Area: "High Country History Group" Journal No 30

The Quarterly Journal of the High Country History Group has just been issued to members. It contains a number of items about and beyond the local area including:
- Stanford Rivers – Report on the Administration of the Poor Laws 1833
- Retrospect. W W Reed on Mountnessing (previously published on this blog)
- Shopping at Piggott Brothers & Co.
- Bye Laws for the Parish of Stapleford Tawney, by the School Attendance Committee of the Ongar Union
- Robinsons in Stanford Rivers
- Favourite Trees
- The Strange Case of the Rev. Thomas Lloyd of Theydon Garnon
- Line to be Electrified

For a copy of the High Country History Group Journal you need to be a member. This costs £6 per year (£9 for family). In addition a series of talks are held at Toot Hill Village Hall during the winter season (members £1, non members £2 – includes coffee and biscuits) a summer walk or visit is organised.

Forthcoming talks announced are:
23 October 2008. 8pm: The Essex Earthquake and The Great Essex Hailstorm. Anne Brooks & Andrew Smith.
27 November 2008. 8pm: Sutton Manor Explained. Anne Padfield

And in December, look out for ‘A Magic Lantern Evening’

For membership and further information contact this blog.

Great Warley: Edwardian Postcards (3)

Great Warley village scene near Brentwood.

Great Warley: Edwardian Postcards (2)

These are two almost identical views of Warley Barracks demolished in the 1960s to make way for the substantial offices of the Ford Motor Company. All that remains is the Chapel.

The Barracks held an important part in the history of Brentwood. These were built by the War Office in 1805 on 116 acres of land taken from Warley Common. Two troops of horse artillery were stationed there. The population of the town rose from 1001 to around 3000.

Various army units used the barracks until 1832. After being empty for about a decade, in 1843 the site was purchased and expanded by the East India Company.

In 1861 the India Office transferred the Barracks back to the War Office. From 1873 until its closure in 1959 Warley Barracks was the depot of the Essex Regiment. Our postcard appears to show the Essex Regiment on parade around the time of the First World War.

The Essex Regimental Museum - currently closed for rebuilding - is situated at the Chelmsford Museum at Oaklands Park, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford.

Great Warley: Edwardian Postcards (1)

A postcard of the Mental Hospital in Warley. It was referred to in some contemporary publications as the Lunatic Asylum.

Shenfield: Edwardian Postcards (3)

Timber features both inside and outside of St Mary's Church, Shenfield. The belfry - one of over one hundred in Essex - is white weather-boarded and probably fifteenth century in date. Inside, at the west end of the Nave, it stands on sturdy posts. The north aisle piers are not of stone or brick but of oak also. Other examples are at Theydon Garnon and Upshire, but Shenfield is probably the earliest example.

Shenfield: Edwardian Postcards (2)

Still recognisable after a hundred years, this is Tabors Corner at the junction of Hutton Road (A129) with Shenfield Road looking north towards Chelmsford Road (A1023, former A12). In the foreground is The George and Dragon public house. Out of shot to the left is Courage Playing Fields, land given by the brewing family, leading to the church.

Shenfield: Edwardian Postcards (1)

A busier road today with more houses, Priests Lane links Brentwood and Shenfield.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - July 2008

A round up of all things history in our locality.

Barleylands Agricultural Museum: farm machinery for sale

Report of the big sell off of the former ‘Barleylands Farm Museum’
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local/display.var.2334811.0.years_of_farming_history_goes_under_the_hammer.php

Galleywood Heritage Centre

The Essex Chronicle reports that councillors have approved a plan to convert part of the former grandstand of the Galleywood Racecourse into a Heritage Centre which will be used to display exhibitions on the history of the parish.
Read more by local historian Keldon: http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/history/

Ingatestone Hall on the map

Quite literally! This is a plan of nearby Ingatestone Hall, seat of the Petre family since 1540 and featured recently on television.
http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/map-ingatestone.html

Ongar Union Workhouse

I came across a list of staff and inmates in the Ongar Union Workhouse at Stanford Rivers in 1881. Follow this link
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ESSEX-UK/2002-01/1011002149

The Times Archive

Keldon says that “For an unspecified period of time, The Times archive 1785-1985 is available for free. This will be welcome news for those unable to gain access to the archive through Gale International.

“The archive can be searched on http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/. Registration is required to view the extracts. It is not known how long it will remain free, so grab it while you can".