Essex facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Essex
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Motto(s):
"Many Minds, One Heart"
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Sovereign state | United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Constituent country | England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Region | East | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Established | Ancient | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Time zone | UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Members of Parliament | List of MPs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Police | Essex Police | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Essex is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Greater London to the south and south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, which is one of two cities in the county with the other being Southend-on-Sea which was granted city status on the 1st March 2022. For the purposes of government statistics, Essex is placed in the East of England region.
There are four definitions of the extent of Essex, the widest being the ancient county. Next largest is the former postal county, followed by the ceremonial county, with the smallest being the administrative county—the area administered by the County Council, which excludes the two unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea, and the areas administered by the Greater London Authority.
The ceremonial county occupies the eastern part of what was, during the Early Middle Ages, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex. As well as rural areas, the county also includes: London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury, and the City and borough of Southend-on-Sea.
Contents
History
The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Anglo-Saxon i.e. Old English name Ēastseaxe (i.e. the "East Saxons"), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons who had come from the continent and settled in Britain (cf. Middlesex, Sussex and Wessex) during the Heptarchy. Originally recorded in AD 527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex (which probably included Surrey) and most of what later became Hertfordshire. Its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea.
Colchester in the northeast of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. In AD 824, following the Battle of Ellandun, the kingdoms of the East Saxons, the South Saxons and the Jutes of Kent were absorbed into the kingdom of the West Saxons, uniting Saxland under King Alfred's grandfather Egberht. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county.
During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the entire county in a period to 1204, when the area "north of the Stanetreet" was disafforested. Gradually, the areas subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar and Waltham.
- County-wide administration
Essex County Council was formed in 1889. However County Boroughs of West Ham (1889–1965), Southend-on-Sea (1914–1974) and East Ham (1915–1965) formed part of the county but were unitary authorities (not under county council control). 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, as shown in the map on the right.
- Parish-level administration – changes
A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford and Sawbridgeworth. At the time of the main changes around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries; parts of Helions Bumpstead, Sturmer, Kedington and Ballingdon-with-Brundon were transferred to Suffolk and Great Chishill, Little Chishill and Heydon were transferred to Cambridgeshire. Later, part of Hadstock, part of Ashton and part of Chrishall were transferred to Cambridgeshire and part of Great Horkesley went to Suffolk and several other small parcels of land were transferred to all those counties.
- Boundaries
The boundary with Greater London was established in 1965 when East Ham and West Ham county boroughs and the Barking, Chingford, Dagenham, Hornchurch, Ilford, Leyton, Romford, Walthamstow and Wanstead and Woodford districts were transferred to form the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region.
- Two unitary authorities
In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the administrative county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities (numbered 13 and 14 on the map to the right).
Essex Police covers the administrative county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford. Before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors. Before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The County Hall, made a listed building in 2007, dates largely from the mid-1930s and is decorated with fine artworks of that period, mostly the gift of the family who owned the textile firm Courtaulds.
Geography
The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, which reaches 482 feet (147 m). The ceremonial county of Essex is bounded to the south by the River Thames and its estuary (a boundary shared with Kent); to the southwest by Greater London; to the west by Hertfordshire with the boundary largely defined by the River Lea and the Stort; to the northwest by Cambridgeshire; to the north by Suffolk, a boundary mainly defined by the River Stour; and to the east by the North Sea.
The pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. The Metropolitan Green Belt has effectively prevented the further sprawl of London into the county, although it contains the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, originally developed to resettle Londoners following the destruction of London housing in World War II, since which significantly developed and expanded. Epping Forest also acts as a protected barrier to the further spread of London. Because of its proximity to London and the economic magnetism which that city exerts, many of Essex's settlements, particularly those on or within short driving distance of railway stations, function as dormitory towns or villages where London workers raise their families.
Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the major population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway and designated for further development. Parts of the southwest of the county such as Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell are contiguous with Greater London neighbourhoods and so for some purposes these are included in the statistical unit the Greater London Urban Area.
A small part of the southwest of the county (Sewardstone), is the only settlement outside Greater London to be covered by a postcode district of the London post town (E4). To the north of the green belt, with the exception of major towns such as Colchester and Chelmsford, the county is rural, with many small towns, villages and hamlets largely built in the traditional materials of timber and brick, with clay tile or thatched roofs. This region tends to have more similarities with East Anglia than the southern and western parts of the county.
Transport
Much of Essex lies within the London commuter belt, with radial transport links to the capital an important part of the area's economy. There are nationally or regionally important ports and airports and these also rely on the Essex infrastructure, causing an additional load on the local road and rail links.
