THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 221
or on the rails of a wooden foot-bridge over the infant Roding, to escape
the damp ground.
At New Hall, a thorough inspection of the older remains was made,
by permission of the occupier, Mr. R. Stevenson. The crow-stepped south
gable, rising abruptly from the waters of the moat, a remnant of the
original manor house built by one of the Joscelyne family in the early
sixteenth century, presented a charming picture ; as did the now detached
fragment (known in recent times as "the Chapel"), formerly the entrance
porch to the central portion of the original, but now demolished, building,
with its mellow red bricks and elaborately moulded doorway and inner
doorway, the latter, with the former side windows, now bricked up. ft
was observed with regret that repairs seem to be urgently necessary if
this charming little Tudor fragment is to be rescued from impending
destruction. The huge barn attached to the farm—a magnificent example,
over 200 feet in length, of bricknogging between vertical oak studding, was
also inspected, within and without, and elicited the outspoken admiration
of the visitors.
A fine specimen of an eel-spear, noticed on the wall of "the Chapel,"
was kindly presented to the Club, for its museum, by Mr. Stevenson and
was carried off by the Honorary Secretary in triumph.
The ramble was continued, by green lane, fieldpath and road, past
Marsh Farm to Great Canfield : this part of the route was somewhat
muddy, and the party soon acquired generous samples of the local soil
upon their footgear : rain, too, which later became persistent, began to
fall, but entirely failed to damp the good spirits of the company.
At the parish church of St. Mary and St. Peter, Great Canfield, the
vicar, the Rev. J. M. Wilson, welcomed the party and gave a most interest-
ing account of the fabric, which is an unspoilt Norman structure. He
pointed out the earliest relic in the church, believed to be a fragment of
a Saxon preaching cross, now built in as part of the Norman abacus to
the south of the chancel arch. Mr. Wilson also called attention to the
swastikas cut into the W. jamb of the Norman S. doorway, and, of course,
directed special attention to the well-preserved fresco of the Virgin and
Child, of mid-13th century date, in the centre panel of the E. wall
of the chancel. The brasses to the Wyseman family, the elaborately
moulded 17th century chest in the vestry, the parish registers and the fine
Elizabethan chalice, were in turn appreciatively examined.
The visitors next adjourned to the nearby earthwork, known as Canfield
Mount, a Norman erection comprising mound, bailey and outer enclosure,
still in good preservation, but much overgrown, Mr. Salmon gave an
account of this and exhibited a plan of the earthwork.
From Great Canfield, the route lay by footpath across the fields to
High Roding Street, where the parish cage, built in 1838 and now utilised
to house the parish bier, was inspected. Rain was by this time falling
heavily and this cut short the inspection of the picturesque village street,
with its many thatched cottages. The vehicles were hurriedly regained,
and the party was soon safely housed in the rectory at Aythorpe Roding,
where a warm welcome and generous hospitality awaited the bedamped
visitors at the hands of the Reverend A. R. Thurlow and Mrs. Thurlow.
After a very welcome tea, a short formal meeting of the Club was held