845 



ESSEX. 



ESSEX. 



913 



the village. In the neighbourhood are several fine mansions and 

 gentlemen's seats. Little Waltham, on the left bank of the Ckelmer, 

 4 miles N. by E. from Chelmsford : population, 651. The church has 

 a square tower and 5 bells. Corn-mills and malting employ several 

 hands. Wanstead, 25 miles S.W. from Chelmsford, population 2207, 

 is on the right bank of the Roiling ; the church, erected in 1790, is a 

 small edifice. A tesselated pavement and other Roman antiquities 

 were found in the park in 1735. Wanstead Park, occupying a consi- 

 derable extent of ground, is close to the village ; and near Wanstead 

 and Snaresbrook, a hamlet in the parish, are many villa residences. 

 At Snaresbrook is the Infant Orphan Asylum, opened June 1843, for 

 500 orphans. The number of inmates when the Census was taken in 

 1851 was 404. There are in Wanstead a National school for boys and 

 girls, and an Infant school. North Weald, 15 miles W. by S. from 

 Chelmsford, population 842, is known also as North Weald Bassett ; 

 the church is an ancient edifice with an embattled tower. The houses 

 are irregularly built; there are several parochial charities. South 

 Weald, 14 miles S.W. from Chelmsford, population 3588, of which the 

 hamlet of Brentwood contains nearly two-thirds. The church, partly 

 of Norman date, is very interesting to the architectural antiquary ; 

 it contains some fine Norman sculpture. Near the village is South 

 Weald Hall, a fine mansion in a richly wooded park, from which are 

 obtained prospects over a wide range of interesting scenery. Traces 

 of a circular camp have been found in the neighbourhood. Many 

 residences of opulent families are in the vicinity. A Charity school, 

 founded by the Rev. C. A. Belli, is for boys and girls. Wethersfield, 

 17 rnik-H N. from Chelmsford : population 1770, is near the left bank 

 of the J'.lackwater. The church, which is ancient, consists of a nave 

 and two aisles, with a tower. There are in Wethersfield National and 

 Charity schools for boys and girls ; and at Beazley End a Charity 

 school. A brewery, a brick manufactory, and corn-mills, give employ- 

 ment to some of the population. Great Wigboraugh, 22 miles E.N.E. 

 from Chelmsford : population, 471. The parish belonged anciently 

 to the abbess of Barking ; the church is on the summit of a hill, 

 from which is an extensive prospect over the mouth of the Blackwater 

 to the sea. The building consists of a nave and chancel, with a tower. 

 Wivenhoe is on the left bank of the river Colne, at the junction of the 

 Roman, 27 miles E.N.E. from Chelmsford : population, 1672. The 

 village is on the slope of a hill, and commands a pleasant prospect 

 down the river. The church, an ancient edifice, has an embattled 

 tower. The Independents have a place of worship. Wivenhoe has 

 a commodious quay and a custom-house ; it may be considered the 

 port of Colchester. The fishing of oysters and soles gives employ- 

 ment to many of the inhabitants. Boats for the oyster-dredging are 

 built here. Brewing, malting, and rope-making are also carried on. 

 A fair is held on 4th September. Vfix, Weekt, or Wicks, 34 miles 

 N.E. from Chelmsford ; population, 778. The church is a small 

 edifice, built in 1740. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a National 

 school. Some remains exist of a nunnery for Benedictines, founded 

 in the time of Henry I. Bricks and tiles are made in the parish ; and 

 there are corn-mills. Woodford, is on the east side of Epping Forest, 

 and to the west of Hainault Forest, 25 miles S.W. from Chelmsford : 

 population, 2774. It is a long straggling place with a number of 

 good houses, inhabited chiefly by London merchants and tradesmen. 

