Please give generously - we need your help !
Click HERE for a donation form

Dedham: Southfields House, north gatehouse leading to courtyard, c. 1500

Click here to read a letter from the President of our appeal fund, Lord Petre.
From 1951 until the 1990s the Essex VCH was funded solely by the Essex County Council and other authorities in the historic county. In the 1990s, however, the London Boroughs were finding it difficult or impossible to pay their share of the History's costs, and in 1994 an Appeal Fund (Registered Charity No. 1038801) was set up. Money raised by that fund now plays an important part in the continuation of the Essex VCH, augmenting the core funding from Essex County Council and the University of Essex. This page is illustrated with photographs taken during fieldwork for VCH Essex Volume X, which could not have been completed without the support of the Appeal.

Membership of the Appeal Fund is open to anyone interested in its objects, and includes both individual members and many groups and societies concerned with the history and heritage of the county. The Appeal Fund is fortunate to have the support of a President, Vice-Presidents and Patrons, but its everyday work is managed by a group of Officers and Trustees who meet about four times a year.

Boxted: St Peter's Church, west tower, repaired in brick probably in the 1530s

Currently the Appeal Fund seeks to raise a minimum of £8000 a year to support the project, with the long-term objective of ensuring that the History is completed. If more staff can be employed the History can be completed more quickly. In order to achieve this it provides the vehicle from which funds may be raised from potential donors.

The Appeal has also provided financial support for the collaboration between VCH Essex staff and a group of volunteers researching and writing a popular history of Clacton in World War II. For more information about the project and its publication click here.

Supporting the Appeal can be much more fun than simply writing a cheque………

We hold an Annual General Meeting, to which the officers report and which elects both the officers and the committee of trustees. The AGM, held in November each year, is combined with a Public Lecture by a leading local historian.

Colne Engaine: Colne Park, main (west) front, as ‘improved' in the 1790s

Appeal Fund members also receive regular issues of Essex Past, the Newsletter of the VCH Essex Appeal Fund (twice a year), as well as the national newsletter of the VCH project.

In addition, the current staff of the VCH Essex can give talks to any local societies about the work of VCH in Essex and about the current research on the history of parishes and seaside resorts along the north-east Essex coast. We only ask that a donation be made to the Appeal.

Rowhedge: Paget Almshouses, built 1889 for retired yacht hands

If you feel you would like to support us in continuing to research and write about the history of Essex, please consider making a donation. You can contact the following for more information:

Mrs Patricia Herrmann, Secretary and Treasurer, West Bowers Hall, Woodham Walter, Maldon, Essex CM9 6RZ. E-mail: patriciaherrmann@talk21.com

President, Vice-Presidents and Patrons

President:
The Lord Petre, JP, Lord Lieutenant of Essex

Vice-Presidents:
The Lord Braybrooke, JP DL
Sir John Ruggles-Brise, CB OBE TD DL

Patrons:
The Chairman of Essex County Council
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex
The Vice-Chancellor of Anglia Polytechnic University
The Rt Hon the Lord Newton of Braintree, OBE DL
Alan Hurst Esq
The Hon. Bernard Jenkin, MP
Mrs Eleanor Laing, MP
Mrs Joan Smith, MBE

Officers and Trustees of the Appeal

Chairman:
Geoffrey Hare Esq, OBE

Vice-Chairman:
Sir Alex Jarratt, CB DL

Secretary and Treasurer:
Mrs Patricia Herrmann, OBE

Executive Committee (Appeal Trustees):
John Appleby Esq, MA, FRHistS
Vic Gray Esq, MA DUEssex
Alan Hurst Esq
Chris Manning-Press Esq, DL
Mrs Patricia Lewis
Mrs Charlotte Ryder BA (Hons), DL
Stan Newens Esq
H. Martin Stuchfield Esq, FSA
The Lord Petre, JP, Lord Lieutenant of Essex

The Public Lecture

Each November Appeal members attending the AGM are entertained by a Public Lecture from a distinguished local historian. Some of the past lectures are listed below:

1997 Andrew Phillips "Oral History and World War Two: Essex and Evacuation"
1998 Mrs Nancy Briggs, MA FSA "Essex Country Houses"
1999 Dr Warwick Rodwell "Rivenhall: Church and Settlement"
2000 George Courtauld "A Queen's Messenger from Essex"
2001 Dr Oliver Rackham "Chalkney Wood and its Environs"
2002 Vic Gray "Finance, Fleas and Fragonard: Researching the Rothschilds"
2003 Dr Janet Cooper and Dr Chris Thornton "VCH Essex: Past, Present and Future"
2004 Ken Crowe, "The Anglo-Saxon Burial Chamber at Prittlewell"
2005 Dr Philip Crummy, "Roman Chariot Racing track at Colchester"