Book Review: Byrd, by Kerry McCarthy

Book Review: Byrd, by Kerry McCarthy (Oxford University Press, 2013)

An eagerly anticipated biography of Essex composer William Byrd (c.1540-1623) has just been published by Oxford University Press in their ‘The Master Musicians’ series – Byrd, by American musicologist Kerry McCarthy.   Naturally it brings together all the latest thinking on the composer’s enigmatic life as a Catholic living in Elizabethan England at a time of persecution. Recent discoveries of the composer include the books he owned – some being tirades against Papists – and his age: he was 58 or thereabouts in 1598, so did not die at the age of eighty as previously (i.e. before the 1990s) thought.

The book presents, for me, a fresh emphasis on Byrd’s religious beliefs suggesting a gradual sympathy and conversion to Catholicism.  He married a Catholic, and as an artist was appalled by the treatment of Jesuits such as Robert Campion so as to be moved to write a lament.  We read again of the protection he received from Queen Elizabeth I through her personal intervention into a case brought before Byrd of non-attendance at his parish church before his move to Stondon Massey, perhaps in January 1595.  But it was the Stondon Massey years, in semi-retirement from the Chapel Royal, where he advanced further his Catholic beliefs through the writing of Latin set text for the clandestine Catholic worship of his friends, for example the powerful Petre family of Ingatestone Hall.

Andrew Smith

"Ingatestone and The Great Essex Road - with Fryerning"

On the 'Feast of Epiphany, 1913' E E Wilde sat down and wrote the Preface to her book on the history of the parish where she lived: 'Ingatestone and The Great Essex Road - with Fryerning'.  

" ... When first I came to this country place it seemed to me there was little if any history connected with it, but it was not long before I changed my mind.  First, the countless Roman bricks built into Fryerning Church walls met my eye Sunday after Sunday; then, wandering into Ingatestone Church, Sir William Petre's monument spoke loudly of Tudor days; and next, more slowly but perhaps more insistently, was borne upon me the part that our road had played in English history; and always there remained the old Fryerning font, with its astronomical problem.  Partly for my own amusement, partly for that of a dear old friend who stayed with me at the time, I began to piece together various historic facts that had touched our village, some of which I used for a paper read at our small Historical Society at Blackmore, and intended writing a short sketch of the parish, as I found many people were interested in my idea."

This 488-page book, now celebrating its centenary, is a very interesting and recommended read.  An outline and pictures from the book will appear on this blog during 2013.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS: June 2012

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

Diamond Jubilee

“The County of Essex” celebrated “the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” with a Choral Evensong at Chelmsford Cathedral on Sunday 27 May.  The Bishop of Chelmsford in his address referred to the Queen’s life of devotion and of her service to our nation.  2012 is a defining year in our history – Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Paralympic Games in London and Essex.  It’s a time to celebrate and give thanks.

Golden Jubilee

Was it over that Golden Jubilee weekend ten years’ ago that Concorde flew low over The Green at Blackmore on its way to Buckingham Palace?  2002 – seems very recent.

Silver Jubilee

I am old enough to remember Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee 35 years ago.  Monday 6 June 1977 was a drizzly day in Ingatestone.  There was a great family picnic at Seymour Field and the distribution of Silver Jubilee Crowns (coins) to all children.  The following day there was an interdenominational service, but our family stayed at home to watch the national Thanksgiving Service on television.

Anniversaries

Hylands Park

Hylands Park, Chelmsford, is really worth a visit over this summer – synonymous with the V Festivals of course.  The house began restoration 25 years ago in 1987.

One hundred years ago, on 26 June 1912, the park made national news when there was a society wedding at Widford Church.  The bridegroom was Mr Claude Grahame-White, an early aviator.  His bride was Miss Dorothy Taylor from New York.  It was a lavish affair with a fete held in the grounds of the house, with the groom giving demonstration flights in his aeroplane.  These were the early days of aviation, with ‘planes looking no more than motorised prams with wings.  Many of his friends flew in for the event.  (For more read Stephen Foreman’s book, ‘Hylands’.)

(More on Hylands: http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Trudie-shocked-mistress-mansion-naked-bath/story-16106180-detail/story.html)

Anniversaries

Epping and Ongar Railway

A steam-powered locomotive returned for the first time in 45 years (1957) to the stretch of railway line previously occupied by London Transport.  The ‘Epping and Ongar Railway’, a preservation line, had a grand opening last weekend (24 – 27 May 2012) creating much media interest.  (See report http://thelocaltalk.net/eppingforest/2012/05/22/surprise-guest-at-epping-ongar-railway/ and follow link to Railway’s website http://eorailway.co.uk/).

