.

Tuesday 24 October 2017

New Book Stock: 'Essex full of profitable thinges' edited by Kenneth Neale

Condition: New.  
Ideal Christmas presents.


The Essex Society for Archaeology and History has "inherited" several new copies of 'Essex full of profitable thinges' published in 1996.  These were "Essays presented to Sir John Ruggles-Brise as a tribute to his life of service to the people and County of Essex".  It was edited by Kenneth Neale.

The books will be available - when collected from the storeroom - price £6 including postage and packing to a UK address, but only £2 on sale at the Society's forthcoming 'History and Archaeological Symposium' on Saturday 4 November 2017, and the Annual General Meeting of its Essex Industrial Archaeology Group on Saturday 11 November 2017.

Contents.
Foreword - Lord Braybrook 
John Ruggles-Brise: Patriot and Patron - Kenneth Neale ... 1
Colchester and its oldest record - Mark Davies ... 19
Archbishop Samuel Harsnett, 1561-1631, and his Library at Colchester - G H Martin ... 35
The Religious Census of Essex, 1851 - Michael Beale ... 55
Robert Edward, 9th Lord Petre: Common-sense, virtue, religion and loyalty - The Lord Petre ... 75
Chelmsford Cathedral: 'A great county should have a great cathedral as its heart' - John Moses ... 89
The Prettiest Village?: Finchingfield, the making of an icon - Victor Gray ... 121
A Royal Imposter in Elizabethan Essex - Janet Cooper ... 137
From Past Historic to Future Perfect: Essex Heritage and the Community - Ken Hall ... 149
A Georgian Time Capsule: The Library of Spains Hall, Essex - Edith Freeman ... 157
The University of Essex - Michael Sommerlad ... 173
People and Pigeons in Symbiosis: Essex Dovecotes - John H Boyes ... 193
Patrons, Artists and Craftsmen in Essex - Iris Woodward ... 205
Saffron Walden: 'Crocuses and Crokers' - Kenneth Neale ... 225
The Plume Library, Maldon: A New Chapter - Frank Herrmann ... 245
A Measure of Essex Cartography - A Stuart Mason ... 253
Noblewomen and Piety in Late Medieval Essex - Jennifer C Ward ... 269
Essex Springs and Shaws - John Hunter ... 283
Eliza Vaughan of Finchingfield - Alan Jones ... 295
Finchingfield Town Meetings, 1626-1634 - F G Emmison ... 305
The Bow Street Mounted Patrol on Essex Highways - Herbert Hope Lockwood ... 311
Drewry and Cornwall: Two Naval VCs - Ian G Robertson ... 331
Early Stuart Essex: Seedbed of American Democracy and Independence - J R Smith ... 357
Boarded In-fill: Alternative to Wattle and Daub? - D F Stenning ... 385
Essex Gentry and the General Election of 1865 - Andrew Phillips ... 393
Family History in Essex Today - D W Grimes ... 425
Brickmaking in Essex - Adrian Corder-Birch ... 433
'Full of profitable thinges' - Kenneth Neale ... 451
Index ... 457



Monday 23 October 2017

Essex Journal. Vol. 52. No. 2. (Autumn 2017)

The Essex Journal is issued twice a year to subscribers.  Contents in the latest edition, just issued, include:
- Editorial
- Orchards East
- News from the Essex Record Office
- Friends of Historic Essex
- Tuesday 29th October 1940 further explored
- The 800th Anniversary of the Charter of the Forest, 1217, and its Relevance to the Forest of Essex: Richard Morris
- Rev. Dr. Foote Gower, a forgotten Essex antiquary and field archaeologist: Michael Leach
- 'You have gone too far and an apology is needed': the saga of enlarging St Martin's, Chipping Ongar, 1880-84:  James Bettley
- The Red Cross in Essex 1914-1918: Hospitals, Fundraising, and the Contribution of Middle and Upper Class Women:  Caroline Wallace
- Book Reviews
- EJ 20 Questions? Dorothy Lockwood

The Essex Society for Archaeology and History owns the title Essex Journal and was pleased to provide a photograph of Chipping Ongar Church from the north-east, taken between 1861-1883, from a collection of Victorian photographs (SLIB94911A).

