THE CLUB AND ITS WORK.
11
scripts relating to Epping Forest, is deposited at the Epping Forest
Museum, in Queen Elizabeth's Lodge; but by far the greater part is
now housed at the Club's Head-quarters, the Essex Museum of Natural
History, at Stratford, in an excellent room allotted for the purpose
under the Club's agreement with the Corporation of West Ham.
The scientific books in the library will be supplemented largely by
the special set of monographs, student treatises, and handbooks, pur-
chased from "The Museum Fund"; but these cannot be removed
from the building.
General Scientific Results.—The most tangible and enduring
evidences of the scientific work carried on steadily by the Club during
the past quarter of a century (other than its establishment of a
Library and two Local Museums, as noticed already) are to be found
in its various publications.
The pages of the many volumes already issued are occupied by
hundreds of papers, reports, and notes, upon geology, natural
history, and pre-historic archaeology. Nearly all are essentially local
in character (that is to say, they relate almost wholly to the County
of Essex) and are the result of original observation and research.
The number of them is so great that no enumeration of them can
be attempted here; but the reader may be referred to an excellent
summary of the more important of them which appears in Prof.
Meldola's Address already noticed.* It may be said of them, how-
ever, that, from the scientific point of view, their collective value
is such that no local scientific society of the kind would have any
cause to feel ashamed of and that none of equally-modest member-
ship, age, and means has ever exceeded the scientific output of the Club.
For the greater part of the matter which has appeared in its
publications, the Club has been indebted to the researches and investi-
gations of its individual members. In some cases, however, the
Club as a body has undertaken original investigations which have
yielded interesting results. These have been carried out, for the
most part, with pecuniary assistance from members and friends;
for the ordinary income of the Club is barely sufficient to enable
it to carry on its every-day business and routine work.
In 1880 and 1882, in the very early days of the Club, it
undertook exploratory work to ascertain the age and nature of the two
well-known prehistoric " Camps " in Epping Forest (Ambresbury
Banks and the Loughton, or " Cowper's," Camp), and very carefully-
written reports on them were published.†
Another investigation over which much time and money was spent
was the exploration of the mysterious Deneholes at Grays Thurrock,
undertaken in the years 1883 and 1887. The results were described in
a very full and well-illustrated report, drawn up by Mr. T. V. Holmes. J
It is not too much to claim that this report embodies all that can be
usefully put forward as ascertained fact and rational theory with regard
to these curious pits, which have puzzled antiquaries for centuries.
Photographic and Pictorial Survey of Essex.—This was
inaugurated on the 8th July 1905, at a meeting held, by invitation of
the Countess of Warwick, at Easton Lodge. Full particulars will
be found on page 20.
* The Coming of Age of the Essex Field Club, pp. 3-39.
† See Transactions, vol. ii, pp. 55-68, and vol. iii, pp. 212-230.
‡ See Essex Naturalist, vol. i, pp. 225-276 ; also Meldola's Coming of Age of the Essex
Field Club, pp. 22-24.