The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
- FORMERLY THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY FOUNDED 1852
Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2025
The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Contents
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Trustees and Corporate Information | 1 |
| Trustees’ Report | 2 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 6 |
| Balance Sheet | 7 |
| Notes to the Accounts | 8 |
| Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement | 12 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | |
| to the Trustees of The Essex Society for Archaeology & History | 13 |
| Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 28th June 2025 | 14 |
The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees and Corporate Information
Patron: Lord Petre, K.C.V.O., J.P., M.A. Vice-Presidents: W.M. Abbott, M.A., F.I.A. D.G. Buckley, B.Sc., M.C.If.A., F.S.A. A. Corder-Birch, D.L., F.S.A. Dr. P.M. Leach, B.A., M.B.B.S. A.B. Phillips, B.E.M., B.A. H.M. Stuchfield, M.B.E., J.P., D.L., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S. Dr. C.C. Thornton, B.A., Ph.D., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S. N.P. Wickenden, M.A., A.M.A., F.S.A. Trustees: P.J. Wise, M.A.(Cantab.), Cert.Mus.Stud., A.M.A., M.C.If.A., F.S.A.* H. Brooks, B.A., M.C.If.A., F.S.A. Secretary W.M. Abbott, M.A., F.I.A. Treasurer A. Crosby, B.A., M.Soc.Sc., F.S.A. Chairman E.I.A.G. Dr. M.E. Curteis, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., A.M.A., F.R.N.S. S.L. King, B.A. T. O’Connor, B.Sc., M.Sc. L.E.A. Pooley, M.A., M.C.If.A. H.M. Stuchfield, M.B.E., J.P., D.L., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S.† N.R. Wiffen, M.A. A.N. Wightman, B.Sc., M.A., M.C.If.A. Curator: P.J. Wise, M.A.(Cantab.), Cert.Mus.Stud., A.M.A., M.C.If.A., F.S.A. Independent Examiner: T.M.A. Kerr Registered Charity No.: 213218 Registered Office: Hollytrees Museum, High Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 1UG Bankers: Barclays Bank PLC, Brentwood Blog: www.esah160.blogspot.co.uk X (formerly Twitter): https//x.com/ESAH160 Website: www.esah1852.org.uk * President † Membership Secretary
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees’ Report
Structure Governance and management
The organisation is an unincorporated association, originally founded as the Essex Archaeological Society in 1852, changing its name to The Essex Society for Archaeology & History in 1985. It is governed by a constitution as revised and adopted at the 2015 A.G.M. It registered as a charity in 1962. Its objects as stated in the constitution are:
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to promote and encourage the study of archaeology and history in the historic county of Essex;
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in furtherance of the above, to publish the results of such studies in the Society’s journal, and to disseminate information on Essex archaeology and history through the appropriate media;
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to organise conferences, lectures and visits for the benefit of members and interested members of the public, and to educate the wider community and other bodies on matters of common interest and concern; and
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to provide library facilities for Society members and other members of the public.
The management of the Society is vested in a Council of Management who are the trustees of the Society. There are six trustees who are directly elected at the A.G.M., as are the President, Secretary and Treasurer, who are ex-officio members of Council. There are a number of members who serve the Society in various capacities and, as proposed by Council, further ex-officio members are elected onto Council at the A.G.M. The list of trustees is set out on page 1.
Council is aided in undertaking its responsibilities by various committees which report directly to Council, namely Publications and Research Committee, Library and Archives Committee and the Programme Committee. In addition it has special interest sections, named the Essex Industrial Archaeology Group and the Essex Place Names Project, both of which are financially supported. The society is continuing the activities previously associated with the Essex Archaeological and Historical Congress. In 2021 it has taken on the assets and liabilities of the Essex Journal . The trustees retain the direct responsibility for, and active supervision of, expenditure.
The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report have complied with their duty to have regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties.
CounciI meets four times a year, with meetings being hybrid, in person and with Zoom. Similarly, the work of the Committees was carried out via email and by zoom meetings. As ever Council is extremely grateful to all those who have given their time and energy to serve on these committees, as well as to those who have represented the Society on other bodies.
