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Lamarsh Bell Restoration

I started to investigate the possibility of restoring the bell at Holy Innocents Church, Lamarsh in early 2003. I had heard of a very good bell restorer when I had attended the funeral of my old school housemaster. During that summer I persuaded this restorer, Matthew Higby of Matthew Higby & Company Ltd., to come to Lamarsh from Bath and inspect our bell. The subsequent report was somewhat alarming as it stated that the structure supporting the bell was unsafe as were the iron bolts that went through the gudgeons (hoops) on the top of the bell and which attached it to the headstock. Furthermore these bolts were badly rusted as was the crown staple inside the bell, which would have been cast into the bell when it was made, and from which hung the clapper. If the crown staple had been allowed to continue to rust it would have lead to the bell cracking due to rust expansion. Bells are fairly fragile if subjected to pressure, being made of a mixture of copper (73%) and tin (27%) The expression “It sounds a bit tinny” originates from bells that had too much tin in them! The bell was made in 1695 in Sudbury. In those days stainless steel was a long way from being invented and the original iron fittings were in danger of giving way or damaging the bell. Not to put too fine a point on it, if we had done nothing then the bell might have come crashing down causing huge damage on the way. The bell weighs some 6 cwt.


The restored bell hanging from the steel beam. Note the ‘chip’ on the left-hand side.

Lamarsh Church was recorded, by Philip Morant MA., (Rector of St Mary’s Colchester & Aldham & Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries) in “The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex” (Page 270) published in 1795, as only having one bell, although it is probable that at one time there were three. He wrote “The Church is small of one pace with the chancel and tyled. At the West end there is a round tower (which we have observed to have been the Danish way of building) and in it only one Bell. It is dedicated to the Holy Innocents.” He recorded only one bell at Alphamstone, an adjoining village. However here he is wrong as the Alphamstone Church Records show that they have had three bells since the 1500’s (Two of the bells are dated 1500 and the other 1550) Did Lamarsh add two bells after Morant’s visit? To have only one bell is apparently very unusual. As Morant was wrong about Alphamstone perhaps he was also wrong about Lamarsh! In 1797 the tower at Lamarsh was struck by lightning in a great storm, and the tower was neglected, with a huge gash in its West side, for over 60 years. It is conjecture, but it seems likely, that the two missing bells were hit by the lightning strike and disintegrated. The bell experts from English Heritage (EH), the Diocese and the bell restorer are firmly of the view that for a time there were three bells. The position they would have been in is where the side of the tower collapsed, and the bell frame has clearly been reduced in size by sawing off that part that would have held the two bells which would have been smaller than the one that has just been restored.

When the Victorians restored the church in 1865-68, they put a lath and plaster wall in the gash and clamped the tower with the present spire. The one bell had a wheel and headstock which would have allowed it to be swung, but it had in fact only been chimed by an external metal clapper, for some long time, and that was in the wrong place. As a result, the sound was neither as loud nor as melodious as it should have been! The headstock, which weighs over 1 cwt, is made of oak and had fixed to it the wheel which had a diameter of some 5 ft. It was also made of oak, apart from the perimeter which was made of ash as this could be bent to form the rim. The wheel had been subject to several renovations with soft woods which were severely wood wormed. It is thought that originally the bell rope was kept on the wheel by wooden pegs around the edge. However these had been replaced by soling, which is a circle of wood attached to the edge of the wheel. The bell rope went around the rim of the wheel and made it rotate. When being swung, it was stopped just beyond top dead centre, when the bell was upside down, by a slider on the bottom of the bell frame and a stay on the headstock. The bell then turned full circle in the opposite direction and was again stopped by the slider which moved to allow the bell to go just over 360 degrees. At each end of the headstock were gudgeons (pivots) which fitted into brass bearings attached to the frame. The gudgeons and bearings were fairly worn due to falling cement dust from the tile roof which then acted as an abrasive when the bell was swung! If the bell had been swung, in recent years, the lateral force would undoubtedly have brought the tower down! The lateral force would have been one ton and the downwards force two ton! Whether the bell frame would have collapsed first has to be left to conjecture! (The old headstock and wheel are preserved at the base of the tower. To have put them back in the frame would have risked more damage to the wheel which is in a very wood worm eaten state!)

During 2004 further meetings were held with the church architect and the church structural engineer leading to the design of a trap door to allow the bell to be brought out of the tower, and the installation of a new beam to support the unsafe bell frame from above.

