History of Essex

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Essex is a county in the East of England which originated as the ancient Kingdom of Essex and one of the seven kingdoms, or heptarchy, that went on to form the Kingdom of England.

The name Essex derives from the Kingdom of the East Seaxe or Kingdom of Essex which was traditionally founded by Aescwine in AD 527, occupying territory to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea.

In AD 825 it became part of the Kingdom of Wessex and was later ceded under the Treaty of Wedmore to the Danelaw under the Kingdom of East Anglia. In AD 991 the Battle of Maldon resulted in complete defeat of the Anglo-Saxons by the Vikings, and is commemorated in the poem The Battle of Maldon.

The county was divided into the hundreds of:

• Barstable
• Becontree
• Chafford
• Chelmsford
• Clavering
• Dengie
• Dunmow
• Freshwell
• Harlow
• Havering Liberty
• Hinkford
• Lexden
• Ongar
• Rochford
• Tendring
• Thurstable
• Uttlesford
• Waltham
• Winstree
• Witham

In the Iron Age, Essex and parts of southern Suffolk were controlled by the local Trinovantes tribe. Their production of their own coinage marks them out as one of the more advanced tribes on the island, this advantage (in common with other tribes in the south-east) is probably due to the Belgic element within their elite. Their capital was the oppidum (a type of town) of Colchester, Britain's oldest recorded town, which had its own mint. The tribe were in extended conflict with their western neighbours, the Catuvellauni, and steadily lost ground. By AD 10 they had come under the complete control of the Catuvellauni, who took Colchester as their own capital.^[1]

The Roman invasion of AD 43 began with a landing on the south coast, probably in the Richborough area of Kent. After some initial successes against the Britons, they paused to await reinforcements, and the arrival of the Emperor Claudius. The combined army then proceeded to the capital of the Catevellauni-Trinovantes at Colchester, and took it.

Claudius held a review of his invasion force on Lexden Heath where the army formally proclaimed him Imperator. The invasion force that assembled before him included four legions, mounted auxiliaries and an elephant corps – a force of around 30,000 men.^[2] At Colchester, the kings of 11 British tribes surrendered to Claudius.^[3]

Colchester became a Roman Colonia, with the official name Colonia Claudia Victricensis ('the City of Claudius' Victory'). It was initially the most important city in Roman Britain and in it they established a temple to the God-Emperor Claudius. This was the largest building of its kind in Roman Britain.^[4][5]

The establishment of the Colonia is thought to have involved extensive appropriation of land from local people, this and other grievances led to the Trinovantes joining their northern neighbours, the Iceni, in the Boudiccan revolt.^[6] The rebels entered the city, and after a Roman last stand at the temple of Claudius, methodically destroyed it, massacring many thousands. A significant Roman force attempting to relieve Colchester was destroyed in pitched battle, known as the Massacre of the Ninth Legion.

The rebels then proceeded to sack London and St Albans, with Tacitus estimating that 70–80,000 people were killed in the destruction of the three cities. Boudicca was defeated in battle, somewhere in the west midlands, and the Romans are likely to have ravaged the lands of the rebel tribes,^[7] so Essex will have suffered greatly.

Despite this, the Trinovantes' identity persisted. Roman provinces were divided into civitas for local government purposes – with a civitas for the Trinovantes strongly implied by Ptolemy.^[8] Christianity is thought to have been flourishing among the Trinovantes in the fourth century, indications include the remains of a probable church at Colchester,^[9] the church dates from sometime after 320, shortly after the Constantine the Great granted freedom of worship to Christians in 313. Other archaeological evidence include a chi-rho symbol etched on a tile at a site in Wickford, and a gold ring inscribed with a chi-rho monogram found at Brentwood. ^[10]

The late Roman period, and the period shortly after, was the setting for the King Cole legends based around Colchester.^[11] One version of the legend concerns St Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The legend makes her the daughter of Coel, Duke of the Britons (King Cole) and in it she gives birth to Constantine in Colchester. This, and related legends, are at variance with biographical details as they are now known, but it is likely that Constantine, and his father, Constantius spent time in Colchester during their years in Britain.^[12] The presence of St Helena in the country is less certain.

