6
Marsh Thistle and Upright Hedge Parsley. From
its banks we could see Fyfield Church. This
name originates from a word which means "five
hides"; a hide is an area of land that a man with
a good yoke of oxen could plough in one day.
After crossing the river at the second bridge,
we paused at Cannon's Green to view the church
again. At my feet I found no less a plant than
the Fyfield Pea. This introduced plant was
discovered at Fyfield in 1859, although it was
known to grow in the area since 1800.
Church towers form many of the land marks along
the Essex Way. We followed the tower of St.
Christopher in the old parish of Willingale Doe
to the churchyard. In the same churchyard is
St. Andrew in the old parish of Willingale Spain.
St. Christophers was built 200 years after
St. Andrews, probably because the first one was
too small to accommodate the population of the
area at that time, when the wool industry
flourished. Dr. Clopton Havers, who discovered
the Haversian Canals in bone tissue, is buried
in St. Christophers.
Cricket was being played at Willingale as we made
our way past a white house towards the beginning
of a long, green lane called Pepper's Lane.
This led to Pepper's Green and the old A 414,
where we finished our first day at the Fountains
Inn .
DAY 2. 30th July, 1984
Another glorious day found us walking across the
usual arable fields towards Good Easter Church,
perhaps named "good" because Lady Godiva in
Canute's reign gave her estate to the monastery
of Ely. It is more likely, however, that the