About Us

We were formed in February 2010
We know that there is a need to collect and record as much as we can about the village, about our predecessors who laid the foundations of the village; about the people who spent all their lives here and are no longer with us; about those who were born and bred here and can still tell us fascinating stories about their lives here; and about later generations who all have a role to play and have contributed to the way we live here today.
The Society has over 50 active and enthusiastic members and a committee of 7 who are all village residents who share the objective of not just finding out more about our history but also of pulling together in one place and recording as much as we can for the benefit of a wider audience today and for future generations whom we hope will share this interest.
We meet four times per year and aim to provide interesting speakers on a range of local history related subjects. Every so often we hold a members evening where the material is presented by members themselves, reporting on projects or work in hand.
Speakers have included: the former Managing Director of the Elsenham Jam Factory; a talk by a local author on his life as a locomotive driver; a local historian on the architecture of Thaxted; the history of the Elsenham to Thaxted branch line; notable architecture and history of Saffron Walden; the history of Easton Lodge and the five parishes; notable cases from the history of Essex Police; the Audley End to Saffron Walden Branch line; Researching Your Family Tree by a local practitioner.
In addition to our regular meetings we aim to organise visits which give our members the opportunity to visit places of interest together and enable informal discussions. Examples of our outings include a conducted tour of Thaxted; a visit to Pledgdon Hall Farm with a tour by the owner; a conducted tour of Dunmow Maltings and Town Museum; a hosted visit to the Essex Records Office.
We meet in the Memorial Hall in Elsenham always on a Wednesday evening starting at 8:00 p.m. The latest dates can be found on our home page together with the details of forthcoming speakers and their subjects. We are committed to trying to engage all age groups in the village to find out about what interests them and to encourage them to become part of a fact finding and recording enterprise and to have some fun along the way too.
Our regular meetings are free for members and visitors are always welcome for a small charge of £2 per meeting.

Talks at Society meetings

The society meets every 2/3 months. At each meeting there is a presentation by a guest speaker. This is a list of all the presentations given. To see a summary of the Speaker's remarks please click on the date.

Date	Speaker & Subject
2010-03-10	David Verlander - Local Maps and Aerial Photos
2010-06-09	Roger Taylor local author, reminiscences on his life as a Train Driver
2010-09-18	John Hurwitz former Managing Director of the Elsenham Jam Factory
2010-11-10	Frances Lambert - Archaeological Practice
2011-03-09	Alf Wright - Easton Lodge and Daisy, Countess of Warwick
2011-06-08	Peter Paye - Elsenham to Thaxted Light Railway
2011-09-14	Bruce Munro - Thaxted History and Its Significant Buildings
2011-11-09	Professor Anthony Tuck - The Black Death in Essex
2012-03-07	Tim Turner - Auctioneer - Antique Fakes and Forgeries
2012-06-06	Stanley Sutherland - Why Start Family History ?
2012-11-07	Member's Evening - Alan Taylor and War Memorial Sub-Committee, The Production of Our Book "For The Duration"
2013-03-06	Bruce Munro - A Chat on Saffron Walden History with Slides
2013-06-12	Fred Feather - Arsenic and Olde Essex
2013-09-11	Peter Paye - The Saffron Walden Branch Railway
2013-11-06	Pat and Steve Schorah - The Dunmow Flitch
2014-03-05	Derek Winter - Stansted Airport - Its History and Notable Happenings
2014-06-11	Sarah Doig - There's no Such Thing as a Good Tax
2014-09-10	Tony Kirby - Railways in The Essex Landscape
2014-11-12	War Memorial Team - War Memorial Research Update
2015-03-04	Dr. Richard Nunn - It's a Doctor's Life
2015-06-10	Tony Kirby - Tides of Fortune - The Rise and Fall of The Seaside Resort
2015-09-09	Local Farming in The 1950s - A Narrated Film
2015-11-11	Richard Priestley - Newport Free School - A History
2016-03-09	Bill Hardy - Carpenter's Marks in Wood Framed Buildings
2016-06-08	Peter Turrall - The History of Marconi 1874 to 1937
2016-09-07	Herbert Eiden - The Peasants Revolt in Essex
2016-11-09	Moira Jackson and Avril Braidwood - Elsenham Women's Institute
2017-03-08	Richard Priestley - The Last Days of Pompeii
2017-06-14	Carolyn Wingfield - Curator Saffron Walden Museum - Saffron Walden Museum and Local Finds
2017-09-13	Roger Clarke - Church Warden - The History of St Mary's Church Elsenham
2017-11-08	Bill Hardy - The Bishop's Stortford Union Workhouse
2018-03-14	Dr. Herbert Eiden - The History of Holidaying at the Seaside
2018-06-13	Richard Priestley - The Story of Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire
2018-09-12	Terry Ward - Station to Station - History Along The Cambridge to Bishop's Stortford Rail Line
2018-11-14	Alan Taylor - Battlefield Tour Guide - The End of World War 1 - The Final Battle
2019-03-13	Roger Barrett - The Fuller Maitlands at Stansted Hall
2019-06-12	Lee Player - Master Thatcher - Thatching - History and Practice
2019-09-11	Bill Hardy - Building King's College Chapel and Arabic Assembly Marks
2019-11-13	Mark Carroll - DNA, Surnames and Genealogy
2020-03-12	Ray Franklin - Elsenham Jam Factory Reprise (10th Anniversary Meeting)
2020-06-10	Anthea Hawdon from Raking Light - Church Graffiti Postponed due to COVID
2020-11-11	Ken McDonald - 100 Parishes Society -Postponed due to COVID
2021-03-10	Nina Gaubert - The Great War Escape Plan POSTPONED
2021-06-09	Anthea Hawden from Raking Light - Church Graffiti - POSTPONED
2021-09-08	Nina Gaubert - Worlds War 1 Essex Evacuation Plan
2021-11-10	Ray Franklin - Photographs of Bishops Stortford (Change of Speaker)
2022-03-09	Anthea Hawden - Raking Light - Church Graffiti
2022-06-08	Prof. Anthony Tuck - Newport A Great and Poor Town
2022-09-14	Ken Macdonald -100 Parishes Society
2022-11-09	Richard Till - The Cutlers of Thaxted
2023-03-08	Chris Bush - History of Park Road Elsenham
2023-06-14	Tony Wellings- History of Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill
2023-09-13	John Rhodes -Sir Walter Gilbey
2023-11-08	Roger Barrett - History of Stansted Mountfitchet
2024-03-13	Ray Franklin - A Potted History of Elsenham
2024-06-12	Richard Till - The Grand Old Duke of York and his Embarrasing Mistresses
2024-09-11	Alex Froggatt Sworders - Antique Glass
2024-11-13	Alan Taylor - Henry Seabrook Tale of A Sherwood Forester -WW1 Trench Maps and Navigation