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees’ Report
President’s review
This is the second annual report that I have the pleasure of presenting to the Society’s membership. During 2025 the Society has maintained a full range of activities including a programme of members’ visits, publications and the annual symposium as well as making grants and responding to requests for assistance from individuals concerned about the county’s heritage. As will be seen elsewhere in this Annual Report and Accounts, the Society has a healthy membership, a Council of Management at full strength and sound finances.
The Society was only able to arrange two members’ visits during the year. On 28th July we visited Hill Hall at Theydon Mount, near Epping, an early example of a collaborative restoration project between English Heritage and a private developer. Our guide was Anne Padfield and we were shown two rooms with their remarkable surviving 17th-century wall paintings as well as the exterior of the building and its grounds. The outing was concluded with tea and an opportunity to explore Theydon Mount parish church. The other visit saw us venturing over the border into Suffolk to visit St. Stephen’s Chapel at Bures, with its notable de Vere monuments, as well as Bures Mount, the motte and bailey castle, just inside Essex. I am very grateful to the Hon. Programme Secretary (Jane Pearson) and the Hon. Secretary (Howard Brooks) for arranging these visits.
The annual E.S.A.H. Symposium was held on 1st November at Christ Church in Chelmsford when members heard six papers on both archaeology and history subjects relating to the county. In the morning programme Rob Cullum spoke about A Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Heybridge with possible continental parallels , noting that the site was notable for the presence of longhouses which are very unusual in Britain, but more commonly found in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. This was followed by a presentation by Angus Forshaw on Late Iron Age/Early Roman elite burials near Chelmsford where at a site at Powers Farm evidence was recovered of high status cremation burials of Welwyn-type, comparable to the Doctor’s Grave at Stanway. Lastly in the morning session, Adam Wightman described a remarkable Roman burial found at the site of the former Essex County Hospital in Colchester where a well-preserved female skeleton was buried with six jet hair pins and seven small glass vessels. After lunch, David Grocott drew on his ongoing Ph.D. research, partly funded by E.S.A.H., to speak on the subject of Victorian Knights: Medievalism and Chivalry of the Volunteer Rifle Movement in 19th-century Saffron Walden . In this paper he explained how in the middle decades of the 19th century the Government created a concept of Englishness which drew on a medieval origin to enforce the idea of what it is to be a good citizen. Finally, in the bicentenary year of the railways in Britain, we heard from Peter Jones on The Life and Times of the Eastern Counties Railway: How Colchester got the train . Apparently by the time the line reached Colchester the company promoting the railway was virtually bankrupt which explains why, rather than building a station conveniently in the centre of Colchester, it was decided to go for the cheaper option of a site to the north of the town.
The venue for the Society’s 2025 A.G.M. was Prittlewell Priory, near Southend. Mark Atkinson and Paul Sainsbury stood down after completing their second three-year term as trustees and both were thanked for their contribution to the work of
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees’ Report
President’s review continued
the Society. Samara King was appointed as a new trustee. After the formal business meeting members were given a guided tour of the Priory which had been founded by the Cluniac Order in the early 12th century as a cell of the Priory of St. Pancras at Lewes, Sussex. The Society has made several grants during the year. An application from Tonia Lawes for a travel budget for a joint U.C.L. Institute of Archaeology and Bulmer Brick and Tile Works project was approved as it was recognised by Council this represented a valuable research opportunity for Ph.D. students. We also supported a request from the Friends of St. Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church in Colchester for the production of a new guidebook which was duly published at the end of the year. In recent years the Society has made several grants to Essex museums to enable the acquisition of archaeological finds of county and, in some cases, national importance. In 2025 the Society gave grants to Chelmsford Museum to enable it to acquire the Baddow Hoard of Iron Age coins and to Epping Forest District Museum to purchase an Early Medieval finger ring from Matching, both items being Treasure finds. Jack Eggington, a Ph.D. student at Reading, was awarded a grant for his research into a possible Bronze Age human burial from Dovercourt Beach. Lastly, a grant was made to enable the webhosting of a digital version of the Chapman and Andre Map of Essex 1777 as an open access resource for researchers, teachers and students.
