High Country History Group

The Ongar Hundred is exceedingly pleasant, being finely undulated, and touching at several points upon the forest. Of the part towards Epping, it was written, a hundred years ago, “It may with propriety be called the garden of Essex, from the pleasing variety of the hills and vales, the fertility of the soil, the goodness of the roads, the neatness of the buildings, and the many additional ornaments it receives from the number of noblemen’s and gentlemen’s seats with which it abounds; insomuch that the traveller cannot pass without being struck by the peculiarity of its beauty, and the variety of noble and pleasing prospects, which in different parts present themselves in this view.

Greensted Hall, the seat of Captain Budworth – To the west of Chipping Ongar, reached by a walk of about a mile through pleasant meadows, and nestling among clumps of trees, as if it still stood in a forest land, is the curious little antique church of Greensted – St Edmund’s shrine. There is little doubt that this is the identical resting-place of the saint, as the register of the Abbey of St. Edmund says: “his body was likewise entertained at Aungre, where a wooden chapel erected to his memory remains to the present day.” Close by is the Hall, commanding prospects over a rich forestal district. The parish belonged with Ongar, to Sir Richard Lucy; and subsequently the noble families of Stafford, Bourchier, and others. The manor, with the remainder of the parish and other property in the neighbourhood, was purchased in the reign of Charles II by Alexander Cleeve, of London, merchant. Subsequently these estates were subdivided between three of the grand-daughters, one of whom marrying the Rev. Richard Budworth during the last [eighteenth] century, carried a proportion of this parish to her husband; the manor and Hall, however, passing successively through the hands of the Rebotier, Redman, and Ord families. In 1837 the trustees of the estate of the Rev. Philip Budworth (son of the above Richard Budworth) re-purchased Greensted Hall with the manor, and with one or two small exceptions, the remainder of the parish. Greensted Hall is now [1861] the seat of Captain Philip John Budworth, son of the last mentioned, who has lately restored the mansion – a large pile of buildings dating from the reign of Elizabeth, but, owing to successive repairs and alterations, possessing no architectural remains of that epoch. The entrance hall, however, is a noble and spacious one, and contains a fine Scarsellino, brought by Captain Budworth from the Sciana Gallery at Rome, as well as a collection of arms and armour, which was partly made by him in the East. From the Hall, eastwards, a fine avenue of elm s, of at least a mile in length, runs through the grounds and adjoining fields into the town of Ongar.

The charities for the poor are two rent-charges of 5s. out of the land at Stanford Rivers, left by Robert Petit; and 2s. out of Lee-fields, left by Richard Bourne, in 1660.

Filling the space between that parish [Navestock] and Greensted, a fertile and picturesque district lies Stanford Rivers, with its straggling village. There was anciently an extensive park here; and Belhouse was long the seat of a branch of the Petre family. Sir C. C. Smith and Capel Cure, Esq. are the chief owners of this parish. The poor have 5s. a year, left by Thomas Petit; an annuity of £2, left by William Green in 1554, has been lost.

An extract from ‘The People’s History of Essex’ written by D.W. Coller, published in 1861.

To be continued……

The bells of St Christopher’s, Willingale (traditionally Willingale Doe) rang out for the last time on 25 June 2011 ahead of a project to restore the tower and augment the number of bells from four to six. The church was open for visitors to ascend the bell tower by ladders to see the bells in the frame which will become redundant.

The existing four bells date from 1610 to 1797. According to ‘Church Bells of Essex’ by Revd. Cecil Deedes (1909), a classic book on the topic, the bells in Willingale Doe are dated and inscribed as follows:
Thomas Mears of London Felict 1797 [29 in.]
Joh. French Henrie Pavit: Churchwarden IC Made Me 1634 [30½ in.]
Thomas Bartlett mead this bell 1631 [33½ in.]
Wilhelmus Carter me Fecit 1610 [35½ in.]

The oldest bell, made at the Whitechapel Foundry, dates from 1610 and comes from the brief career of William Carter (1609 -1616). This makes this example particularly rare, although locally there were two others in neighbouring the neighbouring churches of High Ongar (1610) and Stapleford Tawney (1611).

Thomas Bartlett’s (founder, 1616 – 1631) bell of 1631 is one of only 18 examples, making it also a rare bell.