Railway
Essex's railway routes to London are, running clockwise:
- The West Anglia Main Line from Liverpool Street to Harlow, Stansted Airport and onward to Cambridgeshire.
- The southern part of Epping Forest district is served by the London Underground Central line.
- The Great Eastern Main Line from Liverpool Street to Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester and onto East Anglia. The Great Eastern includes branch lines to:
- Harwich and its port. The nearby port of Felixstowe in Suffolk is served by a separate branch.
- The Sunshine Coast Line linking Colchester to the seaside resorts of Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze via the picturesque towns of Wivenhoe and Great Bentley.
- Braintree.
- Branch from Marks Tey to Sudbury (Suffolk) and villages in-between.
- In the densely populated south, there is a branch to Southend Victoria, the Rochford Peninsula and several south Essex towns. This branch has a sub-branch – the Crouch Valley Line – linking Wickford to the remote Dengie Peninsula, including Burnham-on-Crouch and Southminster.
- Like the Southend Victoria branch, the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway also serves Southend (Southend Central), the Rochford Peninsula and many towns in the densely populated south of the county. The London terminus is Fenchurch Street and heading eastward from Barking, the line separates into three, which later merge back into one by the time the railway reaches Pitsea.
The Essex Thameside franchise is operated by c2c. The Greater Anglia routes (both the West Anglia and Great Eastern Main Line and their branches) are operated by Greater Anglia.
Road
Essex has six main strategic routes, five of which reflect the powerful influence exerted by London.
The M25 is London's orbital motorway which redistributes traffic across the London area. It includes the Dartford Road Crossings, over the Thames Estuary, linking Essex to Kent.
There are four radial commuter routes into the capital:
- M11 motorway, which also serves Stansted Airport and provides commuter links to Cambridge.
- A12, to East Anglia via Chelmsford and Colchester. It also serves the ports of Harwich and Felixstowe (Suffolk).
- A127, to the Rochford Peninsula, including Southend and Southend Airport. This is no longer maintained as a trunk road.
- A13, to the Rochford Peninsula, also including Southend. It also serves the expanding Tilbury and London Gateway ports.
The A120 is a major route heading west from the ports of Harwich and Felixstowe (Suffolk) and, like the A12, the route was in use during the Roman period and, in part at least, before then.
Ports and waterborne transport
The Port of Tilbury is one of Britain's three major ports and has proposed a major extension onto the site of the former Tilbury power stations. The port of Harwich has passenger and freight services to the Hook of Holland and a freight service to Europoort. A service to Esbjerg, Denmark ceased in September 2014 and earlier a service to Cuxhaven in Germany was discontinued in December 2005.
The UK's largest container terminal London Gateway at Shell Haven in Thurrock partly opened in November 2013; final completion date is yet to be confirmed. The port was opposed by the local authority and environmental and wildlife organisations.
The ports have branch lines to connect them to the national rail network. These freight movements conflict with the needs of commuter passenger services, limiting their frequency and reliability.
East of the Dartford Road Crossing to Dartford in Kent, across the Thames Estuary, a pedestrian ferry to Gravesend, Kent operates from Tilbury during limited daily hours; there are pedestrian ferries across some of Essex's rivers and estuaries in spring and summer.
Airports
The main airport in Essex is Stansted Airport, serving destinations in Europe, North Africa and Asia. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, formed in May 2010, agreed not to allow a further runway until a set time period, so curtailing the operator's ambitions for expansion. London Southend Airport, once one of Britain's busiest airports, opened a new runway extension, terminal building and railway station in March 2012. It has a station on the Shenfield to Southend Line, with a direct link to London.
Southend Airport has scheduled flights to Ireland, the Channel Islands and multiple destinations in Europe. Essex has several smaller airfields, some of which owe their origins to military bases built during World War I or World War II, giving pleasure flights or flying lessons; these include Clacton Airfield, Earls Colne Airfield and Stapleford Aerodrome.
Culture
The county's coat of arms comprises three Saxon seax knives (although looking rather more like scimitars) arranged on a red background (Gules three Seaxes fessewise in pale Argent pomels and hilts Or points to the sinister and cutting edges upwards); the three-seax device is also used as the official logo of Essex County Council having been granted as such in 1932. The emblem was attributed to Anglo-Saxon Essex in Early Modern historiography. The earliest reference the arms of the East Saxon kings was by Richard Verstegan, the author of A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence (Antwerp, 1605), claiming that "Erkenwyne king of the East-Saxons did beare for his armes, three [seaxes] argent, in a field gules". There is no earlier evidence substantiating Verstegan's claim, which is an anachronism for the Anglo-Saxon period seeing that heraldry only evolved in the 12th century, well after the Norman conquest. John Speed in his Historie of Great Britaine (1611) follows Verstegan in his descriptions of the arms of Erkenwyne, but he qualifies the statement by adding "as some or our heralds have emblazed".