Anniversaries

Ongar United Reformed Church

Founded 350 years ago as an Independent Chapel when Church of England clergy became obliged to use the new 1662 Book of Common Prayer of be deprived of their living (i.e. sacked).  The church building is Victorian.

Anniversaries

Ingatestone United Reformed Church

The church celebrates its bi-centenary of foundation with a special service at the end of June and two history days over the weekend of 14 and 15 July.  Congregationalists have met in Ingatestone before 1812 but it was the building of the first chapel on the present site which is the focus of thanks and celebration.

Book

The Diamond Queen

Andrew Marr’s book ‘The Diamond Queen’ (Macmillan, 2011), a more detailed account than the recent television series, is subtitled ‘Elizabeth II and her people’.  It charts the history of the monarchy from George V to the present, and includes, inevitably, a parallel political history of the nation; Churchill, an Essex MP being the Queen’s first of twelve Prime Ministers.  During the First World War the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family restyled themselves as the Windsors, a rather English, if invented, name.  The book refers to: “The Bishop of Chelmsford [Rt Rev John Edwin Watts-Ditchfield], an influential figure, had told [Lord] Stamfordham [the King’s private secretary] that ‘the stability of the throne would be strengthened if the Prince of Wales married an English lady … she must be intelligent and above all full of sympathy’.”  The constant evolving of monarchy is a thread which Andrew Marr follows, drawing comparison with the Duke of York’s marriage to Elizabeth Bowes Lyon and Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

Links

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

Blackmore: Diamond Jubilee Walk

A new booklet will be released about Blackmore next weekend (28 / 29 April 2012) to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.   Copies will go on sale at the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore, when the Friends of St Laurence hold their Art and Photographic Exhibition.  The walk booklet will cost just £2. 

This self-guided walk originated as a guided tour around the historic centre of the village.  For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee it has been adapted it as a contribution and celebration of this great event. 

Two circular walks – one short, the other slightly longer - start at the parish church situated at the end of Church Street but can be begun at any suitable point.

It also is appropriate to announce the release on the booklet today - it being our Queen's birthday.  Happy birthday ma'am.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - April 2012

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

Blackmore Ancestors

My booklet, previously called ‘Hatched, Matched and Despatched’, has had a makeover and is now available again as ‘Blackmore Ancestors’.  The 24-page booklet “does not regurgitate the contents of the [Baptism, Marriage and Burial] Registers [of Blackmore, Essex] but uses two late Victorian sources – one written appropriately in the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897) – to comment on the social changes of the parish over the past 400 years”.  It is available from Megarrys and the local church, priced £2, and sold in aid of funds for the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore.

Titanic connections

An event which cannot be avoided on television at the present time is the maiden voyage and sinking to the SS Titanic one hundred years’ ago on 15 April.  The Catholic Priest of St Helen’s Church, Ongar, was one of those who perished.  Father Andrew writes in the Spring 2012 edition of the Stondon Massey News (follow link http://www.stondonmasseypc.co.uk/local-information/parish-magazine/ ) how Father Thomas Byles helped women and children get into the few lifeboats which were available and how he ministered to those who would likely perish by giving absolution and blessings.  “he then began the recitation of the rosary”.  Many times Father Byles was asked to board a lifeboat, but he refused.  A survivor recalled that he could distinctly hear the priest’s voice as his craft left the stricken vessel.  Father Byles is commemorated in a stained glass window at the church: “Pray for the Reverend Thomas Byles, for eight years Rector of this Mission, whose heroic death in the disaster to SS Titanic, earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers, this window commemorates.”

Scott of the Antarctic

Less has been made in the media of the expedition by Captain Scott and his comrades one hundred years ago – which is a shame.  The party were just a few days too late to be the first to reach the South Pole and all perished on their return journey.  Captain Oates, whose family lived at Gestingthorpe in the north of Essex, is famously recorded as saying “I am just stepping outside for a moment … “.

