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The Copperfield Trail

Copperfield Place is the new housing estate off Hollow Lane and lies partly in the parish of Chignal and partly in the parish of Broomfield.

The developer, Persimmon Homes, funded a project to create artworks for the estate and its surrounds, with funds also provided to research the history and natural history of the area.  This project, now complete, was managed by local artist Elaine Tribley, who as well as commissioning professional artists and sculptors, enlisted the help of children from the local primary school at Newlands Spring.  The children created some of the artwork and constructed bird-boxes for the adjacent Daffy Wood, an ancient wood where wild daffodils grow in the spring.  Also involved in the project were members of Essex Wildlife Trust and the Essex Birdwatching Society.

The history aspect of the project proved quite fruitful and culminated in the ‘Copperfield Trail’, a walk of about two miles taking in historic landscape features such as ancient hedgerows, boundary markers and of course Daffy Wood. Some fine old houses are passed along the way, two of which were lived-in by the famous antiquarian and ornithologist Miller Christy, who was active during the late 19th to early 20th centuries.  The route also tours the art installations.

The Copperfield Trail has been published as an illustrated leaflet, complete with route map which is reproduced below…..for a link which may be easier to read in your browser click HERE