John Clifton (founder 1632 -40) made the bell bearing the churchwarden’s name.

To make up a new peal of six the village has acquired a “2nd bell” from Prittlewell cast in the early twentieth century.

The five bells (four from the tower plus the Prittlewell bell) left the village for Whitechapel Bell Foundry for retuning in early July.

Meanwhile a new bell will be cast at the Foundry to complete the ring of six.

A final bell from the bell tower was removed. It is used for chiming only, and came from neighbouring Shellow Bowells, and will be returned.

In the meantime work to construct a new bell frame will proceed. This will be placed lower in the tower to place less strain on the structure and create a better sound out of the louvre windows. The Victorian bell frame (1853) will remain in situ unused. Ringing will in future be performed from a new mezzanine floor placed in front of the west window and in full view of the congregation. The project is supported by a National Lottery Grant and funds raised locally and is expected to be completed in time for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Deedes’ book is subtitled “Their founders, inscriptions, traditions and uses”. In 1909 the following notes were made about these bells:

“Death Knell 24 hours after death; tolling for one hour. On Sundays bells chimed followed by tolling for last five minutes. Ringing at 5am on Christmas Day and midnight on New Year’s Eve. Gleaning Bell at 8am until about ten years ago”.

Hill-Hall, the seat of Sir William Bowyer Smijth, Bart. – The third parish bearing the name Thoydon, with the distinctive title of Mount, is united with that of Stapleford Tawney; and high in its midst stands the noble seat of the ancient family of Smijth. After climbing the hill top on which the mansion is erected, we enter a long avenue on the northern side of the park. As we traverse it, and when we reach the tasteful pleasure grounds and terrace, we look forth on a beautiful forest scene, and realize the description, long since given that “Hill-hall, in point of elegance and prospect, may be reckoned inferior to very few houses in this county.” To the westward the finely-timbered park falls boldly into a deep wooded valley, beyond which the country gradually rises; and from this height we see its cultivated lands sprinkled over with farm-houses and villages, with the thick dark mass of the forest in the distance forming a back-ground to the rural landscape. On the south and other sides extend views of equal sylvan beauty, which compel us to admire the taste of those who, even before the time of the Norman – for this was one of the lordships of Suene – planted their manor-house on this commanding spot. The present hall id one of those fine massive old mansions which combine the solidity of the past with the elegancies of the present. It is a quadrangular building, with very thick and lofty walls, erected near the site of the ancient edifice, by the ancestor of the present possessor in 1548. On the north, the appearance of the structure, with its arched entrance and large massive door, leaves an impression of its original gloomy strength; but the eastern side is in the decorated Grecian style; and the southern or terrace front has been modernized and changed in character since the Elizabethan architect first raised the pile. On entering the mansion, the visitor will be struck by the beauty and proportions of the great hall, which is adorned by some fine paintings, and decorated with specimens of ancient armour and arms wielded in the hand-to-hand combat on the olden battle-fields of the country. Along one side runs a handsome gallery, and in traversing it we glance with interest the curious object which obstructs our path, very unlike anything belonging to the equestrians of the present time – the veritable saddle on which Queen Elizabeth rode while sojourning at Horham Hall [near Thaxted], which was formerly one of the seats of the Smijth family. The dining and drawing rooms, and the library, are large and lofty apartments; and upon their walls is the finest array of family portraits we have seen in the county. They form a pictorial history of the house of Smijth for the last three hundred years, mingled with paintings of royal and other personages with which it has been connected. Many are by the master-hands of their time. Amongst them are found portraits of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth; Sit Thomas Smijth, the founder of the family, and the nephew to whom he left the estate; Charles I; the second Sir Thomas Smijth; Sir Edward Bowyer; the Black Prince; the present Lady Smijth (daughter of Sir Henry Meux); James I; James Smijth Esq. and his wife; Sir Edward Smijth and his Lady; Sir William Smijth, by Copley; Sir Edward Smijth, father of the present baronet; Joseph Windham, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; the Bishop of Salisbury, connected with the family in 1663; Sir Edward Smijth, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; Sir William Smijth (1777) by James Barry; and a host of others, interesting as specimens of art and curious as illustrating costumes of the different periods in which they were painted.

