CLAVERING RECORDER’S REPORT 2006

EILEEN LUDGATE: the first Local History Recorder of Clavering, Eileen Ludgate died at the age of 81 on 19 July 2006. Eileen pioneered the academic study of history in the two villages, culminating in the publication of two books, Clavering & Langley: the first thousand years (1996) and Clavering & Langley: 1783-1983 (1983). A former history teacher, she had lived in Clavering for almost 50 years. A former churchwarden and strong promoter of Christian Aid, she was instrumental in raising a large sum to save the important Baroque 17th century Barlee monuments in the church. Following an ERO exhibition in the village school in the early 1970s, she formed the Clavering & Langley Local History Group which met from 1976-94 for lectures, outings, workshops and local history exhibitions. Over 20 years she accumulated a large collection of research at the ERO and other repositories, interviewed elderly residents of the village, taking photographs, recording gravestones and many other activities. She made many new discoveries, for instance through bringing Adrian Gibson to look at the timber-framed houses of Clavering, it was discovered that The Bury manor house was a rare medieval aisled hall of national importance. Her material now forms the nucleus of the Clavering Local History Collection. She also served as Vice-chairman of the Essex Congress in 1982-3, and Chairman the following year. Both the Clavering Village Society and the Clavering Landscape History Group came about as a result of the foundations laid by the former Local History Group. Her contribution to the historical heritage of Clavering was outstanding.

ARCHAEOLOGY: the Local History Group has continued to work hard on its Lottery-funded project to survey Clavering Castle and its environs through geophysical and earthwork survey techniques. The Group also erected a new kissing gate giving better access to the part of the castle earthworks crossed by a public right-of-way. The Group won first prize in the East of England LHI Heritage Star Awards through one of its leading members, Rosemary Nash. Rosemary was also given a star-naming kit, and chose the name Claefre for the star, meaning clover, the early word on which the village name was based. Two working parties were also held during the year, to clear excess undergrowth from the castle site.Clavering School: as part of the Castle project, two members visited Clavering School at the end of the summer term and carried out a local history project with them.

LECTURES: Autumn evening class: a ten-week evening class was organised by the Clavering Local Centre, run by the Local History Recorder, and attended by 30 people. The subject was Place Names in the Landscape.Day school: early in the year, in the spring, a highly successful day school was organised, also by the Clavering Local Centre, at the village hall. This was on the subject of how to study timber-framed buildings, the tutor being Leigh Alston, and was well publicised and attended by over 70 people.

RESEARCH: the Recorder has been pursuing a number of research lines over the year, notably medieval history in connection with the Castle project. One particularly interesting subject was the Miracle of the Ring, a legend attached to Clavering and this research came about through an enquiry from an American academic, Douglas Salmon. A project of more recent history was a visit was made to Lincoln Record Office to research material on Miss ffytche, a notable resident of Clavering in the 1920s-30s who came from Lincs. A photographic record continues to be kept & ephemera collected.

Transcription: the Recorder completed the first typescript of two volumes of written transcription carried out by Robert Wood on the 14^th century compoti of Thurrocks & Pounces which are kept in the ERO. He had transcribed the compoti about 20 years ago but needs a typescript in order to publish the material and the Recorder is doing the typing for him.

CATALOGUING: following the launch of RUTH database in November, the cataloguing of the local collection has begun by the Recorder, and a number of Clavering items contributed to the ULHR website, covering village history, publications and website.Village website: a number of articles have been added to the local history section of the Clavering website www.claveringonline.org

ENQUIRIES: a large number of local history and family history enquiries were dealt with, many of them from Australia, and several visiting Australians shown round the village.

Jacqueline Cooper

Clavering Local History Recorder