104 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
of this village and those of other places in the county—Good Easter and High
Easter—whose origin Canon Isaac Taylor assigns to the same goddess. The
speaker also called attention to the fact that at Kelvedon the fair—the survival of
the pagan festival—was held on Easter Monday. It is, however, to be remarked that
Canon Isaac Taylor considers it doubtful whether the names of these places have
a common origin. The Rev. W. J. Kenworthy was of opinion that the word was
of Celtic origin and was assigned to the village, as he imagined, because of the
expanse of water thereabouts in prehistoric times.
Mr. W. H. Dalton stated on the programme that the excursion comprised the
most interesting part of the valley of the Blackwater in respect of its physio-
graphy. From Witham, where the valley is first entered, to Kelvedon, the valley
is at right angles to its normal S.E. course. The original direction of the river,
from Radwinter to Bocking, aligns with that of the Guith1 below Braintree,
which tributary it only receives at Witham, after a detour of several miles by
Coggeshall and Feering.
The Abbey Farm. From Beaumont's "History of Coggeshall,"
The country to the N.W. of the railway consists of a fairly uniform slope of
Boulder Clay, beneath which occur, in varying thickness, the Middle Glacial
Gravels, resting on the London Clay, as seen in many places. To the S.E.
of the river the ground rises rapidly to the bold ridge of Tiptree Heath, crested
with gravel of the same age as that below the Boulder Clay. But the latter,
instead of rising to cap the ridge, plunges into the valley, cutting out the sub-
jacent gravel altogether, and taking the place of a good depth of London Clay
also. Over it the river has deposited a broad sheet of gravel, brick-earth and
marl, with freshwater shells, bones and, it is said, flint implements. From a
general view of the district it seems likely that the great flexure,2 of which the
ridge is the result, took place in the Glacial period, giving rise to the scour that
cut the deep channel, now filled with Boulder Clay, along the foot of the
ridge, which probably formed an island in the Upper Glacial Sea. Whether
minor displacements have had anything to do with the sinuous freaks of the
river-courses in this region is a point under investigation.
The church (Early English and Late Tudor), which is dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, was first visited, and the members were welcomed by the rector, the Rev.
G. P. Bennett, in a pathetic speech, excusing himself from acting as guide on
1 On this name see a paper by Mr. T. M. Blackie in the present part of E. N.
2 See Trans. Essex F. C., vol. ii., p. 15 (1881). The exact line of the contortion is given by
two bore-holes, made, by good fortune, on the very crest, at Wickham Bishop and Messing.