The family of Smijth is of great antiquity in the land. By some it is traced up to Edward the Black Prince, as descended from Sir Roger de Clarendon, his natural son. In Essex, however, it is of about three centuries standing. About 1480, the estate was in the Hampden family, under the title of Thoydon-at-the-Mount and Hill-hall. Sir John Hampden died in 1553, and his widow being jointured with this property, married Sir Thomas Smijth, knt., who bought the reversion of the estate, made it part of the family patrimony, and built the Hall. Sir Thomas, who was the son of John Smijth, Esq., of Saffron Walden, sheriff of Essex and Herts in the reign of Henry VIII, was one of the most celebrated statesmen and accomplished scholars of his day, and the author of several learned works, amongst them “the English Commonwealth”, which has been several times reprinted. He is described as a most excellent orator, mathematician, philosopher, and perfect in several of the modern languages. These qualities marked him out for public duties and distinctions. He was appointed secretary of state under Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth, was often employed in important foreign embassies and negotiations, and was made chancellor of the order of the garter. Essex, too, was anxious to do him local honour, and twice elected him one of its knights in parliament. He died in 1577, leaving his name honourably stamped on our political and literary history. His epitaph, on the sumptuous tomb in the little village church, which stands within the park, contains a record of him – the original being in Latin:-

“Sir Thomas Smijth, knight, lord of the manor, privy councillor and principal secretary of state to both King Edward VI and to Queen Elizabeth, and then ambassador to the greatest kings, chancellor of the noble order of the garter, colonel of Arda and Southern Clonebey, in Ireland, honoured eben when a youth with the highest title of the civil law, a most excellent orator, mathematician, and philosopher, very skilled in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and Italian languages, a friend of the honest and ingenious man, singularly good, serviceable to many, hurtful to none, averse to revenge. In short, remarkable for his wisdom, piety and integrity, and in every part of life, whether sick or well, prepared for death. When he had completed the 65th year of his age, piously and sweetly slept in the Lord, at his seat of Mont-hall, on the 12th day of August, in the year of our salvation, 1577. – The glory of a short life makes a man famous when buried in the bowels of the earth. My life was blameless; if after my death you hurt my fame (wretch) the Almighty will punish thee for so doing”.

The family have ever since held a high position in the county. Several of its members distinguished themselves as soldiers; and one of them, a youth of fifteen, won himself a reputation as a volunteer under Prince Rupert in the civil wars. The chancel of the church contains the monuments of many of them. Of Sir Thomas Smijth, the first baronet, we are told, in these funereal records, that:-

“He lived 66 years with great reputation for loyalty to his prince and conformity to the church of England in apostate times, and served his king and country in chiefest places of trust and credit in the county”.

The present owner of Hill Hall is the eleventh baronet, the title being conferred to the family in 1661; and bears the name Bowyer prefixed to that of Smijth, the surname and arms of that family, in consequence of an intermarriage long previously, having been assumed by royal licence in 1839.

In Stapleford Tawney is Suttons, the seat of Sir Charles C. Smith, Bart. It is a large and delightful mansion, the head of the manor which appears to have been cut off from the Hall, now belonging to Sir William Bowyer Smijth, but long the property of the De Tanys, a family in ancient times of high repute and large possessions in the county. Sir C. Cunliffe Smith is descended from John Smith, Esq., a London merchant, who was created a baronet in 1804, and having married, as his second wife, the daughter of Sir Ellis Cunliffe, the two names became united. The present occupant of Suttons, who has been the high sheriff of the county, is the third baronet. Tawney Common is a rugged-looking place – though now mostly enclosed – with a few scattered cottages. In the parish is a school-house, erected in 1745, by Jane Luther, who left 5s. to the parish clerk, and £2. 17s.6d. each to this parish and Kelvedon Hatch, for distribution in bread, out of an estate at Little Warley. The poor have also the rent of four acres of land, left by an unknown donor; and a rent-charge of £5 left by Thomas Luther, in 1718.

An extract from ‘The People’s History of Essex’ written by D.W. Coller, published in 1861.

Funeral of Prince Albert

I bought my battered copy of Coller’s ‘Peoples History of Essex’ a few years ago in a secondhand bookshop in Norwich. Tucked between one of its pages was an interesting Order of Service held at Epping, contemporary with the book’s publication, commemorating the funeral of Albert, Queen Victoria’s Consort.

