WWII Code Breaking Machine Found in Essex - on E Bay

A Lorenz teleprinter has been sold from an Essex shed for £10. For more see http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/29/479943359/museum-finds-piece-of-wwii-history-for-sale-on-ebay

Transactions. Series 4. Volume 5

Just published. Available £15 inc. P&P to UK address.

Essex Society for Archaeology and History
Transactions. Fourth Series. Volume 5 (2014)
(220 pages)

Contents:
An Early Bronze Age Beaker domestic site: Excavations at 105-109 New Road, Rainham, London Borough of Havering:  R Bull … 1
A Prehistoric landscape at Langford Hall, near Heybridge: Excavations 1995-96:  M Roy & E M Heppell … 19
Excavations at Earls Hall Farm, St Osyth:  Nuala C Woodley … 37
Continuity and change in the mid Chelmer Valley – archaeological excavations at Old Hall and Generals Farm, Boreham, 2007:  M Germany … 45
A Late Iron Age red hill and saltern at Bradwell on Sea:  T Ennis … 103
Late Iron Age, Roman and medieval occupation at Letch’s Yard, 109 High Street, Braintree:  T Ennis … 103
The gardens at Moulsham Hall: Excavations at Princes Road, Chelmsford, 1996-97:  E M Heppell … 118
The stationary steam engine in Essex before 1840: A Phillips … 133
Historic Buildings in Essex (Essex Historic Buildings Group):  Essex Tree-Ring Dates; Aveley St Michael; Sheering Church Nave Roof; Baythorne Hall, Birdbrook. A Raised Aisle Hall Manor House built in 1341; The Stockwell Restaurant, the former Stockwell Arms Public House, Colchester; Bullocks Cross, Coggeshall; Parsonage Farm, School Lane, Broomfield, Chelmsford; The Listed Barns at Coleman’s Farm, Theydon Mount:  David Andrews … 142
Heybridge Hall and the Freshwater family:  K Bruce … 182
Ancient and modern, developing landscape of South Essex: A review of four recent monographs: (i) Landscape and Prehistory of the East London Wetlands: investigation along the A13 DBFO road scheme, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking & Dagenham, 2000-2003 by Elizabeth Stafford with Damian Goodburn and Martin Bates, 2012; (ii)By River, Fields and Factories: The Making of the Lower Lea Valley: archaeological and cultural heritage investigations on the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by Andrew B Powell, 2012; (iii) London Gateway, Iron Age and Roman Salt Making in the Thames Estuary: Excavation at Stanford Wharf Nature Reserve, Essex by Edward Biddulph, Stuart Foreman, Elizabeth Stafford, Dan Shanbie & Rebecca Nicholson, 2012; (iv)  Thames Holocene: A geoarchaeological approach to the investigation of the river floodplain for High Speed 1, 1994-2003 by Martin Bates and Elizabeth Stafford, 2013:  Nigel Brown … 190
Shorter Notes
A possible Roman tile kiln at Prentice Place, Carters Mead, Harlow:  S Mounce & P Bradley … 200
The misplaced masterpiece – a reassessment of the Berryfield  mosaic [Colchester}:  P J Wise … 202
‘New’ Anglo-Saxon charters of Barking Abbey:  J Kemble … 204
Collegium Chronologicum:  H Eiden … 210
Book Reviews
The Red Hills of Essex: Studying Salt in England: Anwen Cooper … 212
Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare (1295 – 1360). Household and other records:  Katherine Schofield … 214
Beeleigh Abbey: A Guide and History :  Christopher Starr … 214
The Borough of Maldon 1688-1800. A Golden Age:  Christopher Starr … 215
Bricks, Buildings and Transport. A History of Mark Gentry, the Hedingham Red Brick Industry, Buildings, Road, and Rail Transport:  David Andrews … 215
A Caring County? Social Welfare in Hertfordshire from 1600:  Herbert Eiden … 216
Essex Bibliography: Andrew Phillips & Paul Sealey … 217

West Essex Archaeological Group. Events

 SUMMER EVENTS

WEST ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL GROUP

Monday 9^th May

Rudge Memorial Lecture: ‘The Thames at War’, illustrated talk by Gustav Milne, Museum of London Archaeology, 7.45 p.m., School Hall, Woodford County High School, High Road, Woodford Green.  Free entry and refreshments.

