High Country History Group

The origin and meaning of Essex Place Names was the subject given by Paul Mardon, Publicity Officer of the Essex Place Names Project, to the High Country History Group recently. The Project is said to be unique to the county and began in 1995 with volunteers recording towns, parishes, villages and moors; farms, houses, buildings and roads; and, fields, rivers, streams, woods and hills. Its coordinator is Dr James Kemble.

Volunteers transcribe names on the Tithe Maps of the 1830s and 1840s; estate maps and manor court rolls. They scour sales and auction catalogues, leases and rental records. To date 325 parishes in Essex have been completed with the results published on an online database linked to the Essex Society for Archaeology and Essex, and hosted by the University of Essex.

Paul Mardon said that most of our place names date before 1500, with many evolving over time often with a variety of spellings.

Rivers such as the Lea and Thames are early British names. The River Roding flows through the centre of the county past the Roding villages and on through Ilford – it was originally called the River Il. The Romans are renowned for their straight roads and fortified places.

The Anglo-Saxons have attached names to many places in northern Europe: ‘Walden’, as in Saffron Walden, is the place of the Britons.

There is a Viking influence in north east Essex where Danelaw was prevalent.

The Normans and Anglo-Normans gave names to places such as Pleshey – “a living hedge” – where old English words have evolved into Middle English.

Most of our modern place names are an amalgamation of periods: the Tolleshunt villages near Maldon is derived from ‘toll’ meaning chieftain and ‘funta’, meaning spring.

Suffixes for place names such as ‘ham’ and ‘ton’ have an original meaning of a farm or homestead; ‘ing’ or ‘ingas’ means territory; ‘sted’ means place; ‘wic’ means a dairy farm. In the landscape, ‘dun’ or ‘don’ means a flat topped upland; ‘hyrst’ is a wooded hill; ‘naess’ is a promontory; and ‘eg’ or ‘ieg’ is an island. There are many more.

Field names form an important part of the research of the Essex Place Names Project. Field names are given by size, such as ‘twenty acre marsh’ and ‘hoppit’ being a very Essex name for a small field. Some denote ownership such as ‘Browns Field’ or ‘Blacksmith Field’ while others are named according to their natural features, ‘Pond Field’ or ‘Oak Field’ are examples. There are a number of fields named according to their shape: ‘Leg of Mutton Field’ or ‘Shoulder of Mutton Field’. In nearby Navestock there is one called ‘Swans Neck Field’. Then there are others which tell how productive a field might be: ‘Great Gains’, ‘Stoney Field’. Finally a category shows how the field might have been ploughed: ‘Rainbow Field’, or ‘Gridiron Field’ in Great Wakering. ‘Botany Bay Field’ might be the furthest away field on a farm: Botany Bay was the place to where convicts were transported.

Further reading

To find out more about place names and their origin, Paul Marsden recommends the following books:

Ekwall, Eilert. The Concise Dictionary of English Place-names. 4th edition (Oxford, 1960)
Reaney, P.H. The Place-Names of Essex, EPNS 12 (Cambridge, 1935)
Kemble, James. Essex Place-Names. Places, Streets and People. (Historical Publications, 2007)

I recently saw advertised for sale a postcard entitled, The Great Fire, Stanford Hall, 22/9/07. The printer of the postcard was F.J. Mott of Ongar. My curiosity roused I purchased the postcard and discovered the story behind the picture in the locl newspapers:

GREAT FARM FIRE

TWENTY-TWO STACKS
and
MANY BUILDINGS DESTROYED

ONGAR DISTRICT ROUSED

On Sunday afternoon a farm fire of alarming proportions occurred at Stanford Hall, Stanford Rivers, near Ongar. The mischief started among the corn stacks in the farm yard, about two o’clock. Within a few minutes it seemed that the yard had been transformed into a sea of fire, for no less than 22 stacks were in process of being incinerated. The whole countryside, not only as far as Ongar, but miles away in the direction of Epping, was roused, and people walked long distances to the scene. About three o’clock, the horn which rouses the Epping Fire Brigade was sounded, and in a comparatively short time that brigade had reached the place and joined forces with the Ongar Brigade, who were already on the spot, and working hard under Capt. Burrell. All the neighbouring farmers and their men turned out to give what assistance they could, but the distressing want of water made all efforts to put out the flames seem paltry by comparison with the size of the fire. In the result it may be said the brigades very wisely concentrated all their effort and whole of the water at their disposal upon saving the dwelling-house, which was menaced with very serious danger. Without doubt, their excellent work in this direction saved the building. As may be imagined the heat was very great, and the fire was still burning, of course in a diminished form, for several days. In addition to the 22 stacks, nearly all the minor farm buildings were destroyed. It may be said that the whole of the produce of the farm had been gathered into the yard, so that the fire occurred at a most inopportune time.

Stanford Hall is in the occupation of Messrs. R. and B. Bingley, who have resides there for about four years and have earned the respect and esteem of the whole neighbourhood by their geniality and kindness. The farm used to be in the occupation of Mr. David Christy.