Monday 16 October 2017

ESAH Asks Questions about the Essex Record Office

The Society's Council met on Saturday 14 October 2017, requesting the inclusion of the following correspondence on its news blog.

To: Councillor Susan Barker
From: Adrian Corder-Birch, President Essex Society for Archaeology and History
Sent: 18 September 2017 17:16
Subject: Essex Record Office

Dear Cllr. Barker,
I refer to our meeting at County Hall on 18th July 2017 with David Adlington, Stan Newens and Martin Stuchfield.  As some two months has now elapsed we should appreciate an update regarding the following matters please?
1.  A copy of Mr. Adlington’s minutes of our meeting.
2. Has your Consultant’s Report from Future Gov been received?  If so will you please send us a copy.
3.  Will you please advise the result of your communications with Chelmsford City Council regarding the use of the gravel area adjacent to the ERO for car parking for ERO staff, volunteers and visitors.  According to the Friends of Historic Essex AGM held last year on 9th July 2016, Stephen Dixon stated that parking arrangements were then being looked into consequent upon the loss of Wharf Road Car Park.  The gravel area adjacent to the ERO would make an excellent parking area and would no doubt help to increase visitor numbers and make the building more attractive to users, particularly for room hire.   You kindly agreed to contact the City Council to expedite negotiations and the outcome would be much appreciated please.
4.  Why was the last ECC Superfast Broadband meeting on 25th July 2017 held at Anglia Ruskin University and not the ERO where previous meetings took place?  As you know we are all keen that ECC should use the ERO for meetings where possible.
5.  Has the ERO Collecting Policy been revised and if so may we have a copy please?
6.  The Business Case for 2017 was expected to be available for review this summer.  Is it available and if so may we have a copy please?
7.  Consequent upon the appointment of Susannah Shaw as the ECC Officer responsible for technology countywide, has any progress been made to replace the computers in the ERO?  The existing computers, which are very old, sometimes break down and are not the easiest to use. 
The next Council meeting of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History will take place on 14th October 2017 and therefore if you are able to reply to this message prior to that date it would be much appreciated please.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Corder-Birch,
President,
Essex Society for Archaeology and History.

To: Councillor Susan Barker
From: Adrian Corder-Birch
Sent: 01 October 2017 11:00
Subject: FW: Essex Record Office

Dear Cllr. Barker,
I refer to my email of 18th September, which for your convenience I am forwarding below.  As we are now in October, I look forward to receiving your reply please particularly as the next Council Meeting of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History is now less than two weeks away. 
I have recently perused expenditure on the ECC website and it would appear that since the beginning of the present financial year, ECC has paid in excess of £200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand pounds) to Future Gov for Consultants fees and reports.  I fully appreciate that this is probably across several services, but I shall be obliged if you will please let me know exactly how much of this expenditure (if any) applies to the ERO.   If any of this expenditure is applicable to the ERO then presumably ECC has received a report from Future Gov and if so will you please disclose a copy? 
I look forward to hearing from you please.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Corder-Birch,
President
Essex Society for Archaeology and History


To: Adrian Corder-Birch
From: Cllr Susan Barker, Member CC
Sent: 13 October 2017 11:28
Subject: FW: Essex Record Office

Dear Mr Corder Birch

Thank you for your email and I apologise for the delay. I’d like to answer your questions individually below

1.         A copy of Mr. Adlington’s minutes of our meeting.

We did not plan to produce detailed minutes from the July meeting, and indeed your recent email follows up on the main points that were discussed.

2.         Has your Consultant’s Report from Future Gov been received?  If so will you please send us a copy.

While Phase 1 is complete, we need to review the implications and conduct further analysis of potential future models, and this is work in progress and not shareable at the current time.

