What does Essex make you think of? Is it fake tans, white stilettos and dogs in handbags? Is it concrete spilling out of London and swallowing up the countryside? Is it TOWIE? Yes I thought so. There is some truth to all of these, but there’s much more to this ancient kingdom of Ēastseaxe than well-worn caricatures. Once it was seen as a superstitious place, a badland where Romans and magistrates feared to tread. Today it’s famous for more than just stereotypes: its salt, oysters, jam and wine are highly prized all over the world. There’s plenty to be proud of here that often goes unnoticed. Why not look a little closer?
My family have lived in Essex for more than 350 years. I grew up here, and I’m serious about showing people the Essex beyond the Sugar Hut. The land I grew up in is a rich tapestry of fields, meadows and woodlands, barely changed and barely visited, with a still-flickering old world charm. By the seaside, there’s more than piers and amusements: there’s the second longest coastline of any county in the UK, with 350 miles of covert creeks and inlets, and the highest number of islands. There are beaches and cliffs, along with mudflats and marshes. It may look ordinary, but there’s a different kind of beauty here, with more depth than first meets the eye.
There are stories here which proudly speak for the whole of Britain. Defiance in the face of oppression; hustling to make ends meet; the value of community; taking the ordinary and making it famous worldwide. Essex is known for these values today, but they have existed here long before the arrival of East End settlers. The county may be on London’s doorstep, but beyond the ‘new money’ are the millenia-old struggles of people trying to get on with their lives, resisting the tyranny of invaders and authorities alike. This has always been the forgotten side of Essex, and it still is today.
In one quiet corner of this hidden land lies the pretty village of Goldhanger. Far away from the larger towns and roads, the people here have historically depended on both land and sea for survival. The name is thought to be Norse, reflecting the Vikings that once ruled these lands, although there have also been Saxons, Romans, Celts and those we know very little about: people have been living here for at least 5,000 years. Since then, the landscape has reflected the humans who have reshaped it to make their living. Red hills of burnt soil from salt farming, crop fields reclaimed from the sea, and creeks for the boats of fishermen and smugglers alike. When walking around here, you are surrounded by not only the natural beauty of coast and countryside, but also clues to the lives led by a hundred generations of locals. Welcome to The Lonely Way of Essex.
ROUTE DETAILS
Time: 1-2 hours, depending how far you walk
Terrain: Grass paths, possibly some muddy field sections
How to get there: Roadside parking, parking outside pub if you plan to buy something. On public transport, it takes about 2 hours from London: a train to Chelmsford, a bus to Maldon and another bus to Goldhanger
Directions: OS map route here
Refreshments: The Chequers is the historic village pub, serving proper hearty food. There’s also the Cricketers up the road. No shops in the village so bring your own snacks if you want them
Notes: If you want to make the walk longer or shorter, follow the footpaths on a map as you like
THE WALK
THE 1,000 YEAR OLD CHURCH
The walk begins outside the village church. This building is over 1,000 years old and so definitely worth a look around. If you’re not sure about this: yes it’s a church. Yes there are thousands of them in the English countryside. Yes you can walk right in. No I’m not a Christian. But why on earth wouldn’t you want to wander around these fascinating buildings where people have baptised their children, married their spouses and mourned their dead for 1,000 years?!
The church is full of interesting details: Norman windows, stone-faced busts below the rafters, and Roman material in the cornerstones of the north wall. There’s a list of every rector who has served the church, going all the way back to 1285 with "Nicholas" who apparently spent time in Newgate prison for killing a man. Not listed is Eldred, the priest of the manor of Goldhanger in 1085 as shown in Domesday Book. (Imagine a time when people didn’t have surnames and were called names like Eldred!) There are also lots of nice natural motifs, including stone carvings of salamanders (newts) which are associated with faith and holiness. They can still be found in the surrounding area today, showing that this particular creature has been revered around here for hundreds of years.
FLATLANDS OR BADLANDS?
