman Catholic religion by J. Hull. He condemns musical and liturgical practices of English Catholics, describing the ‘Ave maris stella’ (Hail Virgin Mary) as blasphemous and denounced the use of organs and other instruments of the church. ‘Superstitious’ holidays such as Candlemas, All Saints and Corpus Christi did not escape Hull’s tirade. What is curious is that Byrd should own such a book which was against everything he held dear. We know that Byrd composed many settings for such festive occasions. The authors suggest that Byrd was wily in his choice of books on public display and attempted to deceive those who browsed his bookshelves or those who were instructed, as in May 1585, ‘too send for byrd of the chappell and that his howse be diligentlye searchyd’.

The tenth book is one typical of the age. It is a sixteenth century travel guide covering everything from what to see, eat, wear and observe as customs “so that the traveller after his rangings and peregrinations shall retire himself a man of skill”. Byrd though was an armchair traveller believed to have never leaved these shores, unlike his brother John who was a London merchant and ship owner who frequently exported wheat to Spain and traded as far afield as West Africa and Brazil.

These fresh insights reveal that history is not a dead subject. Our modern age with its worldwide web is adding to the stories of our forebears. It’s a great time to be a local historian!

Blackmore’s ninety year old War Memorial has recently been cleaned and re-engraved with the names of those who enlisted for King and Country during the First World War. In total there are 102 names recorded: 21 who died, plus a further 81 who served. The work was commissioned by the Parish Council, who is custodian of this edifice.

The War Memorial, which stands on The Green, was dedicated on 7th November 1920, four days before the second Anniversary of the Armistice when people would have gathered and paused for two minutes to remember. The Essex County Chronicle reported: “The unveiling of the war memorial took place on Sunday afternoon, a very large number of people being present. The ceremony began with the singing of “O God Our Help In Ages Past” followed by the lesson read by the Vicar (the Revd. W L Petrie) and prayers by Pastor Francis. At the request of Mr Edmund Marriage, Lieut. Col. Gibbons D.S.O. then unveiled the memorial congratulating Blackmore for having sent 103 men out of a population of 600. He mentioned that one in every five had paid the supreme sacrifice – Mr J H Hull then asked Mr E Marriage as Chairman of the Parish Council, to accept custody of the memorial. The names of the fallen are inscribed on the front face, and on the other faces the names of the men from the village who served are inscribed” .

The work was undertaken because the names carved had weathered over time and become difficult to read. The Parish Council did not however have a workable transcription so a small group of local historians got together and worked on a project to investigate the lives of those commemorated, and to decipher the faded letters ‘C’ and ‘G’ in particular. Was the person remembered Charles or George?

The war casualties turned out to be relatively easy to identify, because many of the names are also included on a window in the village church. Also, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has a lot of information on casualties, published on a website. As we looked at a number of sources we discovered the names of other men, not listed, who were said to be associated with Blackmore but died during the Great War, as it was known then. The Military Genealogy website gave a number of names of individuals who were either born in Blackmore, Essex or were resident in Blackmore, not to mention Blackmoor and other misspellings of the parish name. After discounting Blackmore End, which is near Wethersfield in Essex, we had compiled a list of 45 men, not 21, who had fallen. The task was to verify whether these had a Blackmore connection. With the survivors listed, this was to be a family history research project on an epic scale with a list approaching 125 names.

We decided early in the project to advise the Parish Council that the War Memorial should be faithfully re-carved and that names should not be added: we would not tinker with history.

Researching the survivors presented a more difficult problem, but we still found a surprising number of useful sources of information. The 1911 census told us who was living in the village just before the outbreak of war. In 1918, for the first time all men could vote, so that told us who was living in the village at the end of the war. Then there are records of the medals that were awarded to all in the Army at the end of the conflict, which confirm which regiment people fought in.

The early release of the 1911 census proved a godsend to our work. Personal possession of Blackmore’s 1910 Electoral Register proved useful too as did the 1918 roll available online. Many absent voters listed revealed the identity of some of the survivors, and sadly positive identification of one of the victims, Albert Edward Barker, as landlord of The Bull public house who had been killed a year earlier. We made several visits to the excellent Essex Record Office, making lists of Blackmore male baptisms and marriages, looking at the Sunday School Admissions Register, and numerous other documents including the Ongar and District War Memorial Hospital Roll of Honour, which we realised was the frequent source of errors in names of the fallen. The Vicar and churchwardens generously allowed us to make a transcript of the Burial Register dating after 1893, kept in the church safe and not housed in any archive anywhere. We ‘enlisted’ the help of the Essex branch of the Western Front Association and made regular contact with the curator at the recently reopened Essex Regiment Museum in Chelmsford. Above all we used the existing ‘Blackmore Area Local History’ website and partner blog to update the world on progress and encourage descendents to contact us – which they did in large numbers offering all kinds of useful information, and photographs of the people. We were able to share our work and help others fill in their family stories, which is always a pleasure to do. At the time of writing we have positively identified all but one name: S Ball.

