IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Beaumont Park, CHELMSFORD, CM3 4DE

One would never know about the history behind the Image in Danbury without the helpful sign, you can see a view without all the leaves at Image

The path runs along the top of a redoubt thrown up by soldiers in 1803 as a precaution against Napoleonic invasion see Image

These earthworks, near the junction of Well Lane and Woodhill Road, were formed about 1803 by soldiers encamped on Danbury Common on a line Napoleon might have taken if he ever invaded Britain. The high land of Danbury gives an unobstructed view down to the Thames at Southend and would have created an excellent lookout position.

This is the view looking down South View Road towards its junction with Woodhill Road. The name is something of a misnomer as the road and hence the view are in a southwesterly direction.

This unmade road which links Sporehams Lane with Woodhill Road, and is on the edge of Danbury Common, is the location for ten houses.

Also in this grid square is a photograph of Blackmore House as it is today. Up to 1910 it was a beer house. This photograph shows it as it was in the early part of the 20th Century. The large sign above the doorway says "Gray & Sons" - a Chelmsford Brewery. The small sign above says "The Black Boy".

This building was originally "The Black Boy" Inn. The last landlord was Thomas Ewers who ran the establishment until c1910. Ewers then continued his other profession, as a carpenter, until his death in 1930.

The house in the centre of the photograph is 'Old House'; a date stone above the doorway indicates it was built in 1724. The first owner was one 'William Polly' whose will dated 1737 reads: "I give and bequeath to my eldest son William my house situate & lying in Great Baddow ------. to my son Samuel Polly the old house at Danbury ------. to my son Thomas the house belonging to me lying in the parish of East Hanningfield ------. To my son my new house in Danbury ------.also I bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth the sum of twenty pounds." (abbreviated version) 'New House' can be seen to the right of the photograph but this is not the building referred to by William Polly, which was "in a state of disrepair" and demolished in the late 1880s. The house now on the same site was built around 1890. The houses to the left of Old House are known as Boarded Well Cottages. These were originally three separate dwellings. Nos 1&2 have since been made into a single house and No 3 has as ground floor extension which is just out of picture.

Not busy in December, people put off by the season, the weather, and the parking price.