In the 1940s many conscientious objectors went ‘back to the land’. Ken Worpole wrote a book on it

‘At the heart of the tale was a small group of pioneers, radicalised by their religious beliefs and their pacifism.’

by Ken Worpole 25th June 2021

In 2019 I gave a talk at the Essex Book Festival. It was an account of various self-sufficiency settlements in Essex in the twentieth century. The festival prospectus listed some of these communities, one of which was Frating Hall Farm. At the time I knew little about it, but in the audience were two women, Barbara Thomas and her daughter-in-law Tessa, from the farm itself. Barbara lived at Frating for more than fifty years with her husband, Martyn.