Editing Dial House, Essex (section)

==History==
[[File:Dialhouse1.jpg|thumbnail|Dial House in summer]]

=== Early history ===
Dial House, a large rambling farm cottage, was built in the 16th century. [[Oliver Rackham]] describes Ongar Great Park as possibly having been the "prototype [[Medieval deer park|deer park]]", mentioned in an "[[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] will of 1045".<ref>Rackham, Oliver; ''Woodlands'', Collins, 2006, {{ISBN|0-00-720244-X}}</ref> During the [[Victorian era]], Dial House was the home of the writer Primrose McConnell, a tenant farmer and the author of ''[[The Agricultural Notebook]]'' (1883), which is recognised as a standard reference work for the European farming industry. By 1967 Dial House stood derelict, its acre of garden a bramble-smothered wilderness. Dial House is [[Listed building#England and Wales|Grade II listed]] on the [[National Heritage List for England]].<ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|num=1306769|desc=Dial House|access-date=9 May 2017|mode=cs2}}</ref>

=== Crass ===
In 1967, former drummer of Crass [[Penny Rimbaud]] began using Dial House as an open space, removing doors and inviting friends to stay in the cottage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sword |first=Harry |date=2016-06-01 |title=Essex Has a Much More Radical History Than You'd Think |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/secret-radical-history-of-essex/ |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=Vice |language=en |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529115816/https://www.vice.com/en/article/yvjxkj/secret-radical-history-of-essex |url-status=live }}</ref> Rimbaud moved into the house with [[Gee Vaucher]] and established an "open house" policy. Dial House became the site of organizing for the anarchist movement, including the [[Stonehenge Free Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crass' Penny Rimbaud is still resisting the grip of authority |url=https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/penny-rimbaud-freedom-fighting/ |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=Crack Magazine |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529115818/https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/penny-rimbaud-freedom-fighting/ |url-status=live }}</ref>