Main article: Kingdom of Essex

The first Saxons in Essex were likely mercenaries, contracted by the Romano-British to garrison the Saxon Shore fortifications that protected the east coast against sea-borne raiders. Late Roman military belt sets, dating to the early 5th century, have been discovered in Essex, concentrated in coastal areas, including those with known military associations such as Colchester and Othona.^[13]

This accords with the earliest written account of post-Roman Britain, that of Gildas, which suggests the Anglo-Saxons first came to Britain as mercenaries, before turning on the Roman-British, and claiming much of the country for their own.^[14] The next written account comes from Bede in c. 731. Bede describes three principal groups - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes - colonising England. The Saxon area he divides into the East, South (Sussex), and West Saxons (Wessex).^[15] It is from the Old English term for East Saxons, Ēastseaxe, that the name Essex derives. Archaeological evidence - primarily grave goods and burial practices - shows Essex as a region influenced both by 'Saxon' and 'Anglian' material culture, rather than conforming strongly to a Saxon identity.^[16]

The exact process by which Germanic, Anglo-Saxon identity, culture, and language became so widespread in England remains a subject of intense scholarly debate. The traditional view has been that there was large-scale migration from continental Europe to England. This is, however, contradicted by genetic evidence that suggests migration took place on a much smaller scale. Recent scholarship proposes lower levels and migration, alongside a cultural shift whereby Romano-British communities adopted the culture of an Anglo-Saxon elite, in order to gain "status, security, social opportunity and access to wealth."^[17]

The kingdom of the East Saxons begins to emerge in the 6th century. It is at this time that elite burials first appear in Essex's archaeological record, most of which feature Kentish styles of dress and jewellery.^[18] Some sources give the first king of the East Saxons as Aescwine (or Ekenwine) in 527, whose name suggests a connection with Kent. More widely attested as first king, however, is Sledd in 587. Again a Kentish connection is visible, as Sledd's wife Ricula was the sister of the Kentish king Æthelberht.^[19]

The early kings of the East Saxons were pagan and uniquely amongst the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms traced their lineage back to Seaxnēat, god of the Saxons, in addition to Woden. The kings of Essex are notable for their S-nomenclature, nearly all of them begin with the letter S.^[20]

The Kingdom of the East Saxons included not just the subsequent county of Essex, but also Middlesex (including the City of London), much of Hertfordshire and at times also the sub-Kingdom of Surrey. The Middlesex and Hertfordshire parts were known as the Province of the Middle Saxons since at least the early eighth century but it is not known if the province was previously an independent unit that came under East Saxon control. Charter evidence shows that the Kings of Essex appear to have had a greater control in the core area, east of the Lea and Stort, that would subsequently become the county of Essex. In the core area they granted charters freely, but further west they did so while also making reference to their Mercian overlords.

While Christianity had been introduced to Essex in Roman times, by the late 6th century, the East Saxons and their kings were pagans. The Gregorian mission arrived in neighbouring Kent in 597 to begin the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. The first sign of Christianity among the East Saxons is the presence of Christian grave goods at the Prittlewell royal burial, dated to around 600. In 604, the Gregorian mission reached Essex. King Saebert was baptised, a Bishop of London (Mellitus) was consecrated, and St Paul's Cathedral was founded in London. The Christianisation of the kings of Essex was short-lived, however, as on Sebert's death in 616 his sons renounced Christianity and drove out Mellitus.^[21][22]

The kingdom re-converted around 653, after St Cedd, a monk from Lindisfarne and now the patron saint of Essex, converted Sigeberht II around 653, and was appointed Bishop of the East Saxons; which appears to have been a separate position from Bishop of London.^[21] Around this time the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall was built in Bradwell-on-Sea, which ranks among the oldest English churches still in use today.^[23][24] The last pagan king of Essex was Sighere, an apostate who was joint-king alongside his Christian cousin Saebbi; Saebbi outlived his cousin, and Christianity fully took hold in Essex.^[21]