In 2025 the Society published volume 14 (4th Series) of its Transactions , two issues of the Essex Journal (vol.60, nos.1 and 2) and its electronic newsletter. I would like to place on record my thanks to the respective editors: Paul Gilman, assisted by Chris Thornton, Steve Pollington and Victoria Rathmill.
During the year the Society was contacted by the owner of a listed building near Wormingford regarding representations to Colchester City Council about a planning application for a nearby commercial development. The various planning documents and the owner’s concerns were carefully considered but it was concluded that there were no substantive grounds for objecting to this planning application in terms of its impact on the historic environment. Nonetheless, the Society is always interested to hear about development in Essex which may potentially adversely affect the county’s heritage.
The Council has met regularly during 2025 and has transacted a significant amount of business on behalf of members. I would especially like to recognise here the significant contribution to the Society made over the last year by the Hon. Secretary (Howard Brooks), the Hon. Membership Secretary (Martin Stuchfield) and the Hon. Treasurer (Bill Abbott) and his assistant and successor designate Louisa Tippett.
During the year the Society received a legacy from the estate of the late Sidney Gordon Letch of Hornchurch. Mr. Letch was a member of the Society with a particular interest in church history. Council has decided to use this gift to support the acquisition of the Matching finger ring mentioned above. Any members who are considering leaving a legacy to the Society should contact the Hon. Treasurer.
As anticipated in last year’s Trustees Report, Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation in Essex were significant issues considered by Council during the year. A formal letter was sent to Cllr. Kevin Bentley, the Leader of Essex County Council, expressing the Society’s concerns about the future arrangements for provision of
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees’ Report
President’s review continued
archaeological planning advice and the Historic Environment Record (H.E.R.), upon which such advice depends, and the Essex Record Office (E.R.O.). The Society’s considered view is that the H.E.R. and the E.R.O. should not be disaggregated and instead these services should either (a) be a responsibility of the Strategic Mayoral Authority or (b) sit within a single Unitary but be a Shared Service
across all Authorities. I am very grateful to our former President Nigel Brown for his help with the preparation of this letter. An online meeting was arranged with Cllr. Mark Durham, the County Council’s Cabinet member for the Arts, Heritage and Culture, at which the Society’s position was explained in detail. Informal contacts at councillor and officer level are continuing and further information will be provided to the membership as the situation becomes clearer over the coming months.
Finally, your Council has begun the planning of a programme of events in 2027 to mark the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Society. These events will celebrate both the history and archaeology of Essex and it is hoped will be held in several locations in the county. Further details will be made available shortly.
Finance
The principal financing activity of the Society relates to the cost of producing and distributing the Transactions and its Index as well as Occasional Papers, the biannual Essex Journal and newsletters. We try wherever possible to get sponsorship grants for individual articles and in the main these are for archaeological papers. Grants for volume 14 of the Transactions amounted to £4,005 (2024: volume 13: £6,790) with a net cost, including distribution, of £4,935 (2024: volume 13: £2,858). There were no Occasional Papers in 2025.
In 2025 the Society’s Funds, excluding any change in investment values, increased by £6,641. 2024 had a small decrease of £4,993, reflecting the production of the two Occasional papers.
The Society greatly benefits from the input of many volunteers and has investible funds, some of which are earmarked as endowment funds where we can only utilise the income on such funds and some are restricted to cover specific future publications. The Society has taken the view that a significant percentage of these funds can be invested in equities (using unit trust funds specifically confined to charities) as it can absorb the volatility in such a strategy. The Society benefited from market upswings in 2025 and disinvested £33,800 from its holdings in M&G Charifund in November. Gains on investments totalled £11,081 (2024: £3,378). The notes to the accounts provide significant detail.
The unrestricted general reserves of the Society are being maintained at a level which would ensure the capability of producing and distributing volumes of the Transactions , Occasional Papers and the Essex Journal for at least the next five years.