Once you’re done here, make your way through the churchyard, past the excellent yew and sequoia trees, and over the stile. Here your path takes alongside arable crop fields bordered by brambly hedgerows and lichen-crusted trees. There are few hills on the horizon, which is typical of Essex. Some may say there’s not much to see, but I say this better frames the details. Look out for the beaming yellow of corn marigold flowers, which are said to have given the village its name over a thousand years ago. Beneath your feet, the rich, dark soil is a clue that these fields were once underwater: it contains silt as well as London clay, full of vital nutrients for the crops which would have fed the village.
Before this land was dried out by the building of the sea wall, these fields would have been boggy marshland, which meant danger for invading armies: many Romans were lured to their deaths in marshes like these when crossing the Thames in the 43AD invasion of Britain. On top of this, the marshes have been a source of Essex’s unhealthy reputation for having a ‘bad air’. In reality, it was malaria (which literally does mean ‘bad air’) from mosquitoes in places like this that stoked this reputation and gave the disease its very name. These fields might seem plain to you, but here you are walking in a place that Romans once feared to tread; and abandoned by the ruling classes to the common folk who scratched out a living.
HOLDING BACK THE TIDE
Continue along the footpath through the fields until you reach the sea wall embankment. Climb up it to be greeted by the shimmering Blackwater estuary, where low tide reveals spits of sandy shingle, strewn with shells and aquatic plants. Often you will hear nothing but the lapping waves, the rustling breeze and the sounds of birds looking for a meal. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, you’ve got it.
Make your way along the sea wall. The foundations of this man-made embankment are believed to be Roman, AKA a mind-blowing 2,000 years old, although care would have been taken to maintain it ever since. And for good reason. This wall stops the tide from reaching inland, protecting the village from all but the biggest storm surges. It creates dry land for farming, evident today in the flatness and richness of the fields that were once underwater. It made it easier for boats to navigate the waters. And the drying out of the marshland would have reduced the malaria plaguing the villagers, who would not even have realised it at the time. In a place where survival depended on both land and sea, this clear divide between the two is all the more important to understanding the history of the people that lived here.
RED HILLS, WHITE GOLD
An OS map will reveal the presence of red hills in the fields along your route. They are easily missed, rising no more than a metre, but very wide. They are the result of salt farming: the process of harvesting salt by evaporating sea water. And this area was well suited to it. Your map will also show you the location of Gore Saltings in the water southeast of Lauriston Farm. Here, pools would have been dug out in the low-lying estuary and filled up with sea water by the tide. The clay in the ground meant the water would not escape when the tide went out. The water in these pools would have been evaporated from fires burning underneath, with help from the high levels of sun and wind. The farmers were left with crystallised sea salt, and we are left with secret hills made of reddish burnt soil and ancient pottery fragments. For over 4,000 years, this important industry has reshaped the landscape and the people living in it.
All this fuss might seem strange to us, as salt is cheap and plentiful today. But in the past it was a valuable resource, and lifeblood to the people who lived here. Want to stop your food tasting shit? Salt. Want to keep it from rotting and from you going hungry? Salt. Antiseptic, water softener, pottery glaze, fancy bath salts for the 18th century health spa craze? White gold, baby. In addition to local use, it was traded inland and abroad for other commodities, so it would have supported this remote community for a very long time. Today, Maldon Salt is still made less than a mile from Goldhanger. It is one of Essex’s most famous exports, and probably one of the world’s finests salts, beloved by top chefs for its unique structure and satisfying crunch.
WILD ISLES
Across the water are some of Essex’s islands: important refuges for thousands of native and migrating birds. Geese, owls, larks, ducks and even falcons make their living here, as well as countless other species to fascinate any twitcher. (Did you know a birdwatcher is called a twitcher?) You don’t need to be able to identify them to appreciate them though: the birds here are spectacular to see, any time of year. You might even see a seal: both common and grey seals can be spotted here.
