ESSEX, a county (maritime), bounded on the north
by the counties of Suffolk and Cambridge; on the west
by those of Hertford and Middlesex; on the south by
the river Thames, which separates it from Kent; and
on the east by the German ocean: it extends from
51° 30 to 52° 7 (N. Lat.), and from 0° 3 to 1° 1
(E. Lon.), and includes one thousand five hundred; and
thirty-two square miles, or nine hundred and eighty
thousand four hundred and eighty statute acres. The
population in 1821 amounted to-289,424. At the time
of Caesar's invasion this part of Britain was inhabited
by the Trinobantes; and in the subdivision of the
island by Constantine the Great, the present county of
Essex formed part of Flama Ccesariensis. The origin of
its name is coeval with the establishment of the kingdom
of the East Saxons, of which London was the
metropolis, and of which the tract now comprised
within the limits of this county formed a very important
part. The foundation of that kingdom took place
about the year 530, and it was called East Seaxa, meaning
land of the Eastern Saxons, from its relative position
to the other Saxon kingdoms. The conversion of
Sabert, King of the East Saxons, to Christianity, took
place in 604. At the time of the dissolution of the
Anglo-Saxon octarchy, it was subjugated by Egbert, in
the year 823. From 787 until the period of the division
of England between Canute and Edmund, Essex
was dreadfully harassed by the frequent descents and
depredations of the Danes. The most memorable events
which took place within its limits during that disastrous
period were, the recovery of Colchester from the Danes
by Edward the Elder, in 921, and the decisive battle between
Canute and Edmund Ironside, which is believed
to have been fought at Ashingdon, in this county. The
next historical event of importance which appears to
have had a particular reference to Essex, is the great
rebellion of the commons, headed by Wat Tyler and
Jack Straw, in the reign of Richard II. The Norman
Conquest had hi this, as in all the other counties of
England, occasioned a great revolution of property,
E S S 142 ES S
which brought large and valuable domains here into the
possession of the distinguished family of Bohun, Earls
of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton; which, in 1421,
were divided between King Henry V. and Anne, Countess
of Stafford, the two co-heirs of that family. By act of
parliament, in 1414, that portion of the honours, castles,
manors, and other estates, once belonging to the Bohun
family, and which descended to Henry V., was severed
from the crown of England, and annexed for ever to the
duchy of Lancaster. In 1588, Queen Elizabeth reviewed
at Tilbury the forces assembled to oppose the Spanish
invasion. In 1642, at the commencement of the civil
war, the popular feeling appears to have displa3red itself
in the cause of the parliament, the people having assembled
in large bodies, and done considerable damage
to the houses of different royalists. In the same year this
county united with those of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge,
Hertford, the Isle of Ely, and the city of Norwich, in an
association for preserving the peace of each. The siege
and capture of Colchester, and the military execution
of its defenders, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle,
is one of the most remarkable occurrences which took
place in Essex during the war. The last important
transaction connected with the history of this county
was the sea-fight off Harwich, on the 3rd of June, 1665,
in which the Dutch fleet was defeated by the Duke of
York, the Dutch admiral's vessel being blown up,
fourteen others destroyed, and eighteen captured.
This county is in the diocese of London, and province
of Canterbury, and comprises the archdeaconries
of Essex and Colchester, and part of that of Middlesex.
The archdeaconry of Essex contains the deaneries of
Barstaple, Barking, Chafford, Chelmsford, Dengie, Ongar,
and Rochford; that of Colchester, the deaneries of
Colchester, Lexden, Newport, Sampford, Tendring, and
Witham; and that portion of the archdeaconry of Middlesex
which is in this county, those of Dunmow, Harlow,
and Hedingham. The number of parishes is four hundred,
of which two hundred and fifty are rectories, one
hundred and thirty-four vicarages, and the remainder
perpetual curacies. For civil purposes it is divided into
the fourteen hundreds of Barstable, Becontree, Chafford,
Chelmsford, Clavering, Dengie, Dunmow, Freshwell,
Harlow, Hinckford, Lexden, On gar, Rochford, Ten-
dring, Thurstable, Uttlesford, Waltham, Wins tree, and
Witham, and the royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower.