War Memorials were, of course, erected because loved ones were either lost or buried in some foreign field. Very often the names inscribed are those who lived in the parish at the time. It came as no surprise to us to find names of those not remembered who were born in Blackmore but had moved away or were resident for only a short time in the village. These epitaphs are by no means then a definitive list of those who died in the Great War since there are errors of omission as well as commission. We find, for example, four names of the twenty-one commemorated also listed on the Doddinghurst War Memorial tablet inside All Saints’ Church.

The result of our work is now published online (www.blackmorehistory.co.uk) with work well in progress to reproduce a copy as a book running to around 150 pages for future reference by the Parish Council and researchers visiting the Essex Record Office. These will form a permanent record and the meagre contribution of our generation to their remembrance.

“We will remember them”.

Our Essex is no high land, wild
In vaunt of lakes and vales,
Or mountain - brooks or spumey cliffs,
Or tarns, or moors, or vales;
Of Essex, hence, we seldom boast -
Nor tell no strangers tales!

Yet Essex earth is good earth, where
Both wheat and barley grow
From strong, stiff clay, in furrows wrought,
As any man may know;
Nor is there tilth in England whence
Men reap more as they sow.

And Essex farms are fine farms, so
That men who own their soil
May send their fruits to market and
Owe no man for their toil;
Thus moated halls in Essex are
And stalwart hearts and loyal.

In Essex too, are fair names, culled
From Fields and Greens and Ends,
Or Great, or Little Somethings, as
Distinctions between friends,
With Easters, Teys, and Rodings nine
Where Roden river bends.

And Essex towns are quiet. They lie
A-dream the long years down,
Their bulging, white-walled houses laced
In beams of oaken brown;
And Colchester for oysters famed;
A flitch at Dunmow’s known.

In Essex men are free - both Church
And Chapel men – as well,
As was when Master Cromwell reared
His Ironsides they tell;
For independence claims them, who
In Essex country dwell.

Our Essex, then, all widely spread
From London to the sea,
In rich, fat roads, so long has made
An English granary,
That, with its folk, towns, fields and ways,
A rare old place we see.

So though our land is low or flat,
With nought of lakes and dales;
And though our coasts are often sludge
Where rivers crawl like snails;
And though our tongues are cautious, so
We tell no strangers tales;
We Essex are very sure,
We’re absolutely certain sure,
The more we hear, the more we’re sure,
No other land avails!

For many years there was a private book on my family’s shelves. I did not know of its existence until some five years ago when I was turning out my parents’ house. I discovered a most fascinating and enlightening read.

The book contained the story of my great uncle, Fred Cearns. It was written by his brother Percy shortly after Fred’s death in August 1917.

The family home was in Plaistow and Fred and Percy were 2 of 13 children. The book describes in detail family life in London’s East End at the end of the 19th century and as such is an interesting piece of social history. From a more family interest, as Fred’s father was an inaugural director of the club, there is mention of how Fred as a young man played a few games for West Ham United’s reserve team at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park.

In November 1914 Fred responded to the call and enlisted with the army. He was with the London Royal Fusiliers and went from Malta to Egypt and in the summer of 1915 he was in Gallipoli; and the summer of 1916 he was on the Somme. He suffered injury and had to return to Blighty for convalescence but he was back and ready for action by the time of the big push near Ypres in July 1917, which is known as Passchendaele. Having survived so far, Fred knew that his luck was running out and he was apprehensive going into this phase of the war.

The book tells us much about Fred at this time as Percy was an Army dispatch rider and on his days off he was able to use his Triumph motorbike to get to meet up with his brother. History is full of stories of the horrendous conditions in the mud of Passchendaele, but here we have much detail of what could happen away from the front line.

On the 10th of August Fred went up to the front line with his battalion. On 13th August 1917 Fred was struck on the head through his helmet by a splinter from a German shell and died. He was buried in his own groundsheet near to where he fell.

On Saturday 4th September 2010 whilst on a Ypres WW1 tour expertly delivered by Graeme Cooper and in the company of some HCHG members, using a map reference quoted in the book, we found the area where Fred fell. Pages from the book were read by members of the party and a minutes silence held to honour the memory of Fred.

