Wickham Bishops Bluebell walk Essex 19th April 2022

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I drove to Church Road in Wickham Bishops in Essex. After a request from the rector I was allowed to park in the car park of St Bartholomew's which stated Church use only. 

There is road parking further up.

St Bartholomew's is Grade II listed and is a fine example of Victorian Gothic church architecture. The church was built in 1850 by Sarah Leigh in memory of her father, the Revd. Thomas Leigh who was Rector from 1803 to 1843. The church was designed by Ewin Christian and is built of Kentish Ragstone and Caen stone. It replaces the redundant St Peter's church to the west, over the disused railway line, now a stained glass designer's studio.

The spire is 120 feet high and is a local landmark visible from the A12, from the other side of Witham and from the River Blackwater. The church clock was presented to the parish by the daughters of Thomas Butler Dixon in 1911 in memory of their father. The clockwork mechanism is now operated by weights and an electric motor. Behind the church the Rector's Vestry was built in 1971 in memory of churchwarden, Colonel Charles Evitt and the Church Room (hall), designed by Geoffrey Vale FRIBA, which includes kitchen, toilets and generous link way with entrance was opened in November 1994. 5 cottages, 50 metres along the road, stand where the old church hall stood. The chancel and nave of the church were re-roofed in 2011.

I leave the church ad walk down Church Road and turn right onto Mope Lane.

Mope Lane

A little way down Mope Lane I turn left onto a private road but it is a public footpath.

Guinea Fowl on the road to Sparkey Woods.

During April and May Sparkey Woods is heaving with Bluebells.

The place-name 'Wickham Bishops' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Wicham', meaning 'dwelling place with a (dairy) farm'. 'Bishops' refers to the fact that the land belonged to the Bishop of London. Other references note the historic name of “Wycham Episcopi”.

Notable people

England cricket captain Alastair Cook lived in Wickham Bishops as a boy.

Composer Nicola LeFanu was born in Wickham Bishops

The sight of a blanket of bluebells spreading throughout the woods is breath-taking, but the scent lingering in the air is just heavenly!

As I begin to leave the woods a muntjac deer runs along the path in front before disappearing as quick and before I had time to take a photograph.

I leave the woods and head along a path and through what seems to be a Equestrian Centre. (Equine Savvy Centre)

I stop to say hello to some friendly horses that wanted some attention.

The path leads me out onto Station Road and I pass Fairplay House Outdoor Education Centre.

At the end of Station Lane I turn left and walk up Langford Road for a short stretch before taking a footpath on my right.

I follow the path down towards the disused St Peters Church.

The church originated in the 11th century. In the Domesday Survey the manor of Wickham Bishops was recorded as belonging to the Bishops of London and it is considered that the church was built as a private chapel for the bishops. The church was restored in about 1850, but a new church dedicated to St Bartholomew was then built on a different site. The font, holy water stoup and parish chest were moved to the new church. St Peter's continued to be a chapel of ease to the new church but it became derelict and was threatened with demolition. In 1970 it became redundant. The church was taken into the care of the charity the Friends of Friendless Churches in 1975. The charity holds a 999-year lease with effect from 1 January 1975. Some restoration work has been carried out since then, but this has been disturbed by vandalism.

Since 1994 the church has been used as a studio by the stained glass artist Benjamin Finn. The windows of the church have been reglazed with oak tracery designed by Julian Limentani. The church now contains a new altar which was sculpted by Rory Young, and a statue of Saint Peter by Nicholas Hague. The original font has been returned from the new church. Benjamin Finn has been commissioned to create a new east window, to be financed by a grant from the Cottam Will Trust. In 2007 areas of 13th-century geometrical patterns were discovered on the walls; conservation work has been carried out in these.

I leave St Peters and walk on across the field.

I leave the path and turn left onto the B1018 and walk a few hundred yards across the bridge that goes over The River Blackwater and take a path on my right.

Crossing over the River Blackwater on Wickham Mill Bridge.

I walk down pass Wickham Place and along the river. I hear fast running water from the mill race but unable to see it.

I now reach the Wickham Bishops Viaduct.

The branch line from Witham to Maldon in Essex was built economically during the 1840s. Two long viaducts were needed to carry the railway over the river Blackwater, built by Joseph Locke with Thomas Jackson as the principal contractor.

