250 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUH. 



subscription list was closed before the Act was obtained, and we know that the 

 works were proceeded with at once. The capital was ;^40,ooo, divided into 400 

 £100 shares, witli power to raise a further sum of ;^20,coo if necessary. The 

 only initial difficult}' that arose was that on April 13th, 1795, ^ meeting of the 

 proprietors was called for the purpose of raising a further sum of ^8,000, in con- 

 sequence of the company having been compelled to purchase Betkigh Mill. 



In accordance with this Act, the canal was made from Moulsham Mill to near 

 Beeleigh Mill, by widening, deepening, cleansing, straightening, and improving 

 the river Chelmer ; here a short cut along the Long Weir was made into the 

 Blackwater, and the bed of that river was " widened, deepened, cleansed, and 

 improved " to Heybridge Mill, whence a new canal was cut through Heybridge 

 to what is now known as Heybridge Basin, falling into the estuary at Collier's 

 Reach. The opposition from the borough of Maldun to this undertaking was so 

 great that the company were not able to bring their canal within the borough 

 boundaries. 



I do not think that I need go into the commercial history of the undertaking. 

 The topography of the canal we propose to explore to-day, and in conclusion it 

 will suffice to say that a detailed plan of the navigation, las completed, ma}' be 

 seen in Mr. Andrew Meggy's office at Chelmsford. 



A short stoppage afforded an opportunity for a walk to Beeleigh Mill. There 

 in the mill pond a few species of aquatic mollusca were taken by Mr. Walter 

 Crouch, but there was not much time for collecting them.- 



Some again landing, Speeney Meadow, further on, was also perambulated, and 

 at Hoe Mill, Woodham Walter, Mr. S. Garratt accorded permission to stroll 

 through his beautiful gardens, grotto, and grounds. Here was seen a female 

 Golden Eagle, about twenty-four years of age, and two of her eggs (blown) were 

 shown. (Mr. Fitch described the history of this bird in the ESSEX Naturalist, 

 vol. iv., p. 124). 



Ulting Church was the next place of call. The edifice, dedicated to All 

 Saints, is a small stone structure, close to the river side, and consists solely of a 

 nave and chancel, with wooden turret and shingled spire, a pure example of 

 Thirteenth Century or Early English st3-le. 



The botany of the country traversed was, as the programme led the visitors to 

 expect, of considerable interest. The district is Number 3 (Chelmsford) of the 

 artificial divisions in Gibson's " Flora of Essex," and is embraced in River-basin 

 Number iv. (Biackwater) of Prof. Boulger's more natural an angement (see " On 

 the River-basins of Essex as Natural History Provinces," Trans. Essex Field 

 Club, vol. ii., pp. 79-87, and map). The following plants were noted in the 

 programme as being likely to reward the botanists, and, curiousl}- enough, as Dr. 

 Taylor pointed out in his " Botanical Demonstration," given on board soon after 

 leaving Ulting Church, every species anticipated had been found that morning 

 on the banks of the river or in the meadows near : — 



The Meadow-rue {Thalictrum flmiuni) ; Moore's beautitul "Virgin lily" 

 {Nymphcea a.'ha), near Hoe and Little Baddow Mills, and the commoner Yellow 

 Water-lily (A', hitea) ; Meadow-sweet (^Spircra ulmjrici) will be abundant and 

 fragrant as usual ; the remarkable trimorphic and showy Purple Loosestrife 

 (^Lythrum salicaria) and its namesake the Yellow Loosestrife {^Lysunachia vulgaris) ; 

 the true Forget-me-not (^Myosotis palustris), a flower recalling many poetical 

 associations ; various species of Willow-herb (^Epilohium), local!)' known as 

 " Apple " or " Cherry-pie ' plants ; the tall Hemp Agrimony (^Eupatorimn can- 



2 On the succeeding day, however, Messrs. Fitch and Crouch spent a longer time in the 

 grounds of iVIr. Ward, at Beeleigh Mill, and found seven species existing in great numbers in 

 the artificial lake there ; all, however, had already been taken on the previous day in the river 

 Chelmer (see list post) . 



