Days out in Essex

• Audley End
  Audley End, in Essex, is one of English Heritage's grandest stately homes. With its working Victorian stables, Jacobean architecture and Capability Brown landscaping.
  
• Beth Chatto Gardens
  The Beth Chatto Gardens began in 1960. From an overgrown wasteland with poor gravel soil and boggy hollows, it has been transformed into an informal garden harmonising with the surrounding countryside.
  
• Bourne Mill
  The mill was originally built as a fishing lodge in 1591 and features stepped Dutch gables. It was converted to a mill for fulling (a process in cloth manufacture) and later flour milling.
  
• Coggeshall Grange Barn
  One of the oldest timber-framed Barns in Europe, dating from the 13th century. It was the barn of the Cistercian monastery of Coggeshall.
  
• Colchester Zoo
  Colchester Zoo is now one of the finest Zoos in Europe due to a constant programme of development.
  
• Colne Valley Railway and Museum
  A large and varied collection of operational vintage steam and diesel engines, carriages and wagons that represent much of our Railway Heritage are available to see.
  
• Flatford Bridge Cottage
  This thatched sixteenth century cottage is at the heart of Constable Country. It houses a display about the artist who features Bridge Cottage in several of his paintings.
  
• Hatfield Forest National Nature Reserve
  Hatfield Forest is a rare surviving example of a medieval hunting forest. It has over 1,000 acres of woodland and pasture, some wonderful 400 year old pollarded trees, two ornamental lakes and an eighteenth century Shell House.
  
• Hedingham Castle
  Come and see England's finest and best preserved Norman Keep. Children love to explore the interior of the castle which is 110 feet high with walls 12 feet thick.
  
• Ingatestone Hall
  Ingatestone Hall is a sixteenth century manor house built by Sir William Petre, Secretary of State to four Tudor Monarchs.
  
• Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker
  Inside a rural bungalow nestling in the Essex countryside lies the twilight world of the Government Cold War. Behind the blast screens that protect this bungalow is the entrance to an amazing labyrinth of rooms built into a hillside.
  
• Layer Marney Tower
  Layer Marney Tower was built between 1515 and 1525 and is the tallest Tudor Gatehouse in the country. Henry 1st Lord Marney was Henry VIII's Lord Privy Seal and he built himself a house which was, he thought, magnificent enough for a person of his po
  
• Maeldune Heritage Centre
  Maeldune Heritage Centre is the home of the 42 foot Maldon embroidery which celebrates the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Maldon.
  
• Mangapps Railway Museum
  Mangapps has one of the largest collections of historic railway items on public display in Britain.
  
• Marsh Farm Country Park
  Marsh Farm Country Park is a demonstration of a commercial working farm and is firm favourite with children who love getting up close to farm animals from chickens, pigs, sheep and cows.
  
• Mountfitchet Castle Experience
  Travel back in time to medieval England of 1066 as you wander through Mountfitchet Castle and Norman village at this world famous unique living heritage site.
  
• Paycockes House
  This fine half-timbered house is evidence of the wealth generated by the East Anglian wool trade in the 15th and 16th centuries. It contains unusually rich panelling and wood carving.
  
• RHS Garden Hyde Hall
  Nestled in the heart of rural Essex, Hyde Hall is an oasis of peace and tranquillity providing somewhere to watch the changing seasons and get closer to nature.
  
• Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum
  Castle House and its Collection is a fitting memorial to Sir Alfred Munnings, KCVO, PRA, who lived at Castle House from 1919 until his death in 1959.
  

Places to Visit in Essex

• Basildon
  Basildon is a large town in Essex with approximately 170,000 residents. It is situated 25 miles east of London.
  
• Bradwell on Sea
  Bradwell-on-Sea is a small Essex village on the Dengie peninsula, near where the River Blackwater meets the North Sea.
  
• Braintree
  Braintree is a bustling town in Essex, about 10 miles north east of Chelmsford and 40 miles from London.
  
• Brentwood
  Brentwood is a pleasant bustling town in south west Essex, 20 miles north east of London and just outside the M25.
  
• Chelmsford
  Chelmsford is at the heart of social and economic life of Essex - and has been for 800 years. To this day Chelmsford is a thriving community and maintains its position as a premier commercial, retail and leisure location.
  
• Clacton-on-Sea
  The seaside town of Clacton-on -Sea was once upon a time a buzzing holiday hotspot on the East Anglian Essex coast.
  
• Colchester
  The historic town of Colchester is located in Essex, 23 miles northeast of Chelmsford and 61 miles from London.
  
• Copford
  Copford is largely an agricultural village situated 5 miles to the west of Colchester. It is easily accessible thanks to its close proximity to the A12, being just 1/2 a mile form the A120/Stanstead turn-off.
  
• Dedham
  Dedham is an idyllic Old English country village in Essex, on the border with neighbouring Suffolk.
  
• Epping Green
  Epping Green is a small village situated on the B181 between Epping and Harlow The village is in the parish of Epping Upland which stretches from the Wake Arms near Upshire to the outskirts of Harlow.
  
• Finchingfield
  Described as picture-postcard pretty, Finchfield is an idyllic Essex village complete with village pond, redbrick cottages and a white 18th century windmill.

  
• Frinton-on-Sea
  Frinton-on-Sea is a seaside town, fifteen miles from the historic town of Colchester on the Essex Coast.
  