The longest and more northerly called Mill Stream viaduct was built some 500 ft. long and for double track over an 18 month period between 1846-7. The smaller one is 160 ft. long. In 1854 the line was singled and both bridges were reduced in width. In the 1920s the northern one was reduced in length to 150 ft by extending the embankment on the northern side.

To reduce costs, the majority of the railway was built from timber, rather than brick, although Maldon station was built to a far grander style. Sadly, a brick built goods shed on the line was demolished in mid 2008 just weeks before being considered for listed status.

Although closed to passengers on 7 September 1964 and freight on 18 April 1966 the section from Witham to Braintree remains open as the Braintree Branch Line. Approximately half a mile of the branch from Witham station toward Maldon was used as a siding serving an industrial area for delivery of steel by railway, this section closed in the early 1980s after a rail strike and is now a cycle/walkway. The section of line into the old east station in Maldon has been used as the route for a new road into the Fullbridge area. The section of trackbed linking the two former railway stations in Maldon has been used as the route of the Maldon bypass to the west of the town.

Both viaducts have survived and were restored in 1995 by Essex County Council. They are listed as a scheduled Ancient Monument.

Looking back to the Viaduct.

I follow the path and it now leads me out onto Benton Hall Golf course and Country Club.

I dislike walking over golf courses but this one is easier as I  just stick to the river bank for now.

As I reach the bridge next to Blue Mills Hill Road I follow the path and have to wait a while while five golfers tee off. I didn't fancy being struck by a stray golf ball as I walk the path uphill.

At the top of this path was another Muntjac deer, on seeing me it dashed through a chicken wire fence and got stuck as it darted about. I walked on and I see it calm down and find a way out safely.

As I follow the path I am treated to more Bluebells and daffodils too!

The path brings me out onto Mope Lane and I follow this back up to Church Road and my car.

On the corner of Church Road is a lovely old Victorian Post Box.

A short walk of just over 4 miles but a very pleasant walk it was!

It not all about length but quality after all!

Herongate to Little Burstead, Essex Circular Walk 7th May 2020

On Thursday the 7th May 2020 I went on another local walk as the Covid19 lockdown stops me from going further afield. But this was a very surprising pretty walk in glorious sunshine.

I drove to Herongate and parked up in Cricketers Lane near to The Green Man Public House.

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Tradition is that the name derived from a heronry there is apocryphal, and it probably derives from the Heron family who held Heron Hall into the fourteenth century. The Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlements were devoted to arable and livestock farming.

The Green Man is a traditional village pub dating back to the 17th century, the Grade II listed Green Man counts oak-beamed ceilings and inglenook fireplaces among its original features. Once a family home, then a greengrocer's shop before becoming a pub.

I walk on down Cricketers Lane.

This is very garish in otherwise a very pretty village.

I walk out onto a footpath at the end of Cricketers Lane by the reservoir and walk out onto Farmland.

I pass Fouchers Farms and head out on the path towards Heron Hall.

I am now approaching Heron Hall.

The moated site immediately east of Heron Hall is one of the best known examples of moated sites in Essex. The site, with its surviving brick revetting and tower bases together with its known historical background, illustrates the very grand and possibly defensive nature of the site and reflects the wealth and social standing of its inhabitants.

The manor is mentioned in 1232 as 'Fyndegod(s)hurne' and in 1379 as 'Herne'. By the late 14th century it was owned by Sir William Heron, who left the manor on his death to his daughter Margaret who was married to James Tyrell. The manor continued to be held by the Tyrells, an important Essex family, until at least the late 17th century. In the 16th century the messuage is recorded as including '100 acres of arable, 200 acres of pasture, 60 of wood and 40 of meadow'.

The local antiquarian, P Morant noted in 1769 that the manor house of Heron was 'an old brick edifice surrounded with a moat, on the outer side of which stand four towers detached from the rest of the building'. The 1777 Chapman and Andre Map of Essex shows a square building built around a courtyard towards the south west corner of the island. It is recorded that this house was pulled down in 1790 leaving only two of the towers, and this statement is reinforced by the 1849 map of the parish of East Horndon, which depicts the island devoid of buildings. The bases of the towers are still visible along the outer edges of the island.

