148 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
its brasses and curious rhymes, to the memory of Master Avery Cornburgh and
Beatrice, his wife, of the Manor of Gooshays. He was Esquire of Body to
Edward IV. and Richard III., and Treasurer to Henry VII. He endowed a
Chantry and Obit, 1486, for the repose of their "sowls," to preach sermons, etc.,
and left many benefactions to the poor. The gabled Chantry House for the priest
still exists in High Street, close by the Church, and a portion of the old work may
be seen at the back of the house, which is now known as the "Cock and Bell."
In the porch, but formerly on the south wall of the chancel, are the monuments
of Sir George Hervey of Marks, 1605, with kneeling effigies of himself and lady,
with their five sons and four daughters, and opposite, the recumbent figure of his
sister, Anne Carew, who died 17 days after her brother, and which was placed
there by her son, Lord Carew, "for his last duty."
But the largest and most interesting is one on the north side, in memory of Sir
Anthony Cooke, of Gidea Hall, who ob. 1576, with its finely carved figures in
alabaster of himself and two sons in armour, with his Dame and their four
daughters—Mildred, who married Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Prime Minister to Eliza-
beth ; Anne, wife of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Keeper of the Great Seal, and mother of
Lord Bacon ; Elizabeth, wife of Lord Russell; and Catherine, wife of Sir Henry
Killegrew. Beneath are curious and lengthy eulogistic verses in Latin, Greek and
English.
The Register of this Church begins in 1561, and among the benefactions may
be mentioned those of Mildred, Lady Burleigh, 1588, and Roger Reede of Haver-
ing, 1482, whose almshouses are still to be seen in North Street.
Romford was made a separate parish in 1658, and the Wednesday Market,
which is held in its broad main street, has existed here since 1247.
Early in the last century, the celebrated "Belle of Essex," Mary Braund,
lived in Romford, and, at the age of "sweet seventeen" became the wife of
Champion Branfill of Upminster Hall, where a fine portrait of her, by Sir
Godfrey Kneller, still beams from the wall.
At sunset the meeting broke up, and the members were driven home, some
to Ilford and Snaresbrook, and others across country to Woodford and Buck-
hurst Hill, well pleased with a visit to a district once so celebrated and impor-
tant, the home and birthplace of many whose names are linked with the makers
of England—a land now almost unknown as historical, save to a few students of
musty books and records, but, spite of all changes, a pleasant spot to ramble
in; through lanes, meadows and relics of Royal parks, still charmed with birds
and decked with flowers as in the days of the Saxon Kings, by red-bricked
homesteads and ancient landmarks, recalling memories and legends of times
past, men dead, and places long forgotten.
W. C. & W. C.
Excursion to Sudbury, Saturday, July 9th, 1887.
A party consisting of nearly thirty members of the Geologists' Association and
the Essex Field Club passed a very pleasant and instructive day at Sudbury, on
Saturday, July 9th, under the guidance of Dr. Holden, of Sudbury, and Mr. W.
Whitaker, F.R.S., of the Geological Survey. The day was exceedingly fine.
Crossing to the Essex bank of the Stour, Mr. Whitaker pointed out that in spite
of the drought the river was brimfull, a rare thing in British streams just now.
This was the result of the comparative independence of the immediate rainfall in
rivers like the Stour, which derive their water mainly from springs in the chalk.
Proceeding to Balingdon the party first inspected the great chalk pit, in which,
above the Chalk, Thanet Sand, Reading Beds and London Clay were seen. Walking
thence in an easterly direction the splendid sections of glacial drift at "The