Across the estuary is Osea Island, with a colourful history spanning millennia. There are remains of prehistoric villages, and the Romans used it to grow crops, farm salt and make pottery. They even built a causeway to access the island on foot, revealed only at low tide. It’s still used today, and was a filming location for the horror film The Woman In Black. There are Viking burial mounds from nearby battles, and William the Conqueror personally gifted the island to his nephew after the invasion of England. In the First World War, the island was used as a top-secret base for torpedo boats (submarine chasers) completely unknown to people on the mainland. At one stage it was bought by a London brewer and turned into an island rehab from booze. However, the patients were secretly supplied with spirits from the Chequers in Goldhanger, which was rowed to the island and tied to The Doctor’s Buoy for later collection. The buoy can still be seen on maps. How’s that for hidden secrets?
TOLKIEN, HEROISM AND THE BATTLE OF MALDON
To the right of Osea Island is Northey Island, which in 991AD was the base of a Viking raid on the prosperous town of Maldon. Often the English would surrender and pay off the invaders rather than put up a fight. But on this occasion, they were met by a force led by Byrhtnoth, Earldorman of Essex, who made a courageous stand against them. In the battle that ensued, Byrhtnoth was killed and the Vikings won, although they were too exhausted to continue, and the town remained unpillaged. The battle was recorded in a poem called The Battle of Maldon, which is one of England’s oldest surviving poems and is probably 1,000 years old. It is celebrated for portraying English bravery, loyalty and heroism, even to the end of folly and defeat. When the Vikings asked the English to pay them off with golden rings…
“Byrhtnoth made answer - his buckler he grasped,
Brandished his slender spear - and spoke:
"Hearest thou, sea-robber, what these people say?
For tribute they're ready to give you their spears,
The edge poison-bitter, and the ancient sword.”
This poem inspired Tolkien, who wrote a piece of his own about it. Scholars point out that this ‘Northern courage’ in the face of defeat is one of the key virtues found in the characters of Middle-Earth: and so it might be said that the battle that launched from Northey Island directly influenced the heroes in The Lord of the Rings. Pretty cool when you think about it!
As you round a corner and proceed up the creek inland, you’ll see a jumble of boats strewn across the water or mud, depending on the tide. Amongst them is the shipwreck of the Snowdrop, which ran aground on a shingle mound and swallowed by the creek. Littered around it are countless small pieces of ancient wood. These are likely from old traps used to catch fish, or piers used for fishing boat access: some say they are from a Roman pier.
Fishing was always an important activity here, feeding the village and bolstering the local economy. There were two nearby ‘fish pits’ which temporarily held large fish catches before the age of fridges and cheap ice. More locally, oysters have been farmed around here as a vital foodstuff. Once seen as poor man’s food, oysters from this area are now sold all over the world as a luxury. But the history of exports from this area goes much further than salt and oysters.
SMUGGLING: THE FREE TRADE
The mouth of the Blackwater was a great centre of the smuggling trade: the number and intricacies of the channels made it a safe harbour for those who lived on contraband traffic. It was easy for those who knew the creeks to elude the revenue boats and every farm and tavern was ready to give cellerage to run goods and harbour to smugglers. Between Mersea and the Blackwater were several flat holms or islands...and between these, the winding waterways formed a labyrinth which made pursuit difficult. - Sabine Baring-Gould
The point of smuggling was to trade goods without paying duty, an important source of tax revenue for the Crown, especially for funding wars overseas. Meanwhile, people didn’t appreciate having to give large amounts of their money to the king. They worked 12 hours a day, including Saturdays, to survive in grinding poverty. And there was certainly no NHS to support. Hence the appeal of smuggling: and the Blackwater estuary was at the heart of it.
The proximity to Europe made it ideal for smuggling goods to and from France, Belgium and Holland. The Essex coastline’s many creeks and inlets made it easy to escape detection, further helped by Goldhanger’s remote location. From these creeks, goods were secretly loaded and unloaded into boats, as well as floated down the river on rafts, or hidden under the murky water in sunken tubs.
The first recorded smuggling activity at Goldhanger was in 1361, involving East Anglian wool which was highly prized in France. Over the centuries, the focus of smuggled goods changed but the practice remained constant: alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, spices, silk, lace, and other luxury goods were secretly hauled on and off these shores. As demand grew, so did taxation, along with the incentive to avoid it. At one stage, an estimated 80% of all tea drunk in England had no duty paid on it! In 1640 a Salt Tax was imposed by the Crown to increase their share of the profit from this industry: with Salt Officers appointed to collect duty as soon as the salt left the works, generating a huge amount of local resentment. In 1822 the Coastguard service was created, combining the duties of life-saving with smuggling prevention. It is said that the everyday saying "is the coast clear?" originates from smuggling, meaning "are there any coastguards about?" Another common saying born in a place like this: that’s pretty cool.