In 1881 Edward Henry Lisle Reeve (known as Lisle to his family) had just completed his University studies to become a Minister of Religion in the Church of England. He was 23 years of age, born into a well-to-do family, whose father was Rector of Stondon Massey. Lisle became the parish’s rector in 1893. His late grandfather, Edward Reeve (known in the family as “the Captain”), had served in the West Suffolk Militia. Having then been a gentleman farmer in Dedham, in 1849 he purchased the Rectory and advowson of Stondon moving into retirement and appointing his son as the incumbent.

The following item is edited from a manuscript in Lisle’s hand entitled ‘Jottings’ dated 1881, and relates specifically to Stondon Massey. In Lisle’s words:

“My father you know is always telling us the same old stories, and then he will turn to me and ask ‘if I remember that’.

“Well, I should say you have no doubts how to answer that question. If he were to ask you whether you had forgotten it, it might create a difficulty.

“Most of these little heirlooms we are indebted to the Captain who took a burning interest in all that related to his ancestors”.

‘Jottings’ is a family book which came into my possession via a relative of the Reeve family. It casts light on the ordinary lives of the privileged classes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In short, it is a fascinating social history.

The text, apart from the titles, is Lisle’s own. I have added footnotes where some explanation may be helpful to the reader.

Revd. Thomas Smith

Revd. Thos. Smith of Stondon on one occasion was rolling the gravel in front of his house with his gardener, when suddenly the Church Bells began to ring. “Why!” said the Rector, “what are they thinking of now?” “Well that’s a good ‘un”, replied the man, “I think you ought to know”. (It was Sunday – Ed.)

Revd. John Oldham

Mr Oldham, sometime rector of the parish of Stondon Massey was a man reverenced far and wide for his great abilities. He had been brought up to the Law before taking Orders and his proficiency in this branch of learning raised him in the eyes of his parishioners and neighbours. Veterans of the village can recollect fours-in-hand driving up to his rectory and carrying off legal advice from this clerical lawyer.

Mr Oldham built the present rectory house in a style possibly of his own peculiar. Certainly if not his own – it is peculiar; The rector – so the story goes – was one day inspecting his laurel bushes by the front gate when some passers by made rather rude remarks upon the architecture of the buildings observing finally that “the man who built that house ought to be hanged”. “But he’s not hanged yet” said the old gentleman, starting up from his place of concealment. Imagine the traveller’s horror!

Mr Oldham was strict and stern, but kind hearted and somewhat eccentric it would seem. I have from Mr Noble a tradesman of Ongar that the Rev. gentleman was very fond of snuff and to save trouble to him domestics had a tub of water in his study wherein a number of handkerchiefs could be always soaking and washing in numbers. “We would have them to dry before his fire!”

Revd. John Oldham

This same Mr Oldham erected a tomb for himself in Stondon churchyard and had the inscription relating to himself placed upon it in his lifetime, only the date of his decease remaining for his relatives to supply. Now and again he would visit the spot, inviting his friends to come with him, and see “his house”.

Revd. Thomas Hubbard

The rector of Stondon Massey who succeeded Mr Oldham and immediately preceded my father, was the Revd Thos Hubbard – a brother of John Gellibrand Hubbard Esquire of the Privy Council. He only lived about seven or eight years at Stondon, his wife voting the place dull.

Revd. Thomas Hubbard

He was rather unfortunate, it would seem, in his endeavours to exact the outward forms of respect from the juvenile proportion of the population. On one occasion he met a boy who did not make his obeisance to the rector of the parish, and who, on being reprimanded, replied, “I keeps my bows for Mr Page” (one of the principal farmers).

On another occasion Mr Hubbard met a boy carrying a heavy basket on his head, and seeing his predicament as he supposed, kindly said, “You need not touch your hat to me today my boy”. “I wasn’t a-going to” replied the ungrateful juvenile.

Captain Reeve

Captain Reeve in fancy-dress for a Masquerade ball (1810)
A self-portrait from his commonplace book

When my father [Revd. Edward James Reeve] first came to Stondon Massey as Rector, Captain Reeve lived at the Rectory House at Stondon with him, with my grandmother and Aunt Mary.

