Extracts from the
Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society (now the Essex Society for
Archaeology and History).
From
‘Transactions New Series, Volume 10 Part 2’ (1907)
A
new series begins with St Edmund, whose body was moved from London to
Suffolk in 1013. His Feast Day is
commemorated on 20 November.
GREENSTEAD
AND THE COURSE OF ST. EDMUND'S TRANSLATION.
BY
I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A.
Delivered
(in part) 6th October, 1906.
This
seems a suitable occasion on which to say something as to the course taken by
those who conveyed the remains of St. Edmund back to Beodricsworth (now Bury
St. Edmonds) in A.D. 1013 and may be, to controvert the idea that this church
was erected as a temporary resting place.
The
story of the translations of the remains is full of charm but would occupy too
much time to tell. The death, or martyrdom, of Edmund at the hands of pagan
Danes took place in A.D. 870. Thirty-three years later the body, said to be incorruptible,
was translated from Hoxne -Wood near Eye in Suffolk, where he was slain, to
Beodricsworth where it remained for over one hundred years.
It
is stated that miracles and wondrous healings took place and the shrine drew
crowds of pilgrims whose offerings enriched the monastery at Beodricsworth, henceforward
known as St. Edmund's Bury, or Bury St. Edmunds. But in A.D. 1010 the Danes,
under Turchil, pillaged Suffolk and the monks of Bury fled in panic, then a
faithful monk named Ailwin literally carted the saint’s remains by devious and
obscure tracks to London - helped by sundry miracles on the way. There Ailwin
deposited his charge in the church of St. Gregory by St. Paul, afraid to take
it into the cathedral lest the bishop should permanently retain it. As at Bury,
so in London, the relics proved a source of wealth, pilgrims crowding to touch
the shrine. Peace of a sort was made
with the Danes and in 1013 the monks of Bury, after much contest with Aelfhun,
Bishop of London, possessed themselves of the remains, and commenced that
return to Bury which is of special interest to us. Very different from the
secret, silent journey, accomplished by Ailwin in A.D 1010, was this third
translation, for this was a triumphant progress along the King's-highway,
welcomed at every halting place by the population, and staying long enough to
receive many offerings, or as a devout Catholic has it, "to satisfy the
devotion of the faithful.”
By
which exit from London Ailwin led the procession is unknown, nor are we certain
of the way followed when Essex was reached. St. Edmund's latest chronicler says
that Ailwin "chose as his route the ancient way that runs from London to
Chipping Ongar, Chelmsford, Braintree and Clare" but this is an itinerary
which can hardly be supported throughout by knowledge of the localities or by
tradition. Mr. Robert H. Browne of Stapleford thinks that the "return
journey was by Hainault Forest, to Havering probably, and so to the manor house
of the Lords of Stapleford "crossing the river Roding at Passingford.”
In
‘The Essex Review’
some years since I expressed the view that the course followed was likely to
have been along an old road by Chigwell, crossing the river at Abridge, but the
matter is involved in obscurity and I would fain believe with Mr. Browne that
the saint's remains were carried to Stapleford, higher up the valley, for then
we need not look on the old tale recited by Dugdale in the ‘Monasticon Anglicanum’
(1655-73) as one of those such as Speed refers to when he says “the monkes of
those times made no great dainty daily to forge matter for their owne
advantage."
Newcourt
in his ‘Repertorium’ gives the story thus:-
“It
is call'd Stapleford-Abbots for that it belong'd to the famous Abby of S. Edmundsbury,
and was given by the Lord of it, to S. Edmund; because being sick, he recover'd
upon Harbouring the Corps of S. Edmund, as it return'd from London to S.
Edmundsbury."
Whether
Ailwin and his followers crossed the Roding at Abridge by Lambourne, or at
Passingford by Stapleford, it is not unlikely that ere they reached the ford
they wended their way by the track, or horse road, still traceable, though
fallen far from its former estate, which ran from Chigwell towards Lambourne
and Stapleford along the ridge above the valley.
There
can be little doubt as to the course followed from the neighbourhood of
Passingford to Greenstead. Part of the great highway which now runs to Ongar
probably did not exist and we may assume that Ailwin took the road by Stanford
Rivers church, and so to this spot. This road, like many an ancient highway,
has dwindled down to bridle-way, cart-track or footpath, but it is easily
traced by those who know these Essex fields. From Greenstead the ancient way
may be traced northward, and I have little doubt that the saint's remains were
carried hence to the old "Suffolk Way" through the Roothings to
Dunmow, where our member, Mr. Hastings Worrin, finds "St. Edmund's Way (in
1698, in an estate book), and thence by Lindsell, Great Bardfield, Finchingfield
and Clare to Bury.
So
we see that Greenstead, probably with the Saxon thane's hall and the huts of
the tillers of the soil, stood, not as some have written in an obscure
position, but alongside the king's highway, and I see no reason to suppose that
the parish was churchless and must assume that this building or another on its
site stood ready to hand when the relics of St. Edmund rested some days on
their homeward journey. Against the commonly
accepted idea that this church was hastily erected to receive the saint's
remains, must also be noted that well seasoned, firmly fixed timber was used.
Had oak been freshly cut the trunks would show far more evidence of shrinking
apart.
Whether
erected before A.D. 1013, on the occasion of the resting of St. Edmund's
remains in that year, or subsequently, may the timber walls of this little
edifice stand a lasting memorial of East Anglia's king, martyr and saint!
NOTES.
It
is almost certain that in early days, before the Roding was confined to its
present narrow channel, the whole valley was under water or in a morass-like
condition with few fords, and we must consequently regard the present high road
from Abridge to Passingford as a comparatively modern creation. The one ancient
manor settlement on this low-lying road (known as Arnold's) is on a spit of
land slightly higher than the old-time ford level, and the remnant of a
chaseway shows that it was approached not from Abridge or Passingford but from
the high land on the south. Bearing in mind the condition of the valley we look
for a dryer track way, and we find it running from near Chigwell church, by
Lambourne church and hall to Stapleford Abbots church, possibly extending past
Navestock church and hall and Kelvedon Hatch church and hall and so further
north. This ancient way has been in part absolutely destroyed or absorbed in
later roads but for much of its length can be traced in bridle ways and
footpaths.
With
regard to the high road on the other side of the river, north of Passingford,
leading to Chipping Ongar, it would seem that the northern part is also of
comparatively modern date for not a church or ancient village is upon it and
its northern end would in early Norman days have gone plump against the walls
of Eustace of Boulogne's stronghold, an arrangement which would hardly have
suited that feudal lord.
The
line of the ancient road in this direction seems to me to have been past Suttons,
along the course followed by the present high road for about a mile, then
turning left by Murrell's farm and the site of the reputed manor house of
Gelhowes, or Bellhouse, to Stanford Rivers church and hall, and thence to
Greenstead church and hall. Old-time villages were mostly grouped round hall
and church, and the position of the noticeable series of churches and halls I
have mentioned leads me to conclude that the links connecting the settlements
were the ancient trackways, high above the flooded valley of the Roding.
Though
Ongar became of importance when Eustace of Boulogne established a stronghold
there in the days of the Conquest, its development dates from the twelfth
century, when Richard de Luci held the castle under Henry II. De Luci, who
resided much at the castle when his arduous duties permitted, encouraged the
little settlement which occupied his outer bailey and procured it the right of
a market. Possibly Ongar's present direct road southward may date from De
Luci's lordship, but I doubt if it is as early and imagine that even so late as
his time the principal track to Ongar branched from the highway at Greenstead.