You also asked how much money we paid for this, in your follow-up email. It was £40,000.

3.         Will you please advise the result of your communications with Chelmsford City Council regarding the use of the gravel area adjacent to the ERO for car parking for ERO staff, volunteers and visitors.  According to the Friends of Historic Essex AGM held last year on 9th July 2016, Stephen Dixon stated that parking arrangements were then being looked into consequent upon the loss of Wharf Road Car Park.  The gravel area adjacent to the ERO would make an excellent parking area and would no doubt help to increase visitor numbers and make the building more attractive to users, particularly for room hire.   You kindly agreed to contact the City Council to expedite negotiations and the outcome would be much appreciated please.

I agree that the gravel area adjacent to the ERO would make an excellent parking area as an alternative to the main Wharf Road car park that has been sold to Taylor Wimpey. We are in discussions with Chelmsford City Council about this, but those discussions have not reached a conclusion yet.

4.         Why was the last ECC Superfast Broadband meeting on 25th July 2017 held at Anglia Ruskin University and not the ERO where previous meetings took place?  As you know we are all keen that ECC should use the ERO for meetings where possible.

I am told by ERO officers that we are not party to individual decisions by other ECC Service Areas as to their choice of venues for external events. However, ECC event bookers are encouraged to use ECC venues (whether that is ERO or elsewhere) whenever possible, and we have conducted an extensive internal marketing campaign over the last 3 months to promote this.

5.         Has the ERO Collecting Policy been revised and if so may we have a copy please?

ERO is currently updating its Collecting Policy, scheduled for the end of 2017.


6.         The Business Case for 2017 was expected to be available for review this summer.  Is it available and if so may we have a copy please?

The ERO business review is ongoing and is subject to periodic internal review, and a major update now scheduled for December 2017. Part of that process will be to consult with each of our partner/interest groups such as ESAH, which we began to do via the meeting with several such groups in July, and which we plan to follow up with each of them during the autumn.

7.         Consequent upon the appointment of Susannah Shaw as the ECC Officer responsible for technology countywide, has any progress been made to replace the computers in the ERO?  The existing computers, which are very old, sometimes break down and are not the easiest to use.

It is true that the computers in the Searchroom have experienced some usability issues, which we are working through systematically with IS. The issues which we regarded as a particularly high concern are due to be resolved during October.

Please let me  know if you require further information.

Kind regards

Susan

Cllr Susan Barker

Essex Cabinet Member Culture, Communities and Customer
Chairman Essex Pension Fund
Chairman Stansted Airport Community Trust
Deputy Leader Uttlesford District Council                       .

Sunday 15 October 2017

esah1852.org.uk Launched

Visit www.esah1852.org.uk , the Essex Society for Archaeology and History's new website.

This blog will continue alongside the new website becoming the focus of news for members and non members.  

esah160.blogspot was launched to supplement the old website, providing content never placed online before.  With the transition to the new website over the coming weeks new links will be created and old and redundant posts deleted.

Links in the sidebars have been updated this morning.  Please use contact form if you have a query.

Saturday 14 October 2017

Welcome to a New Website: esah1852.org.uk is here

Launch day of the website of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History:

Monday 9 October 2017

esah1852.org.uk PENTLOW is Coming

The new website for the Essex Society for Archaeology and History will be officially launched this coming Saturday. 

The Research section of the Society's new website www.esah1852.org.uk will include ...

Publications & Archives Page

Welcome to PENTLOW, the Essex Society for Archaeology and History’s online publications and archives library.  We have been publishing articles large and small of historical and archaeological interest relating to Essex since 1858. From this page you will find an increasing number of articles free of charge online.  Other items may be purchased as hard copy offprints or part volumes, or viewed online at a nominal charge.  PENTLOW is also the name of a small village in the north of the county of Essex so it seems an appropriate name for this archive.