They had lately become possessed of a young donkey which Miss Mary Reeve used to drive about. One day the animal was not forthcoming, and Captain Reeve with characteristic activity put an advertisement in the paper offering 1£ reward for its safe restoration. Three or four days passed, and the beast did not appear; at last the coachman had occasion to go to an old cowshed where the main supply of hay was kept, and there to his astonishment was the truant donkey. Evidently it had got in when the man last went to the shed in the evening, and the key had been turned on it. The donkey had enough to eat, but his good fortune had been somewhat tempered, for he had nothing to drink, and when the door was opened he made immediately for the pond, and began to drink with an energy which bade fair to prove fatal. Captn. Reeve, though glad to recover his lost property, was still annoyed to think of the disturbance which his advertisement had created, and the more so that friends would from time to time gently chaff him upon the subject.

Mrs Edward Reeve [the Captain’s wife] was the eldest daughter of Mr James Stutter of Higham Hall [Suffolk]. She was a great invalid in her later years, and during her residence at Stondon seldom was seen outside the house. The Captn. would vainly try to entice her out declaring that the sun was shining brightly, but even if he elicited a promise from her to try its charms he would return a few moments later only to find her putting on her boots – the lacing of which was a work of time. When a new domestic was wanted, great troops of applicants would appear at the window to be called in one by one, and the Capt. would be outside and wink significantly if he saw one approaching whom he thought would suit! On one occasion Mrs Reeve in questioning one more likely than the rest, asked her if she had been confirmed, and received a somewhat amusing reply, that she “had not yet, but that she was good at her needle”.

Mrs Reeve was of silent habits, and particularly reticent at meals, when, if she chanced to make a remark which caused merriment to the party, she would merely smile and say “I am glad you are amused”.

If the said party assembled grumbled at the fare provided for them, but the good lady afterwards found devouring the same, and even applying for a second helping, she would sarcastically say, “You seem to eat it, though”.
Reverend Edward James Reeve

Revd. Edward James Reeve

“In medio tutissimus ibis” is the Rector’s of Stondons motto. Imbued with a firm belief in the English Church, he is equally uncompromising to Roman Catholic and Dissenter, courting neither the one nor the other out of fear or favour.

Mr Ely, Rector of Broomfield near the Curacy of Little Waltham, said to him in those early days of his ministry, “Your sentiments are right, but you will never be popular”.

On some points of Church doctrine or discipline my father feels so strongly, that in speaking of them he seems almost inspired to inveigh against those who would make breaches in her walls. On such occasions he feels as though he would like to be addressing a huge mass of people on some wide plain, and fancies them still pouring in to hear him. “How many are there?” he supposes to himself to ask, “20000 Sir” is the reply, “and they are still coming up”. “Let them come on”. And when assembled, he can imagine himself addressing them all, and like Samson, dying at the hour of triumph.

Mr Wyndham Holgate Inspector of Schools, sent by the Government round the Country to inquire into the state of school buildings – whether or no they were adequate to the number of children etc – in due course came to Stondon. Had the cubic weight of air in the room been deemed insufficient, the Government could have obliged the parish to build another school of proper proportions. It was however deemed to be sufficient. My father is in possession of the title deeds of the ground on which the school stands, it being given to the rector by Mr Philip Herman Meyer the Lord of the Manor for use as School property as long as the school should be conducted according to the principles of the Church of England. Mr Wyndham Holgate endeavoured to persuade my father that he only had to accept the conditions of Government called the “Conscience Clause” (by which children, whose parents objected to the teaching of the English Church, might be instructed in secular learning only) to obtain a Grant from Government, instead of paying the salary of the governess himself. This was just the proposition to call forth his best energies, and I have it from Mrs Meyer herself who was present at the time, that she never heard such a torrent of eloquence, such pithy and witty sentences; such speedy, such sharp retorts. He had the best of the argument throughout, and his adversary retreated, assuring him that there were only two other such in the kingdom, and that he was a regular old John Bull. On wishing the Rector good-day, the Inspector said, “You are quite right, Mr Reeve, there is no doubt, in your view of the matter.” Edward Henry Lisle Reeve

1 mile west from Ongar terminal station on a branch of the London and North Eastern railway, 8 north-west from Brentwood and 21 from London, in the Chelmsford division of the county, Ongar hundred, rural district and petty sessional division, Brentwood county court district, rural deanery of Ongar, archdeaconry of Southend and Chelmsford diocese.