Miscellaneous

Blackmore:  ‘Antique Road Trip’ televised 21 February 2012.  Megarrys in Blackmore village green featured.  http://www.antique-teashop.co.uk/?p=638

Fryerning: Unusual church photo. http://ellispictures.com/2012/02/24/the-church-at-fryerning/

High Ongar:  British Legion branch closes after 82 years. http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/post-British-legion/story-15351662-detail/story.html

Ingatestone:  Old bottles discovered on High Street fire station site.  Former dump.  http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Old-bottles-unearthed-builders-dig-deeply/story-15587726-detail/story.html

Stondon Massey:  William Byrd article ahead of Cardinall Musick’s tour.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/73e967be-597c-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1qfnHxThM .  For more visit http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com

Writtle:  Lead stolen – again.  It is part of a major problem in which thieves target historic buildings for personal gain, which caring one jot about the consequences on the local churchgoers and community.  Hands off I say!!   http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Writtle-church-victim-second-lead-theft/story-15295682-detail/story.html

Links

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

A Trilogy of Books: "After Dinner Anecdotes"; "Relatively Speaking"; "Captain's Reflections"

Three new books relating to the Reeve family of Stondon Massey and beyond are now on sale priced £2 each (plus P&P).  Pictured below is part of the display of archive material shown at St Peter & St Paul Church last weekend.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - August 2011

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

Books for Sale

‘William Byrd: Some Notes’ is just one of many titles now available from Megarry’s Antique and Tea Shop on The Green at Blackmore (open Wednesdays through to Sundays).  Judy, the owner, has given some space over to the sale of books in aid of church funds, which are £2.00 each.  Megarry’s is a traditional antique shop which has tea and cake available for those who wish to stay a while.  The owner has been awarded the top (five star) rating for food preparation and hygiene from the local authority.  Books available also include, in an ever changing selection:  ‘A Short History of Blackmore’, ‘The Bell Tower at Blackmore’ and the Church Guide Book.  ‘Hatched, Matched and Despatched’, which tells the story of Blackmore’s parish registers (BMD) is out of print but the text is available online.  A completely new edition will be written in due course.  For more information on Megarry’s follow this link: http://www.teashopblackmore.co.uk/essex_antiques.htm

Reeve trilogy

Fascinating material has been received of the life and times of family during the early nineteenth century.  Two commonplace books, one by Edward Reeve (1785 – 1867) written towards the end of his life at Ongar, and the other ‘Jottings’ (dating from 1881) by his grandson Edward Henry Lisle Reeve – Rector of Stondon Massey between 1893 and 1935 – are being edited and transcribed into three booklets which will go on sale this autumn.  The project is well under way.

Blackmore Area Local History

The site continues to grow thanks to correspondence with people interested in local history and family heritage.  Keeping up with postings is always a challenge given other commitment but hopefully many answers can be found by visitors.

Primarily the website (http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk ) covers the parishes of Blackmore, Stondon Massey, Ingatestone and Fryerning but with coverage of neighbouring parishes too: Highwood and Writtle, Norton Mandeville, Willingale, High Ongar, Doddinghurst, Shenfield and Mountnessing.

The blog covers a wider area but is more focussed on those villages listed above.  Follow these links to see what is available parish by parish:

Blackmore http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Blackmore

Stondon Massey http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Stondon%20Massey

Ingatestone http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Ingatestone

Fryerning  http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Fryerning

Writtle http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search?q=writtle

Highwood  http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search?q=highwood

Norton Mandeville (which includes Norton Heath) http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Norton

Willingale (which includes the ancient parishes of Willingale Doe and Willingale Spain) http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Willingale

High Ongar   http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/High%20Ongar

Doddinghurst   http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Doddinghurst

Shenfield   http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Shenfield

Mountnessing  http://www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Mountnessing

Links

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

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - July 2011

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

St Christopher’s Church, Willingale. The Bells

The bells of St Christopher’s, Willingale (traditionally Willingale Doe) - see photograph - rang out for the last time on 25 June 2011 ahead of a project to restore the tower and augment the number of bells from four to six. The existing four bells – which date from 1610 to 1797 – with a “2^nd bell” cast in the early twentieth century from Prittlewell, left the village for Whitechapel Bell Foundry for retuning in early July. A fifth bell used for chiming only, which came from neighbouring Shellow Bowells, will be returned. A new bell will be cast to complete a ring of six. In the meantime work to construct a new bell frame will proceed. This will be placed lower in the tower to place less strain on the structure and create a better sound out of the louvre windows. The Victorian bell frame will remain in situ unused. Ringing will in future be performed from a new mezzanine floor placed in front of the west window and in full view of the congregation. The project is supported by a National Lottery Grant and funds raised locally and is expected to be completed in time for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. (More later this month)

