37
and a dark abdomen with a row of regular yellow
dots on the left and right hand side. It is
also quite hairy with pale and reddish brown
hairs; its most unusual habit is making its
nest from the soft hairs of plants such as
Mullein (Verbascum) and Lamb's—ear which
gives the bee its English name.

On the 1st June I had a day trip to Dengie.
The weather once again was good (if rather
cloudy, and it did bring the first rain for
weeks later in the evening). My first stop
was the little 7th century Bt. Peter's Chapel
on the sea-wall. This chapel, built of
re-used Roman tile, Kentish ragstone and tufa
and oolitic limestones (the latter three from
outside Essex), is a marvellous survival from
the dark ages - it has looked out across the
Essex marshes for thirteen centuries. The
chapel was in use (as a chapel-of-ease) in the
16th century and was at some time in the 17th
turned into a barn and so it stayed until 1920
when it was reconsecrated, becoming once again
a place of worship. Some restoration work has
been carried out, the roof all but one tie-
beam, was renewed in 1947. I wander if any of
the timber removed was contemporary with the
actual building of the chapel and if there is
any record of the species of tree used and its
method of working (i.e. adze and axe)?
From here I walked onto the sea—wall and turned
southwards, noting the cockleshell spit, made
up of millions of cockle (and other species)
shells, in places several feet thick. The
wildlife, too, is interesting, with all the
usual birds, plants and other animals typical