I wish I’d kept one of my Essex County Council exercise books from the 1950’s. Not for the contents, but for the somewhat esoteric Arithmetical Tables printed on the back cover. Even then, however, I doubted the usefulness of:

HAY AND STRAW WEIGHT

36lbs of straw…………….1 truss
56lbs of old hay…………..1 truss
60lb of new hay…………..1 truss
36 trusses….......................1 load.

Land records, tenancies and wills often involve linear measure. We learned a pole was the same as a rod was the same as a perch, but had no sense of actual length. A pole is actually 5½ yards (about 5 metres).

The table read:

LONG OR LINEAR MEASURE

12 lines…………………….1 inch
12 inches…………………..1 foot
3 feet………………………1 yard
2 yards…………………….1 fathom
5½ yards…………………..1 pole
40 poles……………………1 furlong
8 furlongs………………….1 mile
1760 yards…………………1 mile

By the Weights and Measures Act 1878, the ‘pole’ had become standardised, but its length was originally determined by 16 men of the village each placing one foot, heel to toe, along a piece of wood. The measurement therefore varied from place to place. The ‘standard pole’ was kept in the church and used when a measure was needed. Incidentally, for square measure, you needed roods, 4 roods made an acre.

And I wonder how frequently was the Cloth Measure used?

2¼ inches…………………..1 nail
4 nails………………………1 quarter of a yard
4 quarters…………………..1 yard

Our journey around the High Country takes us to Bobbingworth.
A pleasant retired village, surrounding a green, 5 miles North East by East of Epping, and 2 miles North by West of Chipping Ongar, has in its parish 357 inhabitants, and 1628 acres of fertile land, rising in bold undulations on the west side of the Cripsey brook, which flows southward to the Roding. It is vulgarly called Bonvinger, and in Domesday Survey, Bubbingeorda. It is in two manors, called Bobbingworth Hall and Blake Hall, the former of which has belonged to the Spigurnell, Hackney, Asheles, Vere, and other families, and was purchased by the Houblons, but now belongs, with the other manor, to Capel Cure, Esq, of Blake Hall, a neat mansion, with tasteful pleasure. An estate named Bobbingford, otherwise Monks, extends into this and adjacent parishes. Blake Hall was anciently held of the Honour of Clare, by the Hastings, and afterwards of the Honour of Marescall, by the Londres and other families. In 1516, it was held by Sir William Capel, as parcel of the Queen's Honour of Clare, and it afterwards passed to the Glasscock, Bourne, Haddock, and Fitche families. The parish is mostly freehold, and the copyhold fines are at the will of the lord.
The church dedicated to St. Germain, is a low plain structure, consisting of a brick nave and chancel, with a heavy embattled tower, chiefly or wood, and containing five bells. The east window is a good specimen of the decorated style. Within the communion rails are several inscriptions in brass, in memory of various members of the Bourne family, who flourished here in the 16th and 17th centuries. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £13.6s.8d., and in 1831 at £395, is in the patronage of C. Cure, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. W.M. Oliver, M.A., who has 32 acres of glebe, and a handsome residence, built in 1840, at the cost of about £2000.
To provide clothing for the aged poor of the parish, Robert Bourne, in 1663, left a cottage and 4A. of land, now let for £10.lOs. per annum. The Bell Acre forms part of the g1ebe, and in consideration of it the rector finds bell ropes, and hassocks for the church.
List of Inhabitants:
Edwin Bennet, corn miller
Capel Cure Esq., Blake Hall
Edward Houchen, baker and carpenter
Jonathan Lewis, land surveyor, auctioneer, and insurance agent
Rev. William Oliver M.A., Rectory
Sarah Wilkinson, schoolmistress

Farmers.

Thomas Clements
George Gingell
Jonathan Lewis
Benjamin King
John Milbank, Hall
George Pavett
James Thurgood

On Wednesday an old tiler, who resided at Ongar, in Essex, died of the prevailing epidemic, leaving £7,000 in cash and notes, and a similar amount invested in the Bank of England. The deceased lived in the most
penurious manner, and during his illness would neither have a fire in his room nor apply for medical advice, for fear of the expense.

On examining the boxes and drawers in his house the money and documents were found to amount to £14,000. The notes were discovered hidden between the leaves of books, and in some bags were penny pieces and farthings, to the amount of £30, which must have been hoarded up for many years.

A will was also found, bequeathing the whole of his immense treasure to his relatives, about 12 in number. His niece, who was his greatest favourite, displeased him by marrying a second time, and he has not left her a shilling, but has bequeathed £1000 to each of her four children.

