146
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
hosts that harried and ravished the country, and during which period I am afraid
most of the buildings which the Romans had left, except those of a very massive
character, were destroyed, it was not until the reign of Erchwin in 527 that Essex
settled down under the rule of the East Saxons. After that, for nearly 500 years,
the Saxons appear to have held sway over the country ; and from that time to the
Norman Conquest, as I have said before, the Saxons and Danes ruled alternately.
As it is on record that at the time of the Norman Conquest there were 1,700
churches in England, it may, I think, be fairly assumed that one was erected by
the Saxons in Chelmsford, especially as Chelmsford became part of the possessions
of the Bishop of London in the time of Edward the Confessor. That they
occupied Chelmsford as a town cannot be doubted. It was the very spot for a
Saxon : a large breadth of fertile land cleared by the Romans from forest timber,
and ready to be tilled for the growth of his corn, well-watered pastures for his
stock, and woods abounding in oaks for his hogs, to say nothing of the rivers
teeming with fish, and the well-formed roads leading in all directions ; and so, no
doubt, as soon as the country had become settled, a Saxon colony would make
Chelmsford their habitation; and one of their earliest works would in all proba-
bility be the erection of a Church. I am not aware of any manuscript referring to
an early Church ; nor do I believe there are any remains left. It would probably
be built of timber, rude in construction (and perhaps similar in character to that
of Greensted, near Ongar), and only large enough for the requirements of what was
then, no doubt, a small population. Knowing the tenacity with which our
ancestors adhered to old customs and to old sites, we cannot doubt that the old
Saxon Church stood upon the site of the present one, and that our Saxon
ancestors were buried generation after generation in the churchyard surrounding
it. In many parts of the country, although there are no buildings or but very few,
yet there are other remains such as barrows and ancient cemeteries, the contents
of which, together with old Saxon manuscripts and chronicles, afford us a con-
siderable insight into the domestic life of the Saxons. Although they were
principally agriculturists, yet they were no mean artists, and some of their urns
and gold ornaments show a high degree of art.
The Danes have left their mark at Danbury in its name and probably in the
ancient camp at the top of the hill. And Chelmsford and the neighbourhood was,
doubtless, the scene of many a sanguinary contest between the Saxons and the Danes
—the former retiring upon their camp-town of Chelmsford, the latter upon their
camp at Danbury. But I am afraid I must dismiss the Saxon and Danish Period
as far as Chelmsford is concerned by pointing to three Institutions which we still
have and which are undoubtedly of Saxon origin :—1st, The name of the town, to
which I have before alluded ; 2nd, Trial by Jury ; and 3rd, The boundaries of the
parish—for it was during the Saxon period that the county was divided into
parishes.
In 1066 William the First, availing himself of a clause in the will of Edward
the Confessor, claimed this country, and enforced his claim at Hastings, thereby
effecting what is known in history as the Norman Invasion.
At the time of the Norman Invasion, Chelmsford was still in the possession of
the Bishops of London, and had been since the time of Edward the Confessor,
remaining so until 1545—a period of about 500 years. I cannot find at present any
distinct record as to which Bishop Edward the Confessor gave the town ; but as
William, a Norman Confessor to Edward the Confessor, was made Bishop of
London in 1051, he was probably the first Bishop owner of Chelmsford.
Chelmsford being within 30 miles of London, and connected therewith by a