Wormingford Walk

Wormingford is a village in two parts, the main road with the Pubs and the village hall then you have the church and school a little way down Church rd. The walk starts at the village hall and playing field, the walk takes you past the glider club where we saw gliders taking off and landing and years ago was Raf airfield.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 20/05/2012

• Distance: 4.21 Miles

• Level of Difficulty: A Fairly Easy Walk

• Car Park: Friday Woods CO2 0BY

• Refreshments: The Fox Tavern

• Photos Taken on Walk

Down by the river Stour in 1836 a large mound containing many hundreds of urns in parallel rows was discovered. It is thought to be a Bronze Age cemetery, but at the time all the pots were smashed and covered with earth in the field. You have some great views looking over the Stour valley from a viewpoint high up called the Fir trees. You pass a large weir which is famous as being the home of the Wormingford dragon.

After the Siege of Acre, and the end of the Jerusalem Crusades, Richard the Lionheart embarked for the Adriatic, taking with him a 'cocadrille' which was given to the King with other gifts in return for the support given to the claim of Lusignan to the throne of Jerusalem. The gift of this serpent or 'worm' with "great nails and talons" was at the time thought to be a dragon The King brought the beast to England in 1194 and lodged it in a strong cage at the Tower of London.

Over the years the beast had grown enormously and smashed its cage and escaped into the Thames. Eventually it found its way to that small settlement on the banks of the Stour called Withermundford devouring livestock and villagers along the way. The villagers were terrified at the new arrival and a rumour spread among them that it could only be pacified with human sacrifice and so long as the supply lasted they fed the creature with virgins to keep it happy. However, even in those days, Essex virgins were an extremely rare find and so the supply of food gave out. The villagers, in desperation, pleaded with Sir George Marney (of Layer de la Haye) telling the gallant knight that a fierce dragon had settled with them and which they had tried, in vain to slay with arrows which bounce from its hide and then had pacified it with virgins but, alas, there were no more virgins in the hundred.

The brave knight attacked the dragon with his lance and slew it, and from then to this day, the Parish has been called Wormiton, Wormington and Wormingford in memory of the 'Worm' or early word for Dragon. The battle is commemorated in the stained glass window of St Andrews Church in Wormingford.

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