About this Event
This tour around Rochford and the River Roach will pass Rochford Hall, once owned by oft-maligned Tudor courtier Richard Rich. It's now part of a golf course, as is the old parish church. But Rochford was a hotbed of Protestantism, and we'll talk about how Nonconformists and Dissenters differed, from Congregationalists to Puritans, Methodists and the Peculiar People.
After a tour around the town looking at weatherboard houses there will be a short pub stop. The second part of the walk goes along the River Roach, past a derelict flour mill and live saltmarshes into the estuary to hear about the perils of riverside mud, with the aid of Susan Hill's Woman in Black. Birds abound, and the marshes are beautiful as we head towards the North Sea.
The walk is about five miles and could involve muddy paths, so boots or high trainers with good soles are needed. Rochford is about one hour by train from Liverpool Street Station.
Below are your hosts, Rob Smith and Laura Agustín, in a Maldon pub after a recce.
Laura Agustín is a qualified guide as well as historian and writer keen to tell histories of working people treated like an inanimate mass in conventional accounts. The Naked Anthropologist is her longtime blog. Essex estuaries interest her because they are generally not mentioned as worthy destinations - but they are wonderful!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Rochford Railway Station, West Street, Rochford, United Kingdom
GBP 17.50
