140
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB—REPORTS OF
MEETINGS.
PHOTOGRAPHIC AND PICTORIAL SURVEY OF ESSEX.
ANNUAL MEETING.
Saturday, June 15th, 1907.
THE second annual meeting of the Photographic Survey (which is a
Committee of the Club) was held on this day in the Kelvedon and;
Coggeshall district1.
Probably no better place in the northern half of Essex could have been
selected for the meeting than Coggeshall, an unfrequented little town near
Kelvedon, which is full of historic buildings, and always a happy hunting-ground
for the antiquary.
The party met at Kelvedon at about 11 o'clock, conveyances being provided'
at the station. Unfortunately, the day's proceedings were sadly interfered with
by the wretched weather conditions. Whether the visitors had preconceived
notions of what was in store for them, so far as the elements were concerned,
cannot be stated, but it was very remarkable, seeing that the excursion was
arranged chiefly in the interests of the photographers, that cameras should have
been conspicuous by their absence. Sir Benjamin Stone, M.P., President of
the National Photographic Record Association, a distinguished visitor, was
fully equipped with all the necessary photographic apparatus, but there was little
or no chance of that gentleman or any others taking good pictures. One member
aptly put it that it would be well if some of them returned in the evening, and.
took snap-shots by flash-light. Mr. Miller Christy, the President of the Club
acted with Mr. Victor Taylor, Hon. Secretary of the Photographic Record
Committee, and the Rev. J. W. Kenworthy, as principal leaders during the day.
At Little Coggeshall, where the first halt was made, the Abbey was visited,
a welcome being offered, in the absence of the Vicar, by the Rev. G. McMorran..
Interesting facts concerning St. Nicholas Chapel at Little Coggeshall, now used
for services on Friday morning, were given by Mr. Kenworthy. He said that
the chapel was in reality an appanage of the extensive Abbey that once stood
there, and the remains of which are still to be seen in adjoining pasture land.
The chapel, though now in use and beautifully restored, was some years ago
utilised for agricultural purposes, and it was only after the expenditure of some
£1,100 that it was brought into its present state. Built probably about 1250,
special interest attached to the construction of the building, the walls of which
contain specimens of the comparatively few bricks made in Essex about that
time. After that period brickmaking in Essex practically ceased, and it was not
till 1450 that it was again carried on. These bricks, which excited such curiosity
on Saturday, varied in length from 18 to 20 inches; they were made, so it was-
said, about four miles from Halstead. A few hundred yards from the chapel,
what appeared to be a cluster of fairly substantial farm buildings turned out to
be part of the remains of the old Abbey, which were in a very excellent state of
preservation, considering the uses to which it is now put. A unique feature was,
as the President observed, the moulded brickwork, which was also clearly
discernible at St. Nicholas Chapel. The cart-shed, kindly cleared by the owner
1 The following account is largely compiled from the excellent report of the meeting in the
East Anglian Daily Times of June 17th, 1907.