THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
97
was traversed, leading to Sewardstone Mill on the river Lea, which divides the
county from Middlesex. Here it was pleasant to rest under the cool shade of the
willows on the little island formed by the Lea and the old feeding stream of the
now disused mill, the latter, with its sluices and the fast decaying water wheel)
being the sole remnants left; whilst butterflies flitted by, and bright dragon-flies
were seen flashing in the sunlight over the stream. Mr. H. Cole had printed off
on transfer papers a little sketch of the wheel, so that each member might have a
copy.
Here some notes were given on the surroundings and past history by Mr.
Crouch, who produced a plan of the district, showing the county boundary formed
by the river Lea, and pointed out the Lea navigation channel, and the surround-
ing features of the place.
We give the following extracts : "In early Saxon days this was probably a tidal
estuary,1 and about this spot in 876 the well-known episode took place when
the Danes, having brought their war ships here, found themselves outwitted by
King Alfred, who had trenches cut to divert the waters. The Danish foe, leaving
their stranded vessels, escaped by land to the westward.
"From Ogborne's 'History of Essex,' 1814, we learn that: 'The hamlet of
Sewardston (in the parish of Waltham Holy Cross), tradition says, was once a
separate parish, and so named from Siward, a Saxon, an ancient possessor of it.
Here is a small silk Mill, in the occupation of Messrs. Carr and Dobson, Foster
Lane, Cheapside, London, and also a flour mill, the property of Mrs. Teush. The
inhabitants of the ancient demesne in Sewardston have the liberty of cutting wood
on the wastes, sufficient for their firing, from All Saints' Day till the festival of St.
George, to be drawn away each time, on a sledge only, with two horses.'
" In olden times this was a fulling mill, and is named on Chapman and Andre's
map, 1777, 'Blue Mill, a fulling mill.' Later on it was used for the manufacture
of silk, and subsequently for dyeing and scouring, until about eight years ago,
when Mr. Connell gave up the occupancy ; then the large dyeing sheds, etc., were
taken down and the mill dismantled. The old garden adjoining the dwelling-
house apparently claims a Dutch origin, being intersected by dykes with little
oot-bridges from one portion to the other. It is owned by the New River
Company.
" This is a well-known haunt of anglers, and the greatest of them all, our dear
old friend, Izaak Walton, chatted thus to his pupil of the pleasant country, on
just such another May day as this, in the second Charles's time :—
" 'But turn out of the way a little, good scholar, towards yonder high honey-
suckle hedge ; there we'll sit and sing, whilst this shower falls so gently upon the
teeming earth, and gives a yet sweeter smell to the lovely flowers that adorn these
verdant meadows. Look ! under that broad beech tree I sat down when I was,
last this way a-fishing. And the birds in the adjoining grove seemed to have a
friendly contention with an echo, whose dead voice seemed to live in a hollow
tree, near to the brow of that primrose hill.'
" This description apparently suits a spot some two miles south at Chingford
Ford, where there is still a house named Mount Echo.
" From here is a field path leading over the river near 'Patty pool' and by Mill
Marsh to the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock."
1 On this question the reader is referred to some interesting remarks by "S. J. A.," appended
to the report of this meeting.—Ed.