In early 2005 the works were put out to tender resulting in what seemed like a reasonable quote from C J Starns of Glemsford, who specialises in church and old building restoration.

As the Church is Listed Grade 1, everything had to be approved by EH. I therefore sent them all the specifications and the final quote for approval. EH asked for a meeting which was attended by me, the structural engineer, the diocesan bell specialist, the builder, and the EH bell specialist. Having crawled all around the bell, the EH representative decided that he would like to support the bell frame from below rather than above, if that were possible, and to re-hang the bell in it’s frame. The diocesan bell representative wanted a working platform created around the bell for “future maintenance” (apart from a new rope every hundred or so years I could not think what maintenance was likely once the bell could no longer be swung, but no doubt “Health and Safety” had to be taken into account!) and he wanted more quotes for the bell restoration. So back to the drawing board!

The additional bell restorers, whose names were given to me, seemed very reluctant to come out and quote and one got kicked into touch. The other, Tony Baines of BTK Services from Diss, eventually came out and produced a very competitive quote and his report threw into doubt the date the bell had been recorded as being made. The inscription on the bell reads “JOHN LILLY RECTOR AD GA HP MADE ME 1695” Until then it had been recorded that the bell was made by Henry Pleasant (HP) of Sudbury in 1693. The date was wrong! Church records show that John Lilly was the Rector at the time.

EH gave their approval of the restoration in June 2005, subject to a final decision being taken on whether to support the bell frame from above or below, when the bell was out of the tower and there was scaffolding in the tower to allow a full inspection.

New plans were prepared by the structural engineer and the work was re-quoted by the builder leading to a 43% increase in costs for the additional works! The total building and bell restoration works then came to some £11,500. On top of this there were the professional fees which had been met by The Friends of Holy Innocents Church that far, but were in total likely to amount to some £5,500. We therefore needed to raise some £17,000.

The trap door was created in January 2006 and the bell was removed on 8th February 2006. The bell restorer found that when he came to lower the bell it was snagged by a bolt that protruded from the bottom of the bell frame. However he had noticed a piece missing in the rim of the bell, so he turned the bell and lined up the missing chip with the bolt and it then exactly fitted the gap. It therefore seems probable that whoever built the frame had wrongly measured the required gap to get the bell into the frame and when the bell was being hung Henry Pleasant, or one of his workmen, took the easy option and knocked, or filed a chip out of the rim so that it would go past the protruding bolt! Hacksaws had not been invented in 1695! The headstock, to which the bell was attached, is a huge piece of oak weighing some 1 Cwt. Interestingly it, like so many parts of the wooden structure, had been altered and had clearly held a different bell at some stage. Had it held one of the other bells? We will never know.

Following removal of the bell, the restorer’s report on the bell frame suggested that we would be wasting money to try and repair it. It had been repaired, and bodged up so many times that it was a real mess and very badly decayed. At a meeting on 21st March 2006 the EH representative agreed with the consulting engineer, the diocesan bell expert and the restorer that the bell should be re-hung on a steel beam, below the existing frame, which in turn would be used to support the old frame from collapse. A new specification was prepared by the consulting engineer and the work was re-quoted. The cost was less than before as there were very few Health and Safety considerations. The total figure became approximately £15,000. However the aborted works proposed by EH had involved us in Engineers fees of some £600.

By mid June 2006 I had done most of the fund- raising, having started the previous autumn, but was expecting a contribution from EH not least because of the additional costs that they had forced upon us. I completed their application form, which was the most detailed and onerous of any I have ever seen, and sent it off with a whole host of attachments, including a CD of photographs of the church inside and out, and inside the tower, in time to meet their deadline for grant applications. On the 8th August 2006 EH rejected the application stating that they felt we could manage without their help! I responded pointing out that the least I expected was for them to meet the additional costs they had forced on us. Again rejected! One of the reasons given was that they had to approve the expenditure in advance of any work being undertaken. (When we knew that the bell was unsafe we would have been negligent if we had left it where it was, once we had sufficient funds to take it down, even if we did not have enough to restore it and put it back) Not being prepared to accept this decision, without a further fight, I suggested that they could meet the final fees of the Engineer who had still to sign off the project. This was rejected as it would be “deminimus” Their attitude, towards giving us a grant, was thoroughly negative and showed a total lack of flexibility.

The steel beam was installed in September 2006 and the restored bell was returned to the church on Thursday 9th November 2006 and hung on the new galvanised steel beam, being attached by stainless steel bolts with an oak spacer between the bell and the beam. The new clapper hangs inside the bell and strikes the sound bow where it should. It is swung onto the bell by means of a separate trigger to which is attached the bell rope. It was a joy to work with Tony Baines whose immense knowledge was fascinating. Unfortunately for others looking for a restorer, he is shortly due to retire, although he tells me he continues to be asked “can you do one last job?”