PENTLOW is an acronym for:
P: Place Names Project of Essex
E:  Essex Society for Archaeology and History archive
N: Newsletter archive
T: Transactions of the Society since 1858
L: Links to other archives
O: Occasional Papers
W: Wealth of Resources - which includes links to the Essex Record Office, and other organisations

Friday 6 October 2017

Newsletter (Autumn 2017)

Members of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History received the quarterly Newsletter through the post today. Items this time include:
- From The President
- The Rt. Hon. Lord Braybrooke, J. P., D. L. (1932-2017)
- Dismantling of the Monasteries
- Hunting the Dotterel
- Gold Sovereigns
- Norden's Description of Essex
- John Lionel Fisher (1886-1969)
- Newly Discovered Indenture
- A Progressive Schoolmaster at Brentwood
- Historic Finds at Southminster
- Oliver Rackham's Field Notebooks
- Industrial Heritage Fair - 7 October 2017
- Domestic Space in the Seventeenth Century House
- Redundant Fonts Reprieved
- Essex Seen From Elsewhere
- Officer vacancies from next AGM: Hon. Excursions Secretary, Hon. Programme Secretary, Hon. Secretary
- Website Launch Invite - 14 October 2017
- Events In Essex, including ESAH History and Archaeology Symposium, 4 November 2017
- A Touching Tribute to John Appleby
- Gareth Gunning (1941-2017)
- Frank Richard Clark (1921-2017)
- Book Reviews 

Tuesday 3 October 2017

esah1852. Essex Society for Archaeology and History's New Website to be Launched 14 October 2017


The Essex Society for Archaeology and History (ESAH) will be launching their new website, esah1852.org.uk, at the University of Essex Library in Wivenhoe, at 2pm on Saturday October 14, 2017.  An RSVP invitation is being sent to members in the Newsletter.


esah1852.org.uk was developed as part of an ambitious project to digitise the whole of the Society’s back catalogue of publications and make it freely and easily available to all our members.


Direct links on the homepage take you to the Place Names project and the Essex University Library where we hold ESAH’s collection of books. Our latest programme of excursions and events is also available from the homepage and members will soon be able to book attendance to any event online.


Only members of the Society will have access to the latest digitised online copies of the Transactions and Newsletters, while the historic collection will be available to the public at large. As part of this, we are still developing the membership management and online access to the website for exclusive access to the latest Transactions, Newsletters, Occasional Papers and future Panel of Speakers.


So far, 56 Transactions from 1858 to 1999 are available in PDF format to read, download and keep, at the click of a button. Indexes are included, Contents Lists can be searched. 120 newsletters from 1972 to 2010 are online along with all the latest EIAG newsletters. We have uploaded some comparative survey reports of modern and industrial sites and monuments on Essex windmills, water and steam mills and various railways; historic Colchester Museum annual reports from 1907 to 1974; ancient copies of Feet of Fines from 1182 to 1603; an inherited copy of the Panel of Speakers and – slightly more modern - 75 useful links to other organisations and societies ESAH interacts with.

The Secretary has taken it upon himself to compile a list of links for the new website. This includes some national and regional bodies but the largest element comprises local societies in Essex. Generally he has sought permission from the bodies concerned but, in order to produce a more comprehensive list, ESAH institutional members have been included where a current web address has been found. If there are any objections to inclusion, errors in web addresses or omissions, members are invited to contact the Secretary with any corrections or additions at essexarchaeology@hotmail.com.
The links can be found at esah1852.org.uk/links

Monday 2 October 2017

esah1852 To Be Launched This October

The new website for the Essex Society for Archaeology and History will be launched this October.  It will be a massive improvement on the current site with many new features.  Look out for further news on this blog this month, and for changes to current web addresses and links.

Sunday 1 October 2017

ESAH History and Archaeology Symposium. Christchurch United Reformed Church, Chelmsford. Saturday 4 November 2017

Following the absorption of Essex Congress into the Essex Society for Archaeology and History in 2016, ESAH is proud to announce its first Symposium.