It contains the borough and market-towns of Colchester
and Maldon; the borough, market-town, and port of
Harwich; and the market-towns of Barking, Billericay,
Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Chipping-Ongar,
Coggeshall, Dunmow, Epping, Grays-Thurrock, Halstead,
Maiden, Manningtree, Rayleigh, Rochford, Romford,
Thaxted, Saffron-Walden, Waltham-Abbey, and
Witham. Two knights are returned to parliament for
the shire, and two representatives for each of the three
boroughs; the county members are elected at Chelmsford.
This county is in the home circuit: the assizes
and quarter sessions are held at Chelmsford, where
stands the old county gaol and house of correction;
the new county gaol is at Springfield; there are one
hundred and eighty-eight acting magistrates. The rates
raised in the county for the year ending the 25th of
March, 1827, amounted to £306,430.2., the expenditure
to £306,794. 16., of which £261,278. 2. was applied
to the relief of the poor.
Several small islands in the German ocean and the
sestuary of the Thames are included within the limits of
this county; the first and most valuable, to the southeast,
is the island of Mersea, eight or ten miles
south of Colchester, between the mouths of the rivers
Colne and Blackwater, a rich and fertile spot, about
five miles from east to west, and two from north to
south. The islands towards the south, in the hundred
of Roehford, are, Foulness, Wallasea, Potten, Havengore,
and New England, lying contiguous to each other, and
bounded io the north by the Crouch river; to the east
aid south-east by the German ocean; and to the west
by the continental part of the hundred of Rochford;
being about four or five miles from the town of Rochford.
The remaining island, towards the south-west, is
Canvey Isle, which is in nine several parishes; it is surrounded
by branches of the river Thames, and situated
nearly at its mouth. The most beautiful part of Essex,
without the addition of a river, is in the liberty of Havering-
atte-Bower. From Romford to Brentwood is. a
fine country; but the more striking scenes are not
within view of the road. From Thorndon to Epping is
all nearly of the same description, exhibiting a perpetual
variety of hill and dale, thickly wooded, with gentlemen's
houses interspersed in every direction. Between Hockley
and Rayleigh there is a beautiful view of a richly
cultivated and well wooded vale, terminated by high
grounds in the distance. Langdon Hills command the
most extensive and the finest prospect in the county: the
Thames is distinctly seen for several miles, and the distant
hills of Kent bound the view with an interesting
outline. Danbury is the highest ground in the county,
and commands a striking view, but not. equal to that from
Langdon Hills. The high lands at Put-fleet, formed by a
chalk cliff projecting toward the Thames, without the
intervention of marsh, present an animating scene not
common on the Essex side of that river; the bustle
of the shipping being agreeably relieved by the rural
features of the landscape. The vale on the northern
verge of the county, through which the river Stour
flows, has great variety in breadth and features; and
the bounding hills offer in all directions rich scenes of
cultivation. The climate is generally mild; but part of
the eastern and southern limits of the county, for ten
or twelve miles from the sea and the river Thames, in
the hundreds of Thurstable, Dengie, Rochford, Barstable,
and Chafford, are subject, during the autumnal
months, to thick and noisome fogs, which are often
productive of quartan agues. The draining of marshes
and the highly improved cultivation of the lands, however,
have greatly abated this evil.