From the seventh century onwards, Essex was often under the overlordship of foreign kings, beginning with Caedwalla of Wessex by 686.^[25] By the early ninth century, overlordship was claimed by Offa and Coenwulf of Mercia, with the latter reducing the kings of Essex to ealdorman status. Furthemore, the Mercian kings separated Essex's territories in Hertfordshire and Middlesex from the core territory of Essex.^[26] In AD 824, Ecgberht, the King of the Wessex and grandfather of Alfred the Great, defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellandun in Wiltshire, fundamentally changing the balance of power in southern England. The small kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, Surrey and Kent were subsequently absorbed into Wessex.^[27] From this time onwards, Essex was often ruled - along with the other smaller kingdoms of eastern England - by a son of the king of Wessex.^[28]

The coming of the Great Heathen Army in 865 saw Essex among the English counties which were conquered by the pagan Norse king Guthrum, and became part of the Danelaw. Following Alfred the Great's victory at the Battle of Edington in 878, Guthrum converted to Christianity, and a border was drawn between his realm and Alfred's along the River Lea.^[29] The extent of Scandinavian control in Essex is disputed, with linguistic and archaeological evidence of such limited to the north-east of the county.^[30]

In 894 Alfred's son Edward campaigned into Essex and defeated a Viking army at the Battle of Benfleet, but did not advance further.^[31] He returned as king of Wessex in 917, and brought the country back under Wessex's control; his son Athelstan was to become the first king of the English.^[32]

The later Anglo-Saxon period shows two further major battles fought with the Norse in Essex; the Battle of Maldon in 991,^[33] and the Battle of Assandun (probably at either Ashingdon or Ashdon) in 1016.^[34]

The county of Essex was formed from the core area, east of the River Lea,^[35] of the former Kingdom of the East Saxons in the 9th or 10th centuries and divided into groupings called Hundreds. Before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England.

Having conquered England, William the Conqueror initially based himself at Barking Abbey, an already ancient nunnery, for several months while a secure base, which eventually became the Tower of London could be established in the city. While at Barking William received the submission of some of England's leading nobles. The invaders established a number of castles in the county, to help protect the new elites in a hostile country. There were castles at Colchester, Castle Hedingham, Rayleigh, Pleshey and elsewhere. Hadleigh Castle was developed much later, in the thirteenth century.

After the arrival of the Normans, the Forest of Essex was established as a royal forest, however, at that time, the term^[36] was a legal term. There was a weak correlation between the area covered by the Forest of Essex (the large majority of the county) and the much smaller area covered by woodland. An analysis of Domesday returns for Essex has shown that the Forest of Essex was mostly farmland, and that the county as a whole was 20% wooded in 1086.^[37]

After that point population growth caused the proportion of woodland to fall steadily until the arrival of the Black Death, in 1348, killed between a third and a half of England's population, leading to a long term stabilisation of the extent of woodland. Similarly, various pressures led to areas being removed from the legal Forest of Essex and it ceased to exist as a legal entity after 1327,^[38] and after that time Forest Law applied to smaller areas: the forests of Writtle (near Chelmsford), long lost Kingswood (near Colchester),^[37] Hatfield, and Waltham Forest.

Waltham Forest had covered parts of the Hundreds of Waltham, Becontree and Ongar. It also included the physical woodland areas subsequently legally afforested (designated as a legal forest) and known as Epping Forest and Hainault Forest).^[39]

The Black Death significantly reduced England's population, leading to a change in the balance of power between the working population on one hand, and their masters and employers on the other. Over a period of several decades, national government brought in legislation to reverse the situation, but it was only partially successful and led to simmering resentment.

By 1381, England's economic situation was very poor due to the war with France, so a new Poll Tax was levied with commissioners being sent round the country to interrogate local officials in an attempt to ensure tax evasion was reduced and more money extracted. This was hugely unpopular and the Peasants' Revolt broke out in Brentwood on 1 June 1381. The revolt was partly inspired by the egalitarian preaching of the radical Essex priest John Ball.

Several thousand Essex rebels gathered at Bocking on 4 June, and then divided. Some heading to Suffolk to raise rebellion there, with the rest heading to London, some directly – via Bow Bridge and others may have gone via Kent. A large force of Kentish rebels under Wat Tyler, who may himself have been from Essex, also advanced on London while revolt also spread to a number of other parts of the country.