The small church of St. Andrew is the only existing Anglo-Saxon wood church in the world, and consists of chancel, nave and a western tower of wood with shingled spire, containing one bell, which is dated 161 &: the nave is composed of the trunks of large oak trees, split asunder and set upright close to each other, being let into a sill at the bottom and fastened with wooden pins to a plate at the top and below: the church is 29ft. gin. long, 14ft. wide and 5 ft. 6in. high on the sides, which support the roof, and is believed to be the original structure in which the body of St. Edmund, king of the East Angles, murdered by the Danes, Nov. 20, 870, had sanctuary for a time on its translation from London to Bury St. Edmunds in 1013: there are some modern carvings of St. Edmund's head and various relics: the covers of the Bible and Prayer Book in the church are covered with some of the old oak from the venerable oak tree, against which St. Edmund was supposed to have been tied at his martyrdom: the tree itself known as St. Edmund's oak, was 20 feet in circumference, with branches extending over a radius of 84 feet; it fell Sept. 11, 1848 (at which time, by a singular coincidence, the timber walls of Greensted church were undergoing repair), and on examination an old arrow head was found deeply imbedded In the trunk: there is in the church a panel picture representing the martyrdom of St, Edmund, and a painting of the saint himself, a perfect specimen of the earliest Italian art and British workmanship: there are monuments to the Smyth, Cleeve and Ord families: the church has 80 sittings.

The register of baptisms dates from 1562; burials, 1561; marriages, 1576. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200, with 2½ acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Bishop of London in trust, and held since 1925 by the Rev. Ralph William Doyle M.A. of Queens' College, Cambridge. Three yearly charities, viz. Rayner's, of £5 17s. 4d. ; Bournes', of £2, and Sammes', of £2 14s. 4d., were amalgamated in 1904 by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners.

Greensted Hall is the property and residence of Howel John James Price esq. D.L., J.P. The soil is various; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley and roots. The area is 683 acres; the population in 1931 was 119.

Letters through Ongar, nearest M.O.& T. office

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
(For T N's see general list of Private Residents at end of book.)

Armstrong Sidney P., Silver Birch cottage
Dacre Lacey Edward, Greensted house
Doyle Rev. Ralph William M.A., (rector), Rectory
Hoare Charles Noel, The Croft
Lloyd Jones (Mrs.), Blackstock
Maud Francis Herbert, Greensted ho
Price Howel John James D.L., J.P, Greensted hall

COMMERCIAL.

East Wm. farmer, Harding's farm
King Abel, head gardener to H. J. J. Price esq. D.L., J.P
Wilson Gavin, farmer, New Hall farm. T N Ongar 98

Richard Thomas Dutton Budworth was born on the 17th October 1867 at Greensted, Essex. He died on the 7th December 1937 in London.
He attended Brecon College and Magdalen, Oxford. His father was Philip John Budworth, a magistrate, and unsuccessful parlimentary candidate for the Borough of Sandwich in 1840, who settled at Greensted Hall, Essex in 1854 where he lived until his death in 1885. His mother was Annie Emily Thomas, daughter of David Thomas. She was his fathers second wife, the first was Blanche Trimmer who he married in 1850 but she died in 1862.
His parents married in 1866. His Grandfather was Revd. Philip Budworth who originally bought the manor of Greensted in 1837.
He was selected to play rugby for England while playing for Blackheath.
Richard Budworth was an Oxford Blue in 1887-9. He scored his England try against Wales on 3rd January 1891. One of the original members of the Barbarians Club, Budworth was a clergyman, being ordained in 1902. He taught at Lancing College, Clifton College (1898 until 1907), was headmaster at Durham School and served in World War One. He became Canon at Durham Cathedral and retired in 1932. Budworth's first match for England was the first game England had played after the international dispute. The game started in controversy when England had been unable to field their star half-back, Fred Bonsor of Bradford. He had captained the side the previous season against the 'Maoris', but was thought to have deliberately withdrawn at a late hour from the game so that his Bradford co-half, Wright, could win his first cap for England. Well, Wright secured the coveted cap, but neither he nor his colleague ever appeared in England colours again.