16 – 17; 23 – 24; and 30 – 31 July: Excavation Taster Weekends  at Copped Hall near Epping, aimed at complete beginners.  For more information and bookings, visit www.weag.org.uk

13 – 17 and 27 -31 August: Five-Day Field Schools, ongoing excavation of Tudor grand-house at Copped Hall, near Epping.  For full details and bookings , visit www.weag.org.uk

Gaps in 'Current Archaeology'? We can help.

Current Archaeology.  We have received a complete run of Current Archaeology from #1 to #302 (May 2015) which we do not need for our Library.  Do you have gaps on your bookshelf or does your archaeological or historical institute, university or group have the same problem?  Each item only 30p + P&P.  Contact us.  We might be be able to help.

Newsletter (Spring 2016)

The Spring 2016 edition of the Newsletter (NL177) arrived through the post for many members of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History on Saturday.  Readers will immediately notice that the front cover is different, illustrating six Roman coins which were stolen from Chelmsford Museum in January 2016 and remain, alas, unrecovered.  Why someone would steal these is a question that does not warrant comment, other than to reflect what the curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge said in response to the jailing of the gang responsible that the Chinese artefacts, not found, belonged in a sense to everyone.  

The Newsletter is another 24-page edition, the contents of which include:

- From The President.  Adrian Corder-Birch mentions that 'Excavations along the M25', occasional paper is available to members with additional copies on sale to the public; the work of Philip Crummy and Colchester Archaeological Trust in connection with the Fenwick Treasure, now on display at Colchester Museum, and excavations of the Roman arcade in the High Street; and, the forthcoming Annual General Meeting to be held at the Castle. (Papers will be circulated separately.)

- Coins Stolen from Chelmsford Museum

- Heritage Crime Investigation Rumbles a Dutch Deception

- A Vengeful Saint

- Essex Utopias?

- Society Visit to Jaywick Martello Tower, 26 February 2016

- John Booth, Essex Antiquary - a postscript

- Roman Arcade Attracts A Crowd

- Harlow Temple Digitisation Project: an update

- Excavations at Pleshey

- Henry VIII's Jericho?

- Major Brinson's Italian Excavations

- Eddington Engineering in Chelmsford

- Archaeologists explore Envrironment Agency's LIDAR

- The Society Archives: The Sellers give us the Sixties

- ESAH Finds New Home for Pottery Fragments

- Essex Churches Project

- Essex seen from Elsewhere

- Library Purchases and Donations

- Vernacular Architecture

- The Meaning of Mucking

- Events In Essex

- Readers Letters

- Essex Journal

- Book Reviews

Some Essex Closing-Rings 8

Concluding the series of photographs presented to the Revd. G Montagu Benton by Fred Brand in 1935 of Essex closing-rings on church doors, these examples come from White Roding (White Roothing), Widdington and Witham.

Faces of Colchester at Hollytrees Museum - Colchester & Ipswich Museums

Faces of Colchester at Hollytrees Museum - Colchester & Ipswich Museums Curator special evening 22 April

Fenwick Hoard Resources - Colchester & Ipswich Museums

Fenwick Hoard Resources - Colchester & Ipswich Museums Teaching resources now available

The Hyde, Ingatestone: Eulogy For A Country House School

The Hyde, Ingatestone, was the seat of John Disney the first President of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History.  During the twentieth century until gutted by fire it was a school.

