188 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
unearthed a quantity of Romano-British pottery fragments, including one piece
of "Samian" ware, all datable about the end of the 1st century, A.D. No coins
and no evidence of a villa or settlement have as yet been found.
Continuing along a green lane and skirting well-tilled fields sown with
promising corn crops, the manor farm adjoining Netteswell church was reached :
here, by permission of the tenant, the really magnificent Manorial Barn, some
80 ft. in length by 35 feet in breadth, of six. bays, exhibiting fine examples of
curved oak trusses and braces, was inspected. Traces still remain on the walls
of the oaken pegs from which used to hang the nets employed in the nearby
fishponds, whose sites are seen to the north of the church.
In the church itself Mr. Fisher mounted the pulpit, and favoured the party
with an interesting description of the structure, drawing particular attention to
the fragments of ancient glass inserted in the nave-windows, the remains of the
three lancet lights now replaced by a Perpendicular window in the E wall, the
two benches, dating from circa 1400, which still exist, the remnants of the three-
decker pulpit (date 1618), now reused in part in the present pulpit and in part
as a cupboard in the vestry, and, externally on the south wall, the curious red
terra cotta panel, of date about 1470 to 1490, which is interpreted as a rebus on
the Waltham abbot of that period.
Leaving the church, the visitors were conducted to a shallow well some little
distance to the east, with a tumulus adjacent; to the north faint evidences of
earthworks, which may be indicative of a prehistoric camp or dwelling site, were
inspected.
Lunch was taken in charming surroundings, a meadow adjoining a larch-
wood, the party seated upon piles of freshly-felled larch poles : after which a
short formal meeting of the Club was held, with Mr. C. Hall Crouch as chairman,
when Mr. Philip B. Hindell, of 13, Pulteney Road, South Woodford, E.18, was
elected a member.
A further cross-country walk through a perfectly delightful countryside
followed, until the park of Mark Hall at Latton was (by kind permission) traversed
and Latton Church visited. Here, too, Mr. Fisher gave an account of the fabric,
remarking that although a church certainly existed here in early Norman times,
one being mentioned in Domesday, few or no traces of this are evident in the
present building, although the use of Roman tile quoins in the east wall suggests
that these may be reused from the earlier church : the Tower arch is a well-
proportioned feature of the interior and the Arderne Chapel, with the altar-tomb
between the Chancel and it, with the fine brasses to Sir Peter Arderne and wife
Katharine, date 1467, the faint traces of frescoes on the Chapel walls and a
hagioscope, are noteworthy. Exteriorly, the W. Tower is a very picturesque
element in the landscape. At this point, Mr. Fisher left the party, after the
Hon. Secretary had voiced the thanks of the visitors to him for his good offices
during the day
A further short walk through the grounds of Mark Hall brought the party
to Harlow town, where tea was taken at a picturesque half-timbered cafe, The
Gables, at 4 o'clock. After Miss Hockaday had been duly thanked for her
organisation of the local arrangements the party dispersed.
During the ramble the botanical members noted 72 species of plants in flower,
these mostly of common sorts ; a fine mass of Caltha palustris in a woodland dell,
Viburnum Lantana (indicative of Chalky Boulder Clay), and early flowers of
Scandix Pecten-Veneris, were interesting records. A large bush of Field Maple
(Acer campestre), full of blossom, was much admired.
Birds were not particularly noted on this occasion, but Nightingale, Willow
Warbler and Cuckoo were heard and Martin and Magpie seen ; but not a Swift
or Swallow, though these are now back in this country.
NATURE RAMBLE IN THE BRENTWOOD DISTRICT (826th MEETING).
SATURDAY, 20TH JUNE, 1942.
A small party of seventeen members assembled at Brook Street, at the foot
of the long hill leading up to Brentwood, at 11.30 a.m. A haze, indicative of
a hot day, veiled the distant views of a beautiful countryside now in its mid-
summer glory.
The purpose of the ramble was largely botanical, the indefatigable zeal of
our conductor, Miss Prince, ably seconded by Miss Greaves, ensuring especial
interest in that branch of natural history.