The rebels gained access to the walled City of London and gained control of the Tower of London. They carried out extensive looting in the capital and executed a number of their enemies, but the revolt began to dissipate after the events at West Smithfield on 15 June, when the Mayor of London, William Walworth, killed the rebel leader Wat Tyler. The rebels prepared to fire arrows at the royal party but the 15 year old King Richard II rode toward the crowd and spoke to them, defusing the situation, in part by making a series of promises he did not subsequently keep.^[40]

Having bought himself time, Richard was able to receive reinforcements and then crush the rebellion in Essex and elsewhere. His forces defeated rebels in battle at Billericay on 28 June, and there were mass executions including hangings and disembowellings at Chelmsford and Colchester.^[41]

In 1471, during the Wars of the Roses a force of around 2,000 Essex supporters of the Lancastrian cause crossed Bow Bridge to join with 3,000 Kentish Lancastrian supporters under the Bastard of Fauconberg.

The Essex men joined with their allies in attempting to storm Aldgate and Bishopsgate during an assault known as the Siege of London. The Lancastrians were defeated, and the Essex contingent retreated back over the Lea with heavy losses.^[42]

In 1588 Tilbury Fort was chosen as the focal point of the English defences against King Philip II's Spanish Armada, and the large veteran army he had ordered to invade England. The English believed that the Spanish would land near the Fort,^[43] so Queen Elizabeth's small and relatively poorly trained forces gathered at Tilbury, where the Queen made her famous speech to the troops.

I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.

People from Essex were heavily involved in the colonisation of the Americas. The Mayflower, which carried the first settlers to New England, was a Harwich ship. Five of America's presidents (George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush) can trace their ancestry to Essex.^[44]

Essex, London and the eastern counties backed Parliament in the English Civil War, but by 1648, this loyalty was stretched. In June 1648 a force of 500 Kentish Royalists landed near the Isle of Dogs, linked up with a small Royalist cavalry force from Essex, fought a battle with local parliamentarians at Bow Bridge, then crossed the River Lea into Essex.

The combined force, bolstered by extra forces, marched towards Royalist held Colchester, but a Parliamentarian force caught up with them just as they were about to enter the city's medieval walls, and a bitter battle was fought but the Royalists were able to retire to the security of the walls. The Siege of Colchester followed, but ten weeks' starvation and news of Royalist defeats elsewhere led the Royalists to surrender.^[45]

Much of the development of the county was caused by the railway. By 1843 the Eastern Counties Railway had connected Bishopsgate station in London with Brentwood and Colchester. In 1856, they opened a branch to Loughton (later extended to Ongar) and by 1884 the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway had connected Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London to Grays, Tilbury, Southend-on-Sea and Shoeburyness. Some of the railways were built primarily to transport goods but some (e.g. the Loughton branch) were to cater for commuter traffic; they unintentionally created the holiday resorts of Southend, Clacton and Frinton-on-Sea^{[citation needed]}.

County councils were created in England in 1889. Essex County Council was based in Chelmsford, although it met in London until 1938. Its control did not cover the entire county. The London suburb of West Ham and later East Ham and the resort of Southend-on-Sea became county boroughs independent of county council control.

The Harwich Force - based, as the name suggests, in Harwich - played an important role in the North Sea theatre of the First World War.^[46] On land, the Essex Regiment fought on the Western Front, including at the Battle of the Somme;^[47] at Gallipoli; and in the Senussi and Sinai and Palestine campaigns.^[48]

During the Second World War, Essex played a key role in the Battle of Britain, playing host to a number of RAF Fighter Command airfields in 11 Group, most notably three sector airfields at Hornchurch, North Weald, and Debden.^[49] Later in the war a series of new airfields were built across northern Essex, for use by RAF Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces in the Combined Bomber Offensive against German-occupied Europe.