EULOGY FOR A COUNTRY HOUSE SCHOOL

From David Archer Wright:

Discovering this article and other references to The Hyde Ingatestone, immediately evoked suppressed memories of long past familiarities.

As country houses go, The Hyde, although by no means architecturally outstanding, was certainly a property worth cataloguing. The splendidly re-structured Palladium style great hall with finely turned Tuscan columns and grand sweeping staircase, even during latter day school use, was impressively adorned with fascinatingly complementing period artefacts:  time dulled oil paintings in ornate guilt frames, dusty doe eyed stag's heads, stuffed owls in glass domes and a fine eighteenth century long case clock.

As a pupil spending my formative years here, I also recall the rows of servants' bells in the lengthy corridor leading between lofty kitchens and wood panelled dining room, summoning past eras of wealthier times. 

Privileged highlights amidst the dull chalk dusted lessons were officially escorted introductions to the dizzying heights of the rooftop balustrades or the dark dank depths of the cellars. In the stable block heavy archaic accumulators were clues to an earlier, more prosaic source of electricity.

Most exciting of all was a secret room entered by way of an opening bookcase, its subtly hinged shelves lined from floor to ceiling with false leather bound first editions. The wide oak floorboards in front of the books maintained a highly lustred finish with the enthusiastic aid of fleet footed boys organised into skating parties, fiercely sliding up and down in outsized football socks. In a room on the third floor (no doubt out of bounds) silent stacks of redundant cast iron bedsteads remained as inherited evidence of the house's use as a military hospital during WWI. 

The date 1719 is for some reason embossed on my memory as surely as it was on the cast iron tops of guttering down pipes beside certain bricked up windows.

As a school, typical 'Basil Fawltyesque' ideology was nurtured from an early age; high moral values indoctrinating tender young minds. We were systematically encouraged to feel pride in being British: superior.  Psychology was a load of tommy rot.  Anyone speaking with a regional accent was a yob. Break times in the shrubbery provided initiation and intensive instruction into the extra curricula activities of fighting smoking and bullying.

The greatest tribute payable to the Hyde School, its highest possible accolade, most praiseworthy of progenies and ultimate achievement, is the fact that it was burnt down. It bequeaths a legacy of ploughed up arable fields.

Some Essex Closing-Rings 7

Continuing the series of Essex Closing-Rings photographed by Fred Brand in the 1930s. These examples are from the churches at Takeley, Terling, West Hanningfield and Wethersfield.

Zepfest Film Presentation: Friday 8 April 2016

Zepfest

The forced landing of the German Zeppelin L33 at 1.20am on 24 September 1916 at Little Wigborough is commemorated by Zepfest (http://www.zepfest.net/#home ), now National Trust property, on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September 2016.  Tickets for the main event go on sale in due course. 

In the meantime, on Friday 8 April 2016 starting at 7.30pm at Abbotts Hall Meeting Room, Great Wigborough, CO5 7RZ, there will be a film presentation. For more see http://winstred100.org/2016/03/zepfest-film-presentation/

Some Essex Closing-Rings 6

The Essex Society for Archaeology and History continues the online publication of Fred Brand's photographs of Essex church door closing rings from the 1930s, which has recently been received and assigned reference S/LIB/9/51 in the archives.

These examples are from Southchurch, South Hanningfield and Stock.

London Museum of Water and Steam, Brentford

This item may be of interest to members of the Essex Industrial Archaeology Group:

"I am contacting you from the London Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford, home to the largest collection of water pumping engines in the world. With a collection of seven working water pumping engines including the world largest steam powered engine in operation we are a truly unique site.

"The London Museum of Water and Steam welcomes groups every year from all over Britain and indeed the world. We are able to offer a discounted rate to visiting groups, and in order to qualify for our discounted rate groups must consist of 10 visitors or more.