People living in Epping between 1961 and 1988 will remember a High Street totally devoid of any drinking fountain. What is the fountain’s History? Why was it erected? Where and when did it
disappear? How did it return?

1887 was a momentous year. England was at the height of her power.
Queen Victoria had been on the throne for fifty years and Epping was a thriving market town, serving the needs of its own 4000 inhabitants and those of the surrounding villages and farms. “Public spiritedness” was the noble attitude during that period. What could the good townsfolk of Epping do to commemorate their Queens Golden Jubilee?

Doubtless suggestions were put forward and rejected, discussions held sway in households and public houses, argument raged in committees and councillors promoted schemes bringing despair to their officers. Eventually the proposal to erect a drinking fountain found favour. Passers by could slake their thirst on a hot summer’s day. Carter’s horses returning from carrying hay and corn to London would welcome a drink after the long haul through the forest. Even dogs were remembered with a small overflow bowl at just the right height.

Invitations for plans from experts in construction of stone monuments eventually produced the pattern of the fountain to be, with pink granite, the chosen material for the body. Above the main body, an elegant column supported two lights. The whole fountain was built on a low plinth with four small bollards marking the boundary. On one polished face, the inscription was picked out with leaded lettering.

The monies required to finance this fine edifice were raised by public
subscription. The great and the good, the rich and the poor, all were invited to contribute, and their generosity was acknowledged on the fountain. Thus it was, in fervour of civic pride, that Epping’s drinking fountain became a landmark, which stood undisturbed for the next seventy years.

Progress is universal and inevitable, even if not entirely welcome. Gradually, Epping High Street changed. Shops replaced many private houses; cars and lorries replaced horses and carts. The cattle market dwindled and, late in 1950’s, transferred to Chelmsford. In 1961 Epping Urban District Council took a long hard look at the town’s major artery and decided, “The High Street needs redeveloping. The car is king. Our commercial survival demands improved parking. Away with the cattle pens – and while we are at it, lets dispose of the fountain. It has no further use. It is an eyesore. IT MUST GO!!” – and it went.

Not everyone was in favour. Older residents missed the fountain. Councillor George Padfield gave voice to their feelings. “Removal of the fountain was the worst insult of their development scheme” he fulminated. All the protests were to no avail. A new catchword typified the 1960’s – “progress”. Out with the old in with the new. The fountain was dismantled and trundled unceremoniously down Cottis’ Lane to join spoil from the ironworks as landfill at the rear of the Old Baptist Church.

There the fountain remained for the next 27 years. Rubble covered it
completely and its precise resting place was forgotten. Epping grew and a generation grew up not even aware of the fountain’s existence.
Sparks of interest still glimmered here and there. In 1978, builders working on the Old Baptist Church site in St Johns Road tried to pinpoint the fountain’s site from the top of a tall crane but no sign remained after so many years. There, for a further 8 years, the matter rested.

My wife Ann, a member of Epping Forest District Council had heard of the buried fountain; and its whereabouts caught her interest. In 1986 she started to devote some of her energy into searching for the missing monument. At her request, trial holes were dug into the site, which, by this time had become the town’s long stay car and lorry park. No sign of the missing fountain emerged. Next stage was a quizzing of a number of Epping’s “greybeards” who had witnessed the dismantling and dumping of the unwanted memorial.

Every person recalled the ‘spot’ exactly. Every given position differed from all the others – and they were all wrong. Technology more accurate than failing memories was required. A noted water diviner was called to the scene. Up and down the car park he tramped marking each spot where his rod had given a hopeful twitch. Despite his reputation the diviner had no more success than his grizzled predecessors. Would the lorry park ever reveal its secret?

In 1987 Ann became Vice- Chairman of the Council. This may have increased her influence because, in July, Structure Testing Services brought their ‘state of the art’ magnetic field tester from Southampton. Surely this would solve the mystery. Up and down the site magnetic impulses probed the ground and bounced back to trigger a print out from their echoes. Result – “too much clutter” from all the underground foundry spoil. The lorry park was still winning and plans were afoot to asphalt the area to create a new long stay car park. The fountain’s fate started to look rather grim, and the spirits of the searchers flagged noticeably.

During February 1988 the asphalting contractors arrived on site. The resurfacing deadline was set for 26th February. In a last ditch effort to recover the fountain, Ann prevailed on the contractors to excavate trenches across the area. On 25th February, in the afternoon, an excavator bucket hit something solid. Driver, Stan Harris, jumped down to investigate and saw the pink granite of the fountain’s main section looking remarkably unscathed by its 27 years underground. Within minutes the remainder came to light. The search was over. The fountain’s sections were carefully lifted and taken to a storage area where skilled stonemasons and lighting experts could restore the fountain to its original glory: a process which took a full year. By April 1989 the fountain was ready to take pride of place in Epping’s enhancement scheme.

