BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - June 2010

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

Listed Building to be bought for £1

Blackmore, Hook End and Wyatts Green Parish Council are about to purchase a listed building for just £1. The telephone box which stands outside the Post Office has been declared redundant by BT and will have its equipment removed. It is a traditional K6 variety designed about 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and has been accorded Grade II listed status, probably because of its location. Parish Councils across the land are being asked to “Adopt a Red Telephone Kiosk” rather than see them disappear from our streetscape. We reported on a similar situation at Stondon Massey in January 2009. The Council “agreed that the kiosk located in Blackmore Village would be purchased, at a nominal fee of £1 but the kiosk in Wyatts Green should be removed by BT.” A photograph of the telephone box to be preserved was published in ‘Blackmore Area Local History News’ in December 2009. Photographed this month is the ill-fated kiosk at Wyatts Green.

Listed Buildings

‘British Listed Buildings’ appears to be newly-published on the website. The pages are arranged parish by parish.
Ingatestone & Fryerning: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/ingatestone+and+fryerning
This includes Howletts Hall (Grade II listed) on the Chelmsford Road which is commonly regarded as being in Blackmore but, as I found when investigating an Ernest Knight of neighbouring Ganders Hall, is actually just over the parish boundary.
An overview of Essex parishes can be found by taking the following link: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex
This means links for ‘Blackmore Area Local History’ parishes are:
Blackmore: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/blackmore
Doddinghurst: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/doddinghurst
High Ongar: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/high+ongar
Mountnessing: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/mountnessing
Norton Mandeville: not listed
Shenfield: not listed
Stondon Massey: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/stondon+massey
Willingale: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/willingale
Writtle: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/essex/writtle

Cooperative at Blackmore

Chelmsford Star Coop took over the Nisa store in the centre of Blackmore village on 20 April 2010.

Roman Discovery at Harlow

A Roman brick kiln has been discovered by workers building at new playground at Prentice Place, Potter Street, Harlow. The place name is a bit of a giveaway. For more information see: http://www.harlowherald.co.uk/content/hlwherald/news/story.aspx?brand=HLHOnline&category=NewsHarlow&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=newslatestHLH&itemid=WEED29%20Apr%202010%2009%3A15%3A30%3A293

War Memorial Research Project Group

The work of this Group to identify all the names carved on Blackmore’s War Memorial has been completed and online publication is now under way. If you have any information on those who died or survived from Blackmore and the surrounding area from the First World War we would be very pleased to hear from you.

Supporting ‘Help For Heroes’

Lyndon March, whose family originally hail from Ingatestone, and Connor Mayes (otherwise referred to as ‘The Dynamic Duo’) are a couple of teenagers who will be taking part in a 350 mile sponsored bicycle ride from London to Paris in support of ‘Help For Heroes’. You can follow and support their fund raising efforts on http://connormayes.blogspot.com/2010/04/blackmore-area-local-history-essex-home.html. They tell me that for every £10 they raise Virgin Giving will be donating a further £2.95 towards their target of £3,000. I am delighted to lend my support to them and their cause. Come on lads!!!

Family Histories

New online:
Adams family, of Doddinghurst, Blackmore and Brentwood: http://www.lintywhite.com/adams.html
Memories of the Buttle family at Stondon Massey are shared on ‘Francis Frith’: http://www.francisfrith.com/stondon-massey/memories/my-time-spent-in-stondon-massey_140471/

Links

A countryside walk taking ramblers on a circular route via Norton Mandeville and Blackmore has been published online at http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/EE-Ess/cms/pdf/9%20Countryside%20Walks%20in%20Brentwood%20-%20Blackmore%20&%20Norton%20Mandeville.pdf

A new website for the churches of Greensted, Stanford Rivers, Stapleford Tawney and Theydon Mount has been published: http://highcountry.org.uk/

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html