The damage is estimated at £3,000. It is partly covered by insurance.

Later inquiries show that the details of Messrs. Bingley’s great loss are as follows;
Twelve wheat stacks, five oat stacks, one barley stack, two straw stacks, and two pea stacks; cowhouse and bullock shed, chaff house, root house, and the dog and fowl houses.

When the safety of the house had been assured, the fire brigades devoted their efforts to saving the stables and the chief farm buildings, and this also they accomplished. Three ponds were emptied of their contents during the fire. Where the stacks stood in the yard is now simply a mass of scattered debris, the sad remains of an excellent harvest.

________________________

At the meeting of the Ongar Board of Guardians, on Tuesday, Mr. R.H. Browne asked if it was within the province of the Board to express their sympathy with Messrs. Bingley. The Chairman: It is not a matter in which we can do anything officially, but I am certain that Messrs. Bingley have the keen sympathy of every one of us (Hear, hear).

REMARKABLE ARMY CAREER

GREENSTED MAN’S MODESTY

“ESSEX CHRONICLE” SPECIAL

Unique as were the fortunes which war thrust upon many people, it is doubtfull whether the records of two ex-sodiers at Greensted near Ongar, can find a parallel in the country. The story of a cowman’s rise to the rank of major through sheer grit and unaided effort, and returning, after his military duties were completed, to resume his old work on the farm for an ex-private master savours rather of Jules Verne and other imaginative writers than of a matter of actual fact. Such however, were the outstanding details of a remarkable chapter of war-moulded incidents as gathered by a reporter of The Essex Chronicle on Tuesday,

Major J. W. Millar, D.S.O., D.C.M., of Hall Cottages, Greensted, who worked for his present employer’s uncle as a cowman before taking the King’s shilling in 1907, is now again complacently filling a similar role ofr Mr Ernest F. Schweir, of Hall Farm, Greensted, who was discharged from the Army in 1915 through wounds received in action while serving as a private. The personal relations of master and man which, under the military code would have been separated by so wide a gulf of ‘pips and crowns,’ serve as an object lesson in candid co-operation and democracy.

A Typical “Old Contemptible.”

The cowman, of thick-set build, typifying one;s first impression of the old-time Army major, is a model of modesty, and a much-alive advocate of the country’s need to do something useful, in preference to maintaining a dignified helplessness. He will reel off the story of his Army history – gallant and honourable in its successful sequence – with a total absence of self-consciousness, although one cannot help noticingo the frank countenance a pair of eyes that tell of satisfaction gained in the doing of something worth while. His employer regards him affectionately as “Jimmy,” and even the children at Hall Farm look upon him as kind of personal adjunct to the family. “He is a rattling good man,” said Mr. Schwier in his cowman’s absence, “and has his whole interest in his work. Some more of his stamp would relieve the burdens of unemployment at the present time.”

The Hero’s Career.

Before joining the Army some thirteen years ago, Mr. Millar worked as a cowman with his present employer, for the latter’s uncle, Mr. Ernest Schwier, of Nether Hall, Moreton. The outbreak of war found him serving with the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters in India, Mr. Millar then holding the rank of machine gun sergeant. The unit was despatched to France in November, 1914, and was early engaged in the fighting at Neuve Chapelle. During this engagement Sergt. Millar was awarded the D.C.M. for conspicuous bravery, and was wounded on three occasions. On December 6, 1916, Mr. Millar, who was then Company Sergeant-Major, was granted a commission “for services on the field.” When the recommendation was made known to him, the Commanding Officer inquired if Mr. Millar wished to return to England in order to attend an Officer Cadet School, but the reply was decidedly in the negative. Mr. Millar was thereupon gazetted second- lieutenant, and posted to the 17th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, and from then he continued to gather fresh laurels, and in February, 1917, was promoted acting-captain, and placed in command of a company.

Wounded Again.

In July of the same year he was again wounded, but the casualty did not keep him long from duty, for on September 20, 1917, Mr. Millar was awarded the D.S.O. for gallant conduct while in charge of his Company, and sending invauable information as to a threatened enemy counter-attack. This was followed by a mention in despatches on Nov. 7, 1917. Promotion to major was gazetted on April 6, 1918, Mr. Millar then being placed in temporary command of the 16th Battalion Sherwood Foresters. Wounded for the fifth time on April 16, 1918, he was sent home, and retired with a gratuity on August 11, 1919, with the honorary rank of major. In the following month Mr. Millar settled down at Hall Cottages, Greensted and at once resumed his work as cowman at Hall Farm.

A Fancy for Soldiering.

“What led you to join the Army?” asked our reporter.
“I always had a fancy for the life, and felt somehow that it would agree with me” – a sentiment that was abundantly verified.