We have sufficient reserves to make occasional donations and grants to support heritage projects in Essex.
Philip Wise, President 18th April 2026
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Statement of Financial Activities
for the year ended 31st December 2025
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| £ | £ |
| Incoming resources | |
| Income from subscriptions (note 2)12,201 | 13,766 |
| Publications: grants and sales (note 3)4,005 | 12,722 |
| Other income (note 4)5,742 | 638 |
| Income from investments7,366 | 6,863 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Total incoming resources 29,314 | 33,989 |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Resources used | |
| Production costs:Transactions(note 3)8,940 | 24,199 |
| Production costs:_Essex Journal_and Newsletters6,241 | 7,757 |
| Administration costs (note 5)2,954 | 2,652 |
| Other expenditure (note 6)456 | 640 |
| Donations and grants (note 7)4,082 | 3,734 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Total resources used 22,673 | 38,982 |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Net incoming/(outgoing)resources 6,641 | (4,993) |
| Realised gains on investments4,354 | — |
| Unrealised gains on investments6,727 | 3,378 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Net movement in funds 17,722 | (1,615) |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Reconciliation of funds | |
| Total funds brought forward273,311 | 274,926 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Total funds carried forward 291,033 aaaa |
273,311 aaaa |
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Balance Sheet
as at 31st December 2025
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| £ | £ |
| Library books100,000 | 100,000 |
| Investments (note 8)111,927 | 134,648 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Fixed assets 211,927 | 234,648 |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Deposit and current accounts (note 9)73,912 | 39,339 |
| Other current assets (note 10)5,594 | 49 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Current assets 79,506 | 39,388 |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Current liabilities(advance subscriptions) (400) | (725) |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Total assets 291,033 | 273,311 |
| aaaa | aaaa |
| Unrestricted funds – general125,661 | 108,668 |
| Restricted funds (note 11)65,372 | 64,643 |
| Historic book collection100,000 | 100,000 |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| Fixed assets 291,033 aaaa |
273,311 aaaa |
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31st December 2025
1 Accounting policy
General
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
Designated funds form part of the general funds but relate to funds which Council have designated as being for a specific purpose. The restricted funds reflect constraints imposed by the donors of the funds. The historic book collection is classified as designated.
Computers and new books purchased are written off on purchase.
2 Income from subscriptions
2025 2024 £ £ E.S.A.H. 9,320 10,874 Essex Journal 1,435 1,397 Gift Aid 1,446 1,495 1111 1111 12,201 13,766 aaaa aaaa
3 Transactions and Occasional Papers
| 3 Transactions and Occasional Papers | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Grant income | 4,005 | 12,722 |
| Printing | (7,495) | (16,764) |
| Distribution | (1,445) | (7,435) |
| 1111 | 1111 | |
| Net (expenditure) | (4,935) | (11,477) |
| aaaa | aaaa | |
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Analysis: | ||
| Transactions: | ||
| Volume 14 | (4,935) | — |
| Volume 13 | — | (2,858) |
| Occasional Papers: | ||
| Dovecote Field | — | (1,866) |
| Medieval Merchant | — | (6,753) |
| 1111 | 1111 | |
| Net (expenditure) | (4,935) aaaa |
(11,477) aaaa |
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31st December 2025
4 Other income
| 4 Other income | |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 |
| £ | £ |
| Cash Flow from visits and other events(12) | 205 |
| Donations5,025 | 132 |
| Licensing fees and royalties221 | 72 |
| Sale of library stock (including Trail)508 | 280 |
| Sundries— | (51) |
| 1111 | 1111 |
| 5,742 aaaa |
638 aaaa |
All publications are regarded as Library stock.