   Essex Society for Archaeology & History

        

History & Archaeology Symposium
Registered Charity 213218

Saturday 4th November 2017
10am to 4.30pm

Christ Church URC
New London Road 
Chelmsford essex
The Essex Society for Archaeology and History welcomes you to the 2017 History and Archaeology Symposium.
The day will be split with the morning session devoted to three talks with an Archaeology theme, and the afternoon session devoted to three talks with an ecclesiastical history theme. The cost is £10.00 per person, which includes mid-morning and mid-afternoon refreshments as well as a buffet lunch.  Book your place now to avoid disappointment.
Nick Wickenden - Pleshey Castle
Shane Maher – Vinegar Alley Walthamstow
Maria Medlycott – Recent Discoveries at Harlow
Ken Crowe- Essex Monasteries
Martin Stuchfield – Monumental Brasses
Andrew Smith – Essex Churches then & now




To book contact Dr Graham Gould at drgegould@aol.com 

Watercolour World Website

WATERCOLOUR WEBSITE TO CREATE NEW VISUAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD
DOUBLE ROYAL PATRONAGE ANNOUNCED TODAY

An ambitious project to make available to the public more than three centuries’ worth of documentary watercolours from around the world has received royal backing from both Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

The project, The Watercolour World, aims to create a unique visual history of the world by giving online users access to digitised documentary watercolours dating from before 1900. With tens of thousands of pictures already in the process of being uploaded, the project website is set to become a significant new source of global history when it is launched in Spring next year.

Announcing the project today, Founder and Chairman Fred Hohler said:

“A re-evaluation of the documentary record contained in watercolours is bringing back into focus a fascinating but largely ignored visual record of the cultures and countries of our world from the Age of Enlightenment through to the modern era. By sourcing and digitising these watercolours – many more of which will be discovered during the course of this project – we are giving online users the ability to explore specific locations throughout the world through over three hundred years’ worth of watercolour painting.

 “We are hugely honoured Their Royal Highnesses have taken the highly unusual step of becoming joint Royal Patrons, which reflects both their and our own commitment to providing public access to the visual arts.”

The Watercolour World digital library will include images of documentary watercolours covering topography, anthropology and botany as well as historic events, people and places. Visitors to the website, to be launched in Spring next year, will be able to explore the watercolours via an interactive map and will have the opportunity to help identify unknown locations, join in discussions and deepen all our understanding of this unique historical record.

Founder Fred Hohler realised the importance of this orphan collection of images early in his work setting up the Public Catalogue Foundation and it builds on this previous project. The PCF catalogued over 230,000 oil paintings in publicly owned or supported collections throughout the UK.

The Duchess of Cornwall was Patron of the PCF initiative as well, and is now joined for Fred Hohler’s new project by her husband, The Prince of Wales, himself a keen watercolourist and founder of the Royal Drawing School.


The Watercolour World is backed by The Marandi Foundation, a London-based charity chaired by British entrepreneurs and philanthropists Javad and Narmina Marandi. Of the project, Javad Marandi said, “Watercolours are a priceless record of the world before photography. Many of them would be of great interest to historians, scientists and members of the general public, but are hidden from view and at risk of disappearing. We are very proud to be supporting The Watercolour World and its project to cast a critically important light on the world's historical record.”

Notes for Editors
Anyone wishing to become involved in the project should contact Alison Greenish, Chief Operating Officer for the project on a.greenish@watercolourworld.org
For further information about this project go to www.watercolourworld.org
Media requests for more information or for interviews with Fred Hohler should contact Patrick Harrison, Weber Shandwick on +44 (0)207 067 0639 and +44 (0) 7818 655207.  Email pharrison@webershandwick.com
A selection of watercolours which form part of this project are available to the media for publication, with the appropriate copyright.  If you have not received images with this release please contact Alex Evans, Weber Shandwick on +44 (0)20 7067 0708 and +44 (0)7970 373132. Email AEvans@webershandwick.com