In the course of further conversation, Mr Millar remarked that he might have continued service on the Army, had Mrs. Millar’s health been sufficiently robust to stand the rigours of a foreign climate. “for,” he added with emphasis, “I should never want to soldier in England. As it is, my gratuity is in safe keeping until more normal times, when no doubt I shall be able to do much more with it than I could do at present.” With modest pride, Mr. Millar exhibited his war honours, the row of medal ribbons being furnished with those of the Mons Star, Vitory Medal, and War Service Medal. When he was invested with the D.S.O. at Buckingham Palace, his Majesty, noticing the D.C.M. pinned to Mr. Millar’s tunic (this having been presented to him at an earlier investiture at Newcastle), inquired the circumstances under which the medal was awarded. Major Millar mentioned that the semi-private nature of the investiture at the Palace was not nearly so nerve wracking as the imposing ceremony at Newcastle, which was attended by crowd of people.

Enthusiastic Comrades.

“Before going up fr my medal,” he smilingly recalled, “I had to leave my hat behind, and by the time I returned some of my comrades had filled it with contributions to the tume of something like £15.”

In addition to his regular work as cowman at Hall Farm, Mr. Millar does some pig rearing with very satisfactory results.

Mr.Millar has been nominated as a member of the War Pensions Committee for the district, representing Labour.

Mr. Schwier himself was among the first to respond to the Kitchener call in 1914, and was posted to the Seaforth Highlanders. Curiously enough he crossed to France in the same convoy as Mr.Millar, in November, 1914, and both were engaged in the Neuve Chapelle fighting, Mr. Schwier being severely wounded. This was followed by his discharge form the Army on March 14, 1915, as ‘unfit for further military service.’ Subsequently Mr. Schwier served for three years in the Special Constabulary. He has received the Mons Star, and in due course will obtain his Special’s medal. A brother, Mr. W.C.V. Schwier, of Hubbards Farm, Shalford, near Braintree, served in the Essex Yeomanry as a trooper, rising to the rank of captain, and winning the M.C. with the 2nd Dragoon Guards. All together a remarkable record of master and man.

_______________________________

Award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal

10541 Serjeant J.W.J. Millar, 1st Battalion Notts and Derby Regiment.- for conspicuous galantry on the 21st November 1914 when he went on reconnaisance with an Officer in front of our trenches, The Officer was shot by a German, who was immediately killed by Serjeant Millar. He then conveyed the body of the Officer back to the trenches.
(London Gazette 1.4.1915)

The Rev John Ford, B.D., a fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and for the last twenty years of his life vicar of Navestock, where he was succeeded by the Rev William Stubbs, B.A., afterwards Bishop of Oxford and the famous historian, appears to have received scant recognition in Essex. the long inscription on his monument in Navestock church, which has been printed in the Essex Review (iv. 229), records that he founded and endowed the Professorship of English History in the University of Oxford, and in Trinity College, four studentships, one student thereof to be elected from Brentwood Grammar School. But his researches into local history, of which he was a life-long student, seem to have been overlooked by Essex antiquaries, this, no doubt, being due to the fact that his work relates to Suffolk, where, in consequence, he is better known. An excellent account of him appeared under the heading ‘Worthies of Ipswich – No 33’ in the East Anglian Daily Times of 22 June, 1935, and it is from this source that the following information has for the most part been derived.

Before coming to Essex, Ford was for 22 years perpetual curate of St Lawrence’s Church, Ipswich. During this period he compiled The Suffolk Garland (1818); he was also the author of The Devout Communicant (1815), A Century of Christian Prayers of Faith, Hope and Charity, with Morning and Evening Devotion (1817, second edition 1824), and the privately printed Memoir of Thomas Green, Esq., of Ipswich, with a Critique on his Writings and an Account of his Family and Connections (Ipswich, 1825). He was at the same time investigating, with tireless energy, the history of the district. Two MS. volumes, in his handwriting, dealing with Ipswich, and another, with Woodbridge, are now in the Reference Department of the Ipswich Public Library. They were acquired, we are told, with others, by W S Fitch, after Ford’s death. Fitch declared: ‘I am bewildered and amazed at it and his work – all in Ford’s writing. Plenty of work for the binder, the whole will make 20 volumes … Ford must have worked hard at the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries.’ Various contributions under his initials are to be found in The Gentleman’s Magazine, of which his friend, John Mitford, was editor from 1834 to 1850.

On 28 October, 1830, Ford was presented by the college to the living at Navestock. He was a bachelor, aged 51, but on leaving Ipswich in the following month, he married, at St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, Letitia Jermyn, a spinster some ten years his junior. From this time onwards it was natural that his interests should be mainly centred in the county of Essex. According to the writer of the article previously referred to, he projected the Morant Society, the aim of which was to continue to the work of the historian of Essex, while he himself toiled assiduously at the history of the hundred (Ongar) in which he lived. It is further stated that his Essex collections are preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Oxford. This led me to communicate a few years ago with the Librarian, who, in reply to my enquiry, informed me that Ford’s Collectanea relate almost entirely to persons and matters connected with the history of Trinity College; but that there is also in the Library some material collected by him for the history of the parish of Ongar. From the evidence adduced it seems likely that these papers deal with several parishes in the hundred of Ongar; for it is certain that his own parish of Navestock would have engaged Ford’s attention. But it is, of course, possible that some of his Essex manuscripts are to be found elsewhere. The matter requires further investigation.

