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surviving trees. Wych Elm in south-west Essex
seems also to have survived intact, although it
is rather uncommon in Essex. I know of only
four or five trees in Epping Forest. East
Anglian Elm has had rather a mixed fortune. In
some places some rather unhealthy looking trees
are hanging on, while nearby other trees have
been reduced to suckers. Likewise, hybrid
elms, of which there are many to be found from
mid-Essex northwards, also seem to have
suffered extensively from Dutch elm disease.
In the booklet I intend to include a section on
uses of elm in Essex. Elm was generally only
used as a second best to oak, particularly for
structural timber in buildings, but elm was so
common in Essex hedgerows it had to be used.
Uses included coffin boards, the hubs of cart
wheels, wooden mallet heads and the dished
seats of chairs. Its durability under
waterlogged conditions led to its use in water
mains in towns such as Colchester and Chelms-
ford. I have not as yet come across any
domestic buildings whose framework was entirely
of elm, but Mountnessing windmill, a beauti-
fully restored post mill, has much of its
structural timber of elm, including the
spectacularly massive post and the crown tree
which sits on top of it. These timbers have
supported the mill since 1807, and such massive
timbers must have been well over a hundred and
fifty years old when the elm tree was felled to
produce them.
I have also a number of queries and I wonder if
any members could shed any light on these
particular aspects of elm in Essex.