Essex is also home to the Dunmow Flitch Trials, a traditional ceremony that takes place every four years and consists of a test of a married couple's devotion to one another. A common claim of the origin of the Dunmow Flitch dates back to 1104 and the Augustinian priory of Little Dunmow, founded by Lady Juga Baynard. Lord of the Manor Reginald Fitzwalter and his wife dressed themselves as humble folk and begged blessing of the Prior a year and a day after marriage. The prior, impressed by their devotion bestowed upon them a flitch of bacon. Upon revealing his true identity, Fitzwalter gave his land to the priory on the condition a flitch should be awarded to any couple who could claim they were similarly devoted. By the 14th century, the Dunmow Flitch Trials appear to have achieved a significant reputation outside the local area. The author William Langland, who lived on the Welsh borders, mentions it in his 1362 book The Vision of Piers Plowman in a manner that implies general knowledge of the custom among his readers.
Essex has become associated with the derogatory stereotype, 'Essex girl' and the political stereotype 'Essex man'. The association has been amplified in popular culture through the reality television series 'TOWIE' (The Only Way Is Essex), which has attracted criticism for its stereotyping.
The Essex dialect, an accent related to the Suffolk dialect, was formerly prevalent in the county but is now mostly replaced by Estuary English.
Landmarks
Over 14,000 buildings have listed status in the county, and around 1000 of those are recognised as of Grade I or II* importance. The buildings range from the 7th century Saxon church of St Peter-on-the-Wall, to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club which was the United Kingdom's entry in the "International Exhibition of Modern Architecture" held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1932. Southend Pier is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest pleasure pier in the world.
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The Grade I listed Hedingham Castle
with the best preserved Norman keep in the UK -
Thaxted Guildhall
dating from around 1450 -
The 17th century Audley End House
Saffron Walden -
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
Burnham-on-Crouch -
Hylands House,
south of Writtle
and southwest of Chelmsford
Places of interest
See full article, List of places of interest in Essex.
Key | |
Owned by the National Trust | |
Owned by English Heritage | |
Owned by the Forestry Commission | |
A Country Park | |
An Accessible open space | |
Museum (free) | |
Museum (charges entry fee) | |
Heritage railway | |
Historic House |
- Abberton Reservoir
- Ashdon (The site of the ancient Bartlow Hills and also a claimant to the location of the Battle of Ashingdon)
- Ashingdon (The site of the Battle of Ashingdon in 1016), near Southend, with its isolated St Andrews Church and site of England's earliest aerodrome at South Fambridge
- Audley End House and Gardens, Saffron Walden
- Brentwood Cathedral
- Clacton-on-Sea
- Chelmsford Cathedral
- Colchester Castle
- Colchester Zoo
- Colne Valley Railway
- Cressing Temple
- East Anglian Railway Museum
- Epping Forest
- Epping Ongar Railway
- Finchingfield (Considered the most beautiful village in England and home of the author Dodie Smith)
- Frinton-on-Sea
- Great Bentley , which has the largest village green in England
- Hadleigh Castle
- Harlow New Town
- Hedingham Castle, between Stansted and Colchester, to the north of Braintree
- Ingatestone Hall, Ingatestone, between Brentwood and Chelmsford
- Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker
- Lakeside Shopping Centre
- Loughton, by Epping Forest and having a London Underground Central line tube station
- Maldon historic market town, close to Chelmsford and the North Sea, and site of the Battle of Maldon
- Mangapps Railway Museum (Burnham-on-Crouch)
- Marsh Farm Country Park (South Woodham Ferrers)
- Mersea Island, birdwatching and rambling resort with one settlement, West Mersea
- Mistley Towers, Manningtree, between Colchester and Ipswich, near Alton Water.
- Mountfitchet Castle , Stansted
- North Weald Airfield
- Orsett Hall Hotel, Prince Charles Avenue, Orsett near Chadwell St Mary
- St Peter-on-the-Wall
- Saffron Walden
- Southend Pier
- Thames Estuary
- Tilbury Fort
- Thaxted, south of Saffron Walden
- University of Essex (Wivenhoe Park, Colchester and Loughton)
- Waltham Abbey
Sister counties and regions
- Jiangsu, China
- Picardy, France
- Thuringia, Germany
- Henrico County, Virginia, United States
- Accra, Ghana
Human and economic geography
The county's infrastructure is shaped by its physical geography and proximity to London. Together, these influences both stimulate and constrain the Essex economy.
