Journal of Proceedings. xxxv
of country lying between Buckhurst Hill and Roydon. Many of our
colleagues were away from home, including the President, but neverthe-
less twenty-eight members occupied the two "breaks" which started
about ten o'clock from the " Bald-faced Stag," Buckhurst Hill. The
first halt was in the Forest at Ambresbury Banks, where Mr. Meldola
gave a short account of the discoveries recently made during the Club's
excavations, full particulars of which were given in the 'Transactions,'
vol ii., pp. 58-68, and 'Proceedings,' vol. ii., pp. xxviii-xxxiii. At the
fifteenth milestone we turned off to the left from the main road, and
drove through the pleasant lanes to Epping-bury, and so to the church.
The change of geological character of the soil, from the London clay to
the patch of chalky-boulder clay, was at once indicated by the appearance
of the "Traveller's Joy" (Clematis) in the hedges, and many trees of
Wych-Elm (Ulmus montana) were noticed. The church (All Saints) is
situated in the hamlet of Epping Upland or Old Epping, on the high
ground, overlooking the little valley of the Cobbin Brook, with only some
half-a-dozen houses around it. Here the Secretary gave some particulars
of the history and construction of the church, and in doing so gladly
acknowledged his indebtedness to Mr. W. Winters, F. E. Hist. Soc. (the
well-known Waltham Antiquary) who had most kindly given him notes
and references for the purpose of the meeting. Mr. Cole concluded by
referring with regret to the wholesale character of the recent "restora-
tion" of the church, and the consequent loss of some of the fine carvings
and other features of considerable antiquarian interest. He considered
such work but destruction under the guise of restoration, an opinion to
which Mr. Greville Williams, F.E.S., and others of our party gave hearty
assent. The carved seats are nearly all gone, and the fine carved font-cover
was unearthed lying on the floor of a shed amid heaps of manure ! This
is a matter that can only need mentioning in order to be redressed.
Fortunately the craze of the modernizers apparently exhausted itself in
the "restoration" of the interior, and the churchyard still presents a
pleasing old-world picture of rural quiet and retirement. Many owls
live in the belfry of the old red-brick tower, and on a summer's evening,
as the dusk falls upon the landscape, and the great birds beat with silent
wings over the meadows below, it is difficult for the resting wayfarer to
realize the fact that only a few miles separate the secluded hamlet from
the busy streets of London.
Then a half-hour's ride through lanes and bye-roads, by Epping Long-
Green and the breezy Nazing-common, during which some really fine
views over a vast stretch of country, Essex, Middlesex, and Hertford-
shire, were obtained, brought the party to Nazing Church, where we
were met by the rector, the Rev. R. P. Waller, Mr. E. Henty, Mr. Palmer,
and other residents. The church having been viewed, the Secretary read
the following notes on the neighbourhood, which he had rapidly put
together, again freely owning the great assistance he had received from
Mr. Winters (who had made a special study of the history of Nazing)