The Friends of St Mary’s present a talk on the archaeological dig at Essex County Hospital
Archaeological excavations at the Essex County Hospital site in Colchester have been ongoing for the past five years. During this time, archaeologists from the Colchester Archaeological Trust have revealed a complex Roman site with evidence for burial, occupation and industry spanning the duration of the Roman period. The trust uncovered the remains of the major Roman road leading to the western gate of the walled town (the Balkerne Gate) in the north-western corner of the site.
The next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Wood is taking place this Saturday 10th May with an early start.
The Dawn Chorus (links to a previous report) walk starts from St Mary’s Old Church at 3:45 am on 10th May. This walk affords the opportunity to see Nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers. For this walk you should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch.
Although these walks are normally well attended it is likely that they don’t always fall on a convenient date or time. Well, the Friends of Hillhouse Wood have been working hard to put this right.
Welcome to Online Guided Walks
Putting together:
a Google Map that can help you navigate through the woods, and
YouTube videos describing what you might see at up to 17 waypoints,
At the start of this year Vocal Zones Choir decided to start a review of the choir and have implemented some changes; both the committee and the membership have been engaged in this process. They are pleased to announce a new name as one of the changes; they will now be known as Vocal Zone Singers. Members & the Committee feel that this name better represents the ethos of the group. They are not a formal choir; but simply a group of people who enjoy singing and like to meet together in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The singers are all excited by the new direction the committee and membership wants to take their singing group.
They hope that this new photo better reflects the upbeat, friendly and sunny disposition of the group.
The following free events are being hosted by the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church in 2025.
Sunday 11 May – Talk by local historian John Worland on ‘The First Elizabethan Witch Trial’. 2.30pm – free refreshments
Sunday 8 June – Talk by Adam Wightman, Director of Colchester Archaeological Trust on ‘The Former Essex County Hospital Site’’. 2.30pm – free refreshments
Sunday 20 July – Summer Songs of Praise Service – 2.30pm – free refreshments
Sunday 30 November – Mulled Wine & Mince Pies with the Octavia Singers – 11am-1pm. This event is also an opportunity to register or reregister as a Friend of St. Mary’s Old Church
Sunday 21 December – Candlelit Carol Service
As usual everyone is welcome, there’s free parking and free refreshments including a glass of prosecco. Entry to all events is free but the Friends welcome any donations made on the day (cash or card). This will support the ongoing upkeep of the beautiful 1000-year-old church. We look forward to welcoming you there. For more information, or if you wish to tell us you’re coming, please email [email protected].
At both of the following events there will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session.
Following the Winter Bird walk, Steve Hallam will be leading two guided walks in the coming weeks:
Spring Flower Walk – starting from St Mary’s Old Church at 2 pm on 26th April, &
Dawn Chorus, also from St Mary’s Old Church at the somewhat earlier time of 3:45 am on 10th May. This walk affords the opportunity to see Nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers. For this walk you should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch.
The links above are to reports from previous walks. We recommend you wear strong boots or wellies since you may well need to walk through long wet grass!
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland. You will also be able to see them at the Village Fete on Saturday 14th June.
Winter Bird Walk 2025
One aspect of observing nature that makes it so compelling is that you never know what you will see and hear. Will it surpass expectations, or disappoint? As mentioned in previous years, this winter bird walk is the one that has the potential to provide ‘thin gruel’. Over the years there seems to be reduced numbers of over wintering birds in this area, especially earlier on in the season. This is why the date of the walk has moved back by a few weeks.
Unduly Pessimistic
This year, I had done some preparatory surveys in the days before the walk, and had seen relatively little. Nevertheless, 14 people came along, which was very pleasing. I thought that I should ‘manage expectations’ but, as it turned out, I was being unduly pessimistic.
The West Bergholt Volunteer of the Year 2024/25 Award!
Do you know a volunteer who deserves to be celebrated for their outstanding contribution to West Bergholt?
Whether they’ve
spearheaded a local community project,
organised impactful events,
raised charitable funds, or
been a supportive mentor through their volunteer work,
… we want to hear about them.
Nominees must reside in West Bergholt or have carried out their volunteer work within the community. Age is no barrier – we welcome nominations for volunteers of all ages! Form & details are below.
Last Years’ Winner
Announcing the result at the Annual Parish Meeting, Cllr Butcher noted that having had a number of nominations to be the recipients for this year’s award one person stood out:
Join the Friends of St Mary’s at their Candlelight Carol Service
Once again the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are holding a Candlelight Carol Service in the Old Church. The Friends look forward to welcoming you back on Sunday 15th December at 2:30 pm.
The service is free and open to all and there’s now dedicated car parking opposite the church. One of St Mary’s ministers will lead the service.
The Friends are also looking for someone to pump the church organ during the service, so if anyone is interested please contact Nicole Long on 01206 240443.
A dry, still, November Saturday morning saw 15 enthusiastic people come together at St Mary’s Old Church. They had come from as far away as Chelmsford to enjoy our now annual guided ‘fungi hunt’ walk. This year they were led by one who set their level of expectations by confirming that as there are over 15,000 species of fungi in the UK, he had no intention of being dogmatic in any identifications. He was working on the principal that anything found, if eaten, would cause severe illness or even death! (You’re not getting the writer into a Coroner’s Court.)
First Finds
So, on that basis we started in the Church graveyard where we found numerous Waxcaps (probably Golden Waxcaps).
The Friends invite you to join them for Mulled Wine & Mince Pies at St Mary’s Old Church on Sunday, 24th November. This free event runs from 11:30am to 1:30pm and all are welcome! The highlight of the day will be an enchanting performance by Octavia, members of Quire, from 12:30pm to 1pm.