The final cost of the project was £11,792. There is no doubt, in my mind, that the larger the project the more likely you are to receive support. This was borne out in the early 1980’s when I raised, single-handedly, the funds to replace the lead roof on St James’s Church, Nayland. In todays money this would have been about £250,000. I would like to think that my fund raising days are now over!

Donations were given or pledged by the following charitable organisations/Companies: The Far Hills Trust, The Catalyst Trust, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Plc Charitable Fund, All Churches Trust Ltd., Sudbury Grammar School Old Boys Association, The Friends of Essex Churches, The Essex Association of Change Ringers, Round Tower Churches Society, Intersure Insurance Brokers Ltd., The Sharpe Trustees, Garfield Weston Foundation, Man Group Plc Charitable Trust, The Pilgrim Trust.

The Trustees of “The Friends of Holy Innocents Church, Lamarsh” are very grateful for the financial help amounting to £14,515 given in total. In accordance with an undertaking given by the Trustees, Charitable organisations will be re-funded pro rata, the amount raised in excess of the cost.

There are a number of photographs in the Church showing the bell, the missing chip, and the bell, back in the tower, with the new chiming mechanism. There is also a rubbing of the inscription from around the crown of the bell.

MARK DAWSON

2023 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 Magazine
Year: 2022
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2022
Rebel with a cause
Year: 2022
A National Centre for Thomas Gainsborough’s Masterpieces
Year: 2022
EA Festival at Hedingham Castle
Category: Culture
Year: 2022
The Gainsborough Line
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2022
Music, Mischief and Mayhem – Opera at Layer Marney
Year: 2022
Bures Music Festival
Year: 2022
Holm House Gardens in Suffolk
Year: 2022

2020 - Welcome to our 2020 lockdown edition - only published ONLINE. Read about the wonderful Alfred Munnings Exhibition "Behind the Lines"; find out how the beavers have been getting on at the Spains Hall Estate in Finchingfield, introduced back into Essex after an absence of 400 years; explore the link between Ferriers in Bures and the Voyage of the Mayflower, the Salem Witch trials and Wampum belts; read a fascinating interview with Carl Shillingford, talented Michelin chef and keen local forager; and enjoy a celebratory update from Ken Forrester on South African wines and his support for a wonderful local school.  

2020 Magazine
Year: 2020
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2020
Behind the Lines: Alfred Munnings, War Artist
Category: Art, Culture
Year: 2020
The Foragers Retreat – Michelin chef in Pebmarsh.
Category: Food, Nature
Year: 2020
Dam Good Job – Beavers back in Essex after 400 years.
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature
Year: 2020
Ferriers – a Bures house and its connection to the Mayflower.
Category: Adventure. Travel, Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2020
Three special milestones for Ken Forrester Wines  
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2020

2019 - Read about Tudor living on a grand scale at Alston Court, how Samuel Courtauld & Co. shaped our towns and villages, hear inspiring stories of local vineyards Tuffon Hall and West Street, get an update on the Dedham Vale AONB extension, and take a tour round Polstead Mill, one of East Anglia's beautiful secret gardens. 

Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2019
Dedham Vale AONB extension
Year: 2019
The Tuffon Hall Transformation
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
A Hong Kong racehorse in an Essex field
Category: Nature
Year: 2019
Andy Gentle – A chainsaw love affair
Category: Business
Year: 2019
A vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale.
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2019
Underground Moats & Zinc Cathedrals
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
Secret Gardens of East Anglia – Polstead Mill
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Repairing the damage of a supermarket delivery van
Year: 2019
How Samuel Courtauld and Co. shaped our towns and villages
Category: Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2019
Ken Forrester
Year: 2019
CSCA Photography Competition
Year: 2019
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2019

2018 - Read about Hedingham Castle, a new National Centre for Gainsborough in Sudbury, award-winning new Gins from Adnams, aspects of our Industrial Heritage, the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project, and take a look at the proposed new Constitution for CSCA.. 