On 20th April, almost 102 years after it was first erected, Ann, then Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, unveiled the restored fountain. Canon Anthony Abbey, the then vicar of St Johns Church, blessed the fountain at brief service. Two of Epping’s oldest inhabitants, Harry Speller and Alfred Wood, switched on the lights and turned on the water. Epping’s drinking fountain was functional once again right down to the horse trough and the dog bowl.

Ann presented Harry and Alf with pewter mugs to commemorate the occasion. Both lost no time in testing the water and both proclaimed it ‘admirable’. Less enthusiastic was Councillor Aldworth’s Airedale “Toby”. He wanted nothing to do with the water in the dog bowl.

Today the fountain is dry. The risk of it harbouring the Legionella virus is too high to ignore and the cost of constant decontamination would be exorbitant so the water supply has been turned off.

Today Ann says: “In common with so many Council achievements, rediscovering and restoring the drinking fountain was an example of teamwork. Without the support of Epping Forest District officers between 1986 and 1989, none of this would have happened.”

Particular credit is owed to the Engineers Department together with the Planning Department who supported the search throughout. Had it not been for their tenacious and determined efforts this much loved monument would still be lying beneath the tarmac of the car park.

Every time I walk past the fountain, I am reminded of these events. Of all the occasions during my year as Chairman of EFDC, the recovery and reinstatement of Epping’s drinking fountain gives me the greatest pleasure. The fountain’s return to its rightful place is a reminder of our town’s rich heritage. Those who stop and read the inscription carved into its pedestal will be reminded of this extraordinary story. “That which was lost is found” I am delighted that this Epping Landmark, which had been dismantled and discarded, is now to be refurbished once again. It is fitting that this will coincide with our Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations as it was for another Queen's anniversary that the townspeople of Epping had proudly contributed to its erection.

I was always very conscience of the fountain’s heritage value. I remember that my enthusiasm for sponsoring the search was given urgency by knowledge of the car park’s planned development and by the fact that EFDC were about to embark on an upgrade of the High Street for which a budget had been set aside. Some of this was utilised for the refurbishment and reinstatement of the fountain. Once again the Epping Forest District Council has demonstrated its care and concern for our heritage. It will be a reminder that Civic pride still has a place in our community.”

