DOVERCOURT  , a watering-

place in the Harwich parliamentary division of Essex, England, immediately S.W. of Harwich, with a station between Parkeston Quay and Harwich town on the Great Eastern railway, 70 M . N.E. by E. from London . Pop . (1901) 3894 . The esplanade and sea-wall front the North Sea, and there is a fine expanse of sand affording good bathing . There is also a chalybeate spa . The scenery of the neighbouring Orwell and Stour estuaries is pleasant . The church, which stands inland in the old village distinguished as Upper Dovercourt, is Early English and later; it formerly possessed a miraculous rood which became an object of pilgrimage of wide repute . It is said to have been stolen and burnt in 1532, three of the four thieves being subsequently taken and hanged .