CONGLOMERATE ALIGNMENT IN ESSEX 185
The eight Essex stones are as follows :—
Site Map ref. Remarks
Epping Upland ... 445045 Fragment in churchyard. Now in Author's
possession.
Magdalen Laver ... 513082 Foundations of N. wall of nave.
Beauchamp Roding 578(198 Lying in churchyard, S.E. of church.
Broomfield ...... 706104 In south wall, near porch.
Great Leighs...... 738156 Radially in round tower, protruding
through inner wall. Of Herts stone.
Fairstead ...... 767167 Base of N.W. corner of tower, almost
hidden by cement skirting.
Marks Tey ...... 911239 Base of N.W. corner of tower.
Fordham ...... 927281 Roadside by churchyard gate, now covered.
3. SUMMARY
We have accumulated sufficient evidence to show that this system extends
beyond Essex into the neighbouring counties, but hitherto we have not
been able to obtain a complete picture. Short lengths have been followed
in Suffolk and in Norfolk, where the same features are found in every
detail, with one important difference. North of the upper limit of the
Reading Beds, the material of the stone is no longer Hertfordshire
Conglomerate, but similar conglomerates from the glacial gravels. Never-
theless, every constituent boulder is an easily recognisable conglomerate.
There is no doubt that many of the original boulders have disappeared,
yet a remarkable number still remain, particularly in remote areas. Some
have been removed from their original positions to farm-gates and gardens,
and it is no longer possible to trace, in many places, the exact path the
original line traversed. On the other hand, there is no doubt that future
search will bring to light many more specimens.
The situation in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire is very different,
complicated by the overall widespread distribution of puddingstone in those
counties. The exhaustive and comprehensive work of Morley Davies and
his collaborators (Proc. Geol. Assoc. 64, 1, p.1) indicates only too well the
grave diffiiculties to be met with in any attempt to trace a definite alignment
throughout this area. Yet a few confirmatory indications are available.
There is a remarkable trail of boulders, placed, in some cases, only a few
hundred yards apart, leading from east to west through St. Albans; the
series from Cheshunt to Hatfield Park, in a part of the county unusually
free from puddingstone, which reflects in every detail the Holyfield section
on the opposite bank of the Lea; and the coincidence that our suspected
trail along the Chilterns, defined by the "pagan" stones at Chesham and
Bradenham churches, follows the general trail discovered by Morley Davies.
Weighed upon the evidence of these "pagan" stones alone, leading for
more than 100 miles from one Saxon church to another, the conclusion that
this is a man-made alignment is open to no alternative explanation, for it
cannot be denied that these stones had some special significance not
accorded to other boulders.