xxxviii Journal of Proceedings.
the 4th, 1555, for his attachment to the Reformed Religion. At the stake
pardon was offered him if he would recant; but he heroically refused, and
history told them, "The fire was put under him, and when it had taken
hold of both his legs and shoulders, he as feeling no smart washt his
hands in the flame, as tho' it had been in cold water, and after lifting up
his hands to Heaven, not removing the same until such time as the
devouring fire had consumed them, most mildly this happy martyr
yielded up his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father." As another
illustration of church history in Chigwell, they might remember Dr.
Emmanuel Utie as Rector. The living was sequestered by order of
Parliament, on the 12th of July, 1643, the charge against him being for
that he hath affirmed "that there hath beene no true religion in England
these forty years, and that he loved the Pope with all his heart," and
"that if the devil himself would have holy orders put upon him, he
would be inspired of the Holy Ghost, &e." Mr. Unwin regretted that he
could find but little record of the ladies in Chigwell; one, however, he
could not forget, viz., Mrs. Joan Simpson (a lady who took in washing,
he was told); in 1357 she left funds in Chigwell, the proceeds of which
were to be applied to keeping up the footpath from Abridge to Winn
Bridge, Snakes Lane; to this lady, those who have to tramp that road
must be ever grateful.
Mr. Unwin said he had told the story of Chigwell, as far as he had
time to make research and jot down what he could learn. He thought
that for a rural village it might stand by any other in the county, at least
for interesting associations. In a few sentences at the close of his paper Mr.
Unwin referred to some resemblances between the names of the characters
in ' Barnaby Rudge' and existing names in Chigwell; and pointed out
that the King's Head at Chigwell was really Dickens's "Maypole," the
name being transferred by him from the Inn at Chigwell Bow. Opposite
the latter Inn there used to stand a post, as to the nature of which Mr.
Unwin stated that he had once made inquiry of a labourer, who at once
asserted it to be a maypole. "I did not deny it," said Mr. Unwin, "but I
doubted it" : and he proceeded to say that it was certainly not a maypole,
but a whipping-post, or part of a pillory. It had since been moved, but
he did not know by whom. The assertion that Queen Elizabeth slept at
the "King's Head"—in the oak-panelled room, the "Chester room"—Mr.
Unwin deemed at least probable. The house was built in the time of
Henry the Eighth, and as they knew that Queen Elizabeth had hunting-
lodges in the neighbourhood he considered it very likely that, if she had
not slept she had at any rate paused there to taste the ale or the sack.
It was also added that the earliest date in the existing register of the
church is 1555.
Mr. A. Lister, F.L.S., and the President having thanked the author for
his interesting paper, a short walk across the fields (still somewhat damp
from the recent rains) led the members of the party to Oakhurst, where
they were warmly welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. A large collection