Facts about Essex
Essex History
Essex had its roots in the Kingdom of the East Saxons, a polity which is likely to have had its roots in the territory of the Iron Age Trinovantes tribe. Essex corresponds, fairly closely, to the territory of the Trinovantes tribe. The production of their own coinage marks them out as one of the more advanced tribes on the island, this advantage is probably due to the Belgic element within their elite.
The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) name Ēastseaxe (“East Saxons”), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons who had come from the continent and settled in Britain during the Heptarchy. Originally recorded in AD 527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex (which probably included Surrey) and most of what later became Hertfordshire.
General Info
Essex is a county in the southeast of England, northeast of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the southwest. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region. There are three definitions of the extent of Essex, the widest being the Ancient County, the more usual being the smaller Ceremonial County and smallest being the administrative county – the area administered by the County Council and which excludes the two unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea.
