52
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
MEETING IN THE LITTLE WARLEY AND BRENTWOOD
DISTRICT (775TH MEETING).
SATURDAY, 1ST MAY, 1937.
Over thirty members managed to reach the appointed place of assembly,
the southern end of Little Warley Lane, at 10.45 o'clock, notwithstanding
the traffic derangement caused by a general strike of the London 'busmen
which began on that morning.
A walk along the lane northwards soon brought the party to Little
Warley Hall, which was kindly thrown open for our inspection by Mr. and
Mrs. W. H. Norris. The Hall, a small, attractive early 16th century-
building, has before been visited by our Club, but its present owners have
carried out various alterations and furnished it to conform with its original
condition, so that its appearance today is in marked contrast with its
somewhat derelict state of a few years since. After a thorough inspection
of this charming little dwelling the Hon. Secretary voiced the thanks of
the company to Mrs. Norris for the privilege accorded it, and a move was
made for the nearby church of St. Peter, Little Warley, where the rector,
the Rev. L. J. Harding, welcomed the party, and where our leader, Mr.
John Salmon, called attention to the salient features of the edifice. This
small church retains its old-time box-pews and a portion of its Jacobean
pulpit : the rood-stair remains and the 4-way central kingpost in the
roof of the very short nave is a conspicuous feature : the plain red brick
W. Tower was built in 1718. Set in the N. wall of the nave, inside the
church, is a curious figure of Father Time, complete with hour-glass, which
was dug up in the churchyard. The church contains elaborate monu-
ments to members of the Strutt family, of 17th century date, and a good
half-length brass to Anne, wife of John Terrell, in the fashionable Paris
head-dress, 1592.
Taking leave of the rector, the party proceeded along the lane until
Warley Lodge was reached, in whose extensive grounds, by kind per-
mission of Mr. R. P. Bendall, lunch was taken, followed by a delightful
ramble through the surrounding woods, now carpeted with bluebells,
wood anemones, red campion, ground ivy, wood sorrel, and patches of
daffodils. At 2.15 o'clock a long cross-country ramble was begun
through the charming well-wooded country of Childerditch Common and
Thorndon Park.
On reaching Thorndon Hall, now in the hands of the Thorndon Park
Golf Club, who hold a lease of the property until 1944, and by whose
courtesy the Hall was visited, the party was met by the Rev. Canon
C. T. Kuypers and conducted into the Chapel, opened in 1770, and the
adjoining Library. Canon Kuypers traced the history of the estate from
the time of Sir Lewis John, a Welsh wine-merchant, who acquired it about
the year 1410, and who built the first house on the site: the existing Hall
was erected 1764-1770, and was largely destroyed by fire in 1878, the
whole of the central portion being gutted and remaining to-day an empty
shell covered by a more recent roof. The traces of the disastrous fire are
evident on the flaked and discoloured stone heads of the windows: owing
to the enormous cost of restoration this has not been attempted.
After the Hon. Secretary had thanked Canon Kuypers, on behalf of
the company, for his kind guidance, the visitors made their way to the