Many, many years ago when I was twenty three
I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her and soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother.
For she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse.
Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle.
Though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle.
Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter
Who of course. was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son.
Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson.
For he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue.
Because. although she is my wife.
She's my grandmother too.

If my wife is my grandmother.
Then I am her grandchild.
And every lime I think of it.
It simply drives me wild.

For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother.
I am my own grandpa.

It happened on April 22nd 1884 at about 9.20 a.m. GMT. It was a fine clear morning with no wind. The epicentre was in the vicinity of Peldon, Abberton and Wivenhoe, but the shock was felt up to 150 miles away and across an area of 53,000 square miles. The duration of the shock varied in people's accounts, but is authoritatively estimated as 3½ seconds. In some places a second, slighter shock was also felt. The earthquake first manifested itself in a low underground rumbling. a rolling sound, This was followed by a vibratory rocking and swaying and the ground heaved beneath people's feet. Walls moved and cracked, doors opened and shut, articles fell off shelves, bells rang of themselves. Tiles and slates slid off roofs, chimney stacks tumbled down. Thousands of buildings were damaged. Workers fled from factories, children were ushered out of schools, people rushed from their homes. Panic and confusion was widespread as few people realised what was happening. All sorts of rumours spread as to the cause of the upheaval. At Colchester for example it was popularly thought that the Gas Works near the Hythe Docks had exploded or been deliberately destroyed. Another story was that the Camp and Barracks had been blown up by the 'Dynamiters' who at the time were causing a major security problem in Britain. Only the previous day a James Francis Egan had been charged at Birmingham with conspiring with a John Daly to cause explosions.

The shock was felt in the Houses of Parliament, and a wave about 3 feet high was observed sweeping across the Thames. Workmen working on the top of Parliament's Victoria Tower fled to the ground on feeling the tower swaying. At the Old Bailey a gas lamp broke with the shock, and set furniture and fittings alight. The fire brigade prevented a serious blaze. Birmingham was extensively shaken, and at Northampton an old Roman wall was demolished. Suffolk experienced the shock, and some places suffered damage. Unfortunately no instrumental records were taken of the shock at the time, but scientists have later calculated that, in the international designation of earthquakes as 1st , 2nd and 3rd class, the Essex earthquake fell somewhere between 2nd and 3rd.

At the time of the earthquake, Lord Alfred Paget was on the deck of his steam yacht, Saint Cecilia, which was moored on the Rowhedge bank of the River Colne, opposite Wivenhoe. He was able to witness the destruction which the shock brought to Wivenhoe. The river was high at the time, high tide having been at 9.00 a.m.

First there was a booming sound, then a huge wave swept along the Colne, swamping vessels. It heaved up the yacht, which began to shake. Members of the crew were falling down. Lord Alfred had to cling to the rigging. Over at Wivenhoe the houses seemed to be moving up and down in a wave, chimney stacks began to topple and crash through the roofs. Showers of slates were being sent flying into the streets and houses, part of the church steeple swayed and toppled down. People were rushing into the street, or searching the wreckage for persons caught in the debris. Those who had been injured were treated on the spot by local doctors.

Dust arose from the buildings in a thick cloud and spread like a fog over the quayside. Cracks appeared in house walls, the outside walls of some buildings collapsed, revealing the interiors of the rooms. The Independent Chapel in West Street was badly damaged, the National School in Wivenhoe High Street had walls cracked and the chimney fell down. Wivenhoe Hall lost its chimneys, several of which had crashed through the roof, the gable at the north end was dismantled; the walls were severely fissured and cracked. It was, in fact, uninhabitable, and had to be vacated. At the gas works, two-thirds of the 50 foot circular brick shaft tottered and fell, smashing across the main buildings and hurling masonry around. The main gasometer was damaged, but not fractured, and the gas was able to be turned off. Wivenhoe church, which had been restored in 1860 at the huge cost of £3000, was severely damaged. From the summit of the battlements to the coping, all was shattered. Many tons of stone were hurled into the graveyard. The tower was rent in many places, and a quantity of masonry fell into the church itself. The Black Boy Inn at the end of East Street was rendered untenable.