Licensing royalties and proceeds from the sale of library stock have been attributed to the P.R.F.
| 5 | Administration costs | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| Dispatching mailings | 258 | 210 | |
| Editors’ honoraria | 1,350 | 1,350 | |
| Insurance | 150 | 75 | |
| Printing flyers, etc. | 165 | 193 | |
| Room hire (including Zoom) | 619 | 390 | |
| Website | 412 | 434 | |
| 1111 | 1111 | ||
| 2,954 | 2,652 | ||
| aaaa | aaaa |
| 6 | Other expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| E.I.A.G. | — | 284 | |
| Purchase of books | 230 | 112 | |
| Subscriptions paid | 226 | 221 | |
| Sundries | — | 23 | |
| 1111 | 1111 | ||
| 456 aaaa |
640 aaaa |
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31st December 2025
7 Donations and grants 2025 2024 £ £ Bulmer Brick seminar 200 — Chelmsford Museum: Baddow Coin Hoard grant 2,000 — Colchester Museum: dating of Dovercourt skeleton 782 — Friends of St Leonards-at-the-Hythe, Colchester 1,000 — Medieval Deeds for Essex Record Office — 984 — Mistley Torc purchase 2,500 Sponsorship of webhosting map of Essex 1777 100 — Support for David Grocott’s Ph.D. thesis 1111 — 250 1111 4,082 3,734 aaaa aaaa 8 Investments 2025 2024 £ £ COIF Charities Fixed Income Fund (income units) 20,329 19,875 COIF Charities Investment Fund (income units) 36,649 38,491 M&G Charifund 54,949 76,282 1111 1111 111,927 134,648 aaaa aaaa 9 Deposit and current accounts 2025 2024 £ £ Barclay Bank balances – current 10,620 10,217 Barclay Bank balances – savings 26,302 24,180 COIF deposits 1111 36,990 4,942 1111 73,912 39,339 aaaa aaaa 10 Other current assets 2025 2024 £ £ Advance payments 143 49 Gift Aid reclaim 1,446 — Grants due for Transactions 4,005 — 1111 1111 5,594 49 aaaa aaaa
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31st December 2025
11 Restricted funds
2025 2024 £ £ Essex Mills Fund 2,592 2,592 Essex Journal index 2,556 2,556 Pleshey project 39 39 Publications and Research Fund (‘P.R.F.’) 1111 60,185 59,456 1111 65,372 64,643 aaaa aaaa
Essex Mills Fund
Seeded by the residual amount from the monies received on taking over the Essex Mills Trust enhanced by sales of related publications and available for mills related projects.
Essex Journal index
Pre-funding for an Index for the Essex Journal acquired on assumption of the responsibility for that publication.
Pleshey Project
The Society is in receipt of grants to fund writing up Bassett’s excavation work at Pleshey in the 1970s. Eventually this work will be published as an Occasional Paper.
Publication and Research Fund (‘P.R.F.’)
The P.R.F. exists to support the publications and research of the Society. Specific subscriptions to this fund have been received on the basis that they would form an endowment fund generating income which would support the purpose of the fund This inalienable element of the fund amounts to £32,465. Subsequent attributions to the fund have not been so constrained.
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these accounts, the Trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable U.K. accounting standards have been followed, subject
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to any material departures disclosed and explained in the accounts; and
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prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate
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to presume that the charity will continue in operation
The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Essex Society for Archaeology & History for the year ended 31st December 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity Trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Society’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect
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1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the Society’s as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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2) the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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3) the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
T.M.A. Kerr Maltings Lodge Frating Road Great Bromley Colchester Essex CO7 7JW 5th April 2026
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Prittlewell Priory Visitor Centre, Priory Park, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 6NB on Saturday, 28th June 2025 at 2.00p.m.
In the Chair: Philip Wise (President)
Trustees: Howard Brooks (Hon. Secretary) Adrian Corder-Birch (Vice-President) Tony Crosby (Chairman E.I.A.G.) and Paul Sainsbury
Associate members of Council: Nick Wickenden (Immediate Past President) and Lucy Jack (Minutes Secretary)
also Nigel Brown (Past President) and nine other members of the Society
1. Opening remarks
The President welcomed members and thanked the staff of Prittlewell Priory for hosting and providing refreshments.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Bill Abbott (Vice-President and Hon. Treasurer), Ken Crowe, Mark Curteis (Trustee), Karen Dennis, Martin Stuchfield (Vice-President Hon. Membership Secretary and Trustee), Chris Thornton (Vice-President), Louisa Tippett (Assistant Treasurer) and Neil Wiffen (Trustee).