Mrs Ford, who died in 1848, was also a woman of some note. Her monumental inscription records that she was ‘the youngest daughter of George Jermyn, Gent., of the Town of Ipswich.’ Jermyn, who was a well-known local bookseller, having died, she was at the time of her marriage stepdaughter of John Raw – Ford’s publisher. Thus Mrs Ford had certain literary associations; she was, moreover, the author of at least one small book, namely, The Butterfly Collector’s Vade-Mecum.

Six years ago I commemorated the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War by posting various notes about the conflict on my own history blog.

On 8 September 2008 I added the following:

“Fred Garnham was killed on 8th September 1914 in the retreat from Mons. His name appears on the War Memorial in Highwood. Revd Reeve wrote: ‘We hear of the death of Private Fred Garnham, killed in action in France, early in September. Now living at Radley Green near Writtle, his father for some years held the Soap house Farm in Stondon. (His widow afterwards received on his behalf the 1914 Star and Riband issued in commemoration of the Gallantry shown by our ‘contemptible little Army’)’”.

A few months later I received contact from some of his descendants who now live in Texas. They had been trying to trace their family line without success until they stumbled across my post. “Oh my gosh,” wrote Amanda. “My great grandfather was Fred Garnham. I have been trying to find out information about him and my great great grandparents. My grandfather, Frederick Garnham was born a few days before Fred was killed. We know nothing about Fred or his parents.”

Maureen, Amanda’s mother, wrote: “Frederick Garnham, was born 25 September 1887 in Chadwell Heath, Dagenham, Romford, baptised 22 July 1894 in the Parish Church of Stondon Massey, where both his parents were living. His father was foreman at the Soaphouse Farm. Private Fred Garnham enlisted in the Essex Regiment, 2nd Battalion. He was in Norwich, market square where pictures of the troops were taken, he sent two of these photos (postcards) which were dated 10, August,1914, to his wife. He was deployed from Norwich to France, was killed in the Battle of the River Marne, 8, September, 1914 and is buried in Montreuil-Aux-Lions, British Cemetery, France. His name is on the memorial inside and outside of the church in Highwood, also inside Roxwell Church, and is on the Essex Roll of Honour in the Essex Chronicle dated Friday, 8, January,1915. My father, Frederick Wilfred Garnham was born 4, September, 1914.”

This Issue comes at the time of the 100th Anniversary of the outbreak of WWI. It was a very significant event that dramatically changed the way of life in this country. To me, WWI started only thirty years before I was born in 1944 at the end of WWII. At that time there would have been a large number of servicemen from that era still alive. On a day trip with my car to France in 1990 with some friends we wandered over the border into Belgium, a sign pointed to Ypres, ‘Lets go and see Wipers lads’. We arrived and explored the town and Cloth Hall WWI Museum, and were very moved. Back home my wife’s Aunt said she had in the nineteen twenties been on a trip to the Battlefields of Belgium and dug out her picture album of her visit to Ypres. A few months later I took her album back to Ypres and surrounding area and was able to replicate a then and now of many of her pictures. The following November 1993 we went to Ypres on Armistice Day, which was one of my most memorable days in my life and so began an interest in WWI, in the ensuring years I have visited most of the battlefields of WWI. To see the last Post sounded at the Menin Gate in Ypres at 8pm (as it is every evening) is a truly memorable and moving experience, which I would recommend to anyone. There are many documentaries and films of WWI available on disc; I have below drawn your attentions to some of those titles I own and that I think are particularly worthwhile both from a Cinematic and WWI interest point of view.

‘Battle of the Somme’ (DVD available from Imperial War Museum) is still this country’s biggest ever box office film, it estimated than in its first six weeks of release in August 1916 over twenty million people went to the cinema to see, what the was then an amazing pioneering battlefield documentary. Never before had an audience seen a real battlefield. It was an opportunity to see the reality of the Western Front and visualise the experiences of the soldiers who were fighting there, but still difficult to grasp the true horror. Most of the film was filmed at the time, but like many modern documentaries there were undoubtedly some fakes and contrived shots; surely the soldiers only waived and smiled to the camera! Many of the scenes have been used and used again on subsequent documentaries. I did originally own a grotty VHS tape of this film. Fortunately in 2005 a digitally restored version was made available, which is a startling improvement on previous VHS versions. It comes with two musical scores (both very atmospheric); I personally preferred the audio commentary track by Roger Smither who explains what is being seen on the screen. The package comes with disc extras and a 36-page booklet. This is a must see film at least once in your life!

