236
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
very kindly, and allowed a thorough examination to be made of the venerable
building. From the outside it now presents a curious patchwork of boards, bricks
and ancient stone-work, only the east front with its windows being in anything
like fair preservation, but the inside retains many of the ancient features, and
from the rooms now existing the visitor may gain some idea of the size and
architectural characteristics of the old monastery. The Early English Refectory
(temp. John) and rather later Chapter House (temp. Edward III.) which is tolerably
entire, and a still remaining part of the monk's dormitories, were visited. The
mantel-piece on the west side of the Refectory consists of some Tudor stone-work
alleged to be the canopy of the tomb of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Eu, in
Normandy, and Essex, Lord Treasurer of England, and his lady, Isabel, sister of
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York (father of Edward IV.), both of whom we
know were buried in the Chapel of the Virgin Mary in this Abbey. The Rev. F.
Spurrell, Rector of Faulkbourne, published in 1864 a very interesting pamphlet
on the Abbey. This was shown by Mr. Fitch, who also exhibited a work on the
subject by Mr. G. Draper (1818) containing beautifully coloured and plain plates
of various details of the building; also etching of the east side ("Antiquarian
Etching Club," vol. iii., pl. 12), and plate showing interior of chapel and numerous
details, by Mr. D. P. Fordham, 1865 ("Architect," January 22nd, 1870). Mr.
R. H. Eve had shown in the Town Hall a large oil painting of the Abbey, by
R. Nightingale. Mr. Chapman exhibited a half groat of Henry III., and a
silver penny of Edward III., which he had lately found in the rafters of the
building.
Mrs. and Mr. Chapman were cordially thanked for their courtesy, and the
party returned to the railway bridge for the purpose of travelling as far as Haze-
leigh, two miles along the new railway to Woodham and Southminster, then in
course of construction. By the kindness of Mr. J. T. Middleton (of the firm of
Messrs Walter Scott and Co., contractors for the new line) and under the careful
direction of Mr. Forbes, the Foreman, a "special train" of three trucks had
been fitted up with seats, and one also canopied over for the use of the ladies.
The journey through the cuttings was thus rendered a pleasant one, although the
jolting in some parts, where the line was only temporarily laid, was a sensation
to be remembered.
The train was stopped at a point near the Spital Road Tunnel, where the
cutting is 40 feet deep. Here Mr. T. V. Holmes pointed out, and made a
few remarks upon, the sections exposed, the beds being gravel and loam of
Glacial-Drift age, overlying the London Clay (See note by Mr. Holmes in the
Essex Naturalist, vol. i, 149, and a "Memoir of the Geological Survey," by
Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., now passing through the press). Mr. Holmes said,
the geological members would notice that the beds capping the hills were in the
main of a sandy and gravelly nature, while below them was solid clay, in which
appeared here and there the calcareous concretions known as Septaria, which
were very characteristic of the London Clay. The Glacial Drift of Essex, where
more than one member of it was present, usually consisted of sandy and gravelly
beds below and Boulder-clay above. It was impossible for them, on that occasion,
to make out the details of the Drift on account of the quantity of soil and other
material that had been washed down the sides of the cutting. But the one point
of special interest there had been mentioned by Mr. Whitaker (Essex Natur-
alist, i. 149), and consisted in the presence of a lower bed of Boulder-clay,
between the London Clay and the gravel.