"Self-led group visit:  £7.50 per person

"Guided tour:  £8.50 per person

"Anna Chrystal

Education and Outreach Officer

London Museum of Water and Steam

Green Dragon Lane

Brentford

TW8 0EN

Some Essex Closing-Rings 5

Fred Brand's project from the 1930s to locate closing rings on ancient Essex church doors. These examples are all from Saffron Walden, and are published by the Essex Society for Archaeology and History for the first time.

Colchester Castle Museum: Fenwick Treasure on Public View from 24 March 2016

Fenwick Treasure set to be unveiled at Colchester Castle

The Fenwick Treasure is set to be unveiled to the public from Thursday 24 March 2016. Visitors to the Castle will be able to view first hand a fascinating display of these captivating archaeological finds, which are of international significance. The objects and their stories really bring the vivid tale of the Boudican uprising to life. Find out more about making a visit here: www.cimuseums.org.uk/fenwickhoard

High Country History Group: Zeppelins Over Essex, 31 March 1916. Thursday 31 March 2016.

Zeppelins over Essex: 31 March 1916

Blackmore residents had a very close shave a hundred years ago when the German Zeppelin L14 dropped bombs in the parish.  The stained glass in what is now the kitchen of St Laurence Church commemorates the night with these words: “This window is erected as a thank-offering to Almighty God for the protection in the Great Air Raid of March 31^st 1916” (see illustration).

Andrew Smith has researched what happened that night and tells the story in a presentation to be given to the High Country History Group on 31 March 2016 (8pm Toot Hill Village Hall), and this summer at the Friends of St Laurence Church Blackmore AGM.

  

The Rector of Stondon Massey, Revd. Reeve recorded details in his ‘Notes for a Parish History’:  He lived at the Rectory, what is now Stondon Massey House.

“At 11.45[p.m.] a Zeppelin dropped a series of bombs at the point where is the junction of Stondon with the parishes of Blackmore and Kelvedon Hatch: within easy distance of Soap House Farm.  A machine-gun had been lately established at Kelvedon Hatch to watch for the raiders … causing it to drop the bombs hurriedly.

“Large numbers of persons from Brentwood and the surrounding district visited the spot next day, and the large craters caused by the bombs, some 15 feet in diameter and varying from 3 to 9 feet in depth, were the astonishment of all.  The whole saucer-like cavities were left entirely clean by the explosion. … Nine of the thirteen holes were quickly found: and fortunately no life was lost or building injured. … Our windows at Stondon Rectory were violently shaken and considerable alarm was naturally caused.

“Further enquiry shows that the bombs dropped on March 31^st fell between the Soap House and the corner of Blackmore between the Church and Miss Barrett’s house.  Two were dropped in the lane near the site of the old Blackmore Mill.  The remaining holes were to be found in a straight-line across the fields to Miss Barrett’s at very short intervals.  Many panes of glass were broken in the house by the concussion.”

Four people were killed in Braintree that night by the same Zeppelin crew.  To hear the full story come along to Andrew’s talk.

Some Essex Closing-Rings 4

Some Essex Closing Rings

This is the title of an unpublished portfolio of photographs taken by Fred Brand and S E Lloyd, sent to Revd. G Montagu Benton in 1935.  These examples are from Little Totham, Little Waltham and Purleigh. 

Book Sale at Morant Lecture: 19 March 2016

Members coming to the Morant Lecture at Stebbing this Saturday will be able to browse and buy the latest selection we have of surplus books.  To see the list go to www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/esah.html

Philip Morant (1700-1770)

The biography of Philip Morant (1700-1770), written for the dedication of memorials to the Essex historian on 15 March 1966.

PHILIP MORANT, younger son of Stephen Morant and Mary nee Filleul, was born in the St. Saviour's parish, Jersey, on the 6th October, 1700.

Proceeding from the Grammar School, Abingdon, Berks., he matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford, 17th December, 1717, and was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 21st September, 1721. Although Philip Morant passed for the Master of Arts degree at Oxford he arranged to be incorporated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, taking his M.A. from that University, 10th October, 1729.

