High Country History Group goes Online

 A new free-to-view website containing all the articles, talks etc of the High Country History Group has been launched today. Go to www.highcountryhistorygroup.org 

Closure of High Country History Group blog

 With the closure of the High Country History Group in summer 2026, this blog will be deleted at the end of September.

Closure of High Country History Group

 After 26 years the High Country History Group met for the final time in July 2026.

William Byrd @ Stondon: 'The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local Histo...

William Byrd @ Stondon: 'The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local Histo...: Tickets are now on sale for our talk about Stondon Massey's great composer. The event will be held on Friday 30 June at St Peter & S...

2023 Programme

 Our 2023 programme:

23 Feb: '1926' - our speaker is our Chairman, Martyn Lockwood

23 Mar: Annual General Meeting

27 Apr: 'John Ray' - Jennifer Rowland

25 May: Napoleonic Invasion Plans - Neil Wiffen

22 Jun: 'Jersey under the Jackboot: the occupation of Jersey during WW2' - Patrick Griggs

27 Jul: 'The Life and Times of William Byrd (c1540-1623): A Local History' - Andrew Smith

26 Oct: 'The Prison at Hill Hall' - Anne Padfield

23 Nov: Pre-Christmas meeting. Talk to be confirmed.

Admission: Members £1, Non-members £5

Annual Membership: £15 (Family: £30)

High Country History Group

 We have been back in our usual meeting place for just over a year following the pandemic.  Our 2023 programme will be posted here soon.

Lockdown Easing but Still on Zoom

The High Country History Group continues to meet monthly but on Zoom pending the ending of the current and unusual situation.  To become a member of the Group please and to receive links to meeting please contact us via the link. 

High Country History Group on Zoom

Keeping contact with our Members is a priority during these unprecedented times.  We will continue to produce the Journal quarterly, making it available by email to those who have this facility and in printed form to those members who are not online.

We experimented with a forty-minute informal meeting on Zoom on the day of our last scheduled meeting, 23 April, with some success.

This coming Thursday, 28 May, in a change to the originally advertised programme, Andrew Smith will talk about 'Rogationtide around Stondon Massey' showing a short film in Zoom and talking about Revd. Reeve's day of reenacting the beating of the bounds in 1909 using a document from 1828.

Members have received an invitation.  To join the High Country History Group please contact via this page.

High Country History Group. Meetings Suspended Until Further Notice

19 March 2020

Dear members

Suspension of meetings of

High Country History Group due to coronavirus outbreak

You will all be aware by now of the need for social distancing in light of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent a peak in demand from our health service.  We have seen within the last couple of days the closure of public buildings, including museums, and postponement of events such as Concerts.  Church buildings are also closed for Public Worship (although many church communities are being creative and doing things differently).

So sadly, you will not be surprised to learn that for the time being the High Country History Group will not be meeting.   Our AGM and talk for next week, 26 March, is therefore postponed.  Our meetings are therefore suspended “for the duration”, referencing the words used in 1939.

I will remain Secretary and Acting Treasurer until we hold an AGM, and Martyn will remain Chairman.  Our Committee will meet online by email as necessary.

We will continue to produce The Journal quarterly.  The March edition will be posted to you.

I therefore invite you to pay your membership fee for 2020/21 to help with this expense.  If you can do this online that would be appreciated otherwise a payment by cheque is acceptable and will be cleared when I next go to town and visit the Bank.  The membership form was attached to the AGM Papers, although I emphasise again the postponement of the AGM.

Although we meet only eight times a year, I am very conscious of the loss of social contact this will bring to many.  One of the strengths of these social groups is the opportunity to get together and share the things that we have in common, which might not only be an interest in history.  Doing things together is something most human beings do very well.

So I am going to ask you to do something. 

Next Thursday, when we will not be able to meet, would you mind sitting down and writing something for the Journal?    

Some ideas.   

Writing of your childhood memories. 

Boris Johnson says the country is on a wartime footing with government intervention in the economy as well as restrictions of movement. To what extent is that true? 

Did you live through the Second World War. What was it like?  Did people panic buy and hoard toilet rolls?

Or, are there any historic parallels with the Covid-19 outbreak?  I am thinking about ‘Foot and Mouth’ (2001); ‘Spanish Flu’ (1919), ‘Great Plague’ in London (1665) and Eyam Derbyshire (1665), the ‘Black Death’ (1348/49), not that many of you will remember the latter.

These are not essays, but just ideas.

