England: Essex
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Essex is one of the home counties, in the East of England, which shares its borders with the counties of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, London and Suffolk. As a superb UK vacation destination the county benefits from the fact that it is home to London Stansted Airport making it incredibly easy to get to. Surrounded by some of the most interesting counties in the country Essex is a great place to stay if you wish to visit some of the best places in England. London and Cambridgeshire are only a short distance away but the county itself certainly has plenty to off the tourist including a whole host of Grade I listed buildings (about 1,000 listed buildings in total), far too many superb specimens of British architecture to list here!
Essex is cushioned from the expanding sprawl of Greater London by the London Green Belt and while it is home to a couple of new towns (Basildon and Harlow), which may be of interest to some visitors, places such as Epping Forest have, thankfully, managed to survive. In general the county of Essex remains rural although there are a few large population centre it consists mainly of small towns, villages and hamlets which are a joy to explore. Transport links are usually superb and boosted by the increasing popularity with commuters to London. As you can see from our list of places to visit in Essex below there are a wealth of visitor attractions but you should keep in mind that this is a very limited list as there are many, many more places to visit and things to do in this first class UK vacation destination.
Places To Visit In Essex, England
Settlements In The County Of Essex
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex and other towns include; Basildon, Billericay, Braintree, Brentwood, Burnham-on-Crouch, Clacton, Colchester, Epping, -on-Sea, Harwich, Maldon, Old Harlow, Saffron Walden, Southend, Tilbury, Waltham Abbey, Westcliff on sea, Witham and Dovercourt.
Museums & Art Galleries
The Barleylands Farm Museum, Braintree District Museum, Brightlingsea Museum, Burnham-on-Crouch Museum, Chelmsford Museum, Coggeshall Museum & Heritage Centre, East Anglian Railway Museum, Epping Forest District Museum, Essex Police Museum, Essex Regiment Museum, Feering and Kelvedon Local History Museum, Finchingfield Heritage Centre, Fry Art Gallery, Great Bardfield Cottage Museum, Halstead and District Local History Society, Maldon and District Agricultural and Domestic Museum, Mangapps Railway Museum, Manningtree Museum, Mersea Museum, Museum of Power, Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, Saffron Walden Museum, Southend Central Museum, The Harwich Society, The Museum of Harlow, Thurrock Museum, Tymperleys Clock Museum, Walton Maritime Museum and the Witham Heritage Centre.
Heritage Railways
Colne Valley Railway, Epping Ongar Railway, Mangapps Railway Museum and the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills narrow gauge.
Parks & Gardens, Places Of Natural Beauty
Abberton Reservoir,
Historic Religious Buildings
Black Chapel in Great Waltham, Church of St Barnabas in Alphamstone, Church of St Augustine of Canterbury in Ashen, Church of St Laurence in Blackmore, Church of St John the Baptist in Danbury, Church of St Mary the Virgin in Benfleet, Church of St Michael & All Angels in Copford, Church of St Michael the Archangel in Theydon Mount, Leez Priory, St Osyth Priory, St Peter-on-the-Wall and Waltham Abbey and many, many more.
Historic Houses & Stately Homes
Abbotswick, Audley End House, Belchamp Hall, Castle House at Dedham, Copped Hall, Creeksea Place Manor, Down Hall Easton Lodge, Gidea Hall, Hare Hall, Coopersale House, Gosfield Hall, Hylands House, Ingatestone Hall, Layer Marney Tower, Moyns Park, Paycocke's and Shalom Hall. Wanstead House was demolished.
Castles
Clavering Castle (possible pre-Norman earthworks), Colchester Castle (Run as a museum), Great Canfield Castle (earthworks), Hadleigh Castle, Hedingham Castle (Privately owned but open to the public), Ongar Castle (earthworks), Pleshey Castle (earthworks), Rayleigh Castle (earthworks), Rochford Castle (Privately Owned) and Walden Castle.
Other Places In Essex To Visit
Arena Essex Raceway, Colchester Zoo, Epping Forest, Great Bentley, Marsh Farm Country Park,
Other Interesting Buildings To Visit In Essex
Aythorpe Roding Windmill, Rayleigh Windmill and Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill. Kelvedon Hatch (Secret Nuclear Bunker).
Hotels In Essex
To find Essex hotels simply click on the vacation destinations below:
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Useful Essex Links
Essex Bed & Breakfast
Listings of guest houses and B&B in Essex, England.
Essex Hotels
Listings of hotels in towns & villages in Essex.
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