5) Place-names and Road-names
Essex has two villages with an elm element incorporated into the name: Elmdon and Elmstead.
Both are mentioned in Domesday book (1086). The elm element in both cases almost certainly
refers to the tree, although Reaney (1935) admits there is difficulty in interpreting the name
Elmdon.
It may actually refer to an Anglo-Saxon personal name but Reaney also states it could refer
to an elm-covered hill, as he adds, 'Elms abound in the neighbourhood'. On several village
greens specimen elms were to be found, cared for and cherished by generations of villagers,
some becoming notable trees i.e. those at Havering-atte-Bower (Plate 19) and Great Saling (Plate
14). Avenues were planted on a few commons. The fine avenue on Harlow Common (p. 75)
(now gone) is one example. An Elms Green at Danbury is marked on the Chapman and Andre
map of 1777, presumably so-called because of its elms.
Elms were also used as boundary and way markers. 'Cleft elm trees' are mentioned in an
early perambulation of Colchester; a 17th century perambulation of the parish of White Roding
mentions elms (Richens, 1983) and an elm marked with a cross defined part of the boundary of
the legal Forest (of Waltham) in a 17th century perambulation (Cole, 1892). Charles Benham
(1894) records the discovery of the letters B.P. growing under the bark of an elm tree blown
down in a gale. The elm, growing near Cannock Mill on the Donyland Road near Colchester,
was a former boundary marker of the parish of St. Botolph's. The letters B.P. had, in time, been
covered over by the bark and growing wood of the tree. In days before maps were widely
available trees could be used as a way of guiding people to their destination. Such trees included
Adams Elm and the Church Elm at Dagenham (see Fig. 6 and Fig. 7). Another mention of way
marking trees may be in an entry in the quarter sessions directed against the inhabitants of West
Hanningfield for 'pulling up a bridge on the highway leading from 'the three elms' there to
Chelmsford and for making a washe (ford) of the same' (Pusey, 1980). An earlier survey of
1628 mentions the highway leading from the Three Elms to South Hanningfield Tye (Pusey,
1980). These elms may have later given their name to a public house. Elm is not apparently a
common name for an inn but the 'Church Elm' at Dagenham and another formerly called 'The
Elms' in Leytonstone High Road are two I have come across. There is also an Elm Hotel in
Leigh.
There are numerous 'Elm Farms' and 'Elm Cottage' in Essex, usually so called because of
the proximity of elms to the building. Of particular interest is a name I have seen on an old
photograph from the Great Saling area of a cottage (or place) called Four Elms. In almost every
reference to elm names I have come across the number of elms has been odd (and not just in
Essex, e.g. Seven Sisters and Nine Elms). Plate 16 depicts Five Elms at South Benfleet.
Elm is a fairly frequent lane, road, close or street name in Essex. An early example is Elme
stret, Clavering 1433 (Reaney, 1935). I know of at least thirty road names with elm incorporated,
gleaned from various county street guides. Some are probably quite old, others are fairly recent.
An Elm Close at Buckhurst Hill probably has nothing to do with elms. It is one of a number of
roads with tree names. There are a number of obvious links with local features long since gone.
Elmfield Road usually commemorates the name of the field the housing estate was built on. I
know of one road named after a specific elm, the Lion Avenue at Maldon, named for the Lion
tree (Plate 12). Hainault has an Elmbridge Road, apparently for the obvious reason. Wickelme
Ponds are mentioned in West Ham in the 17th century (Richens, 1983).
There is a White Elm Farm at Bicknacre. At the nearby White Elm Crossroads, local legend
has it, a notorious highwayman was hung and buried at the crossroads (the usual fate for
suicides), allegedly with an elm stake through his body.
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