‘The Great War BBC Documentary of 1964’: The BBC marked the fiftieth anniversary of WWI with this epic 26-episode (40min each) documentary and was shown on consecutive Sundays on the new 625 line BBC 2; starting on 31st May and ending on 19th November 1964; fortunately my parents had just bought a new 625 set. The surprise to today’s viewer is how many of the veterans interviewed were still fit and very articulate men in their late sixties early seventies (similar age group of most my friends, the only noticeable difference was then they all wore jackets collar and tie)! I purchased my copy in 2002 and this summer I have recently re-watched the whole 20 odd hours! Who will ever forget the superb Narration by Sir Michael Redgrave (who we don’t actually ever see) and the opening montage to each episode of harrowing still pictures that pan from a grave cross looked down on by a soldier as it pans down to corpses in the bottom of a trench and one forlorn soldier sitting in the trench! This series features the best archive footage available at that time chosen from over one million feet of film and 20,000 photographs collected from many sources and extracts from diaries, letters and reports from the war. Time has been kind to this documentary and despite its lack of computer generated graphics and enhanced picture quality is perhaps part of its charm is its dated presentation style makes it still compelling viewing. The graphic portrayal and horrendous conditions and the appalling casualties at the battle of Verdun are particularly haunting, this chapter is entitled ‘hell cannot be so terrible’. That’s not to say of course that the rest of the battles were not equally horrendous, as was the suffering of the civilian populations. Looking at the series again I find the variety and quality of the footage shown as truly amazing, bearing mind the cameras and equipment available at that time. In 2003 the BBC broadcast a documentary on the making of the series, many of the production team recalled the mammoth task of making this documentary and what a profound effect the series had on their lives. The script was written and film was found to match the events described, much of the film shown was not necessary of the events portrayed. At the present time there are not many new copies of the seven disc DVD box set around and the price is generally very high for the few remaining ones, even the second hand ones have an asking price of over £100, but there again this is such a superb box set it is worth it. From a search of the Internet DD Video who released the series on both VHS and DVD appear to no longer exist.

There are very few silent films available about WWI, however there are two extremely good ones, ‘Wings’ and ‘The Big Parade’. ‘Wings (1927)’ was the first film to win an Academy award for best picture. Clara Bow the IT girl is the star in this epic, that tells the story of love, friendship and loss of two men who go to war in France. It features some spectacular aerial battle scenes that were done for real (see the extras for how they were filmed). Though 144 minutes long and a silent film it has a really strong story line that is easy to follow, helped by a newly recorded soundtrack, it holds up really well and even my wife really enjoyed it. This is another really good restoration on Blu-ray from a very good master and a must see film.
‘The Big Parade (1925)’ is the story of a rich businessman son, who joins the army when the U.S.A. enters WWI. He is sent to France, where he becomes friends with two working-class soldiers. He also falls in love with a Frenchwoman, but has to leave her to move to the frontline. King Vidor’s film was made only seven years after the end of WWI and it has a real authentic feel, more akin to a documentary with very realistic battle scenes. The film made John Gilbert a star and the romantic scenes with his French girlfriend are very moving. Once again an excellent 4K restoration on Blu-ray with a great musical score by Carl Davis, which features popular WWI, tunes like "Over There" and "You're in the Army Now", well worth seeing despite its length. The packaging comes complete with a digi book written by Kevin Brownlow.

From what I have read about the silent film ‘J'Accuse (1919)’ is that it is one of the great French films from the silent era. Directed by Abel Gance it tells the story of a love triangle, against the backdrop of the First World War. Partly filmed on real battlefields, this is one of the earliest anti-war movies, showing the impact of war not only on soldiers but also on civilians, the indignity of rape and sorrow. Also for its poignant scene of the "return of the dead": fallen soldiers raising from their graves to return to their villages, warning the living their deaths should not have been in vain. I have not seen this film; unfortunately at the moment the only version I can find is an American DVD, which is very expensive at present (£25) so it’s on my wish list. Incidentally Abel Gance remade this film in 1938, there are clips from these films on the internet.

‘All Quiet on The Western Front (1930)’ is perhaps the most famous WWI film. It’s the story of young German recruits path from idealism to deep disillusionment of war when they find the harsh reality of the front. This film is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made, which in the past was banned for its very strong anti-war message. This Blu-ray like the others has been extensively restored; the picture flicker inherent of early sound films and most of the crackle has been removed from the soundtrack of this 1930’s masterpiece. This film is still highly rated by the film critics both sides of the Atlantic and it still holds up extremely well as a very forceful, thought provoking anti war drama.

Another very early WWI sound film is ‘Hells Angels (1930)’ made famous for the extended coverage of the making of the film by Howard Hughes in the film ‘The Aviator (2004)’. Originally it was to be a silent film, but remade as a sound film. It is famous for its sexsational leading lady Jean Harlow and the extensive realistic aerial dogfights that are compelling viewing. The film style and dialogue is a bit stilted and it has not really stood the test of time compared to the still fresh and compelling ‘All Quiet on The Western Front’. However the story behind the making of the film makes it one you want to see!