It’s easy to imagine all smugglers as full-time shady villains, but in reality, lots of people were involved. Labourers and fishermen looking to make a bit of extra money; the people who helped to hide the stuff; even the people who bought it. People knew that a portion of the taxes and fines were shared amongst the revenue officers: "half for the king, half for crew" as the saying went; and so more often than not the smugglers would be helped rather than hindered. However, that’s not to say the smugglers were all misunderstood heroes. Here’s a grisly but fascinating story from a newspaper article in 1977:
“My grandfather was one of those that did in the Revenue men in their long boat one night more than 100 years ago, an ancient fisherman and wild fowler confided to me. The Revenue men had a watchboat, other side of the river by Stansgate Abbey, Wedgwood Benn's place. Nearly all the fishing chaps from Maldon, Tollesbury, Mersea, Goldhanger, Bradwell, Steeple and Mayland were in the Free Trade smuggling. Those Revenue men were after them day and night. So one day, the smuggling boys held a meeting in the Old Victory on Mersea island, and planned to do in the Revenue chaps. They set a rumour that a big cargo was to be run ashore on the seaward end of Osea In a creek they've called Death Creek ever since. Nobody knows what did happen that dark night, but next morning they found the Customs long boat drifting on the tide In the creek with 24 dead Revenue men aboard. And nobody was ever caught. Those were the bad old days, we don't want murders again.”
A CHEQUERED HISTORY
At the end of the creek, make your way inland through the tunnel of trees, and then up Fish Street toward the village centre. This street got its name from the numerous fishermen's huts that once lined the sides, which would have displayed the fresh catches for sale to the villagers. All long gone now, but the memories linger. The people living here would commonly have heard muffled noises at night, only to find a keg of brandy left in the porch by morning. They say the smugglers wrapped sacking round the wheels of the carts to dull the sound and over the horses’ hooves to hide the footprints.
As you arrive back in the village, take a moment to look around. Next to the old water pump and well is a semi-circle stone of Dartmoor granite, which could have been used as a step for mounting horses, or perhaps for public executions. It is known that smugglers found guilty of killing coastguards were tried in the Chequers, executed locally and hung from a gibbet in what is now the pub car park. A brutal reminder to all that would consider working with smugglers, and a grisly theory as to how Head Street got its name. Who knows how many people made the short but sad walk up Fish Street for the last time?
Head on into the Chequers Inn to finish your walk. 500 years ago, this was a courthouse where criminals would have been tried, before eventually becoming an alehouse and inn. Back in the day, it would not have been so plush; electricity didn’t arrive until 1937. But the inn has a longstanding reputation for involvement with smuggling. It is said that the cellar out back was used as a temporary hiding place, and there are even rumours of a secret tunnel to the coast, like the one in nearby Maldon from the Blue Boar inn to Beeleigh Abbey. Today, it’s a thoroughly great pub with good food and good drinks. The perfect place to relax and refuel after finishing your walk.
Your journey may not have spanned many miles, but it has spanned thousands of years. You’ve travelled through a forgotten world hiding in plain sight, and discovered the secret heart of this misunderstood county. It might seem a world away from Essex on the telly, but the people living in Essex past and present share more values than you might think. The hard work ethic, the instinct for making money, the desire to protect their own. The defiance in the face of those that would take advantage and put them down; to live however they see fit; and to be proud of it. Maybe these ‘two halves of Essex’ aren’t so different after all. Maybe when seen together, it is easier to celebrate the Real Essex as a place whose stories speak for our entire country. I think that’s something to be proud of.
Special mention to the legends at www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past for compiling an extraordinary amount of history and images surrounding Goldhanger which made my post possible. Thanks also to my mum of some of the photos too.
Comments