And may the Lord have mercy . . .
"The sentence of the Court upon you, is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution and that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead; and that your body be afterwards buried within the precincts of the prison in which you shall be confined before your execution. And may the Lord have mercy on your soul....Amen."
The infamous words above were the basis of the death sentences passed on thousands of unfortunate criminals in British courts from the middle ages to the 1960s. In Essex, serious criminal cases were traditionally heard at the twice yearly Assizes in Chelmsford, (a third Assize would be held before Christmas if there were enough capital offence cases). For those receiving the ultimate punishment, execution traditionally took place at Moulsham Gaol, and from October 1825 the newly completed Springfield Prison, where some 43 individuals fell victim of the executioner’s rope in the years up to the end of 1914.
The prison’s main entrance was originally through an austere stone-built porter’s lodge in the middle of the Springfield Road frontage. The lodge’s flat roof was designed to support the gallows scaffold and drop, while the forecourt could easily accommodate the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of spectators that would congregate for an execution.
The first execution
The first man to be hanged at Springfield Prison was James Winter, alias Reuben Martin, who was executed on 10th December 1827. He had been found guilty of the murder of Thomas Patrick, landlord of The Yorkshire Grey at Colchester. Patrick had called the local constable to deal with the disorder that had arisen from an attempt by Winter to rob a man who had attended a sale held at the pub. Winter, angry at Patrick’s interference, struck and killed him with a heavy board. Following the execution Winter’s body was left to hang for the prescribed hour, visible from the hips upward to the onlookers below. The corpse was cut down and given to the prison surgeon for dissection, viewed by many prominent local men.
Eleven days later John Turner, alias Harris or Newman, was also dispatched to meet his maker. Turner was the head of a gang of thieves in the Runwell area who had been convicted of a robbery at Ramsden Crays. Two accomplices received sentences of ‘Death recorded and reprieved’.
The following year, 1828, saw four executions at Springfield Prison. After the Summer Assize John Williams was hanged for horse stealing at Epping. In December Michael Cashon and John Brien were executed for assault at East Ham, and Robert Oades hanged for an offence of horse stealing at Staines. Oades’ body was taken by his mother and lay for a while at the nearby Three Cups Inn. He was buried in ‘convenient, but unconsecrated ground’ but his body was subsequently removed ‘by persons unknown’.
The only execution in 1829 was that of James Cook, aged 16, who was hanged on 27th March for setting on fire the premises of a Witham farmer, William Green, with whom he lived as a cow boy.
In 1830 there were four hangings, the most noteworthy being that of Captain William Moir on 2nd August for the murder of William Malcolm, a fisherman, at Stanford-le-Hope in March 1830. Captain Moir had found Malcolm trespassing on his estate and, having previously warned Malcolm about the offence, Moir shot him to teach him a lesson. Afterwards the Captain took his injured victim to a surgeon for attention, but lockjaw set in and Malcolm died. Moir was executed despite pleas for clemency. His body was spared from dissection and returned to his family estate for burial. Corpses could be purchased from the hangman for around £4, a not inconsiderable sum in those days.
Moir was followed to the gallows by John Stammers, convicted of ‘an unnatural crime’ at Walton. He was probably the first man interred in the triangular burial ground between the prison and Sandford Road, consecrated on 28th July 1830 by the Bishop of London. The other two hangings in 1830 were James Ewan for arson at Rayleigh and Thomas Bateman for highway robbery and attempted murder at Lindsell.
Arson, rape and murder
The following year 36 year-old William Jennings was executed for setting fire to a house at Writtle and in 1832 John Hills met the same fate for rape at Chelmsford. Jennings was the first local job for William Calcraft the notorious bungling executioner who was born at Little Baddow in 1800, and who served from 1829 until 1874.
Two executions in 1835 were both for arson, George Cranfield for the offence at Bures and James Passfield at Mr. Davie’s farm at Toppesfield. These were the last occasions at Springfield when executions were for crimes other than murder or attempted murder. Davie had previously given evidence against Passfield when he was given a 16 month sentence for sheep stealing. By coincidence Passfield was married to the widow of John Turner, the second man executed at Springfield, back in 1827. Some 1200 spectators viewed the hanging on 27th March 1835, many of them farm labourers reputedly sent by their employers to witness what happened as a warning. The execution was delayed as the first rope was too short and another had to be substituted.
"I hope I shall meet you in heaven"
Over the next sixteen years there were only two more executions. In March 1839 Abraham Hilliard was hanged for shooting Susanna Playle, an innkeeper, at Mountnessing after she had spurned his advances. Hilliard’s last words were ‘Goodbye, goodbye all; I hope I shall meet you in heaven’.
With the formation of the Essex Constabulary in 1840 police officers began to attend executions for public order purposes. Their first real test was on 14th August 1848 when 38 year-old Mary May was executed for the murder of her brother William Constable, alias Spratty Watts, at Wix. She was the first woman to be executed at the prison and the event attracted over 3,000 spectators.
Double execution draws crowds
On 25th March 1851 the double execution took place of Sarah Chesham and Thomas Drory. Drory’s victim was the daughter-in-law of an old servant of his father who was expecting his child. She was strangled in a field after she arranged to meet him at Doddinghurst to ask him to marry her. Forty-two year-old Chesham had previously been acquitted of poisoning two of her own children and another child between 1845-47. She met her end after being convicted for attempted murder by poisoning her husband, Richard, with arsenic at Clavering. Between 700 and 1,000 people watched the double executions.
Over the next twenty years there were a further five executions at Springfield; in 1853 Charles Saunders for murder at Chadwell, in 1857 Michael Crawley for wife murder at Stratford and Charles Finch for murdering his sweetheart at Rivenhall, in 1864 Francis Wane for murder at Dagenham, and in 1865 Ferdinand Kohl for murder at Plaistow Marsh. Kohl’s was to be the last public execution at the prison - the 1868 Capital Punishment Amendment Act ensured that all future hangings took place within the prison itself, away from morbid onlookers.
The first private execution
The first ‘private’ execution at Springfield was that of Michael Campbell on 24th April 1871. The 28 year old Berwick born tailor and former soldier was convicted of murder of Samuel Galloway (49), a retired dock worker in Stratford, who was killed after giving chase to Campbell and three accomplices after they tried to break into his home at Cannon Street, Stratford. Mrs. Galloway witnessed the assault and was able to identify Campbell as the assailant; when Galloway died ten days later Campbell was charged with murder. He admitted his guilt but denied any intent.
Four years later a soldier, Gunner Richard Coates of the Royal Artillery, was executed on 29th March for the murder of a young girl, Alice Boughen at Aveley. He had beaten her to death in a school closet after attempting to violate her. He was arrested after being spotted unsuccessfully attempting to carry her body to a river. He confessed his guilt in the condemned cell and blamed it on drink.
A gardener murders his wife
The next execution at the prison was Charles Revell, a gardener, on 29th July 1878 for the murder of his wife, Hester (23) in Epping Forest. Following lunch with her parents on 10th June, Revell went out to fetch some ale for them all to share. When he returned home over an hour later he was drunk. Revell and his wife began to quarrel over money when she grabbed him by the lapels and struck him. He knocked her to the ground and fled from the house. Against advice from her family she followed him into the forest where her body was discovered the next day, her throat cut from ear to ear.