Economy
A high proportion of the population, especially in the south, work outside the county, commuting to London and elsewhere by rail and by road. These London-based jobs are often well paid and complement the contribution made by the employers based within Essex.
Industry is largely limited to the south of the county, with the majority of the land elsewhere being given over to agriculture. Harlow is a centre for electronics, science and pharmaceutical companies. Chelmsford has been an important location for electronics companies, such as the Marconi Company, since the industry was born; it is also the location for a number of insurance and financial services organisations and, until 2015, was the home of the soft drinks producer Britvic. Basildon is home to New Holland Agriculture's European headquarters and Basildon is home to the Ford Motor Company's British HQ. Debden, near Loughton, is home to a production facility for British and foreign banknotes.
Other businesses in the county are dominated by mechanical engineering, including but not limited to metalworking, glassmaking and plastics and the service sector. Colchester is a garrison town and the local economy is helped by the Army's personnel living there. Basildon is the location of State Street Corporation's United Kingdom HQ International Financial Data Services and remains heavily dependent on London for employment, due to its proximity and direct transport routes. Southend-on-Sea is home to the Adventure Island theme park and is one of the few still growing British seaside resorts, benefiting from modern and direct rail links from Fenchurch Street railway station and Liverpool Street station (so that housing is in high demand, especially for financial services commuters), which maintains the town's commercial and general economy.
Parts of eastern Essex suffer from high levels of deprivation; one of the most highly deprived wards is in the seaside town of Clacton. In the Indices of deprivation 2007, Jaywick was identified as the most deprived Lower Super Output Area in Southern England. Unemployment was estimated at 44% and many homes were found to lack very basic amenities. The Brooklands and Grasslands area of Jaywick was found to be the third-most deprived area in England; two areas in Liverpool and Manchester were rated more deprived. In contrast, mid, west and south-west Essex is one of the most affluent parts of eastern England, forming part of the London commuter belt. There is a large middle class here and the area is widely known for its private schools. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph found Ingatestone and Brentwood to be the 14th- and 19th-richest towns in the UK respectively.
Settlement patterns
The pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. The areas closest to London are the most densely settled, though the Metropolitan Green Belt has prevented the further sprawl of London into the county. The Green Belt was initially a narrow band of land, but subsequent expansions meant it was able to limit the further expansion of many of the commuter towns close to the capital. The Green Belt zone close to London includes many prosperous commuter towns, as well as the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, originally developed to resettle Londoners after the destruction of London housing in the Second World War; they have since been significantly developed and expanded. Epping Forest also prevents the further spread of the Greater London Urban Area. As it is not far from London, with its economic magnetism, many of Essex's settlements, particularly those near or within short driving distance of railway stations, function as dormitory towns or villages where London workers raise their families. In these areas a high proportion of the population commute to London, and the wages earned in the capital are typically significantly higher than more local jobs. Many parts of Essex therefore, especially those closest to London, have a major economic dependence on London and the transport links that take people to work there.
Part of the south-east of the county, already containing the major population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway and designated for further development. Parts of the south-west of the county, such as Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell, are contiguous with Greater London neighbourhoods and therefore form part of the Greater London Urban Area.
A small part of the south-west of the county, Sewardstone, is the only settlement outside Greater London to be covered by a postcode district of the London post town (E4). Besides the cities of Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, and the major town of Colchester, the county is rural, with many small towns, villages and hamlets largely built in the traditional materials of timber and brick, with clay tile or thatched roofs.
Education
Education in Essex is substantially provided by three authorities: Essex County Council and the two unitary authorities, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock. In all there are some 90 state secondary schools provided by these authorities, the majority of which are comprehensive, although one in Uttlesford, two in Chelmsford, two in Colchester and four in Southend-on-Sea are selective grammar schools. There are also various independent schools particularly, as mentioned above, in rural parts and the west of the county.
The University of Essex, which was established in 1963, is located just outside Colchester, with two further campuses in Loughton and Southend-on-Sea. University Campus Suffolk, with a main campus in Ipswich and five centres in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, is a joint venture between University of Essex and East Anglia polytechnic.
Anglia Ruskin University has a campus in Chelmsford. Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Faculty of Medical Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Anglia Law School, Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education and School of Medicine are located in the campus area.
Writtle University College, at Writtle, near Chelmsford, offers both higher and further education in land-management subjects.
Notable people
- Further information:
Images for kids
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The Ancient County of Essex, and its constituent Hundreds
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St Peters Chapel, Bradwell. Established by St Cedd, the patron saint of Essex around 662, built on the site of the abandonded Roman fort of Othona
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The keep of Hedingham Castle
See also
In Spanish: Essex para niños