• Goldhanger
  We have just received a description of Goldhanger from one of our readers. This description is currently being prepared for publication and will appear on this page within the next few days.
  
• Grays
  Grays, situated on the North bank of the Thames, 4 miles East of the M25 and Dartford, is only about 25 miles from London. The 2,872 metre QEII Bridge, also some 4 miles away, is the longest cable stayed bridge in Europe.
• Great Bardfield
  Great Bardfield is a small village near finchingfield.It has its own museum in the centre and Bardfield cage, which was used for the punishment of unsavoury characters. It has a beautiful church and a fine collection of houses.
  
• Great Bentley
  Great Bently is a large village eight miles from Colchester and five miles from Clacton and the Essex Coast.
  
• Great Clacton
  Great Clacton is a mile from Clacton-on-Sea town centre and seafront. It was originally a distinct village in its own right from the resort of Clacton-on-Sea; however it now merges into one large development.
  
• Great Holland
  Great Holland is a quiet, pleasant village situated between Frinton and Clacton with the sea visible in the distance. The offshore wind farm at Gunfleet Sands sandbank is now clearly visible and is due to begin operating in August 2009.
  
• Harlow
  The Essex town of Harlow is one of number of "new" towns constructed largely in the 1950's/60's. It was designed to be one of a number of satellite towns which were built to facilitate the overspill population from London.
  
• Horndon on the Hill
  Horndon-on-the-Hill is listed in the Doomsday Book as Horninduna. This name appears on a Saxon coin of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066AD) and suggests that Horninduna was once the site of a Royal Anglo-Saxon mint.
• Kirby Cross
  Kirby Cross and Kirby-le-Soken are two villages close to the seaside resorts of Frinton and Walton, which are a mile away.
  
• Langford
  Langford is a tiny hamlet situated between Hatfield Peverel and Heybridge on the B1019. It has been an agricultural village for centuries, but is perhaps more famous now for the Waterworks which was built in 1927
  
• Leigh-on-Sea
  Leigh-on-Sea is an old town in Essex, steeped in history and tradition.
  
• Little Bentley
  Little Bentley is a small village situated between the A120 (Colchester - Harwich) and the A133 (Colchester - Clacton). Little Bentley has won the Essex Best Kept Village Award a number of times.
  
• Little Clacton
  Little Clacton is a pleasant village on the outskirts of Great Clacton and Clacton town centre, it is situated approximately three miles from Weeley and Thorpe-Le-Soken.
  
• Maldon
  The Essex town of Maldon is on the Blackwater Estuary about 10 miles east of Chelmsford.
  
• Messing
  A very tidy village steeped in history, this small Essex village is a very pretty place that doesn't resemble its name in the slightest! This was how a magazine started its feature on our village recently.
  
• Orsett
  Orsett was the original seat of local government for the area and the site of a palace of the Bishop of London in medieval times. The village lock-up last used as a prison in 1848, and the animal pound still exist.
• Purfleet
  Purfleet features in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula in which the famous vampire buys a house called 'Carfax' and lives in Purfleet.
• Rettendon
  Rettendon is a quite widely spread village and includes the hamlet of Battlesbridge which is on the tidal River Crouch. The parish church is All Saints and sits on the hill just off the main road to Chelmsford.
  
• Saffron Walden
  Saffron Walden is in an unspoilt rural area of Essex, about 50 miles north of London, and it is as pretty as its name suggests.
  
• Shoeburyness
  Shoeburyness is a small town of 20,000 residents and a peninsula, or ness, which juts out into the sea at the estuary of the River Thames. This Essex town is 3 miles east of Southend and 44 miles from London.
• South Benfleet
  The lovely town of South Benfleet is 30 miles east of London in Essex.
• Southend
  Southend-on-Sea, often known simply as Southend, is a popular seaside resort in Essex. It is on the north side of the Thames Estuary about 40 miles from the centre of London.
  
• Southminster
  Ten miles southeast of Maldon lies the town of Southminster on the Dengie peninsula of Essex.
  
• St. Osyth
  St Osyth is a historic village in Essex located between Colchester< and Clacton-on-Sea.
• Stansted Mountfitchet
  When wondering how best to describe the Saxon village of Stansted Mountfitchet to a possible tourist, the phrase, "big things come in small packages" springs to mind.
• Strethall
  Anyone with any doubts about the beauty of the Essex countryside should visit Strethall in mid August on a day when the sun is shining down on the golden cornfields and the harvest is well and truly underway.
  
• Thorpe le Soken
  Thorpe Le-Soken dates from Saxon times and has a number of historic houses and buildings providing the village with a character distinct from Frinton, Clacton or Walton which developed as seaside resorts. Much of the village has changed re
  
• Thurrock
  Thurrock is situated in the south-west of Essex and borders the north bank of the River Thames. Thurrock is the gateway to London with easy access to both Kent and Essex via the M25 motorway.
  
• Walton on the Naze
  Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex is a delightful Victorian styled seaside town and popular holiday resort, which has remained largely untouched since the 1950s.
  
• Weeley
  Weeley village is eleven miles from Colchester, seven miles west of Walton and five miles from Clacton. The main road to Frinton and Walton passes through, busy with traffic although off the main road the village itself is less busy
  
• West Tilbury
  West Tilbury was the site chosen for the Camp Royal in 1588 to prepare for the threatened Spanish invasion.