Chairmans Letter April 2018
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
History of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, Culture, History
Year: 2018
Another Suffolk Success Story – Time for a G & T?
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2018
Some more aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: Agricultural, Brewing, distilling and wine, History
Year: 2018
An Earl’s Tower
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
A Castle Reborn
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
A National Centre for Gainsborough set within the town where he was born and the landscape that inspired him
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, History
Year: 2018
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens, History
Year: 2018
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2018
New Constitution
Year: 2018
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2018

2017 - Read about our local industrial heritage, Paycocke's House history, why heritage matters, the art of Alfred Munnings, a haunted house in Lamarsh, celebrating Gainsborough, the beauty of recreating Cedric Morris's Iris collection and a small wine snippet from Ken Forrester. 

Chairmans Letter April 2017
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2017
Heritage Matters
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2017
Some aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: History
Year: 2017
Paycocke’s House: a witness to history
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
The House of his Dreams: Reimagining The Munnings Art Museum
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
‘The Haunted House’ of Lamarsh – Some Early Reflections
Category: History
Year: 2017
Gainsborough’s House: Celebrating the Past and Looking to the Future
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
Another, highly unusual, Suffolk Success Story
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Garden Visits 2017
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Dirty Little Secret
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2017
Website
Category: News
Year: 2017
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2017
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2017

2016 - Interesting articles on medieval graffiti, farming in the Stour Valley, exploring our AONB, early settlers from the Stour Valley to America, the archaeology of a local farm, a wonderful catalogue of British birds, celebrating a Suffolk joinery business, the weather from a South African winery. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2016
Medieval Graffiti: the hidden histories…
Category: History
Year: 2016
Stour Valley Farming
Category: Business
Year: 2016
The Godly Kingdom of the Stour Valley
Category: History
Year: 2016
Keeping It Special in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Stour Valley Project
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Lodge Farm, Rectory Road, Wyverstone Street, Suffolk
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2016
A Miscellany of Information about British Birds
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Another Suffolk Success Story
Category: Business
Year: 2016
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2016
Harvest, Fires and Fynbos
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
LOOKING FORWARDS, BEFORE I GET LEFT BEHIND….
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2016
Annual General Meeting and Summer Party
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2016
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2016

2015 - The life and times of a flint knapper. A continuation about the history of the ancient farm at Henny and a visit to the inside of Alston Court, Nayland as well as an insight into The Antiques Roadshow.  

Chairman’s Letter – February 2015
Category: Annual
Year: 2015
Caught Knapping
Category: History
Year: 2015
ALSTON COURT
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2015
ORGANIC MUTTERINGS
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY – PART 2
Category: History
Year: 2015
ON AND OFF THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Category: Business
Year: 2015
UNLOCKING THE ARTIST WITHIN: FINE ART LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2015
BADGERS – LOVE’EM, OR HATE’EM?
Category: Nature
Year: 2015
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Gardens
Year: 2015
FORRESTER VINEYARDS, SOUTH AFRICA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2015
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2015

2014 - A hair-raising flight from UK to South Africa and an insight into the Wineries of Stellenbosch. An exceptional old mill just outside Bures and a most unusual chapel on the hill behind, as well as a time warp farm at Henny. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2014
Category: Annual
Year: 2014
ST. STEPHEN’S CHAPEL, BURES
Category: History
Year: 2014
THE STELLENBOSCH WINE ROUTE – THE PEOPLE AND THE DOGS!
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2014
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A FLIGHT TO STELLENBOSCH AND BACK
Category: Adventure. Travel
Year: 2014
A SUFFOLK SUCCESS STORY – JIM LAWRENCE LTD
Category: Business
Year: 2014
HOLD FARM, BURES ST MARY; A RARE TUDOR WATERMILL
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2014
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY
Category: History
Year: 2014
YOUR COUNTRYSIDE – FIGHT FOR IT NOW! your Britain fight for it now
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2014
TUNBRIDGEWARE
Category: History
Year: 2014
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB) – UPDATE
Category: News, Planning Issues
Year: 2014
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2014
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2014
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2014

2013 - Watermills on the Stour. How Constable and Gainsborough would have seen many of the buildings in our area. Let’s protect the Stour Valley by extending the AONB from where we take over from The Dedham Vale at Wormingford towards Sudbury. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2013
Category: Annual
Year: 2013
THE WATERMILLS OF THE RIVER STOUR
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
MANAGING A MASTERPIECE: THE STOUR VALLEY LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB)
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
BUILDINGS IN THE EAST ANGLIAN LANDSCAPE – AS SEEN BY JOHN CONSTABLE
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
THE ROUND CHURCH AT MAPLESTEAD
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
THE FINE WINES OF ENGLAND
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2013
PROGRESS AGAINST PYLONS: A ROUNDUP OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PYLONS SAGA
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
TEA AND THE TEA CADDY A BRIEF STUDY OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF TEA AND ITS CONTAINERS
Category: History
Year: 2013
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2013
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2013
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2013

