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ESSEX , an eastern See also:county of See also:England, bounded N. by See also:Cambridgeshire and See also:Suffolk, E. by the See also:North See also:Sea, S. by the See also:Thames, 2 i.e. in the Devereux See also:line . dividing it from See also:Kent, W. by the administrative county of See also:London and by See also:Hertfordshire . Its See also:area is 1542 sq. m . Its configuration is sufficiently indicated by the direction of its See also:rivers . Except that in the N.W. the county includes the heads of a few valleys draining northward to the See also:Cam and so to the See also:Great See also:Ouse, all the streams, which are never of great See also:size, run southward and eastward, either into the Thames, or into the North Sea by way of the broad, shallow estuaries which ramify through the See also:flat See also:coast lands . The highest ground lies consequently in the north-See also:west, between the Cam See also:basin and the rivers of the county . Its See also:principal southward See also:extension is that between the See also:Lea (which with its tributary the Stort forms a great See also:part of the western boundary) and the Roding, and See also:east of the Roding valley . The other See also:chief rivers may be specified according to their estuaries, following the coast northward from See also:Shoeburyness at the Thames mouth . That of the See also:Roach ramifies among several islands of which Foulness is the largest, but its See also:main See also:branch joins the Crouch See also:estuary . Next follows the See also:Blackwater, which receives the Chelmer, the See also:Brain and other streams . Following a coast of numerous creeks and islets, with the large See also:island of Mersea, the See also:Colne estuary is reached . The Colne and See also:Black-See also:water may be said to See also:form one large estuary, as they enter the sea by a well-marked See also:common mouth, 5 M. in width, between Sales Point and Colne Point .
There is a great irregular inlet (Hamford Water) receiving no large stream, W. of the Naze promontory, and then the See also:Stour, bounding the county on the north, joins its estuary to that of the Orwell near the sea
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There are several seaside watering-places in favour owing to their proximity to London, of which Southend-on-Sea above the mouth of the Thames, Clacton-on-Sea, See also:Walton-on-the-Naze, and See also:Dovercourt adjoining See also:Harwich are the chief
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These and' other stations on the estuaries are also in favour with yachtsmen
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The sea has at some points seriously encroached upon the See also:land within historic times
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The See also:low soft cliffs at various points are liable to give way against the waves; in other parts dykes and embankments are necessary to prevent inundation
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Inland, that is apart from the flat coast-See also:district, the See also:country is pleasantly undulating and for the most part well wooded
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It was formerly, indeed, almost wholly forested, the great See also:Waltham See also:Forest stretching from See also:Colchester to the confines of London
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Of this a fragment is preserved in See also:Epping Forest (see EPPING) between the Lea and the Roding
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On the other See also:side of the Roding Hainault Forest is traceable, but was disafforested in 1851
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The See also:oak is the principal See also:tree; a noteworthy example was that of Fairlop in Hainault, which measured 45 ft. in girth, but was blown down in 1820
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See also:Geology.—The See also:geological structure of the county is very See also:simple: the greater part is occupied by the London See also:clay with underlying See also:Reading beds and See also:Thanet sands, with here and there small patches of Bagshot gravels on elevated tracts, as at High See also:Beech, See also:Langdon See also: Small patches of See also:Pleistocene Red See also:Crag See also:rest upon the See also:Eocene strata at See also:Beaumont and Oakley, and are very well exposed at Walton-onthe-Naze where they are very fossiliferous . Most of the county is covered by a superficial See also:deposit of glacial drifts, sands, See also:gravel and in places boulder clay, as at Epping, See also:Dunmow and Hornchurch where the See also:drift lies beneath the Thames gravel . An interesting feature in relation to the glacial drift is a deep