Renoir’s ‘La Grande Illusion (1937)’ is perhaps the most unusual of all WWI movies in that there are no scenes of bloody combat and only the odd scene of violence when a gun is used against an escaping prisoner. This French film is set in two German Prisoner of War Camp. We follow the story of three French captives, a mechanic, a Jewish garment maker, a French aristocrat, and the arrogant German aristocrat, Commandant superbly played by Erich von Stroheim. This is a poignant story that is a satire on the class structure of the time. It is highly regarded as one of the greatest French Films. I originally hired it from Love Films, and being very impressed promptly ordered a Blu-ray copy from Movie Mail. There are lots of extras including the almost mandatory documentary on the amazing restoration from a battered and worn print, the only criticism is that the sub-titles are rather small viewed on a 32” TV, okay if you project it.

Howard Hawks' ‘The Road to Glory (1936)’ is a gritty film of life in the French Trenches of WWI and is the story of a French regiment and Captain La Roche (Warner Baxter). Life is wasted in attacks on the German trenches; yet more raw recruits replace those who are killed. There is a love triangle (all these films seem to have a love triangle!) between the Captain and his junior officer (Fredric Marsh) for a very attractive sensual caring nurse played June Lang. The Captain’s father also turns up in the regiment and their relationship adds much to the story. I found this a very strong drama and a compelling film, with very realistic trench battle scenes that brought home the horrors of WWI. Viewing the film, I thought that this was really a French film with English dialogue! Bearing in mind the age of the film, I thought picture and sound were very acceptable, though not as good as some of the blu-ray restorations of films from this period. Highly recommended to anyone interested in WWI.

The book ‘Birdsong’, Sebastian Faulks' is drama set during the WWI is one of the best-known modern novels (1993) of the period and was a bestseller. I expect many of you may have read this topical story of how the Stephen Wrayford’s granddaughter’s quest to find out with the help of his diaries, of his love life in Amiens in 1910 and subsequent hell in the trenches. It is a very strong story with graphic descriptions of the time. The book received high praise from the press…"Magnificent - deeply moving" (Sunday Times); "Engrossing, moving, and unforgettable" (The Times); "One of the finest novels of the last forty years" (Mail on Sunday). There had been rumours that it was to be made into a film, for sometime before the BBC produced a two-part adaptation of the book in 2012. On my first viewing on TV, I was not particularly impressed, the modern day slant on the granddaughters search for her the story of her grandfather was missing and it is now just a WWI drama. I recently watched the Blu-ray projected, and was this time very smitten with the beauty of the scenes of pre-war Amiens and the very realistic trench scenes, the sound was undoubtedly much better on my surround sound system, I recall some of the dialog was a bit muffled on TV (hardly surprising!). Well worth seeing this elaborate BBC adaptation, which has high production values. Well all this viewing prompted me to re-read this gripping novel.

At the end of June I went to Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, the wartime home of the code breakers. I last went there seven years ago and it has changed significantly thanks to a large lottery grant. There is a new visitor centre and extensive restoration has taken place of the buildings and interiors to their wartime condition, the desks even have 1940’s fag packets on them! Very well worth a visit even if you have been there before, there are plenty of new audiovisual displays and you can try your hand at simple code breaking. Bletchley Park also houses a number of private collections the one that all you Collectors will find particularly interest is ‘The Projected Picture Trust’, which has a large collection of film cameras and protectors on display, all gauges are catered for from the humble Kodak Standard 8 Brownie to full blown size cinema projectors. Housed within the building is a fifty-seat cinema, which has regular film shows. The Projected Picture Trust publishes an excellent high quality fully illustrated Colour Magazine called ‘Rewind’, it is mostly about cinemas and the projectors that were once found in them (the Summer 2014 has 44 pages). They can be contacted at Museum of Cinema, Bletchley Park Sherwood Drive, Bletchley MK3 6EB

It is always interesting to speculate how the sites of towns, villages and their churches were chosen. Much of Essex is regarded as 'ancient countryside' created when small settlements were carved piecemeal out of the surrounding forests and wastes. This is why the chocolate box image of a village clustered around its central green (such as Writtle or Finchingfield) is rather unusual in Essex, where settlements tend to be scattered throughout the parish. Hundreds of these scattered hamlets can be found on Essex maps, often named 'greens' or 'ends'. The result is that parish churches are sometimes quite remote from what subsequently became the main centre of the parish population (Navestock, Bobbingworth and Shelley are obvious local examples). In Essex, these remote churches were, more often than not, close to the manor house which had originally provided the site – and perhaps the funding – for the building. This ancient practice still has occasional legal repercussions, when owners of manor houses can find themselves liable for the costs of the repair of the parish church!

Looking at the local area, one can find this pattern in most nearby parishes. For example, Bobbingworth church is close to the manor house of Blake Hall, Shelley church is adjacent to the manor house of Shelley Hall and Stanford Rivers church is near to the Hall. Even St Martin's, Chipping Ongar, is not far from the castle which owned the manorial rights. Once you have recognised this pattern, it is interesting to look at those parishes where it does not apply, and wonder why. Two local atypical examples – High Ongar and Beauchamp Roding – provide tentative hints about an unrecorded past.

