Local Pics

This is the Church were our daughter was christened and where the funerals of both my parents took place. It is set on a hill overlooking a river. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book although all traces of the original building have disappeared. This current building was erected in 1220. It has a font of Purbeck markble which dates from 1160.  The tower was built in 1350 and is very unusual because it has two stages, the first square and the second octagonal. In the small window of the Lady Chapel there are six panes of glass. These are in the form of a cross and bear the words "Deus ictus" - God stricken.  How the parish came to be God stricken is not known.  It is thought that this window dates from the time of the great plague. Set into the ground immediately outside the Elizabethan brick porch is a stone in the shape of a coffin which bears the initials W.W. and is dated 1791. This is the grave of William Waight who left instructions that he was to be buried right outside the church door. He stated that "having been trampled on in life, he wished to receive the same treatment after death!"

William Tyms, deacon and curate of the Church was burnt at the stake at Smithfield, London in April of 1556 for heresy. He preached against the Catholic doctrine of Queen Mary Tudor.  A very popular man, he was hidden in the district by local villagers although he did manage to give two sermons on a nearby hill. However, he was eventually betrayed.  Imprisoned and tortured, Tyms continued to write encouraging letters to his congregation in his own blood. A sad tale indeed.

This and the following two pictures are the original village school.  On the right hand side of the roof you can just about see the bell hanging that summoned the children to lessons. You can see how small it is so the number of pupils must have been few. As this was a farming community, many of the children would not have taken lessons during spring planting and harvest time as they would have been working the land along with their families. It is now a private residence and one of the few remaining properties in the area to boast a thatched roof.

The actual date when the old school house was built is not known to me.

This is our second local pub.  It has a large garden at the rear where you can take a drink or food set in woodland as the garden of the pub is actually in the woods.  A very popular haunt not only for locals but many passers-by.

And lastly a close-up of the charming sign that hangs outside.

The area around here was strongly associated with witchcraft and a nearby village was known as the "witch capital" of south-east Essex. Several local people were tried as witches. It is not know what became of them. Two of the known witches who have passed down through history are Nelly Button and Mother Fawkes. Nelly was supposed to put curses on people, put them into fits or send loud noises to keep awake those who had offended her in some way.  It is said that she met her end when the local blacksmith, knowing that witches could not cross iron, hid iron items all around her cottage.  Some say that as she could not cross, she starved to death, others that she simply disappeared. Mother Fawkes was more into frightening people by threatening to turn their milk tainted or to stop their pigs feeding and chickens laying unless local people gave her food. So, more of an extortionist than a witch.

Legend has it that this area is haunted by a huge black dog with fiery eyes which pads around the village in the dead of night.  To see it means bad luck for a whole year, although apparently, there are no reports of it having been seen in a long time.  There is also supposed to be a ghostly coach and horses passing by the church (top picture) at midnight on Christmas Eve.  No-one can give an explanation as to why.Old superstitions die hard and for many years people visited our woods with their crippled children in order to pass them through a tree trunk which had a large split in it. They believed that the deformed tree would take on the disabilities of their children and leave them strong and straight. The following is a local recipe to cure the bite of a mad dog:

One ounce of best Dragons blood (a herb),Spanish Brown (a herb) an ounce and a half  Five ounces of box leaves dried, pounded and passed through a fine sieve. Mix together and take in the following fashion. Man or woman take in the morning on rising, one large table spoon in a little gruel, white wine, whey or warm milk. To children - in proportion. No food to be consumed for three hours after taking.

Pictures courtesy of my beloved.