With regard.to the soil, every species of loam, from
the most stubborn to the most congenial, is to be found:
the county has also a portion of light gravelly sand,, and
a good share of meadow and marsh ground, the major
part of which, with management adapted to its different
qualities, is very productive. The late Mr. Arthur
Young, Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, has divided
these soils into eight districts, viz., the crop and
fallow district of strong loam; the maritime district of
fertile loam; three districts of strong loam not peculiar
in management; the turnip .land district; the chalk
district and the district of miscellaneous loams. The
first of these, called also the district of the Roothings, or
Rodings, fr.om six or seven parishes which are named
E S S 143 E S S
from the river Roding, is, with respect to similarity of
soil and husbandry, much more extensive than the limits
of those parishes; it lies in the north-western part of
the county, verging towards the borders of Hertfordshire
and Cambridgeshire; extending nearly twenty
miles from south to north, from the neighbourhood of
Chipping-Ongar to that of Saffron-Walden, and averaging
about nine miles in breadth, having the town of
Great Dunmow nearly in the centre. It is a hilly tract,
in which the surface loam in the vales is dryer and better
than on the hills, and in some cases forms a very
good soil; but the general feature is a wet loam on a
clay marl bottom. The second district extends, with an
average breadth of about three miles, along the whole
southern and eastern border of the county, along the
margin of the Thames and on the sea-coast, environing
the sestuaries of the rivers Crouch and Blackwater, and
including the islands before mentioned: the soil of Foulness
island is the richest in the whole county. Of the
strong wet land, or clay districts, one is situated in the
north-western part of the county, on the borders of
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, its length being about
twelve miles from east to west, and its average breadth
about seven; another is a small tract, about six miles
long, and four broad, adjoining the marshes on the north
side of the Blackwater: of the third, the western boundary,
commencing near Maiden; runs in a south-westerly
direction by South Hanningfield, Great Burstead, and
Langdon Clay, to Vange, and on every other side it is
bounded by the marsh district. The turnip loam district
lies in the north-eastern part of the county, on the banks
of the rivers Colne and Stour, being bounded on the
north by the latter river; on the east by the marsh district;
and extending about twelve miles from east to
west, and nine from north to south. Considerable tracts
near Colchester, which is situated in this district, are in
the occupation of gardeners, who, besides supplying that
town with vegetables, raise a considerable quantity of
garden seeds for the country. The chalk district is of
small extent, its length being about twelve miles, and its
average breadth about four; it lies at the north-western
extremity of the county, and is a continuation of
the chalk districts of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
The district of miscellaneous loams extends the whole
length of the county, from the marshes on the banks of
the Thames to the border of Suffolk; and, commencing
on the borders of Middlesex and Hertfordshire, occupies
nearly two-thirds of its breadth towards the German
ocean, excepting the two intervening districts of clay,
and the one of chalk, already mentioned, in the northwestern
part of the county. The extent of these several
districts in square miles is as follows: that of the Roodings,
one hundred and fifty-six; the maritime district,
two hundred and fifty-five; the three districts of strong
loam, or clay, two hundred and twenty-two; the turnip
land, one hundred and fourteen j the chalk, forty-five;
and the miscellaneous district, six hundred and eightyone.
Essex has for several centuries been an enclosed
county: it possesses rich marshes, extending a hundred
miles in length, but the leading feature is its arable land,
the-fertility of which, and the good husbandry practised
upon it, enable Essex to occupy a prominent station
among the agricultural counties of England. Part of
the plan of the Essex farmers in the tillage of their lands,
is, to keep the soil clean by the interposition of a fallow,
or a fallow crop between every two of white corn; there
is, however, no regular course of crops throughout the
whole county. The average produce of wheat per acre,
is estimated at twenty-four bushels, two pecks; of barley,
four quarters, six bushels, and three pecks; of oats,
five quarters, five bushels, and half a peck; of beans,
twenty-seven bushels; and of peas, twenty bushels and
a quarter. Potatoes are extensively cultivated in
Essex, which circumstance is chiefly attributable to
its proximity to London, which it largely supplies,
with that vegetable. The culture of hops is confined
to a small number of parishes. In the islands
of Foulness, Wallasea, &c., and in the embanked
marshes, white or brown mustard seed is sown, the
average produce of which is twenty-four bushels per
acre. Some of the extensive marsh lands are very
valuable, and the district of Epping feeds considerable
herds of cattle; but, excepting these, the grass lands
are of inferior consideration. The annual quantity of
grain sent to London is estimated at about two hundred
and fifty thousand quarters of wheat, and one hundred
and fifty thousand quarters of malt; besides a vast
quantity of oats, peas, and beans. An agricultural
society, holding its meetings at Chelmsford, was established
in this county about the year 1792.
There are many cherry orchards at Burnham, Southminster,
&c. The natural woods of Essex have been
much diminished both in number and extent within the
last seventy years; the principal remains of them are
the curtailed forests of Epping and Hainault. The
Forest of Epping was formerly called the Forest of Essex,
and comprehended the whole county: by a charter of
King John, dated the 25th of March, in the fifth year
of his reign, and confirmed in the 8th of Edward IVV
all that part of the forest which lay to the north of the
highway from Stortford to Colchester, was disafforested.