Police Inspector shot dead
On 18th May 1885 James Lee was hanged for shooting dead Inspector Simmons of the Essex Constabulary who, with a colleague, had approached three men suspected of being about to commit a burglary at Rainham. Two of the men pulled out pistols and minutes later Insp. Simmons fell mortally wounded. All three men fled but James Lee was later arrested and convicted at the Old Bailey. David Dredge was detained but was able to provide the unusual but successful alibi that he had not shot Inspector Simmons because at the time he was shooting at another police officer. The third suspect, James Martin, remained at large for nearly a year until he was involved in a robbery near Gretna and the murder of another policeman whilst trying to evade capture. He was hanged at Carlisle on 8th February 1886.
Lee was followed by 17 year-old Joseph Morley, executed on 21st November 1887 for the murder at Chigwell Row of a young married woman with whom he lodged by cutting her throat with a razor. After sentence was passed, he confessed that he had killed the woman, Mrs. Rogers, but denied that when he entered her room he had intended to kill her.
On 15th August the next year George Sargent, a railway labourer and sometime poacher from Copford, was hanged for murdering his 21 year-old estranged wife Annie. They had been married for just a year when she left him, fed up with his drunken and violent behaviour, and returned to her mother’s at Wakes Colne. When she refused Sargent’s pleas to come home, he became enraged, grabbed her by her hair, locked her head between his knees and cut from ear to ear with a clasp knife, almost severing her head. He ran away after the crime but was caught hiding in fields near the house.

