Visit Essex Places

Welcome to Visit Essex Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Essex

  

Essex Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Essex

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Essex history

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Essex evolved from the Kingdom of the East Saxons. It is likely to have its roots in the territory of the Iron Age Trinovantes tribe.

Iron Age

Essex corresponds, fairly closely, to the territory of the Trinovantes tribe . Their production of their own coinage marks them out as one of the more advanced tribes on the island . Their capital was the oppidum (a type town) of Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town, which had its own mint .

Roman

The Roman invasion of AD 43 began with a landing on the south coast, probably in Kent . The combined army then proceeded to the capital of the Catevellauni-Trinovantes at Colchester . It was initially the most important city in Roman Britain and in it they established a temple to the God-Emperor Claudius .

Anglo-Saxon Period

The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages . It has its root in the name Ēastseaxe, the eastern kingdom of the Saxons . The first known king of the East Saxons was Sledd in 587, though there are less reliable sources giving an account of Aescwine (other versions call him Erkenwine) founding the kingdom in 527 .

After the Norman Conquest

There was a weak correlation between the Forest of Essex and the much smaller area covered by woodland . Domesday returns show that the county as a whole was 20% wooded in 1086 . After that point population growth caused the proportion of woodland to fall steadily until the arrival of the Black Death in 1348 .

Peasants Revolt, 1381

Peasants’ Revolt broke out in Brentwood on 1st June 1381, 1381 and spread to other parts of the country . King Richard II defeated rebels in battle at Billericay on 28th June, and there were mass executions .

Wars of the Roses

2,000 Essex supporters 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 .

Armada

In 1588 Queen Elizabeth made her famous speech to the troops at Tilbury Fort . She said: “I have the body of a weak, feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king” The English believed that the Spanish would land near the Fort .

Civil War

Essex, London and the eastern counties backed Parliament in the English Civil War . In June 1648 a force of 500 Kentish Royalists landed near the Isle of Dogs and linked up with a small Royalist cavalry force from Essex . The combined force, bolstered by extra forces, marched towards Royalist held Colchester . A Parliamentarian force caught up with them just as they were about to enter the city’s medieval walls . A bitter battle was fought but the Royalists were able to retire to the security of the city walls . The Siege of Colchester followed, but ten weeks’ starvation and news of Royalist defeats elsewhere led the Royalist

Essex landmarks

Over 14,000 buildings have listed status in the county and around 1,000 are recognised as of Grade I or II* importance. The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club was the UK’s entry in the ‘International Exhibition of Modern Architecture’ held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1932. Southend Pier is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest pleasure pier in the world.

You can visit Essex places with Walkfo Essex to hear history at Essex’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Essex has 18 places to visit in our interactive Essex map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Essex, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Essex places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Essex & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 18 audio facts unique to Essex places in an interactive Essex map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Essex Places Map
18 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Essex historic spots	Essex tourist destinations	Essex plaques	Essex geographic features
Walkfo Essex tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Essex

  

Best Essex places to visit

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Essex has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Essex’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Essex’s information audio spots:

Hatfield Peverel Hatfield means a ‘heathery space in the forest’, Peverel refers to William the Conqueror. The 2004 parish population, including the hamlet of Nounsley, was approximately 5,500. It is situated on high ground east of the River Ter, between Boreham and Witham on the A12. The parish church, St Andrew’s, is the surviving fragment of the Norman priory church nave.

Chelmsford Radio Chelmsford Radio 107.7 was owned by Adventure Radio Group. It merged with Southend Radio in 2015 to create Radio Essex.

Visit Essex plaques