Essex

Essex is a county of southern and eastern England. The south-west of the county contains the north-east part of the London conurbation. The south-east of the county, lying on the north side of the estuary of the River Thames, is also largely suburban and industrial, and much of the planned future growth of London will occur in this district; the north of the county is more rural and agricultural, similar to parts of neighbouring East Anglia. Major towns include Colchester, a pre-Roman and Roman centre which is the oldest town in the United Kingdom, Chelmsford, the county town, and Southend-on-Sea, a major coastal resort.

Essex has a population of around 3 million, which much of this living within the London built-up area.

Etymology

In c. 730 AD, Bede described three main Germanic-speaking groups - the Angles, Saxons and Jutes - as colonising England. The region colonised by the Saxons was divided into three areas: South (Sussex), West and East; the name Essex was inherited from the Old English name of the eastern Saxon kingdom Ēastseaxe ("(kingdom of the) East Saxons"), which was established in c. 527 AD.

Geography

Subdivisions

The traditional county Essex is divided into 19 hundreds:

Barnstable Becontree (including Havering liberty) Chafford Chelmsford Clavering Dengie (including Maldon liberty) Dunmow

Freshwell Harlow Hinckford Lexden (including Colchester liberty) Ongar Rochford Tendring (including Harwich)

Thurstable Uttlesford Waltham Winstree Witham

The most populous hundred in the county is Becontree which, with a population of around 1.2 million (as of 2024), has been absorbed into the London built-up area in its entirety. As with the traditional county itself, the hundreds no longer have any administrative function, though the districts into which Essex County Council's area is divided, in some cases, have similar names to the hundreds (most, however, cover substantially different areas). The districts in question are Chelmsford, Harlow, Tendring and Rochford.

Administration

As of 2024, geographically-large and primarily rural area of the county Essex is covered by Essex County Council (ECC) and the councils of the various districts into which that council's area is divided. The council is run from Chelmsford. However, ECC excludes many of the county's most urbanised areas, and indeed around half of the county's population. The parts of the county within Greater London are administered by Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council, Havering London Borough Council, Newham London Borough Council, Redbridge London Borough Council and Waltham Forest London Borough Council. Some mainly urbanised parts of southern Essex, immediately north of the Thames, are under the control of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and Thurrock Council.