At first sight, High Ongar church looks like a traditional parish church in the middle of the village that it served. But this is not typical of the local pattern, and all the parish's manor houses are some distance away. The other feature of High Ongar parish is its former enormous size, hints of which survived into the nineteenth century when reforms removed two large detached portions of this parish. These indicate that the parish once extended from North Weald to Roxwell, and suggest that Greensted, Chipping Ongar, Shelley, Norton Mandeville, Bobbingworth and part of Stanford Rivers were later carved out of this vast area to form the separate parishes. This in turn raises the possibility that the site of High Ongar church may date from a period before the link between manor house and parish church had been established. In the Anglo-Saxon period, a central 'minster' was provided to serve a very much larger area than the parochial system which later replaced it, and it is possible that High Ongar was such a minster church, centrally placed in its vast parish.

Anyone familiar with Beauchamp Roding church must wonder why it is in such a remote spot, without a single house anywhere near. It is tempting to think that there must once have been a nearby village, decimated perhaps by the Black Death or some other natural disaster. However a series of medieval taxation records show that the parish population was relatively stable throughout the period, and the chancel of the church was rebuilt in the fifteenth century, hardly suggesting a shrinking impoverished village. A visit to the church provides a possible explanation for its remote site. In the churchyard is a large irregular stone, a glacial erratic carried some considerable distance from its source, and deposited here when the ice melted. In a county without natural stone, this would have excited the interest of early inhabitants, and could have been regarded as miraculous or divine. Elsewhere this gave rise to fabulous stories about giants or gods hurling huge boulders, and such unusual stones often became a centre of pagan worship. The oral tradition in Beauchamp Roding was that the settlers repeatedly moved the stone to the intended site of their new church, but that each night it returned to its original position until eventually they were obliged to settle for this remote site. This improbable story probably hides a more rational explanation. When Pope Gregory issued instructions to his missionaries bound for England, he advised them to establish their new churches on pagan sites. There are many examples, both nationally and in Essex, of building Christian churches on pagan sites, and this seems to be the most probable explanation for the remote site of Beauchamp Roding church. The local tradition hints at a long forgotten conflict between pagan practices and Christianity.

Introduction.

The masts of Ongar Radio Station were, for over 60 years, a familiar site to anyone travelling on the road from Ongar to North Weald. Throughout its life, it was essentially a radio telegraph transmitting
station, and in its busiest period provided simultaneous services to Europe, USA, Africa, India and Australia. It was widely used for several decades for rapid international transmission of newspaper pictures and text, before the evolution of modern satellite telephone networks made this commonplace. It saw the development of radio telegraph transmission, from single channel on/off keying of the carrier radio frequency to continuous carrier transmission with frequency shift keying (FSK), and - latterly - to single side band operation (SSB) capable of the simultaneous
transmission of multiple channels. Morse code was replaced by the
teleprinter 5-unit code, and, by the ingenious use of an error correcting multiplex known as ARQ, it was possible to achieve reliable telex operation worldwide, even under adverse atmospheric conditions.

The early years.

The site, which incorporates the Essex Redoubt built in the 1890's, was acquired by Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Ltd
in 1920, but due to legal and planning delays, the radio station was not completed before the summer of 1922. The separate receiving station at Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood, was constructed at the same time. Completion was timely, as it reduced the problems caused by IRA sabotage of Clifden radio station on the west coast of Ireland in July 1922. Services previously based at Clifden were shared between Carnarvon, Towyn, Ongar and Brentwood.

In 1922, Ongar Radio Station represented the ultimate in wireless
communication. There were three separate transmitter buildings named "A", "B" and "C" stations, providing long wave telegraph services to Paris Berne and Madrid, with a capacity of up to 80 words per minute. Two transmitters of 3 and 6 kw in "A" station, for services to Paris and Berne respectively, were designed to work simultaneously, with the signals mixed and fed to a single aerial. A later commentator wrote " It is hoped that no one will rediscover this ingenious system, as we understand that the economy in masts and aerials was more than outweighed by the heavy responsibilities thrust on the engineering staff, whose duty it was to prevent these two frequencies becoming mixed up Inside the building".

The transmitters were worked on the independent drive or master
oscillator principle, with an anode voltage of 10,000 volts. Contemporary photographs show this exposed equipment fenced off with a simple rail.

Each station had its own separate aerial, consisting of two circular cages of four wires slung between a pair of 300 foot lattice masts. Lines of cables mounted 30 feet off the ground formed an earth screen to reduce power loss. The masts were ungalvanised, and required re-painting every three years. Messages for transmission originated at Radio House, Wilson Street, City of London and were encoded in Morse onto paper tape by a keyboard perforator, and then converted into electrical signals and sent directly by landline to the relevant transmitter at Ongar.