The forest was further reduced by a perambulation made
in the 29th of Edward I., in pursuance of the Charta de
Forestd; but the metes and bounds of it were finally
settled by an inquisition and perambulation on the 8th.
of September, 1640, by virtue of a commission under
the great seal of England, in pursuance of the act of the
16th of Charles I., for settling the bounds of the forests.
The boundaries fixed by that perambulation comprehend
twelve parishes lying wholly within the forest, and parts
of nine other parishes: the former are Wanstead,
Layton, Walthamstow, Woodford, Loughton, Chigwell,
Lambourn, Stapleford-Abbots, Waltham Holy Cross, Epping,
Nazeing, and Chingford. The whole forest contains
about sixty thousand statute acres, of which about
forty-eight thousand are estimated to be enclosed private
property, and the remaining twelve thousand the amount
of the unenclosed woods and wastes. The crown has
in this, as in other forests, an unlimited right to keep
deer in all the unenclosed woods and wastes within it-s
bounds; and the owners and occupiers of land have
a common right of pasturage for horses and cows;
no other cattle being commonable in the forest. Those
within the parishes of Stapleford, Lambourn Chigwell,
Barking, and Dagenham, and at Woodford Bridge
turn in their cattle on the part called Hainault
Forest. The cattle are sent in as early in the spring,
and remain as late in the winter, as the owners choose;
but the forest is constantly cleared of them during the
E S S 144 E S S
fence month -. they are marked by the reeves of the respective
parishes, with a particular forest mark for each
parish.
Essex has never been famous for its live stock, having
no breed of its own; the general object of the
farmers being to keep cows for suckling calves, and
to fatten cattle in the marshes. The dairy district is
not considerable; the largest dairy farms are at or in
the neighbourhood of Epping, so deservedly famous for
the richness of its cream and butter: there is no particular
choice or preference as to breed or stock of cows.
Skimmed milk is usually applied to the purpose of feeding
small pigs for the London market. The sheep generally
preferred are the Norfolk and Cambridgeshire
breed, with a cross of thewest country and Hertfordshire:
in the marsh districts the rot is unknown, but agues are
very prevalent. The favourite breed of hogs in the
southern part of the county is the Berkshire; in the
northern there is every variety. The breed of horses
most esteemed is the Suffolk. This county producing
no coal, wood is much used for fuel by the poor. In
the Blackwater river is a considerable oyster fishery;
and West Mersea is one of the principal stations of the
dredgers: the number of vessels engaged is about
two hundred, varying in burden from eight tons to fifty,
and employing, from four hundred to five hundred men
and boys. The principal breeding rivers are the Crouch,
the Blackwater, and the Coin; the oysters are sent to
London, Hamburgh, Bremen, and in time, of peace to
Holland, Flanders, and France. The quantity annually
obtained is estimated at from twelve thousand to fifteen
thousand bushels. In Foulness island are salt water
stews for various sorts of sea fish, which are well contrived,
and answer the purpose completely. Among the
manufactures, from time immemorial, until of late
years, the woollen manufacture was the principal; and
although it has long been declining, a considerable
quantity of woollen cloth of various kinds is still sent
to the metropolis, or exported to foreign countries,
from Bocking, Braintree, Halstead, Coggeshall, and
Colchester.
The greater part of Essex is well watered by the
many rivers and brooks which run through its vales.
The principal rivers are, the Thames, the Lea, the Crouch,
the Chelmer, the Blackwater, the Coin, and the Stort.
The Thames forms the southern boundary of the county
in the whole of its course along it, from the influx of the
Lea to the German ocean, except a space of about two
miles, where a slip of land on the Essex side of the river,
forming part of the parish of Woolwich, is included in
the county of Kent; in the whole of this course the
Thames is navigable for merchant vessels of the largest
burden. The Lea, coming from Hertfordshire, forms
the western boundary of the county, from its junction
with,the Stort to its confluence with the Thames, separating
it from Hertfordshire and Middlesex, and is navigable
in all this part of its course. The Crouch rises
from two springs in the parishes of Little Burstead
and Langdon, flows eastward, and after forming a long
and narrow sestuary, falls into the German ocean between
Foulness island and the opposite marshes. The
Chelmer, the Blackwater, and the Coin, rise among
the hills in the north-western part of the county; the
Chelmer flowing south-eastward by Chelmsford, and the
Blackwater by Braintree and Coggeshall, and near Witham,
unite near Maiden, and form the broad sestuary of
the Blackwater, which joins the sea twelve miles below
and the navigation of which, by the Chelmer, is continued
up to Chelmsford. The Coin, flowing eastward
by Halstead and Colchester, falls into the German ocean
opposite Mersea island, and near the mouth of the Blackwater.