Please send them all by email (or post to me). We can publish anonymously if you wish.  I know many of you are not writers but doing this together would be a lovely thing to do, and help us stay connected to one another.

My intention is to keep in contact with you as a Group.  If you do have a need please contact me.

With kind regards

Andrew Smith

Secretary

High Country History Group

High Country History Group Programme 2020

Update: 19 March 2020.  Due to the coronavirus outbreak our meetings are regrettably suspended until further notice.

Talks/Events – High Country History Group

2020

Date	Topic	Speaker
27 February	Tudor Education in Essex	Tony Tuckwell
26 March	Annual General Meeting	Committee
23  April	The Inns of Court	Rosemary Tiffen
28 May	The Plant Hunters	Maggie Piper
25 June	The Home Guard	Neil Wiffen
23 July	Life and Death in  the Workhouse	Dr. Mark Carroll
22 October	William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.	Mark Lewis
26 November

High Country History Group Programme 2019

The High County History Group meets on the fourth Thursday evening in the month at Toot Hill Village Hall, starting at 8pm.  Membership is £10 annually (£15 family membership).  Entrance fee to meetings £1 (Visitors £3), except AGM and Christmas when special refreshments are served members £2 (Visitors £5).

Our programme for 2019 is as follows

Date	Topic	Speaker
28 February	Postcards from the Front 1914-1919	Kate Cole.
28 March	Annual General Meeting.  ‘Empire Under Revolt’.  Amateur film shot by ‘Captain Ronald Reed in India, 1930-1932’ deposited at the Imperial War Museum	Andrew Smith
25  April	‘Tower of London and its prisoners.’	Brian Darcy
23 May	The Princess Alice Disaster 1878	Martyn Lockwood
27 June	The Darcy Spice Apple	Neil Wiffen
25 July	The National Memorial Arboretum	Maggie Piper
24 October	Talk to be announced	Anne Padfield
28 November	Blackmore Anniversaries	Andrew Smith

Blackmore Area Local History: Blackmore. Remembrance 100. 'For King and Country:...

Blackmore Area Local History: Blackmore. Remembrance 100. 'For King and Country:...: The book goes on sale following the talk. Free entry. Donations welcomed for the Royal British Legion.

'We Will Remember'. Thursday 22 November 2018

The High Country History Group commemorates the centenary of the end of the First World War with a talk to be given by Martyn Lockwood, its Chairman, entitled 'We Will Remember' at Toot Hill Village Hall at 8pm on Thursday 22 November 2018.  Admission £3 (Members £2) includes wine and mince pies. 

More Essex Churches. 'Then and Now'. 25 October 2018

The next meeting of the High Country History Group is on Thursday 25 October 2018, 8pm, at Toot Hill Village Hall.  Preceding the talk will be a short Extraordinary General Meeting with the proposal to change the financial year end from 28 February to 31 December annually.

We have a home-grown speaker this time.  Andrew Smith, Secretary in his role as Hon Archivist of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History has been delving again into two volumes of Victorian Essex churches photographs to present a second instalment of 'Essex Churches Then and Now. Part of a potential trilogy.

The Bardfield Painters. Thursday 28 June 2018.

Fed up with football on TV messing up the schedules?  Want to escape the nonsense and do something more interesting instead?  We have the answer.

On Thursday 28 June at 8pm Jacqui Eykelbosch will be giving a talk on The Bardfield Painters.  The village of Great Bardfield during the mid-twentieth century became a well-known artists’ colony, among them Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious.

Members £1.  Visitors £3.  Book stall and refreshments as usual.

This is a fixture you won’t want to miss.

Andrew Smith

High Country History Group

Epping Forest District Museum crowdfunding to buy Medieval Gold Ring found in Willingale

Save the Willingale Treasure!

Epping Forest District Museum has launched an appeal to save a medieval gold ring found in the parish of Willingale before the item goes on sale on the open market.

It is the first medieval gem set ring to be found in the district, and the first known finger-ring to be discovered in the parish of Willingale. The decoration is of an extremely high standard and, to the best of our knowledge, unique.

In total £11,500 is needed to acquire the ring and purchase a secure display case to house it, ensuring the ring  can be on free public display for generations to come. The campaign has already received support from the ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and SHARE Museums East and Epping Forest District Museum has committed funding from its reserves leaving £3000 to be raised.

If the target’s reached the ring will go on public display in the museum’s newly renovated Core gallery, saving it for current and future residents to enjoy. The museum would also ensure the long term preservation of the ring making it widely available to the public through free exhibitions, inclusion in the school education programme, public talks as well as the ring being made available for loan and research.

