dividing it from Kent, W. by the administrative county of
London and by Hertfordshire. Its area is 1542 sq. m. Its
configuration is sufficiently indicated by the direction of its
rivers. Except that in the N.W. the county includes the heads
of a few valleys draining northward to the Cam and so to the
Great Ouse, all the streams, which are never of great size, run
southward and eastward, either into the Thames, or into the
North Sea by way of the broad, shallow estuaries which ramify
through the flat coast lands. The highest ground lies consequently
in the north-west, between the Cam basin and the rivers
of the county. Its principal southward extension is that between
the Lea (which with its tributary the Stort forms a great part
of the western boundary) and the Roding, and east of the Roding
valley. The other chief rivers may be specified according to
their estuaries, following the coast northward from Shoeburyness
at the Thames mouth. That of the Roach ramifies among several
islands of which Foulness is the largest, but its main branch
joins the Crouch estuary. Next follows the Blackwater, which
receives the Chelmer, the Brain and other streams. Following
a coast of numerous creeks and islets, with the large island of
Mersea, the Colne estuary is reached. The Colne and Blackwater
may be said to form one large estuary, as they enter the
sea by a well-marked common mouth, 5 m. in width, between
Sales Point and Colne Point. There is a great irregular inlet
(Hamford Water) receiving no large stream, W. of the Naze
promontory, and then the Stour, bounding the county on the
north, joins its estuary to that of the Orwell near the sea. There
are several seaside watering-places in favour owing to their
proximity to London, of which Southend-on-Sea above the
mouth of the Thames, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze,
and Dovercourt adjoining Harwich are the chief. These and
other stations on the estuaries are also in favour with yachtsmen.
The sea has at some points seriously encroached upon the land
within historic times. The low soft cliffs at various points are
liable to give way against the waves; in other parts dykes and
embankments are necessary to prevent inundation. Inland, that
is apart from the flat coast-district, the country is pleasantly
undulating and for the most part well wooded. It was formerly,
indeed, almost wholly forested, the great Waltham Forest
stretching from Colchester to the confines of London. Of this
a fragment is preserved in Epping Forest (see Epping) between
the Lea and the Roding. On the other side of the Roding
Hainault Forest is traceable, but was disafforested in 1851.
The oak is the principal tree; a noteworthy example was that
of Fairlop in Hainault, which measured 45 ft. in girth, but was
blown down in 1820.
Geology.—The geological structure of the county is very simple: the greater part is occupied by the London clay with underlying Reading beds and Thanet sands, with here and there small patches of Bagshot gravels on elevated tracts, as at High Beech, Langdon Hill, Brentwood and Rayleigh; and occasionally the same beds are represented by the large boulder-like Sarsen stones on the lower ground. In the north, the chalk, which underlies the Tertiary strata over the whole county, appears at the surface and forms the downs about Saffron Walden, Birdbrook and Great Yeldham; it is brought up again by a small disturbance at Grays Thurrock where it is quarried on a large scale for lime, cement and whiting. Small patches of Pleistocene Red Crag rest upon the Eocene strata at Beaumont and Oakley, and are very well exposed at Walton-on-the-Naze where they are very fossiliferous. Most of the county is covered by a superficial deposit of glacial drifts, sands, gravel and in places boulder clay, as at Epping, Dunmow and Hornchurch where the drift lies beneath the Thames gravel. An interesting feature in relation to the glacial drift is a deep trough in the Cam valley revealed by borings to be no less than 340 ft. deep at Newport; this ancient valley is filled with drift. In the southern part of the county are broad spreads of gravel and brick earth, formed by the Thames; these have been excavated for brick-making and building purposes about Ilford, Romford and Grays, and have yielded the remains of hippopotamus, rhinoceros and mammoth. More recent alluvial deposits are found in the valley at Walthamstow and Tilbury, in which the remains of the beaver have been discovered.