Tobacco causes crime of passion
Thomas Sadler, a labourer, was hanged on 18th August 1891 for killing his lover’s husband William Wass at Colchester by stabbing him with a penknife behind the ear during a dispute over custody of Sadler’s children.
On 16th August 1893 John Davis was executed for battering to death Sergeant Adam Eves whose beaten body had been found in a ditch at Purleigh. He was one of three poachers who were charged, two of whom were found to have bloodstains on their clothes, which they claimed were from an animal. The jury took less than half an hour to find Davis (aged 34) and his younger brother, Richard guilty; the third, Ramsey, not guilty. John Davis made a full confession while awaiting execution, which partially exonerated his brother, who was granted an eleventh hour reprieve.
The following year, on 4th December, James Canham Read, a middle-aged, married bookkeeper at the London Docks was executed for the murder of one of his several mistresses, 18 year-old Florence Dennis. She was found shot in a field at Prittlewell. He had been arrested after police traced a telegram he had sent to a relative.
The next execution was again the result of a crime of passion. William Wilkes, a Canewdon shepherd, was hanged on 19th July 1898 for murdering his wife by kicking her to death after they had quarreled over some tobacco. As the executioner placed the noose around his neck Wilkes turned to the warder in tears and asked whether it would hurt him. Before the warder could reply he was dropped seven feet two inches to his death.
The final execution of the century at Springfield was that of Samuel Crozier, the landlord of the Admiral Rous Inn at Galleywood Common, who was hanged on 5th December 1899. On 25th June had assaulted his wife Ann (31) in a room above the pub. She died from her injuries the next day but with the doctor unaware of the fight, he stated the death was from natural causes as a result of a fall. Word soon reached the police about the fight and less than an hour after his wife’s funeral Crozier was in custody. He was initially charged with manslaughter and later with murder.
The Moat Farm murderer
On 3rd October 1900 William Burrett became the executioner’s first victim of the 20th century. The 35 year-old unemployed hawker had been convicted of fatally stabbing his prostitute wife, Ada, after she had told him that she did not intend to support him from her earnings. The trial, which took place at the Old Bailey, only lasted two days, such was the overwhelming evidence against Burrett.
The perpetrator of the famous Moat Farm murder was the next visitor to the gallows at Springfield. He was 57 year-old former Sergeant Major of the Royal Engineers, Samuel Herbert Dougal, who was executed on 14th July 1903 for the murder of wealthy spinster Camille Holland. Dougal had met her in 1898. They quickly moved into a love nest at Moat Farm, Clavering, but the couple fell out when a servant girl complained of his advances. Within days Holland went missing, but Dougal kept suspicion at bay by explaining that Holland had left for a yachting holiday leaving him in charge of the farm. However, over the next four years a succession of women came and left the farm and eventually a disenchanted mistress contacted the police. Dougal was arrested for forgery charges relating to misusing Holland’s bank details, but a thorough search of the farm led to the discovery of the remains of Holland who had been shot and buried in a ditch. His execution caused a controversy when it was alleged that a confession on the scaffold was badgered from him by an overzealous chaplain.
Less than three months later, on 1st December 1903, another soldier, 21 year-old Bernard White of the Essex Regiment, was executed for beating to death his 20 year-old ex-girlfriend, Maud Garret, at Warley Gap, having discovered that she was seeing someone else. This was the first Springfield execution at which the famous hangman Henry Pierrepoint had officiated.
Christmas quarrels and cut throats
Pierrepoint was in action a year later when 20 year-old Richard Buckham was hanged on 4th December 1904 for shooting dead an elderly married couple, named Watson, during a robbery at their bungalow in Basildon. Their bodies were dumped in a pond. Buckham’s brother was also charged, but acquitted.
Pierrepoint’s last ever execution was that of 45 year-old farm labourer Frederick Foreman on 14th July 1910. Foreman had battered to death the woman he lived with, Elizabeth Eley, at East Farm, Wennington after the couple argued on their way home from a Whit Monday drinking session.
Another quarrel, on Christmas Eve the same year, at Stratford between 19 year-old gas worker George Newton and his fiancée, Ada Roker, resulted in murder when Newton cut the 21 year-old’s throat. He was executed at Springfield on 31st January 1911 after his plea of insanity failed.
Coincidentally, a very similar murder occurred late the following year and led to the execution of 20 year-old William Beal on 10th December 1912. He too had murdered his fiancée, 17 year-old Clara Carter, again in Stratford, and again by cutting her throat as they kissed under a street lamp, after her parents forbade the couple from seeing one another. Beal also cut his own throat, and when he was hanged a large gash opened in his neck.
The oldest man to be hanged this century in Britain was 71 year-old German-born grocer Charles Fremd who was executed on 4th November 1914 for murdering his wife at Leytonstone. She was found dead from a cut throat. Her husband was beside her with only a minor self-inflicted wound. As Fremd was dropped he caught and bruised his head on the trap door. Shortly after Fremd’s death the prison was taken over by the army for use as a military gaol, and after it reverted to civilian use in 1931 there were no further executions. Thus, the oldest man was also the last man to feel the noose around his neck at Springfield Prison.

Thursday, 21 October 2010

"Dating old timbers: how to date buildings like
Greensted Church"

By Dr Martin Bridge

The talk will cover the background to how dendrochronology works and illustrate its strengths and weaknesses. A number of local examples will be discussed where dendrochronology has shown its ability quietly to revolutionise the world of dating medieval buildings and artefacts. There will be some discussion of likely future developments.

Thursday, 25 November 2010

"Preserving the Essex Landscape"

By David Williams
(CPRE, Campaign to Protect Rural Essex)

The talk will present the work and achievements of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and cover a wide range of subjects from wind farms to litter. The link, of course, is the preservation of the landscape and the need to respect and look after the urban scene as well as the countryside.

CPREssex is the county branch, with around 1,000 members, all volunteers. They are all working as hard as ever to combat the increasing threat of over-development in the county.

Thursday, 24 February 2011

"Honey bees, skeps, wax and bee boles - a brief foray into the history of bee keeping"

By Tricia Moxey

Just a single hive of bees appears in the Domesday record for Fyfield, but Essex is a county with a long tradition of beekeeping. This talk will reveal some of the woes which befell past beekeepers, how they adopted improved methods of bee husbandry and will consider their economic value within the county.

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Annual General Meeting and "School Days"

Thursday, 21 April 2011

"Brickmaking and Brick Buildings in the High Country"

By Anne Padfield

How were pre-industrial bricks made? Where were the local brickfields in the High Country? Examples of local brick buildings of various dates will be discussed. How the bricks have changed over time will be shown.

All the meeting are in Toot Hill Village Hall commencing at 8.00pm.
Coffee and Biscuits
Members £1 – Non Members £2.
Visitors are always welcome.