St Andrew’s Church, Willingale

Villagers held an event at St Andrew’s Church, Willingale (traditionally Willingale Spain) on 11 June. The church is one of two in the same churchyard. Locals have started a Friends of St. Andrews Church group. A correspondent wrote, “The Churches Conservation Trust who owns one of the two churches we have in Willingale has just put a new roof on the chancel of St. Andrew's and we organised work parties to do a 'deep clean’. It took 14 of us the best part of 3 days!! It looks lovely now - and really cared for, so we decided it needed a Friends group to fund raise for CCT and one or two things to be done in the church”.

The ‘Tea and Tours event’ in St. Andrew's was a tremendous success. New displays for the church have been made and organisers busied themselves with preparing a tour script and baking the cakes!!!

Essex University Visit

The Annual General Meeting of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History was held on 18 June at Essex University. Members afterwards viewed the Albert Sloman Library which houses the large collection of books owned by the Society. Fascinating!

Bookshop

I enjoy looking around second-hand bookshops. One of my favourites is Castle Bookshop in Osborne Street, Colchester. On my most recent visit I picked up ‘Ingatestone and the Great Essex Road’ by E. E. Wilde (1913) at a very reasonable price.

King James Bible Celebrated

Churches across the county have been celebrating the 400tjh anniversary of publication of the Authorised Version of the Bible with marathon readings at Ingatestone and Brentwood, and a Flower Festival entitled ‘1611 and all that!” at Stapleford Tawney.

Garnham Descendants

Sharing local history and heritage is an objective of this site, so it was nice to meet a couple from the USA who had contacted blackmorehistory and were on holiday tracking down their family history through visits to local villages and the Essex Record Office’s extensive archives. They are descended from Frederick Garnham who was killed at the beginning of the First World War in the retreat from Mons. His story is told on www.blackmorehistory.co.uk .We spent a happy couple of hours comparing notes in Blackmore Tea Room.

Trooping of the Colour Flypast

The Battle of Britain Memorial flight and the Red Arrows came right over our house on their way to Buckingham Palace on 11 June.

Church Theft

Sadly there are those who thieve ancient items from churches, and disturb their structures. The internet is a great resource but is probably a showroom for these miscreants who steal things to order. I am always careful not to advertise some of the more moveable objects. A story I heard recently concerned a church in England – not in Essex – where in broad daylight workers turned up supposedly to repair the roof. They busied themselves for two days but it was only when a local historian wondered what was happening decided to contact the local minster to ask what work was being done that the truth was revealed. “Nothing”, the Reverend replied. The Police were called and turned up in the nick of time. The workers were almost ready to despatch their booty of lead.

Stondon Massey House

The long-time former Rectory at Stondon Massey, where the Reverends Reeve lived is up for sale. For more information on this Grade II listed property follow:

http://residentialsearch.savills.co.uk/content/assets/search/305927/HQBrochure . Offer price - £2,950,000: http://residentialsearch.savills.co.uk/property-detail/305927/list/property-for-sale/england/essex/chelmsford/cm99/0/0/1000000000/25.0/hi/gbp/2

Postcards

Our weekly sequence of Edwardian postcards is now complete except for those for Ingatestone and Fryerning. These will be placed on a web page on the main site sometime in the near future. Watch out for further information.

Links

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

New Book: Blackmore Remembers

Drawing on material used in this on-line project, 'Blackmore Remembers' commemorates ninety years since the end of the First World War. Available price £1.50 from the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore. Available through this site, but including P&P. E mail for more information.

New Book: Stondon Massey Remembers

Drawing on material used in this on-line project, 'Stondon Massey Remembers' commemorates ninety years since the end of the First World War. Available price £1.50 from St Peter & St Paul Church, Stondon Massey and the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore. Available through this site, but including P&P. E mail for more information.

Stondon Massey: New Book. 'Stondon Massey. A Short History'

'Stondon Massey. A Short History' has been produced to coincide with the 'Through Changing Scenes' event held at St Peter & St Paul Church, Ongar Road, Stondon Massey, Essex on Saturday 19 April 2008. Edited by Andrew Smith, it draws on the work undertaken by the Victorian Rector of the parish, Revd. Edward Reeve. The book (in 2 parts, total 88 pages) also brings the story of the village up to date.

