The teeny Essex hamlet where naughty children were sent in an ‘experiment'

Sending naughty children away to a 'camp' to try and get them to improve their behaviour is like something out of a horror film or TV show. But for one Essex area, this really happened - but not many people have heard of the hamlet or the 'experiment'.

Essex is known for a range of things, whether its our stunning countryside or beaches, we're quite famous in Essex. Everyone has heard of Essex and let's face it - for good reason.

We have an abundance of pretty areas and even areas that hardly anybody has heard of. But this pretty Essex hamlet has a slightly darker side - one that doesn't look too pretty in the history books.

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Hawkspur Green is a teeny little hamlet in the parish of Little Bardfield in the Uttlesford District. Surrounded by stunning farmland and is even split in two different postcodes from Braintree CM7 to Cambridge CB10. The hamlet is comprised of just one building called Moor Hall, which was where naughty children were sent as an 'experimental community.'

Called 'Q Camp', it is believed that from 1936 to 1940, two experimental communities were set up for 'planned environment therapy'. This therapy focuses on well-functioning parts of a patient’s personality to help them to behave better in a social environment.

The goal was to create a self-governing community of delinquent boys and young adults. Later, they included children who could not be included in the evacuation programme during WWII because of their behavioural problems. The 'Q camps' were part of a "living-and-learning-community movement" where they all shared the principles of "shared responsibility and decision-making, and participation."

The first Q camp opened on the site in 1936 on land known as 'Small Farm'. It was open to young men initially aged between 17 to 25 to 'encourage them to regain self-respect'. The residents built the Camp themselves from scratch having to first live in tents until their buildings were habitable. They were taught farming and care of livestock in place of traditional discipline regimes. The nearby Fighting Cocks pub was a popular recreational venue.

Marjorie Franklin was the driving force behind the project and later functioned as honorary secretary on the board. Quaker David Wills led the camp until it closed when the Second World War broke out. The Camp was shut when the war started in 1940 and most of the inmates were conscripted into the Army. The Q camp committee subsequently took over the charge of a hostel in Bicester meant for evacuated boys who could not be placed elsewhere.

However, the building was in a state and there was not enough funding, leading to clashes between the younger and older groups. Later, in 1941, the project was disbanded. Three years later though, it reopened. The second Q camp opened in 1944 and was now aimed at younger boys that were involved in criminal behaviour. For example, children that could not be placed under the British Government's Evacuation Scheme were placed here.

Arthur Barron took over as camp chief. He thought children could learn discipline by taking on shared responsibilities but should not be forced to do so. Some funders and parents raised concerns about the welfare of the children, who continued in their antisocial behaviour by setting fires and destroying property and rejected any of the responsibilities required for running and maintaining the camp. The camp was eventually shut down in 1946 after a fire broke out.