If the funding is not raised, the ring may be sold on the open market and possibly leave the UK permanently.

About the ring

Recently unearthed by a metal detectorist the ring is thought to date from c.1200-1399 based on stylistic similarities with other rings of this date. The method of manufacture is typical of the period, but is a particularly fine example of application and techniques.

This very well preserved example of a medieval sapphire set finger ring would have been worn by a wealthy medieval nobleman. The maker of this item is unknown – there are no identification marks.  However the craftsmanship of the piece demonstrates great skill and technical ability, from which it is possible to infer that the goldsmith responsible was highly accomplished in their craft.

Jewellery at this time was increasingly used to signify rank, especially after the passing of the 1363 Acts of Apparel, which restricted the wearing of jewellery, especially that containing precious metal or gemstones to the highest and wealthiest social classes.

Goldsmiths were always highly regarded, but as gold became more easily available, and people wealthier, trade flourished and they prospered during the 14^th Century.  This ring would allow this topic to be explored in more detail than the museum’s current collections allow.

Gemstones were thought to possess magical and medicinal powers in the medieval period - sapphires supposedly protecting chastity and uncovering deception, in addition to treating eye-ailments and hysteria, providing another area of investigation that would be enabled by the acquisition of this ring.

About Epping Forest District Museum

Epping Forest District Museum’s remit is to tell the human history of the Epping Forest District and is the only museum in the district that covers archaeology and social history acting as the archaeological depository for the area.

The museum holds a significant medieval collection, which is related to or was excavated from the Abbey of Waltham, including a 12^th Century bible. Other secular examples of medieval precious metal at the museum are coin hoards; this would balance our interpretation, demonstrating the aesthetic appeal of gold and its more obvious financial uses. 

The collection also includes some costume accessories; this would be a valued addition to show jewellery of the medieval period, and the changes of fashion in precious metals and gem-cutting.

The ring will serve as a resource for the museum’s education programme, showing the themes of metalworking including: development of decorative styles and manufacturing techniques; wealth, power and status; craft guilds and companies; and fashion.

This will serve to spark interest in new areas of history and attract new audiences to the museum as well as giving the museum the opportunity to engage with colleagues and institutions on regional and national levels, increasing the profile of the district and the service.

To make a donation towards Epping Forest District Museum’s campaign please visit www.spacehive.com/willingaletreasure

If you would like to know more about our campaign please get in touch with the team at the museum on museum@eppingforestdc.gov.uk or 01992 716882.

Epping Forest District Museum

39-41 Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 1EL

Opening times: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm

Twitter: @EFDMuseum  Facebook: facebook.com/EFDMuseum

Programme for 2018 Announced

Talks/Events – High Country History Group

2018

Date	Topic	Speaker
22 February	The Work and Collections of the Epping Forest Museum	Catherine Howard
22 March	Annual General Meeting and Film Show
26  April	The Budworth Family of High Laver, Greensted and Ongar.	Martyn Lockwood
24 May	One Day in the Battle of Britain – 29th October 1940	Neil Wiffen
28 June	The Bardfield Painters	Jacqui Eykelbosch
26 July	The Tidal Thames – its Folklore and Traditions	Mark Lewis
25 October	More Essex Churches ‘Then and Now’	Andrew Smith
22 November	Christmas Party and ???

Essex Churches Then and Now. Thursday 27 April 2017

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 27 April, 8pm, when Andrew Smith, in his role as Honorary Archivist of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History, will be giving a talk drawing on two albums of Victorian church photographs in the Society’s collection: ‘Essex Churches Then and Now’.

£1 admission for members of High Country History Group. Visitors welcome, £3. Refreshments as usual at the end of meeting.  Venue: Toot Hill Village Hall. Follow signs to The Green Man from Blake Hall Crossroads on A414 Ongar / North Weald. The Village Hall is just down the road on the left as you reach the pub.

High Country History Group AGM. Thursday 23 March 2017

Our AGM will be held on 23 March, 8pm, Toot Hill Village Hall.  All welcome.  To follow a film on rural Essex and cheese & wine.  Members: £2.  Visitors: £3

'Men of Valour: Victoria Cross winners in Essex': Thursday 23 February 2017

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 23 February, 8pm, when our Chairman, Martyn Lockwood, will speak on the subject 'Men of Valour - Victoria Cross winners in Essex'