3. To approve the minutes of the A.G.M. held on 22nd June 2024
The minutes of the 2024 A.G.M., as published in the Annual Report and Accounts , were approved as a correct record.
4. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
5. President’s Report for 2024
A detailed report published in the Annual Report and Accounts had previously been circulated to all members. The President noted this was his first annual report, having been in post for twelve months. He acknowledged the support and contribution of his predecessor Nick Wickenden who had successfully led the Society during the difficult years of the Covid-19 pandemic. The varied programme of visits described in the report were highlighted (including the annual symposium that had an industrial theme) and he thanked Howard Brooks and Jane Pearson for organising them. Grants made by the Sociey
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
5. President’s Report for 2023 continued
Society had included a contribution to permit the Essex Record Office to acquire documents relating to the Rich family, major 16th-century landowners, which Ken Crowe had described in the Society’s newsletter. The President also drew attention to the grant of £2,500 made to Colchester Museums for the unusual Bronze Age gold Mistley Torc which it was hoped would be displayed next year. The Society published two issues of Essex Journal , two electronic newsletters and volume 13 of the Transactions during the year; the President thanked the respective editors Stephen Pollington, Victoria Rathmill and Paul Gilman (assisted by Chris Thornton). E.S.A.H. also supported various projects across the historic county of Essex including the preservation of a rare 18th century farmhouse in Leytonstone and the repairing of the historic St. Andrew’s Church at Boreham. The latter would potentially include a financial donation. The Council had continued to meet regularly to manage the Society’s activities, and the President particularly wished to thank Bill Abbott, Howard Brooks and Martin Stuchfield for their significant contribution. Finally, the President noted that local government reorganisation meant that Essex County Council and the current city and borough councils would be replaced by a number of unitary authorities. Concern was expressed that the care of the heritage of Essex should not be overlooked. Developments would be monitored with regard to relevant provisions such as archaeological advice for planning legislation and support for the Essex Record Office.
6. To approve the 2024 Annual Report and Accounts
The Treasurer due to his absence provided additional notes expressing gratitude to Louisa Tippett who had been of valuable assistance during the past year. The Society was on a sound financial footing and there was no intention to increase membership subscriptions rates but he requested that members complete Gift Aid declarations available from the Hon. Membership Secretary. The Annual Report and Accounts for 2024 having been previously circulated to all members was unanimously approved.
7. Election of Independent Examiner
Peter Evans had indicated that he was willing to continue and was re-elected unanimously.
8. Election of President, Secretary and Treasurer for 2024-2025 Philip Wise, Howard Brooks and Bill Abbott having indicated that they were willing to stand for the positions of President, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer respectively were unanimously re-elected. They would be ex-officio members of Council.
9. Election of Vice-Presidents for 2025-2026
The current Vice-Presidents, Bill Abbott, Dave Buckley, Adrian Corder-Birch, Michael Leach, Andrew Phillips, Martin Stuchfield and Chris Thornton had all indicated that they were willing to continue. Nick Wickenden had agreed to be nominated as an additional Vice-President. Their election was proposed by the President and carried unanimously.
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The Essex Society for Archaeology & History
10. Election of an additional Trustees for 2025-28
The Constitution requires six members to be elected to the Executive Council. Samara King had agreed to be nominated for a three-year term, in accordance with clause D2 of the Constitution and was duly elected. Teresa O’Connor, having completed a three-year term, was re-elected for a further three-year term.
Mark Atkinson and Paul Sainsbury having each served on the Council for a period of six years retired and were thanked by the President for their contribution and dedication to the Society.
11. Any other business .
There was no further business and the meeting closed at 3.15p.m.
The formal business was followed by refreshments and a group photograph outside Prittlewell Priory. Members enjoyed a guided tour of the Priory from Dr. Sarah Ives.
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