THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 145
were no more careful of their charge. In 1630 it was presented to the
Forest Courts that a great stone bridge called Bow Bridge and a certain
other stone bridge called Charl . . bridge, otherwise Channeles
bridge, both in the Forest in the parish of Westham, and a certain path,
in English a 'causeway' leading from Bow Bridge to the vill of Stratford
Langthorne, were ruinous broken and in great downfall for default of
repair and mending thereof; and that Henry Mewtys of West Ham, by-
reason of a certain mill (called Wiggen Mill) and lands of which he was
tenant and which were situate near the site of the late monastery of
Stratford Langthorne, ought to repair the said bridges and causeway:
and he saying nothing in bar, the sheriff was ordered to distrain upon his
lands.
In later post-Dissolution times maintenance of the bridges and cause-
ways was provided for by a special rate, which was levied on all lands
formerly belonging to the suppressed Stratford Langthorne Abbey ; which
rate, confirmed by a High Court judgment in 1691, continued to be levied
until modern times, when, in 1876, after compensation paid, an Act of
Parliament imposed the burden of repair on the West Ham Local Board,
now become the County Borough of West Ham.
In 1741 the width of the two bridges, originally only 13 feet between
the parapets, was increased to 21 feet. In 1835, Bow Bridge was entirely
demolished and rebuilt, when, in spite of the repeated repairs and res-
torations, which probably left little of Queen Maud's work remaining,
the wheel-tracks due to traffic over the roadway of the old bridge were
found to have worn into ruts 6 to 8 inches deep in the stone, and to within
3 or 4 inches of the soffits of the arches.
At the present time, the width of the "causeway," now the Stratford
High Street, is about 50 feet and is wholly inadequate for the vast amount
of traffic which, as the principal road out of London into Essex; it has
to carry. The West Ham Corporation is now engaged in widening this
busy highway to 100 feet.
During the afternoon various large-scale photographs of the buildings
visited were kindly exhibited to the party by Miss E. A. Greaves, from
the Club's collection.
NATURE-RAMBLE IN THE EPPING UPLAND DISTRICT
(716TH MEETING).
SATURDAY, 13TH MAY, 1933.
This ramble was planned mainly for natural history purposes, for
the study of wild flowers, birds, etc., in the field. Miss Elsie Greaves and
Miss Edith Prince assumed responsibility for the identification of the
plants noted during the walk, other members kept a list of the birds seen or
heard, and the hon. secretary acted as topographical guide to the party.
Steady rain for several hours during the early morning necessitated a
partial alteration of the route proposed, country lanes being substituted,
by general consent, for the cross-country field walk originally intended,
but the weather cleared by 11 o'clock and caused no discomfort.
The party of nearly thirty assembled outside St. John's Church in
Epping High Street at 11 o'clock and proceeded by way of Bury Lane
to Eppingbury Farm, and so across the Cobbins Brook and by short field
path to Epping Upland, "herborizing" on the way.