Thu 26th May 2022: The plants of St James the Great

Longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures coax wildflowers into growth and bloom at this time of year, and they’re a real treat to behold. So it seemed like a perfect time to reproduce a list of the many wildflowers that adorned the churchyard of St James the Great some years ago. We're not sure exactly which year it was, but the inventory of 51 wildflowers and 10 different types of grasses.was drawn up by a resident of Greenstead Green. Prunella Bibby. knew a thing or two about nature because she was a deep love of nature and was a prolific wildlife illustrator, 

Prunella was not born in the area but arrived in Halstead as a three-year-old evacuee with her older sibling, Cleone, and her mother, Ivy Trew.  They were residents of Wood Green, and although we’ don't know they arrived in the town, the Halstead Gazette reported that around 4,000 evacuees from Wood Green emerged from buses on the evening of Saturday 2nd September 1939, less than 24 hours before Chamberlain declared that we were at war with Germany.

 
The Trew family rented a cottage on Tidings Hill and the girls attended schools in Halstead where Pru’s artistic skills were recognised by the art teacher, who persuaded her to attend Colchester Art College. 

Prunella clearly had a love of nature and was blessed with the powers of observation and the artistic ability to illustrate what she saw.  She was particularly known for her botanical illustrations, many of which were published under her married name of Prunella Bibby as postcards, greeting cards and notelets by the Noel Tatt Group and can be viewed online. The cards can also be seen at Halstead Heritage Museum.  She also illustrated a local history book for Shalford.

After their marriage, Pru and her husband lived in Coggeshall but moved to Greenstead Green in 1987. The sisters ended up living next door to each other in cottages on the Stanstead Hall estate.  

Prunella died almost four years ago on 20.6.2018. She left a body of work that reflects her love of nature and this area. Written in her own hand . She is survived by her elder sister Cleone who has a passion for history and heritage  - so contributed Puu's list to Halstead Heritage Museum.  Cleone is even in the process of compiling her own memories of living on Tidings Hill.  

It's the perfect time to visit St James the Great, a fine example of Sir George Gilberts Scott's architecture, and to look at the wild flowers. Can you find as many plants as Pru did? 

Prunella's list of plants in Greenstead Green’s churchyard