ESSEX, an eastern county of England, bounded north by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, east by the North Sea, south by the Thames, dividing it from Kent, west by the administrative coun ties of London, Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Its area is 1,53o square miles. Its configuration is sufficiently indicated by the direction of its rivers. Except that in the northwest the county includes the heads of a few valleys draining northward to the Cam and so to the Great Ouse, all the streams run southward and eastward, either into the Thames, or into the North Sea by way of the broad, shallow estuaries which ramify through the flat coast lands. The highest ground lies consequently in the north-west, between the Cam basin and the rivers of the county. The Lea (which with its headwaters the Stort forms a great part of the western boundary), the Roding and several smaller streams flow southward to the Thames. Canvey island, just before South end is reached, is typical of many of the marsh islands along the coast. Following the coast northward from Shoeburyness at the Thames mouth, the other chief rivers may be specified according to their estuaries. The Roach ramifies among several islands of which Foulness is the largest, while its main branch joins the estuary of the Crouch. Next follows the Blackwater, which receives the Chelmer, the Brain and other streams. Following the numerous creeks and islets, with the large island of Mersea, the Colne estuary is reached. The Colne and Blackwater may be said to form one large estuary, as they enter the sea by a well marked common mouth, 5 Tn. in width, between Sales Point and Colne Point. There is a great irregular inlet (Hamford Water) receiving no large stream, west of the Naze promontory, and then the Stour, forming the boundary with Suffolk on the north, joins its estuary to that of the Orwell near the sea.
There are several popular seaside places along the Essex coast, of which Southend-on-Sea (with Leigh and Westcliff) above the mouth of the Thames, Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea, Walton on-the-Naze, and Dovercourt adjoining Harwich are the chief. These and other stations on the estuaries, such as Burnham-on Crouch, are also in favour with yachtsmen. The sea has at some points seriously encroached upon the land within historic times. The 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. Inland the county is pleasantly undulating and for the most part well wooded. It was formerly, indeed, almost wholly forested, the ancient Waltham forest stretching from Colchester to the confines of London. Of this a fragment is preserved in Epping forest (see EPPING) between the Lea and the Roding. On the east of the Roding Hainault forest is traceable, but was disafforested in 1851. The oak is the principal tree; a noteworthy example was that of Fairlop in Hainault, which measured 45 ft. in girth, but was blown down in 182o.
The roads of this county with a clay soil foundation were for generations repaired with flints picked by women and children from the surface of the fields. Gravel is difficult of access. With the exception of chalk for lime (mainly obtained at Ballingdon in the north and Grays in the south), septaria for making cement, and clay for bricks, the underground riches of the county are meagre.
The south-west of the county, being contiguous both to the river and to London, is the seat of large and varied industries, including food and chemical works, engine shops at Stratford, powder works in the vicinity of Waltham Abbey, and powder stores at Purfleet on the Thames. The extensive water-works for east London, by the Lea near Walthamstow, may also be men tioned. The docks at Plaistow and Tilbury on the Thames em ploy many hands. Apart from this industrial district, there are considerable engineering works, especially for agricultural imple ments, at Chelmsford, Colchester and elsewhere; silk works at Braintree and Halstead; large breweries at Brentwood, Chelms ford and Romford; and lime and cement works at Grays Thur rock (see section Geology above). The 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 (Maldon).
On the Thames, besides the great docks at Plaistow and Silver town (the Victoria and Albert and the King George V. docks) and the deep-water docks at Tilbury (q.v.) the principal calling places for vessels are Grays, Purfleet and Southend, while Barking on the Roding has also shipping trade, and the Lea affords important water-connections. Elsewhere, the principal port is Harwich, at the mouth of the Stour, an important port for passenger traffic to the Continent. Other towns ranking as lesser estuarine ports are: Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe on the Colne, forming a mem ber of the Cinque Port of Sandwich; Colchester; Maldon on the Blackwater; and Burnham-on-Crouch. The Stour, Chelmer, and Lea and Stort are the principal navigable inland waterways.
The county is divided for parliamentary purposes into eight (county) divisions, each returning one member, namely; Epping, Saffron Walden, Harwich, Maldon, Romford, Col chester and (in the centre) Chelmsford; while the following parliamentary boroughs also return one member in each constitu ency or division, namely, West Ham (four divisions), East Ham, Leyton and Walthamstow (two divisions each), and Ilford and Southend-on-Sea (one division each). There are eight municipal boroughs and their populations in the year 1931 were as follows: Chingford, 2 2,O51; Colchester, 48, 60 7 ; Harwich, 12, 700 ; Maldon, 6,559; Saffron Walden, 5,930; Ilford, 131,046; Leyton, 128,317; Walthamstow, 13 2,965 ; Barking Town, 51, 2 7 7 ; Benfleet, 12,091; Braintree, 8,912; Brentwood, 7,209; Brightlingsea, 4,145; Buck hurst Hill, 5,486; Burnham-on-Crouch, 3,395 ; Canvey Island, ; Chelmsford, 26,53 7 ; Clacton, 15,851; Dagenham, 89,365; Epping, 4,956; Frinton-on-Sea, 2,196; Grey Thurrock, 18,17 2 ; Halstead, 5,878; Hornchurch, 28,417; Loughton, 7,390; Purfleet, 8,51i; Rayleigh, 6,256; Romford, 35,918; Shoeburyness, 6,717; Tilbury, 16,8 26 ; Waltham Holy Cross, 7,116 ; Walton-on-the Naze, 3,066 ; Wanstead, 19,183; West Mersea, 2,067 ; Witham, Wivenhoe, Woodford, 23,946. (The figures for Clac ton, Frinton, and Walton are higher in summer because of the number of summer visitors that come to these places.) The rural districts are : Belchamp, Billericay, Braintree, Bumpstead, Chelmsford, Dunmow, Epping, Halstead, Lexden and Winstree, Maldon, Ongar, Orsett, Rochford, Romford, Saffron Walden, Stansted, Tendring; of these Billericay (39,694) and Chelmsford (28,641) exceed 2 5,000.