2012 - A walk through many of the churches along the River Stour and how the Romans once lived right here in our midst, and how your pint is brewed. Also the ongoing fight to rid the Stour of the blight of Pylons. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – FEBRUARY 2012
Category: Annual
Year: 2012
TREES R US – AN AMATEUR ARBORETUM
Category: Nature
Year: 2012
GLIMPSES INTO SOME STOUR VALLEY CHURCHES
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2012
THE ART OF BREWING
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2012
PLANNING REFORM
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2012
‘ELF ‘N SAFETY . . . AND ALL THAT
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
BRINGING OUR PAST TO LIFE: GESTINGTHORPE ROMAN VILLA
Category: History
Year: 2012
MINIATURE OR APPRENTICE PIECE?
Category: History
Year: 2012
GAINSBOROUGH’S VIEW
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
NEW STOUR VALLEY ENVIRONMENT FUND
Category: News
Year: 2012
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2012
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2012
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 46TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 12TH MAY 2011
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2012

2011 - The brewers of East Anglia. The gardens of Marks Hall as well as the paintings of Alfred Munnings on display in Sudbury. How a small church became the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds and all you need to know about antique birdcages. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – APRIL 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
Pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2011
THE PAINTED CHURCH BECOMES BURY’S CATHEDRAL
Category: History
Year: 2011
MARKS HALL AND THE PHILLIPS PRICE TRUST
Category: History
Year: 2011
BREWING IN EAST ANGLIA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2011
BURES MILL OVER NINE CENTURIES
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2011
LANDSCAPES BY MUNNINGS EXHIBITION AT GAINSBOROUGH’S HOUSE
Category: Art
Year: 2011
BIRD-CAGES – A FASCINATION
Category: History
Year: 2011
DAWS HALL EVENTS 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2011
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2011
TREASURERS REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2011
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 45TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 6TH MAY 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011

2010 - An artist who enjoyed his port and a canoe adventure along the Stour. Sudbury’s history and Coggeshall Abbey and a fight to get rid of Pylons from the Stour Valley. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2010
A Pint of Port to Paint a Picture
Category: Art, History
Year: 2010
A Walk Round Coggeshall Abbey
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
By Canoe to Cattawade
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
Nocturnal Visitors
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Sudbury New Town – c.1330
Category: History
Year: 2010
A Stay in a Nomad’s Tent
Category: Business
Year: 2010
Freeing our countryside of the blight of pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2010
Hobbies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2010
Website
Category: News
Year: 2010
Annual General Meeting 2009
Category: Annual
Year: 2010

2009 - Norwich School art and the Maplesteads. Ancient wallpapers, and is Long Melford the epitome of a Suffolk village? and don’t throw away a rug before checking what it is. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
By Hook or by Crook
Category: Art, History
Year: 2009
Unwanted Wildlife – Some Handy Hints
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
East Ruston Old Vicarage
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Squash a Squirrel – Save a Tree
Category: Nature
Year: 2009
Historic Wallpapers and Cole & Son
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Long Melford – ‘Suffolk in a day’
Category: Architectural Interest, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2009
Don’t throw away a fortune!
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Garden Visits. Away Days
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Website
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
Editors Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2009
Annual General Meeting 2008
Category: Annual
Year: 2009

2008 - The bell founders of Sudbury and all about a rogue from our area, Sir John Hawkwood, and a Sudbury secret – Gainsborough’s House. 

Member’s Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2008
Cycling in Suffolk – An Environmental Holiday
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
The Sudbury Bell Founders
Category: History
Year: 2008
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2008
From Sible Hedingham to Florence. The Remarkable Life of Sir John Hawkwood
Category: History
Year: 2008
‘One of Suffolk’s Best Kept Secrets’- Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
Discovering Historic Wallpaper in East Anglian Houses
Category: History
Year: 2008
The not so humble Mole (Talpa Europaea) and how to catch him
Category: Nature
Year: 2008
Annual Report 2007.
Category: Annual
Year: 2008

2007 - Why a bell had to be chipped to get into the belfry at Lamarsh. Watermills on the Colne and Dragonflies. 

Water Mills on the Upper Colne
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2007
Dragonflies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2007
Lamarsh Bell Restoration
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2007
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2007
What is wrong with our Horse Chestnuts?
Category: Nature
Year: 2007

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