The scene at Colchester was similar. In the station the 9.20 am, express to London was standing at the platform, ready for the whistle to signal the departure. The engine and carriages were lifted up by the wave of the earthquake, some windows cracked, and doors were sprung open. The engine driver and some passengers were pitched on to the platform. As the earthquake subsided, passengers rushed from the train in fear. No trains ran at Colchester for the rest of that day. In Lion Walk, half of the spire of the Congregational Church fell down, plunging partly into the church, some pieces of stone penetrating to the basement. The remainder fell into the road. St. Leonard's Church in Hythe lost its spire, which severely damaged the church. The rectory suffered when two huge chimney stacks crashed through the roof and down through the house. At the castle the shock was severely felt, many items on display were knocked over or damaged.
On Mersea Island the ground groaned and moved, and then fissures opened in many places. Some were a few feet long, some extended over a hundred yards. Most only opened a few inches, but one or two gaped wide. The worst fissure was about 150 yards long and about a foot wide, on the slope near Mersea Lane, running down St Peter's Well on the West Mersea foreshore. A jet of water, white in colour and warm, sprayed out of the fissure. Other similar sprays were observed on other parts of the island. West Mersea was more badly hit than the other side of the island. The church was damaged, and the chimneys of the Rectory fell in, completely unroofing it.

Langenhoe also suffered badly. Langenhoe Church was already noted for its leaning tower, and as a result of the earthquake the battlements had fallen, almost completely destroying the nave. The chancel roof was stripped of its tiling, and cracks were visible in the walls of the chancel, nave and porch. Strangely enough, the tower had not fallen, but its lean was even more pronounced. The Lion public house, the school, Langenhoe Hall - all suffered considerable damage. In Fingringhoe a large percentage of the buildings were severely damaged. In Abberton, every building was damaged. Virtually every one had lost its chimneys and few walls had escaped being cracked and damaged. At Peldon, the village presented a devastated appearance. The Peldon Rose Inn had its roof stripped, the
walls cracked and bulged, and the chimney stack crashed right through the building to the cellar. Only the iron stays fixed round the building had saved it from complete collapse. Peldon church was much damaged, and the roof which had recently been restored after raising funds for 5 years was badly damaged by debris from the tower. Strood House, which stood beside the causeway leading from Peldon to Mersea and belonged to a local surgeon, was so badly wrecked that only the kitchen remained usable.

Other places in Essex which were hard hit were: Aldham., Alresford, Ardleigh, Bradwell-on-Sea, Brightlingsea, Coggeshall, Dedham, Great Bromley, Great Wigborough, Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, Layer Breton, Little Wigborough, Messing, Salcott, Stisted, Thorrington, Tillingham, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Tolleshunt Major, and Virley. In Little Wigborough church is a memorial in the form of a brass plaque on the wall which says that the church was rebuilt Shocks were also felt at Ipswich, Chelmsford, Maldon, Southend and Shoeburyness.

Many people were injured in the earthquake, and others had narrow escapes from falling masonry, but only two deaths have been authenticated. One was that of a child who had been lying in front of the fireplace in the Old Parsonage at Rowhedge. Two groups of chimneys fell through the roof, bringing masonry and soot down the chimney shaft. The child was buried in the debris and suffocated. The second death was at Wivenhoe, where a bedridden invalid died from a stroke brought on by the shock of the earthquake. A third death, of a man reported to have been struck by falling masonry at Wivenhoe has not been verified, although a man from Ardleigh did die the following day from an unspecified 'sad accident'.

PROGRAMME 2011/2012

2.00pm, Sunday, 18 September 2011
Walk to Navestock Church
Meet St Margaret’s Church, Stanford Rivers
Led by Patrick Griggs.

Meetings

Thursday, 27 October, 2011
“A Geological Look at Church Towers in Essex”
Ken Newman

Thursday, 24 November, 2011
“Metal Detecting around Ongar: a historical jig-saw puzzle”
Frank Knights

Thursday, 23 February, 2012
“Stanford Rivers Personalities”
Robert Brooks

Thursday, 22 March, 2012
AGM followed by
“The High CountryThen and Now”

Thursday, 26 April, 2012
“How to Speak Essex”
Martin Astell (Essex Record Ofice)

The High Country History Group meets in Toot Hill Village Hall.
Meetings start at 8.00pm.
Visitors £3. Refreshments.