Essex enjoys, on the whole, a mild climate ; for though it is exposed to piercing winds from the cast, especially during the spring months, these winds are not nearly so cold, or prejudicial to vegetation or health, as the same winds in the more exposed county of Nor folk. Part of the eastern and southern limits, for ten or twelve miles from the sea and the Thames, are subject, during autumn, to thick and unpleasant fogs, which are often productive of agues. This disorder is not nearly so prevalent or so dangerous as it was for merly, before the marshes were so well drained, and the land so highly cultivated as it is at present. The quan tity of rain which annually falls in this county is compa ratively small, not averaging more than twenty or twenty two inches.
There is great variety of soil in Essex, though, per haps, there is little of what may properly be called clay. The district called the Rodings, which contains eight contiguous parishes, on the west side of the county, near the borders of Hertfordshire, contains a soil that comes, perhaps, as near to clay as any part of Essex, hut which, in fact, is only a strong wet loam. This district is very fertile, but is proverbial for the badness of its roads, and the uncouth manners of its inhabitants. In the eastern part of the county the soil for the most part is of a strong good staple, intermixed, however, with light dry turnip land. Towards the middle and northern part, bordering on Suffolk, the soil varies considerably, some being light, with a species of marl below the surface, at the depth of a foot, or a foot and a half, while other parts are of a moist and rather strong soil. In the western part, which borders on the river Lea, almost every variety of soil is met with, from a wet heavy loam, upon brick earth, to a light, thin, tender soil, upon gravel. Mr Young, in his agricultural report of this county, divides it into eight districts, in respect to soil, viz, the Roding district, where the soil is so wet and strong, that only one crop is taken after fallow ; this district, according to him, contains 156 square miles ; secondly, the district of fertile loam, which stretches along the banks of the Thames, and the shore of the German ocean, and contains 255 square miles ; and the third, fourth and fifth districts, which lie partly on the borders of Cambridgeshire, and partly to the north of Rochford, consist of strong land, and con tain 222 square miles ; the sixth district, which is a tur nip loam, and stretches from a little to the south of Col chester past that town, to the borders of Suffolk, contains 114 square miles; the seventh district is very small, it i lies in the north western corner of the county, the sub soil of this is chalk ; the last district, according to Mr Young, consists of miscellaneous loams, and occupies nearly the entire centre of the county, besides part of the western border of it ; it contains 68 I square miles. From this account of the soil of Essex, it will be seen that this county is on the whole fertile, possessing some very rich soil, while scarcely any part of it contains soil of a very poor or unimproveable nature.
Although there are no large rivers in Essex, yet it is well situated in respect of river navigation. The Thames forms its whole southern boundary ; the Stour, which is navigable to Shoebury, is its northern limit ; and on the west it has the two navigations of the Stout and the Lea. Besides these, the estuary of the Black-water penetrates 12 miles into the county, and afterwards is navigable to Chelmsford. Nearly the whole of the county, except those hundreds near the Lea and the Thames, which are emphatically styled the Hundreds of Essex, is well wa tered by the many brooks and rivers which run through its vales. The principal rivers, which, properly speak ing, belong to this county, are the Collie, which rises near Clare in Suffolk, and after passing Colchester, empties itself into a creek of the Lea, between Mersey island and the main. The Black-water, which rises near Saffron Walden, and flowing by Coggleshall and Wi tham, falls into an arm of the sea at Maldon ; the Chel mer, which, rising near the source of the Black-water, fertilizes and beautifies the middle of the county, and passing by Chelmsford, unites at Maldon with the for mer river ; the Crouch, which, after a short course on the south-eastern side, joins the Lea among the marshes of Burnham and Foulness Isle; and the Roddon, which enters the Thames near Barking.
The state of property in Essex is such as might be expected from its vicinity to the metropolis, and the en terprising spirit and wealth of its farmers ; for though there are a few very extensive estates in the possession of the nobility, or some very wealthy private individuals, yet, perhaps, in no county is there a greater number of moderate sized farms, the property of mere farmers, while near the metropolis the land is divided into small portions, to accommodate the merchants of London, or for the purpose of nurseries and garden grounds, to sup ply the wants and luxuries of that city. The manage ment of estates is entrusted either to attorneys, or to farmers of skill and experience. With respect to te nures, free-hold are by far the most numerous, exten sive and valuable; next to these are copy-hold ; lease hold estates are the fewest and least valuable. There are many estates in belonging to Guy's and Christ's Hospitals, and other corporate bodies. The houses of many of the landed proprietors are magnifi cent; of this description are Wansted House, the seat of Mr Wellesly Long : this is one of the largest houses in the kingdom. Audley-end, the seat of Lord Braybrooke, is not more remarkable for its magnificence, than for the taste with which the grounds around it are laid out. Besides these, may be noticed Gosfield, the seat of the Marquis of Buckingham ; Thorndon, the scat of Lord Petre ; and Mistley Hall, the scat of Mr Rigby.