REPORTS OF MEETINGS 223
imagination. This felicitous arrangement of stone and bronze gave the
naturalists au opportunity to study the sculptor's interpretation of our
native otter.
Past Warner's Mill, of Royal velvet fame, through Sible Hedingham to
Great Yeldham with its mighty oak, and so across the Stour to Clare in
Suffolk.
The great church of (Tare, surrounded by the pink pargetted buildings
of the village, claimed all our attention for a short time. We heard of the
troubles occasioned by the large number of bats inhabiting the church, and
found a number of the little animals, but not one of us could put a name
to the species. Nor could we suggest any remedy, short of a new Pied Piper
—possibly with a supersonic pipe !
Along the Stour valley are many delightful villages which might lay claim
to the title of the Prettiest Village in England, and Cavendish is such a
village. We stopped here for lunch on the green and a poke in the pond for
leeches. Next came a short stop in Long Melford to inspect the church, and
then on to Rodbridge Corner to meet the Suffolk naturalists.
Our neighbours had arranged to show us two disused gravel pits, part
filled with water and an abundant growth of wild plants. The first pit
is already on the way back to cultivation with the aid of bulldozers and the
tractor-drawn plough and a crop of barley of malting quality has already been
harvested. Still the Mallard flew and the Mute Swan nested in the pits on
some sort of uneasy terms with man. The second pit, situated just on
the Essex side of the river, is much larger in extent. Here our guide, Mr.
Harvey, told of the colonisation by Sand-Martins of the now-vanished sand
cliffs, and here Purple Loosestrife and Gipsywort still held sway. A local
fisherman stood in the rain and told tales of ferocious Pike and playing
Otters; we picked frogs out of the grass and told each other that we should
come back here again.
All too soon we were in Long Melford for an excellent tea at the Bull
Inn. After tea a short meeting was held during which Mr. and Mrs.
J. A. P. Hall, of 1, Avon Road, Walthamstow, E.17, were elected to
membership. When the meeting had been concluded with mutual words
of appreciation and thanks a few of us went back to take our farewell
of the village green and the magnificent church, glad that we had been to
"see the coloured counties and hear the larks so high".
Pre-Conquest Churches (965th Meeting)
SATURDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER, 1953
A party of some thirty members visited by coach a number of the pre-
Conquest church sites in Essex, under the guidance of Dr. and Mrs. E. A.
Rudge.
Essex is particularly rich in pre-Conquest sites, and the remoteness of
parts of the county has contributed to the survival of many original features
of Saxon origin. A very wide itinerary was made in order to cover as many
aspects as possible.
Our first call was at Ingatestone, to inspect the sarsen fragment in the
churchyard from which the village derives its name. This stone was found
under the organ-loft during alterations some years ago; and it is believed
that the two sarsens at the corner of the Fryerning road are parts of the
same large boulder, broken in early Christian days.
At Little Braxted, near Witham, the church is of Saxon origin, consider-
ably restored. The interior is decorated with modern wall-paintings. One
of the interesting features about this church is the fact that it is built
largely of a local puddingstone found during excavations for the founda-
tions. The church at Inworth, a few miles further east, is of similar