The Stort, rising near Haverhill, on the border
of Suffolk, becomes near Sturmer the boundary between
this county and Suffolk, and so continues for the remainder
of its course, passing by Manningtree, then forming
a long and wide sestuary, which, contracting at its
mouth, unites with the German ocean at Harwich; it is
navigable up to Sudbury. The Roding rises in the
north-western part of the county, and running southward
through the district called the Rodings, by Chip-,
ping-Ongar, through Epping Forest, and by Barlcing, falls
into the Thames about two miles below the latter town.
The London and Cambridge canal passes along the
north-western verge of the county.
The great road from London to Norwich, through
Ipswich, enters the county at Bow bridge, and passing
through Stratford, Romford, Brentwood, Ingatestone,
Chelmsford, Witham, and Colchester, enters Suffolk at
Stratford on the river Stort. The road from London
to Norwich, through Sudbury, branches off from the
latter at Chelmsford, and passing through Braintree,
Halstead, and Sudbury, quits the county at the last
place. The road from London to Norwich, through
Newmarket, enters Essex at Lea bridge, passes through
Walthamstow, Epping, and Harlow, a mile beyond
which it crosses the Lea into Hertfordshire, but
re-entering the county near the thirtieth mile-stone,
passes through Saffron-Walden, and quits Essex for
Cambridgeshire about forty-seven miles from London.
The road from London to Harwich branches off from
the Norwich road at Colchester, and passes through
Manningtree.
Under the Roman government this territory was very
early and thoroughly explored; one great road ran the
whole length of it, another skirted its northern borders,
and many vicinal ways crossed it in different places.
In it was established, the first Roman colony in Britain,
with several other stations and towns in different parts
of it: the following are the names of such of them as
are mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus; Ad
Ansam, of undetermined locality; Camalodunum, at
Colchester, or Maiden; Canonium, near Kelvedon;
Ctesaromagum, at Chelmsford, or Writtle; and Durositum,
below Brentwood. Camden, and all subsequent
antiquaries, testify that both the ancient roads and
stations throughout this county are more obliterated
and difficult to settle than in any other county of England;
owing, probably, in part to the nature of the soil,
and in part to the general extent of its tillage. The great
battle between Suetonius and Boadicea was fought
somewhere between Epping and Waltham, near which, a
fine camp remains. The principal Roman remains have
been discovered at Colchester, in great abundance;<
among the rest, upwards of thirteen hundred Roman
and British coins were collected by Morant, the historian
and antiquary, in a period of thirty years, during
which he resided in that town. There are also Roman
remains at Leyton, Wanstead, Great Burstead, Tolleshunt-
Knights, West Mersey, Harwich, and other places;
and tumuli, or barrows, at Lexden, Bures ad MonETC
145 ETO
tern, West Mersey, and Wigborough. The "remarkably
large tumuli, called Bartlow Hills, are in this county,
though talcing their name from the neighbouring village
of Bartlow, in Suffolk. Of the ancient castles, or castellated
mansions, which were twelve in number, the
castle of Colchester is the only one which is not either
utterly demolished, or extremely ruinous. Before the
Reformation there were forty-seven religious houses,
viz., two mitred and six other abbeys, twenty-two priories,
three nunneries, nine hospitals, three colleges, and
two preceptories of the Knights Templars. The most
remarkable monastic remains are those of St. Botolph's
priory, Colchester, of St. Osyth's abbey, and of Waltham
Abbey church. Greenstead church, with its nave
of timber, is one of the most ancient and curious in the
kingdom; and that of Little Maplestead is one of the
very few now remaining that are built on the model of
the Holy Sepulchre. Fossils are found in various parts of
the county, but no where so abundantly as in Harwich
cliff. Essex gives the title of earl to the family of
Capel.