trough in the Cam valley revealed by borings to be no less than 34o ft. deep at See also:Newport ; this See also:ancient valley is filled with drift . In the See also:southern part of the county are broad spreads of gravel and See also:brick See also:earth, formed by the Thames; these have been excavated for brick-making and See also:building purposes about See also:Ilford, See also:Romford and Grays, and have yielded the remains of See also:hippopotamus, See also:rhinoceros and See also:mammoth . More See also:recent alluvial deposits are found in the valley at See also:Walthamstow and Tilbury, in which the remains of the See also:beaver have been discovered . The roads of this county with a clay See also:soil See also:foundation were for generations repaired with flints picked by See also:women and See also:children from the surface of the See also:fields . Gravel is difficult of acces With the exception of chalk for lime (mainly obtained at Ballingdon in the north and Grays in the See also:south), septaria for making cement, and clay for bricks, the underground riches of the county are meagre . See also:Agriculture.—As an agricultural county Essex ranks high . Some four-fifths of the See also:total area is under cultivation, and about one-third of that area is in permanent pasture . See also:Wheat. See also:barley and oats, in that relative See also:order, are the principal See also:grain crops, Essex being one of the chief grain-producing counties . The wheat and barley are in particularly high favour, the wheat of various See also:standard See also:species being exported for See also:seed purposes, while the barley is especially useful in malting . Beans and peas are largely grown, as are vegetables for the London See also:market . See also:Hop-growing was once important . From the See also:comparative dryness of the See also:climate Essex does not excel in pasturage, and See also:winter grazing receives the more See also:attention . The See also:numbers of See also:cattle increase steadily, and See also:store bullocks are introduced in large numbers from See also:Norfolk, See also:Lincolnshire, See also:Ireland and See also:Wales . Of See also:sheep there are but few distinct flocks, and the numbers decrease . Pigs are generally of a high-class See also:Berkshire type . Other See also:Industries.—The south-west of the county, being contiguous to London, is very densely populated, and is the seat of large and varied industries . For example, there are numbers of chemical See also:works, the extensive See also:engine shops and works of the Great Eastern railway at See also:Stratford, See also:government See also:powder works in the vicinity of Waltham See also:Abbey, and powder stores at Purfleet on the Thames . The extensive water-works for east London, by the Lea near Walthamstow, may also be mentioned . The docks at Plaistow and Tilbury on the Thames employ many hands . Apart from this See also:industrial district, there are consider-able See also:engineering works, especially for agricultural implements, at See also:Chelmsford, Colchester and elsewhere; several See also:silk works, as at See also:Braintree and See also:Halstead; large breweries, as at Brentwood, Chelmsford and Romford; and lime and cement works at Grays Thurrock . The See also:oyster-beds of the Colne produce the famous Colchester natives, and there are similar beds in the Crouch and Roach, for which Burnham-on-Crouch is the centre; and in the Blackwater (See also:Maldon) . Communications.—Railway communications are supplied principally by the Great Eastern railway, of which the main line runs by Stratford, Ilford, Romford, Brentwood, Chelmsford, See also:Witham, Colchester, and Manningtree . The See also:Cambridge and See also:northern line of this See also:company, following the Lea valley, does not See also:touch the county until it diverges along the valley of the Stort . The chief branches are those to Southend and Burnham, Witham to Maldon, Colchester to See also:Brightlingsea, to Clacton and to Walton, and Manningtree to Harwich, on the coast; and Witham to Braintree and See also:Bishop's Stortford, and See also:Mark's Tey to See also:Sudbury and beyond, inland; while there are several branch lines among the manufacturing and residential suburbs in the south-west, to Walthamstow and Buckhurst Hill, See also:Chigwell, See also:Loughton, Epping, Ongar, &c . The London, Tilbury & Southend railway, following the Thames, serves the places named, and the Colne Valley railway runs from Chappel junction near Mark's Tey by Halstead to See also:Haverhill . On the Thames, besides the great docks at Plaistow (See also:Victoria and See also:Albert) and the deep-water docks at Tilbury, the principal calling places for vessels are Grays, Purfleet and Southend, while See also:Barking on the Roding has also See also:shipping