By Letters-commissory from the Bishop of London the Bishop of Norwich admitted him to Deacon's Orders, at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Westminster, on 23rd September, 1722. Edward  Gibson, Bishop of London, ordained him Priest,  20th  December,  1724.                                                                                           ·

From September 1722 till August 1732, Nicholas Tindal, Vicar of Great Waltham, was assisted in his cure by the young Morant, as the account books of the Black Chapel show, but then Caroline, Queen Regent, nominated him to the chaplaincy of the English Episcopal Church at Amsterdam.

In quick succession there followed these preferments:

Rectory of Shellow Bowells.  From 20 April 1733, to November 1734

Rectory of Broomfield: From 17 January 1734, to April 1738

Rectory of Chignal Smealey: From 19 September 1735, to April 1743

Rectory of St. Mary's, Colchester: From 9 March 1738, to April 1770

Rectory of Wickham Bishops: 21 January 1743, to October 1745

Rectory of Aldham: from 14 September 1745, to October 1770.

In November,  1735, Mary, Dowager Countess of Cassillis, appointed  him her private chaplain.   Never did he hold more than two benefices at one time.

On 6th February, 1739, he married Anne, daughter of  Solomon  Stebbing of the  Brook  House,  Great Tey. Their only daughter, Anna Maria, was born 25th November, 1739; she afterwards married Thomas Astle, Keeper of the Records in the Tower.

When Mrs. Morant died, 20th July, 1767, aged 69, Morant moved to his daughter's home at Battersea Rise, London, and it was while returning by water from the Temple to Vauxhall, en route for South Lambeth, that he caught the chill from which he died, 25th November, 1770. He was buried beside his wife in the Old Church at Aldham and the stone marking that spot is now re-erected in the present Aldham Church with the Tablet presented by the Society near to it.   In the chancel of the Aldham church is the Latin Epitaph penned by Thomas Astle, his son-in-law, while the east window of the church was placed there as a memorial to his memory in 1854.

It was on 20th November, 1755, that the Historian of Essex was elected to the Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He had published his History of Colchester in 1748 and was preparing The History and Antiquities of Essex, 2 vols., folio, 1760-1768.

The Essex Archaeological  Society has cared for the grave of the historian for some years now but so that the stone might be preserved was pleased to assist in saving this by placing it in the present Aldham Church. To mark his long association with the Borough of Colchester an armorial tablet is placed in the church of St. Mary-at-the Walls, Colchester.                                                          ·

Aldham's Church of Morant's day and the former Rectory of St. Mary-at-the-Walls, Colchester, have been demolished but work which the historian initiated goes on and almost two hundred years after his death his hand still  guides  researchers.

JOHN S. APPLEBY, F.R.Hist.S.

Hon. Secretary, E.A.S.

Morant Anniversary.

Morant Commemorations Fifty Years Ago

From the Society’s Annual Report 1966: “The work of the Revd. Philip Morant, M.A., F.S.A., was further remembered by the events of Tuesday, 15th March, 1966, when, at Aldham Church, The Patron of the Society [Sir John Ruggles-Brise] unveiled a memorial tablet in Stone, commemorating the removal of the tombstone of the historian and his wife from the older churchyard to the sanctuary of the present church. At St. Mary-at-the-Walls Church, Colchester [now Colchester Arts Centre] Sir John Ruggles-Brise, unveiled a carved memorial tablet of oak; this tablet, bearing the arms of Morant, is placed in the tower entrance. The Rt. Revd. Dr. Roderic Coote, Bishop of Colchester, Vice-President of the Society, dedicated the tablets. The Revd. C. Philip Gilman, Rector of Aldham, and the Revd. Ralph Stevens, Rector of St. Mary-at-the-Walls, conducted the services in their respective parishes. The Orders of Service [now available in digital format] included a biography of Morant written by the Hon. Secretary [John Appleby].”