ESSEX AS A WINE PRODUCING COUNTY 37
(which was put into shape by John Evelyn, who also supplied a
preface), it appears that, at the time of its publication, the
cultivation of vineyards had greatly declined ; but, as the author
urged, this was to be much regretted, there being in England
many places well suited (he declares) to the cultivation of the vine.
He proceeds, therefore, to explain how the sites of vineyards
should be chosen, what kinds of vines should be planted, and how
they should be managed, closing with an advertisement of "sets"
which he had for sale at "very reasonable rates." About the
same time, the subject was also discussed in a work by J.
Worlidge, Gent., on fermented liquors producible from fruits
growing in Britain, of which a second edition appeared in 1678,
and a third in 1691.11a
Up to about the year 1870 (and perhaps later), a Mr.
Darkin, a builder, of Bury St. Edmunds, annually vinted the
produce of St. Peter's Vineyard in that town. The vines were
grown against a high wall and the grapes were of excellent
flavour. The yield was from a pipe to a pipe-and-a-half annually
(according to the season) of excellent wine, "like champagne."15
The existence of two vineyards belonging to the Marquess of
Bute, at Castell Coch, near Cardiff, is too well known to need
extended notice here. The first vines were planted in 1875 and
the first wine—a very small quantity—was made in 1877. The
vines are of the kind known as "Gamy Noir." There is now a
regular annual vintage ; and, notwithstanding occasional failure
in some inclement years, the venture (which has long since passed
the experimental stage) has been a practical and commercial
success. For some time past, "Welsh Wines" have been
regularly quoted in the catalogues of Messrs. Hatch, Mansfield,
and Co., Ltd., of Cockspur Street, S.W. Further information
on this subject will be found in an article by Mr. H. A. Pettigrew
in a recent number of the Land Magazine.
Coming now to consider the County of Essex, we find from
the List of Essex Field Names recently collected and published
by our Treasurer, Mr. W. C. Waller, F.S.A.,16 that there are, in
the widely-scattered parishes of Great Hallingbury, Great
11a Vinctum Britannicum, or a Treatise of Cider and other Wines and Drinks extracted from
Fruits growing in this Kingdom (London, 8vo.)
15 Notes and Queries, 27th Nov. 1869.
16 See Trans. Essex Archaeol. Soc., n. s., vol. v., pp. 144-181 ; vol. vi , pp. 60-84 and
258-277 ; vol. vii., pp. 05-92 and 285-327 (and in progress).