Essex is in the south-eastern circuit, and assizes are held at the shire hall at Chelmsford. Colchester, Maldon, Saffron Walden and West Ham have separate courts of Quarter Sessions, and Col chester and Southend-on-Sea have their own police. The south west corner of the county falls within the area of the metropol itan police district of Greater London, which includes West and East Ham, Ilford, Lyton, the urban districts of Barking, Wan stead, Walthamstow, Dagenham, Buckhurst Hill, Chingford, Loughton, Waltham Holy Cross, Woodford, and the parish of Chigwell in Epping R.D., an area of over 6o,000 ac. and over 1,000,000 population. The county is ecclesiastically within the diocese of Chelmsford and is divided into two archdeaconries. The county is included in the Eastern military command; Warley is a depot of the Essex regiment, and there is a garrison at Tilbury. At Shoeburyness they e are a school of gunnery and an extensive ground for testing Government artillery of the largest calibre. The seaward limit of the Port of London authority on the Thames is a line drawn from Havengore Creek, 3 m. N.E. of Shoebury ness, to Warden Point on the opposite coast of Kent.
Essex was part of the see of London from the time of the foundation of the bishopric in the 7th century. The archdeaconries are first mentioned in 11o8; that of Essex extended over the south of the county ; the north of the county was divided between the archdeaconries of Middlesex and Colchester. Colchester was con stituted a suffragan bishopric by Henry VIII. In 1836 Essex was transferred to the diocese of Rochester, with the exception of nine parishes which remained in London. In 1845 the arch deacon of Middlesex ceased to exercise control in Essex. In 1875 Essex was transferred to the newly created diocese of St. Albans, and in 1914 to that of Chelmsford.
Owing to its proximity to the capital Essex was intimately associated with all the great historical struggles. The nobility of Essex took a leading part in the struggle for the charter, and of the 24 guardians of the charter, four were Essex barons. The castles of Pleshey, Colchester and Hedingham were held against the king in the Barons' War of the reign of Henry III., and 5,000 Essex men joined the peasant rising of 1381. During the Wars of the Roses the Lancastrian cause was supported by the de Veres, while the Bourchiers and Lord Fitz-Walter were among the York ist leaders. Several Essex men were concerned in the Gunpowder Plot, and in the Civil War of the 17th century the county rendered valuable aid to the parliament.
After the Conquest no Englishman retained estates in Essex of any importance, and the chief lay barons at the time of the Survey were Geoffrey de Mandeville and Aubrey de Vere. The de Veres, earls of Oxford, were continuously connected with the county until the extinction of the title two centuries ago. Pleshey was the stronghold of the Mandevilles, and, although the house became extinct in '189, its descendants in the female line retained the title of earls of Essex. Essex has always been mainly an agri cultural county, and the ordinary agricultural pursuits were carried on at the time of the Domesday Survey, which also mentions salt making, wine-making, bee-culture and cheese-making, while the oyster fisheries have been famous from the earliest historic times. The woollen industry dates back to Saxon times, and for many centuries ranked as the most important industry. In the 16th century Colchester was noted for its cloth-weaving, and also possessed a valuable leather industry, at which period Essex was considered an exceptionally wealthy and prosperous county; Nor den, writing in describes it as "moste fatt, f rutef ull, and full of all profitable things." The county returned four members to parliament in 1290. From 1295 it returned two members for the county and two for Colchester. Maldon acquired representation in 1331 and Harwich in 1604. Under the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned four members in four divisions until 1868 when it returned six members in three divisions.
Essex was rich in monastic foundations, though the greater number have left but meagre ruins behind. The Benedictines had an abbey at Saffron Walden, nunneries at Barking and Wickes, and priories at Earl's or Monk's Colne and Castle Hedingham ; the Augustinian canons had an abbey at Waltham (see WALTHAM ABBEY) and priories at Thoby, Blackmore, Bicknacre, Little Leighs, Little Dunmow and St. Osyth (see BRIGHTLINGSEA) there were Cistercian abbeys at Coggeshall, Stratford and Tilty; the Cluniac monks were settled at Prittlewell, the Premonstra tensians at Beleigh Abbey, and the Knights Hospitallers at Little Maplestead. Barking Abbey is said to date its first origin from the 7th century; most of the others arose in the 12th and 13th cen turies. Besides the keep at Colchester there is a fine Norman castle at Castle Hedingham. Havering-atte-Bower, a palace that was occupied by many queens, is replaced by a modern house. New Hall, which was successively occupied by Henry VIII., Elizabeth, the earl of Essex, George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, and Cromwell, still stands. Audley End is a noble example of the domestic architecture of the Jacobean period ; Layer Marney shows Italian influences in the time of Wolsey. Horeham Hall was built in the reign of Henry VII., and Gosfield Hall is of about the same date.
from 1858. An account of various ms. collections connected with the county is given by H. W. King in vol. ii. of the Transactions (1863) . See also J. C. Cox, Essex (1919) .