See also:trade, and the Lea affords important water-connexions . Elsewhere, the principal See also:port is Harwich, at the mouth of the Stour, one of the chief ports of England for See also:European passenger See also:traffic . Other towns ranking as lesser estuarine ports are: Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe on the Colne, forming a member of the Cinque Port of See also:Sandwich; Colchester, Maldon on the Blackwater, and Burnham-on-Crouch . The Stour, Chelmer, and Lea and Stort are the principal navigable inland waterways . See also:Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 986,975 acres, with a population in 1891 of 785,445 and in 190I of 1,085,771 . The area of the administrative county is 979,532 acres . The county contains nineteen hundreds . It is divided into eight See also:parliamentary divisions, and it also includes the parliamentary boroughs of Colchester and West See also:Ham, the latter consisting of two divisions . Each of these returns one member . The county divisions are—Northern or Saffron Walden, North-eastern or Harwich, Eastern or Maldon, Western or Epping, See also:Mid or Chelmsford, South-eastern, Southern or Rom-See also:ford, South-western or Walthamstow, returning one member each . The municipal boroughs are—Chelmsford (12,580), Colchester (38,373), East Ham (96,018), Harwich (10,070), Maldon (5565), Saffron Walden (5896), Southend-on-Sea (28,857), and one county See also:borough, West Ham (267,358) . The following are the other See also:urban districts—Barking See also:Town (21,547), Braintree (5330), Brentwood (4932), Brightlingsea (4501), Buckhurst Hill (4786), Burnham-on-Crouch (2919), See also:Chingford (4373), Clacton (7456), Epping (3789), Frinton-on-Sea (644), Grays Thurrock (13,834), Halstead (6073), Ilford (41,234), See also:Leigh-on-Sea (3667), See also:Leyton (98,912), Loughton (4730), Romford (13,656), Shoeburyness (4081), Waltham See also:Holy See also:Cross (6549), Walthamstow (95,131), Walton-on-the-Naze (2014), See also:Wanstead (9179), Witham (3454), Wivenhoe (2560), See also:Woodford (13,798) . Essex is in the South-eastern See also:circuit, and assizes are held at Chelmsford . The boroughs of Harwich and Southend-on-Sea have See also:separate commissions of the See also:peace, and the boroughs of Colchester, Maldon, Saffron Walden and West Ham have, in addition, separate courts of See also:quarter sessions . The county is ecclesiastically within the See also:diocese of St Albans (with a small portion within that of See also:Ely) and is divided into two archdeaconries; containing 452 parishes or districts wholly or in part . There are 399 See also:civil parishes . There is a military station and See also:depot for recruits at Warley, and a See also:garrison at Tilbury . At Shoeburyness there are a school of gunnery and an extensive ground for testing government See also:artillery of the largest calibre . See also:History (see also below under EssEx, See also:KINGDOM oF).—Essex probably originated as a See also:shire in the See also:time of iEthelstan . According to the Domesday Survey it comprised nineteen hundreds, corresponding very closely in extent and in name with those of the See also:present See also:day . The additional See also:half-See also:hundred of Thunreslan on the Suffolk border has disappeared; Witbrictesherna is now Dengie; and the See also:liberty of Havering-atte-See also:Bower appears to have been taken out of Becontree .
Essex and Hertfordshire were under one See also:sheriff . until the time of See also:
The See also:nobility of Essex took a leading part in the struggle for the See also:charter, and of the twenty-four guardians of the charter, four were Essex barons
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The castles of Pleshey, Colchester, and Hedingham were held against the See also:
The county returned four members to parliament in 1290
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From 1295 it returned two members for the county and two for Colchester
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Maldon acquired See also:representation in 1331 and Harwich in 1604
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Under the Reform See also:Act of 1832 the county returned four members in four divisions
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Under the Representation of the See also:People Act of 1868 Maldon and Harwich each lost one member, and the county returned six members in three divisions
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Antiquities.—It is supposed by many antiquaries that Saxon See also:masonry can be detected in the See also:foundations of several of the Essex churches, but, with the exception of Ashingdon See also:
The See also:oldest See also:brasses preserved in the county are those of See also:Sir See also: |