The present 18th century Heron Hall immediately to the west which succeeded the moated site is Listed Grade II. The Grade IIstar and II Listed barns immediately to the south and south west of the moat have the initials J.T., and some of these may be contemporary with the Tudor building on the island. The hall and barns are not included in the scheduling.

Three fishponds which were recorded in 1923 by The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England to the west of the moat have been destroyed by modern landscaping and are therefore not included in the scheduling. (Scheduling Report)

Heron Hall was the administrative centre of the manor of Herongate, which was located within East Horndon parish, although it was surrounded on three sides by Ingrave. It had belonged to the Heron family in the early fourteenth century, and passed by marriage to the Tyrell family in the mid fourteenth century. In 1363 the Tyrells were granted permission to empark 400 acres of pasture and wood in Thorndon and Ingrave. It is not known what the earliest medieval building on the site looked like. However 18th century engravings and antiquarian descriptions give some idea of the nature of the early 15th century building that replaced the original manorial complex (Ryan 1996).

The early 15th century Hall was an early example of brick building in Essex. It was a brick-built building with a central courtyard, sited in the south-west corner of the moated enclosure, a circular tower was sited on the corner of the main building, and there were a further three similar towers at each of the remaining corners of the moated platform. The entrance porch may have been a rectangular tower with two octagonal turrets at the corners. The house was pulled down in 1788. Outside the moat was a 15th century two-storeyed brick granary, which is still extant, and other farmyard buildings. To the west of the moat are three small fish-ponds. (Unlocking Essex's Past)

"An old brick edifice surrounded by a moat, on the outer side of the moat stand 4 towers detached from the rest of the building. The great part is as old as the time of King Henry VI or Edward IV" (Morant)

It was held by Sir Thomas Tyrell who was a feoffee and was paid an annuity by Oxford. He served under him at Stoke in 1487 and Blackheath in 1489 with 20 men. His father was slain at the battle of Barnet fighting for Oxford. Sir Thomas had an income of at least £129pa. Other members of his family were part of Oxford's affinity and a room in the new great tower the Earl built at Hedingham was reserved for probably Sir Robert Tyrell, an uncle.

I pass through Heron Hall Farm and across fields, accompanied by rising and falling skylarks with their sweet melodic song. As soon as I started filming to catch the song they stopped but some birds in the hedges sang for me instead.

I follow the path out onto a track with houses on my way out to Blind Lane.

I just loved this quirky garden of one the houses here.

I follow on to Blind Lane along a tree lined track and I see evidence of a badger sett in the banks.

Bluebells

Red Campion

I reach Blind Lane and cross over immediately onto a path opposite through a field of Broad Beans.

Broad Beans

Over to my left I can see the farmhouse of Babshole Farm.

A murder investigation was conducted here in 2015. Richard Glanville, who worked for Oasis’s parent company, arrested after an alleged trespasser was fatally wounded at his Essex farmhouse.

I'll make sure I stay on the path!

I wish all farms maintained the footpaths across their land as well as this!

I spoke too soon, I cross a ditch with a broken bridge by jumping over, and into a field with no marked out path. I use a tram-line to the left of the path to avoid crops damage.

Looking back to the hill I'll be walking back up later.

I walk through a small wooded area and out onto Hatches Farm Road and turn left up to Tye Common Road where I cross over and onto a path to Burstead Golf Course.

Wild Garlic growing alongside the path.

I hate golf courses they are usually poorly sign posted and I end up lost.

But this one is different, well sign posted and this is part of the Little Burstead Circular walk. A pleasant surprise!

I follow my way across the golf course and into the wooded area of Laindon Common.

A small common just south of Billericay, set aside originally as grazing land. Now that grazing has ceased it has largely been colonised by trees, mainly oak and birch. As is typical of commons it is irregular in shape and criss-crossed by footpaths. 

I leave the woodland and out onto Laindon Common Road and up to The Dukes Head. Such a shame all pubs are closed, I could do with a pint.

I walk beside the pub across Billericay  Town Colts Football club grounds.

In the corner I take a footpath through a wooded area.

I emerge onto a footpath across a common and behind some houses.

I follow the footpath right and cross over the River Crouch. 