Available locally in aid of church funds, priced £3 (or £4 including P&P). For a copy send your details to my E mail address (via Profile - left hand side of home page).

Stondon Massey: New Book. 'William Byrd. Some Notes'

Produced in readiness for the 'Through Changing Scenes' event and to mark the televising of Stondon Massey (Essex) on BBC series, 'Sacred Music', this 20 page booklet gleans a variety of local sources on the life and work of Elizabethan composer, William Byrd, who lived in this area for the last thirty years of his life, until his death in 1623. Contents include a transcription of Byrd's will and Revd. Reeve's writing on the Tercentenary Celebrations held at St Peter & St Paul Church.

Available locally at £1.50 (£2 including P&P to UK addresses) in aid of St Peter & St Paul Church Funds.

For a copy, E mail me (via Profile - on left hand side of home page).

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - JANUARY 2008

A Happy New Year to all our Readers. Creating a 'blog' on the history and heritage of the Blackmore area in Essex is an interesting project and, if there are New Year Resolutions, the plan will be to provide information on a variety of local history and family history topics, as well as a list of events and other things happening around the district.

This month I have provided links to other sites, including the BBC's Peoples War project. These folks recollections are an important part of our heritage.

2008 also marks ninety years since the end of hostilities in the First World War. I include a link to the Blackmore Village Website which holds the list of those who served and fell from Blackmore.

On the subject of the First World War, I publish an account of the night of the Zeppelin raid over Blackmore. Since writing this magazine article a couple of years ago I have discovered more material. An update will follow.

Plans for 2008 also include the publication of an 'Index of Blackmore People' and a transcript of the 'Electoral Roll of 1910' on the Blackmore Village Website. Coming soon to this 'blog' will be an item on Jericho Priory.

Regarding events, don't miss 'Through Changing Scenes' at Blackmore on Saturday 23 February 2008, 7.30pm at the Priory Church of St Laurence. Tickets available from Blackmore Post Office. (see 1 December 2007 post for more information).

An outing in January? If you know Maldon then you might know of a second-hand bookshop at thebottom of high Street, top of Church Street. It's closing on 20 January andhas books on sale 20% off. Also there is a room of unsorted books so is an Aladdin's cave. I bought home a pile of books yesterday at a really modest price. Where I will find shelf-space for them is another matter! Maldon is worth an outing. Perhaps you could make this known to anyone who might be interested - the book shop closure, this is, not lack of space in my study.

Finally, your feedback is always welcome on any topics, or this new blog. It would be good to know that there is someone out there!

Essex: Book Review - Buildings of England

Those interested in local architectural history have keenly been anticipating the completely revised edition of Nikolaus Pevsner’s volume by James Bettley. Now available, at 939 pages, it is over twice the size of the previous edition despite the subsequent ‘disappearance’ of part of the county – Barking, Romford, West Ham etc – into London. It’s a colossal achievement, five years’ work, well written, and completely updated to reflect latest research, covering the New Towns and omitting the buildings that are no longer with us.

To see how accurate it is, I checked my local parish. It includes Pevsner’s famous line on the bell tower slightly amended: “Blackmore possesses one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, of all English bell towers, built (according to tree-ring dating) in 1400” (p.141). The dedication of the church is properly stated (“St Laurence” not “St Lawrence) and Blackmore House, properly titled Jericho Priory which since 1954 “deserves detailed investigation” (p.89 previous edition) has now been accorded such an entry.

Inevitably there are some updates required to the work even on release: the Community Hospital at Brentwood (p.174) has recently been demolished; the north doorway of St Peter & St Paul, Stondon Massey (p.754) is no longer blocked but forms the entrance to a new toilet facility; the Harlow Study Centre closed a matter of just months ago at St Andrew’s Netteswellbury (p.460) with documents transferred to the town’s Museum. Such changes naturally reflect our changing use of buildings. Writing a volume such as this must be like painting the Forth Road Bridge, if you will excuse the analogy.

There are 123 lovely new colour pictures replacing the black and white ones of the 1954 edition. Unfortunately the inside of the Blackmore bell tower is omitted but locals are compensated by a drawing of the framework of Stondon’s belfry (p.26), being a representative example of the county’s craftsmanship. It’s not a cheap book (on Amazon, £23.99) but a wonderful reference and update to the original.

Andrew Smith