 The church is modem. The Independents and Wealeyan Methodists 

 have places of worship. A group of houses about a mile north from 

 the main part of the village takes the name of Woodford Wells, from 

 a mineral spring, now in little repute. A considerable amount of 

 retail trade is carried on in the village. Woodham Ferrers, or Ferris, 

 8 miles S.E. from Chelmsford : population, 981. The church consists 

 of a nave, two aisles, and chancel, with a square tower ; and contains 

 some monuments of the family of Sandy. There are here an Indepen- 

 dent chapel, and a National school for boys and girls. Great Yeldham,, 

 22 miles N. by E. from Chelmsford, population 716, is situated on 

 the river Colne. The church is a massive stone building ; it contains 

 some handsome monuments. There are a Free Grammar school and 

 an almshouse for 6 tenants. In the centre of the village is the 

 Yeldham great oak, 80 feet high, and 30 feet in girth at 4 feet from 

 the ground. Hops are cultivated here. 



Diviiiom for Ecclesiastical and Leyal Purposes. -Essex constitutes 

 the largest part of the diocese of Rochester, which is in the eccle- 

 eiastical province of Canterbury ; and is divided between the three 

 archdeaconries of Colchester, Essex, and St. Albans ; a portion of the 

 county is in the diocese and archdeaconry of London. According to 

 the ' Census of Religious Worship," taken in 1851, it appears that 

 there were then in the county 76'j places of worship, of which 433 

 belonged to the Established Church, 134 to Independents, 63 to 

 Wealeyan Methodists, 59 to Baptists, 24 to Primitive Methodists, 19 to 

 Quakers, and 34 to minor bodies. The total number of sittings 

 provided wan 218,467. ( 



By the Poor Law Commissioners the county is divided into 17 Poor- 

 Law Unions : Biilericay, Braintree, Chelmsford, Colchester, Dunmow, 

 Epping, Halstead, Lexden and Winstree, Maldon, Ongar, Orsett, Roch- 

 ford, Romford, Saffron Waldcn, Tendring, West Ham, and Witbam. 

 These Poor-Law Unions include 370 parishes and townships, with an 

 area of 869,085 acres, and a population in 1851 of 341,564 ; but the 

 boundaries of the Poor-Law Unions are not strictly co-extensive with 

 those of the county. Essex is in, the home circuit. The assizes and 



OEOO. DIV. VOL. II. 



quarter-sessions are held at Chelmsford, where is the shire-hall, an 

 elegant structure, and the old county-jail and house of correction. The 

 county-jail is at Springfield, a village about a mile from Chelmsford, 

 on the road to Colchester. The northern and the southern divi- 

 sions of the county each return two members to the Imperial 

 Parliament. 



History and Antiquities. In the earliest dawn of the authentic 

 history of our island, Essex was inhabited by the Trinobantes, a 

 powerful tribe whose dominions perhaps extended across the Stort and 

 the Lea into Hertfordshire and Middlesex. At the time of Julius 

 Caesar's invasion (B.C. 55 and 54), Imanuentius, as he is called in Latin, 

 prince of the Trinobantes, had been slain by Cassivellaunus, the 

 chief of a neighbouring tribe. Mandubratius, the son of Cassivellaunus, 

 was driven into exile, and had gone as a suppliant to Csesar in Gaul. 

 By Ctesar's help Mandubratius was restored to his father's throne, 

 and was afterwards secured in its possession by an express stipulation 

 in the treaty between Cojsar and his British opponents. The alliance 

 of Rome seems to have promoted the aggrandisement of the Triuo- 

 bantes : Cunobelin, king of that tribe, was a potentate of considerable 

 name, and some coins of his yet extant attest the commencement of 

 civilisation and the arts in this county. [BRITANNIA.] Catarsitacus, 

 or, as he is commonly called (after Tacitus), Caractacus, and Tog<5- 

 duinnus, sons of Cunobelin, succeeded to their father's power, and had 

 to bear up against the weight of Roman hostility when the invasion 

 was renewed in the reign of Claudius (A.D. 43). After sustaining 

 several severe defeats, the Britons retired into the marshes of Essex, 

 and fighting with the vigour of despair, were enabled for a time to 

 repel their assailants, though with the loss of Togddumnus, one of 

 their leaders. The Trinobautes were subdued by Claudius in person, 

 and their capital, Camulodunum, was taken, and subsequently made 

 the seat of a Roman colony. This colony was however destroyed in 

 the revolt of the Britons under Boadicea, and the Roman garrison was 

 slaughtered. But the overthrow of Boadicea by Suetonius (A.D. 61) 

 put an end to their revolts, and decided, though it did not complete, 

 the reduction of South Britain. In the Roman division of Britain, 

 Essex was included in Flavia Cjesariensis. 