The Crouch rises in 'The Wilderness' on the Burstead Golf course at Little Burstead. The Wilderness is a pond surrounded by a tiny area of ancient woodland. It runs parallel with the A176 (Noak Hill Road) for approximately 1.3 miles (2.1 km) and then follows a generally easterly course, passing by, near or through:

Crays Hill

Ramsden Bellhouse

The centre of Wickford, where it flows along a concrete culvert

Runwell

Battlesbridge (the head of the 17½ mile 'River Crouch Navigation')

North of Hullbridge and south of South Woodham Ferrers

Between North Fambridge and South Fambridge

Althorne

Creeksea

Burnham-on-Crouch

The river flows into the North Sea between Holliwell Point and Foulness Point on its north and south banks respectively.

I walk up a steep hill up to Broomhills Chase past some expensive looking homes.

I take another path and see some calves in a field.

I follow a path across Broomhills Farm.

I eventually walk out onto Rectory Road and cross over to St Mary The Virgin Church in Little Burstead.

The parish church is the church of St. Mary the Virgin is set in a picturesque, but isolated rural situation on high ground overlooking the Thames valley. It was built in late Norman times as a windowed oratory and was originally much smaller. The roof of the Nave would have been much lower and the door was on the north side opposite the present South door which is 15th Century. The Altar was almost certainly sited in the recess to the side of the present pulpit. Extensive alterations would have occurred when the Chancel was added in the mid 14th Century. The walls of the Church are built of ragstone rubble and of puddingstone (a conglomerate of pebbles in a siliceous matrix found locally) with limestone and brick dressing. The round stones on either side of the Porch are probably the base of a Churchyard calvary. The South door is 15th Century and the Porch was added much later. The Font is early 16th Century. The Gallery was added in 1880. 

A probable explanation for the present isolated position of the Church might be explained by looking further back in history than the modern site of the village and considering that the back of the Church was in fact 'the front'. The road that now leads to the Church probably did not exist at the time it was built and the main route from Billericay ran from Tye Common, through Wiggins Lane, across to Hatches Farm road and up Botney Hill towards Herongate. Three manors were sited between Botney Hill and the Dunton road and standing in this area one can see that the Church is positioned so that it overlooks the area that it probably served.

I leave the church and follow a path alongside Rectory Road into Little Burstead.

In 1086 the parish had 9 households and was held by the Bishop of London. Before the Norman conquest it was held by Godwin of Benfield. In the 19th century the parish had an area of 1,829 acres and a population in 1870 of 186 (37 houses).

The ancient parish of Little Burstead was located in Barstable Hundred and was joined to Billericay Rural District when that was established in 1894. The civil parish was abolished in 1937 when it was merged with several other parishes into Billericay Urban District 

Little Burstead Parish was re-established in 1997 and the parish council has five elected / co-opted members. Electorate at 1 June 2011 of 327, The Parish Council regularly meets bi-monthly at Little Burstead Village Hall. It forms part of Basildon District.

I walk back a short way and take a path across to Chase Farm.

View across the A127 to Ford Cars Research Centre at Dunton. 

The Dunton Campus (informally Ford Dunton or Dunton) is a major automotive research and development facility located in Dunton Wayletts, Laindon, Essex, United Kingdom owned and operated by Ford Motor Company. It was the largest automotive technical centre in the United Kingdom and takes its name from the nearby Dunton Wayletts. Ford Dunton houses the main design team of Ford of Europe alongside its Merkenich Technical Centre in Cologne, Germany. With the closure of Ford's Warley site (located in Brentwood, Essex) in September 2019, the staff from the UK division of Ford Motor Credit Company and Ford's UK Sales and Marketing departments, have moved to the Dunton site. As of November 2019, Dunton had around 4000 staff working at the site.

I follow the path now downhill with breathtaking views.

I take the path across to Botney Hill Road. It really is a scorcher now its about 22c.

I follow the road and up the steep hill to Botney Hill Farm. That was a workout!

The Farmhouse is a  16th century house.

I follow the road some more where I take a path on my right across more farmland heading back towards Heron Hall.

Heron Hall once more in sight.

I cross the bridge and back on the same paths I took on my way out.

After 9 miles I'm back at the car, and wishing the Green Man was open! A great walk!