As main electricity was not available in the area power was generated on site by three sets of 50 kw Vickers-Petters oil engine generators (with hot bulb ignition) which remained in service until 1957. The hot bulbs had to be heated up with a paraffin blow lamp before starling up, and if this was done too enthusiastically the bulb blew out dramatically when the engine was turned over! There were eight motor alternator sets which generated single phase AC at 1000 volts and 350 cycles per second. Four of these (rated at 25 kw each) supplied power for the valves of the mam oscillation generators, the other four (rated at 15 kw each) fed the valves of the independent drives, as well as the valve filaments themselves after
transformation down to the appropriate voltage. It is possible that the power house incorporated one of the storage buildings of the Essex Redoubt. Cooling water for the engines was pumped from a special constructed pond just to the south of the engine house. At a later date, when fan assisted cooling was installed, the cooling pond was converted into a staff swimming pool by removal of the baffles!

At an early stage, and certainly by 1923, a row of semi-detached
bungalows was built along the Ongar road at the extreme NW corner of the site. These were intended to be for the use of overseas personnel on furlough, but one at least (number 6) was being permanently let to Mr Benjamin Cooper at £3-6-8d per calendar month in 1923.

Various experimental transmissions took place from Ongar Radio Station, which was conveniently placed for the Marconi works in Chelmsford in 1919, Marconi had proposed a service to South Africa, India and Australia using high power long wave transmitters, but this idea was turned down by the Norman Committee which favoured a line of stations every 2000 miles along these routes. In 1921, this recommendation was rejected as outmoded by the Imperial Communications Committee (chairman; Winston Churchill). In 1924, Marconi challenged the idea that long wave plus high power was best for long distance transmission, and had equipped
"C" station with short wave transmitters. Initially these used vertical
aerials suspended from portable 70 foot masts, and by 1927 Ongar was transmitting on the short wave to Argentina and Brazil. By this date, the original "A" station long wave aerial had been extended with a third 300 foot mast, and long wave transmissions were being made to France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia and Russia. The growth of flying, and the proximity of North Weald airfield, necessitated the installation of warning lights on the masts. In April 1925 a formal agreement was signed by Marconi and the Secretary of State for Air, by which the latter agreed to reimburse the former for both the cost of power (at threepence per kw hour) and the maintenance costs. Doubtless they acted as a useful guide for the pilots who had no navigational systems to aid them. One early training flight did collide with an aerial, but landed safely without injury to pilot or trainer in a hedge within the radio station!
The development of the short wave beam aerial in 1926 was to have a marked effect on the development of Ongar Radio Station. But before that happened, control of the station passed, in September 1929, to Imperial and International Communications (renamed Cable and Wireless Ltd in 1934). Control of the transmitters passed to this company's headquarters at Electra House, Moorgate, City of London. By 1934 a large transmitter hall had been built adjacent to "C" station. This was equipped with a 40 kw short wave Marconi transmitter (capable of switching between 16, 21, 25 and 32 metres, which would now be termed 18.8, 14.3, 12.0 and 9.4 mHz) and using omni-directional aerials for New York and other distant
destinations. There were four 20 kw Marconi short wave transmitters using the beam aerial system for services to New York, Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Las Palmas and continental stations on various wavelengths between 14 and 40 metres (i.e. 21.5 to 7.5 mHz). When a frequency change was required, this had to be done manually on the transmitter itself, a process that took about 25 minutes. A smaller beam transmitter was used for Vienna and other European services. These transmitters were at floor level, with the associated thermionic valves and mercury vapour rectifiers in the gallery above. Long wave transmitters occupied a separate part of the hall - a 110 kw Marconi, principally used on the trans-Atlantic
service on 9630 metres (i.e. 31 kHz), and four smaller Marconi
transmitters of 5, 10, 15 and 25 kw for European services on 3950, 2950, 4196 and 5309 metres (i.e. 82, 102, 72 and 57 kHz). These larger transmitters had water cooled valves. Cooling water was provided from a purpose built pond Just to the south of "C" station.
New aerial systems had also been installed. One, of the eight wire type for the 110 kw long wave transmitter, ran NE from "C" station supported by four 285 foot masts and was nearly a mile long, with a tuned earth screen at each end. There were also four new beam aerials for short wave transmission, two of the characteristic Marconi "uniform" type and two of the compact "series phase" type. There was a unique system of copper coaxial feeders, which is believed to have been developed at Ongar. Two copper tubes, one inside the other, were separated by ceramic insulators.
To allow for thermal movement, the outer tubes were connected at
intervals by flexible bellows, while the inner tubes had a sliding
connection which in use proved to be rather prone to failure.

By 1934, mains power was supplied by the County of London at 11,000 volts, transformed down on site to 3400 volts to run two 250 kw units which generated 240 volts DC for driving a series of generators for the voltages required by the various transmitters. For stand-by purposes, the original three 50 kw Vickers-Petters oil engine generators were supplemented by four ABC 120 kw generators, as well as two high tension DC machines each of 150 kw at 12,000 volts for the big long wave transmitter.

In 1938, Ongar was transmitting to Belgrade (Beograd), Berne, Las
Palmas, Lisbon, Madrid, Melbourne (including facsimile), Moscow,
Nairobi, New York, Paris, Salisbury (Harare), Shanghai, Sofia (Sofiya),
Stamboul (Istanbul), Teheran, Tokio (facsimile only), and Vienna.

To be continued