Several Roman stations were in Essex. Of these the most important 

 is Camulodunum, of which antiquarians are now pretty well agreed 

 that Colchester is the site. The other stations appear to have been 

 Durolitum, near Romford ; Ca3saromagus, near Widford, a village 

 about a mile south-west of Chelmsford ; and Canonium, near Kelvedon. 

 If these positions are fixed with tolerable approximation to accuracy, 

 the Roman road must nearly have coincided with the modern road 

 from London to Colchester, which is probable. Another station of the 

 Itinerary of Antoninus, Ad Ansam, was probably on the border of 

 the county, perhaps at Stratford, just across the Stour, in Suffolk. A 

 Roman road, the line of which is still visible in many places, crossed 

 the county from Bishop's Stortford, in Herts, by Dunmow and 

 Coggeshall to Colchester. 



Roman antiquities have been dug up in many parts of the county, 

 but especially at COLCHESTER ; around which town are the remains of 

 intrenchmeuts and other military works. Tesselated pavements and 

 other antiquities have been discovered on Mersey Island. Roman 

 remains have also been found at Wanstead ; at Canewdou ; at Cogge- 

 shall ; at Toppesfield ; at Ridgwell ; at Watsoe bridge, between 

 Birdbrook and Steeple Bumpstead parishes, near the Stour, where is 

 a Roman camp ; and at Great Chesterford, which was undoubtedly the 

 site of a Roman station. Colchester appears to have been, in the 

 latter period of the Roman dominion, the seat of a bishop. Adelfi':.), 

 the bishop of Colon, or Colchester, assisted at the councils of Aries, 

 A.D. 314 ; Sardica, A.D. 317 ; and Arimiuum, A.D. 359. 



When the Saxons established themselves in Britain, Essex, with 

 some parts of Hertfordshire and Middlesex, constituted a small king- 

 dom, the possessors of which were, from their relative situation, called 

 the East Saxons ; from them the county has derived its present desig- 

 nation. This kingdom of Essex gradually extended across the Lea 

 into Middlesex and Hertfordshire; and comprehended London, then a 

 flourishing trading place, and which appears to have become the 

 capital of the East Saxon kingdom. The episcopal church of St. Paul 

 in London was founded by ^Ethelbyrht, king of Kent, the first of the 

 Saxon princes who embraced Christianity, and to whom his nephew, 

 Saebyrht, king of Essex, was in subjection. Mellitus, who had been 

 sent from Rome to assist the missionary St. Augustine iu evangelising 

 England, was appointed Bishop of Essex, into which kingdom he had 

 been sent as missionary by Augustine. Upon the death of Saebyrht 

 (A.D. 616), his successors restored Paganism and persecuted the pro- 

 fessors of Christianity. About 653, Sigebriht, or Sigeberht, the Good, 

 being converted by his friend Oswy, king of Northumberland, whom 

 he used frequently to visit, and baptized by Finau, bishop of Lindis- 

 fame, restored Christianity in Essex, and sent for some Northumbrian 

 monks to come and instruct his subjects. Sigebriht was assassinated 

 two years afterwards. About 823, Kent and Essex, which had sunk 

 into mere dependencies of Mercia, were subdued by Egbert of Wessex, 

 and probably united, under the designation of the kingdom of Kent, 

 occupied by Ethelwulf, sou of Egbfrt, as subordinate to his father. 

 Of the kingdom of Kent mention is occasionally made iu the history 

 of Ethelwulf and his sons, until the reign of Alfred, by whom the 

 Saxon kingdoms were finally incorporated ; and England, with tho 



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