A survey of 1734 of three farms at Little Coggeshall near Roxwell totalling 603 acres, records
a huge number of elm trees suitable for timber, totalling 55% of the trees. (Rackham, 1986, in
the breakdown on page 221 the total numbers of pollard and timber trees have been accidentally
transposed.)
Elm is not uncommon in the green lanes of west Essex. Lloyd (1978) records some large
elms in Clapgate Lane and Puck Lane, to the west of Epping Forest. I have seen elm in many
other green lanes; also at Epping Long. Gibbons Bush and Sewers Green to the north-west of
Epping Forest, which collectively have large numbers of elm suckers on the boundary banks,
including English Elm and East Anglian Elm and possibly Hybrid (at Epping Long Green).
Sewardstone green lane has one Wych Elm in it, as well as English Elm suckers. English Elm
and a probable East Anglian Elm occur in the vicinity of Rugged Lane, Upshire. I have seen
several dead pollard elms, often ivy clad, in the hedgerows bordering lanes and roads in Essex.
Suckering elm is still a common feature of roadside hedgerows.
There is group of five East Anglian Elms at Wellfields in Loughton (TQ 433968). These
trees are former hedgerow elms incorporated into a modern housing development, the trees
being relics of the farm land acquired for the building of the Debden estate. The trees have been
regularly treated with a fungicide as a preventative measure against Dutch Elm Disease by
Epping Forest District Council (small bitumen-capped holes are visible on the lower trunk).
The trees in 1989 measured (g.b.h.): 9 ft; 8 ft. 3 in.; 7 ft. 7 in.; 6 ft. 10 in., and 5 ft. 4 in. Also
of note just around the corner in Church Lane (TQ 432967) are 9 Hybrid Elms (suckering so
presumably Ulmus x Hollandica nm. Hollandica). Another fine group of hedgerow elms are to
be found in the Wych hedge by the Cornmill Stream at Waltham Abbey (TQ 381007). There
are about 9 Wych Elm stools in the hedgerow here. When trimmed the regrowth produces some
enormous leaves, sometimes 7 in. or more long. This hedge may be of some antiquity; the
trackway is a long-established farm way. Wych Elm is otherwise uncommon as a hedgerow
tree in Essex. It is much more frequent in hedgerows in the west of Britain. A 'wichhegs'
(Wych hedge) is recorded in the manorial court rolls of Great Canfield (Richens, 1983) but the
'wich' is not necessarily Wych Elm. The names Wych and Elm seem to be interchangeable in
early Essex documents and do not refer to specific types of elm. It has been suggested that the
wicks or wics of Essex may refer to a type of elm but as Darby (1971) states 'The numerous
'wics' that enter into the names of small places along the coast (of south Essex) testify to the
primitive dairies of the marshes'.
An unusual set of elms occur in a hedgerow bordering a brook at Courtland Drive in Chigwell
(TQ 443934). Here are about 20 small elm trees 25-30 ft. high, apparently Hybrid Elms with
very large leaves which are smooth with long petioles: they may be young Huntingdon Elms.
The trees do not have the appearance of being suckers. Also at this site are East Anglian and
English Elm. An unusual elm also occurs here, is one with large broad leaves (p. 17 ) that
resembles American Rock Elm (Ulmus thomasii Sarg.) but it may be a multiple hybrid (between
the presumed Huntingdon Elm and English Elm).
Hedges of almost pure English Elm occur in the Barkingside - Aldborough Hatch area (TQ
4589). I assume these hedges were planted after the disafforestation and eventual destruction
of Hainault Forest in 1851 to define the boundaries of the newly acquired land.
I have seen East Anglian Elm 'laid' in hedgerows on two occasions, one near Great Bardfield
Hall and the other at Fyfield. On neither occasion did the tree appear to flourish under such
treatment. Mature East Anglian Elms survive in many hedgerows; those of Dengie are well
known. The largest single hedgerow tree I know of is a fine Oak-like Ulmus minor tree with a
g.b.h. of 9 ft. 6 in. growing in a hedgerow at the junction of the North Weald/Ongar and
Bobbingworth/Blake Hall Station Roads (TL 524053). In addition, smaller trees are found
further down the main road towards Ongar.
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