106
THE WOODLANDS OF ESSEX.
thousand men,3 and it appears that this corn was promptly
delivered. We thus have evidence that Essex was inhabited by
a powerful and numerous tribe, advanced in agriculture and the
arts,4 and there can be no doubt that even at this early period
there must have been large tracts of agricultural land
interspersed with the woodland tracts,
Tacitus and other ancient writers also give us much informa-
tion regarding Britain when it was first occupied by the Romans,
In a speech he imagined to have been made by Galgatus to
stimulate the Britons to rebellion, the latter is made to say "our
money is conveyed to their treasury and our corn to their
granaries, our limbs and our bodies are worn out in clearing
woods and in draining marshes."'
Mr. Henry Laver, F.L.S., tells me that a Roman burial was
found in a Red-earth hill on Fowlness Island. This island is
now some feet below high water mark, and it must have been
reclaimed some time before the end of the Roman period of our
history. Remains of Roman villas and burials have been found
throughout Essex, and the county is intersected by Roman
roads. We may, therefore, safely conclude that during the
Roman period extensive woodlands were cleared and marshes
reclaimed, agricultural operations being thus extended, with the
consequent reduction of woodland and waste. Pliny speaks of
the marl found in our Boulder-clay formation, and recommended
it as superior to chalk for fertilizing the land.6 The Britons
relied upon marling their land, even before the invasion by the
Romans. Thus we have ample evidence of advanced agriculture
in Essex at a very early period, and some indication of the parts
of the county under cultivation.
The Saxon Invasion came after the withdrawal of the
Roman soldiers, and this was followed by the incursions of the
Danes. The Saxons gradually spread over Essex.7 They
allowed the Roman villas to decay, or they burnt or otherwise
destroyed them, and erected their own houses, mainly built of
wood. They were an agricultural people and disliked town life,
3 Origenes Celticum. Guest, vol. 2, p. 353. 
4 See the pottery, coins, etc., in tho Colchester Museum, shewing the state of the arts and
industries in British times.
5 Tacitus, Agricola, 31.
6 Pliny, Lib. 17; also Elton, Origins of English History (1882), p. 119-120,
7 Social England. Trail. 1893. v. 11. p. 122.