258
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
A. V. Taylor, Mrs. Robert Allen, Mr. T. W. Reader, F.G.S., Mrs. and Miss
Crump, Mr. W. Cole, F.L.S. (Hon. Sec. E.F.C. and Curator of the Survey),
and Mr. Victor Taylor (hon. secretary), with many others.
Dr, Laver gave the loyal toast, and said he must take that opportunity of
thanking the Mayor for his personal interest, as displayed by his presence.
(Applause.) The Mayor of Colchester represented the government of a town which
was a municipality in A.D. 43 or 44, and had continued a municipality until the
present time. Colchester had been represented in Parliament from time
immemorial—even before London—and they were certainly much before London
in the foundation of the town. The origin of London in all probability was that
a Roman General had to wait on the shores of the Thames in some convenient
position until they could get help from Rome, and Claudius settled down in that
position, and hence came London. Colchester was very much more an antiquity
than London, and was as old as any place in the Kingdom.
The Mayor, in acknowledging, said that it afforded him very much
pleasure to meet that company on that their first visit, as a Society, to the town.
He had reason to be proud of the town of which he had the honour of being
Mayor, for to be Mayor of a city which took precedence over London in point
of age must, they would agree with him, be a privilege to be appreciated. He
congratulated the members on having such able guides as Dr. Laver, Mr.
Shenstone, and Mr. Gill, and in conclusion he assured them that if they came 
again to the interesting old town, they would be exceedingly glad to welcome
them. (Applause.)
Mr. Shenstone added a word of thanks to Mr. Marriage for his presence and
referred to the trouble and interest he had taken in preserving the antiquities of
Colchester, an example of which—an old house in East Bay—they would visit
during the afternoon.
Mr. Marriage said it had been a pleasure to make arrangements for an
inspection of the place, and in refering to the objects of the society remarked,
amidst laughter, that he would always be found ready and willing to do anything
he could to welcome any of those who came from their younger and somewhat
overgrown sister, London.
The company then proceeded to Tymperleys (Dr. Gilberd's birth place) and
Trinity Church (his burial place), the old Grammar School in Culver Street, the
Castle quadrangle and the Museum, and went by way of the Park, the Roman
Wall, and Land Lane, to the old house by the side of Marriage's mill, which
was inspected with interest, particularly the Board Room, which has been
as far as possible preserved in its Original state. An Elizabethan half-
sovereign, of bright gold, had been found during the week in the earth under
the flooring of the shop, which is still in the workmen's hands. Afterwards the
members walked by the side of the mill river to view the pretty scenery. It is
a diversion of the river, which was owned by the Colchester Corporation for an
extent of more than 12 miles till it reached the sea, and Dr. Laver gave some
interesting facts regarding the purity and extent of the beds of the celebrated
Colchester oysters, and the steps taken to protect them by an efficient force of
river police. Dr. Laver then left the company in the hands of Mr. Shenstone,
but before he went Mr. A. E. Briscoe proposed a hearty vote of thanks to him
for the trouble he had taken. Dr. Laver, in returning thanks, said it always afford-
ed him great pleasure in taking strangers round the town, of which he was so
proud, and which was, in an historic sense, one of the most interesting in Europe.