The roads of this county with a clay soil foundation were for generations repaired with flints picked by women and children from the surface of the fields. Gravel is difficult of access. With the exception of chalk for lime (mainly obtained at Ballingdon in the north and Grays in the south), septaria for making cement, and clay for bricks, the underground riches of the county are meagre.
Agriculture.—As an agricultural county Essex ranks high. Some four-fifths of the total area is under cultivation, and about one-third of that area is in permanent pasture. Wheat, barley and oats, in that relative order, are the principal grain crops, Essex being one of the chief grain-producing counties. The wheat and barley are in particularly high favour, the wheat of various standard species being exported for seed purposes, while the barley is especially useful in malting. Beans and peas are largely grown, as are vegetables for the London market. Hop-growing was once important. From the comparative dryness of the climate Essex does not excel in pasturage, and winter grazing receives the more attention. The numbers of cattle increase steadily, and store bullocks are introduced in large numbers from Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Ireland and Wales. Of sheep there are but few distinct flocks, and the numbers decrease. Pigs are generally of a high-class Berkshire type.
Other Industries.—The south-west of the county, being contiguous to London, is very densely populated, and is the seat of large and varied industries. For example, there are numbers of chemical works, the extensive engine shops and works of the Great Eastern railway at Stratford, government powder works in the vicinity of Waltham Abbey, and powder stores at Purfleet on the Thames. The extensive water-works for east London, by the Lea near Walthamstow, may also be mentioned. The docks at Plaistow and Tilbury on the Thames employ many hands. Apart from this industrial district, there are considerable engineering works, especially for agricultural implements, at Chelmsford, Colchester and elsewhere; several silk works, as at Braintree and Halstead; large breweries, as at Brentwood, Chelmsford and Romford; and lime and cement works at Grays Thurrock. The oyster-beds of the Colne produce the famous Colchester natives, and there are similar beds in the Crouch and Roach, for which Burnham-on-Crouch is the centre; and in the Blackwater (Maldon).
Communications.—Railway communications are supplied principally by the Great Eastern railway, of which the main line runs by Stratford, Ilford, Romford, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester, and Manningtree. The Cambridge and northern line of this company, following the Lea valley, does not touch the county until it diverges along the valley of the Stort. The chief branches are those to Southend and Burnham, Witham to Maldon, Colchester to Brightlingsea, to Clacton and to Walton, and Manningtree to Harwich, on the coast; and Witham to Braintree and Bishop’s Stortford, and Mark’s Tey to Sudbury and beyond, inland; while there are several branch lines among the manufacturing and residential suburbs in the south-west, to Walthamstow and Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Loughton, Epping, Ongar, &c. The London, Tilbury & Southend railway, following the Thames, serves the places named, and the Colne Valley railway runs from Chappel junction near Mark’s Tey by Halstead to Haverhill.
On the Thames, besides the great docks at Plaistow (Victoria and Albert) and the deep-water docks at Tilbury, the principal calling places for vessels are Grays, Purfleet and Southend, while Barking on the Roding has also shipping trade, and the Lea affords important water-connexions. Elsewhere, the principal port is Harwich, at the mouth of the Stour, one of the chief ports of England for European passenger traffic. Other towns ranking as lesser estuarine ports are: Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe on the Colne, forming a member of the Cinque Port of Sandwich; Colchester, Maldon on the Blackwater, and Burnham-on-Crouch. The Stour, Chelmer, and Lea and Stort are the principal navigable inland waterways.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 986,975 acres, with a population in 1891 of 785,445 and in 1901 of 1,085,771. The area of the administrative county is 979,532 acres. The county contains nineteen hundreds. It is divided into eight parliamentary divisions, and it also includes the parliamentary boroughs of Colchester and West Ham, the latter consisting of two divisions. Each of these returns one member. The county divisions are—Northern or Saffron Walden, North-eastern or Harwich, Eastern or Maldon, Western