Much of Essex is protected from development near to its boundary with Greater London and forms part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. In 1949 the new towns of Harlow and Basildon were created. These developments were intended to address the chronic housing shortage in London but were not intended to become dormitory towns, rather it was hoped the towns would form an economy independent of the capital. The railway station at Basildon, with a direct connection to the City, was not opened until 1974 after pressure from residents.

The proximity of London and its economic magnetism has caused many places in Essex to become desirable places for workers in the City of London to live. As London grew in the east places such as Barking and Romford were given greater autonomy and created as municipal boroughs.

Finally in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 the County Borough of West Ham and the County Borough of East Ham were abolished and their area transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Newham.

Also at this time the Municipal Borough of Ilford and the Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford were abolished and their area, plus part of the area of Chigwell Urban District (but not including Chigwell itself), were transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Redbridge. The Municipal Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District were abolished and their area transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Havering.

The Municipal Borough of Leyton, the Municipal Borough of Chingford and the Municipal Borough of Walthamstow were abolished and their area transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The Municipal Borough of Barking and the Municipal Borough of Dagenham were abolished and their area transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Barking, renamed London Borough of Barking and Dagenham on 1 January 1980.

Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region.

In 1998 the boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea were given unitary authority status and ceased to be under county council control. They remain part of the ceremonial county.

The importance of the Anglo-Saxon culture in Essex was only emphasized by the rich burial discovered at Prittlewell in 2003,^[50] but the important Anglo-Saxon remains in Essex are mostly churches. St. Peter's straddles the wall of a Roman seafort at Bradwell (Othona), and is one of the early Anglo-Saxon, "Kentish" series of churches made famous by its documentation by Bede. Later Anglo-Saxon work may be seen in an important church tower at Holy Trinity, Colchester, an intact church at Hadstock, and elsewhere. At Greensted the walls of the nave are made of halved logs; although still the oldest church timber known in England, it is now thought to be early Norman.

Being a relatively stone-less County, it is unsurprising that some of the earliest examples of the mediaeval revival of brick-making can be found in Essex; Layer Marney Tower, Ingatestone Hall, and numerous parish churches exhibit the brickmakers' and bricklayers' skills in Essex. A two-volume typology of bricks, based entirely on Essex examples, has been published. Similarly, spectacular early-mediaeval timber construction is to be found in Essex, with perhaps the two Templars' barns at Cressing Temple being pre-eminent in the whole of England. There is a complete tree-ring dating series for Essex timber, much due to the work of Dr. Tyers at the University of Sheffield.

Mediaeval "gothic" architecture in timber, brick, rubble, and stone is to be found all over Essex. These range from the large churches at Chelmsford, Saffron Walden and Thaxted, to the little gem at Tilty. The ruined abbeys, however, such as the two in Colchester and that at Barking, are disappointing in comparison to those that can be found in other counties^{[citation needed]}; Waltham is the exception^{[citation needed]}.

While the truncated remnant of Waltham Abbey was considered as a potential cathedral, elevation of the large parish church at Chelmsford was eventually preferred because of its location at the centre of the new diocese of Essex c.1908. Waltham Abbey remains the County's most impressive piece of mediaeval architecture.

Quite apart from important towns like Colchester or Chelmsford, many smaller places in Essex exhibit continuity from ancient times. Perhaps the most amusing is the Anglo-Saxon church at Rivenhall, just north of Witham. A nearby, ruined Roman villa probably served as a source for its building materials, and the age of this church was underestimated by Pevsner by about a thousand years.

The villages of Wanstead and Woodford saw the French family setting up a brick making works adjacent to the road from Chelmsford to London, now known as Chigwell Road. This industry closed in 1952.

• Pevsner (the "Buildings of England" series, Penguin) is the best general introduction to the County's architecture. In the new [when?]editions, 'London over the border' will now [when?] appear with London: East, instead of with the rest of the County, as formerly.

Hidden Heritage – Discovering Ancient Essex, by Terry Johnson by Terry Johnson Whilst major sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury are well known, few people realise how rich in ancient sites are other areas of Britain. Terry first examines features of the landscape and unusual church carvings in general, then gives a detailed listing of interesting sites in Essex with associated legends and folklore, in addition to examining possible leys. ISBN 1898307 709