| ESSEX |
| Audley End |
On B1383, 1 mile west of
Saffron Walden |
'Too large for a king -
but might do for a Lord Treasurer', King James I said when his Lord Treasurer
Sir Thomas Howard showed him around his house. In 1619 Howard was found
guilty of embezzlement and committed to the Tower of London. He later died
after being released in 1626. What is visible today is barely half the
original building, for it was too expensive to maintain; even the remains
form one of the biggest houses in Britain. |
| Colchester Castle |
In centre of Colchester |
The massive keep of Colchester Castle as it
appears today was built by the Normans about 1076; but its history goes
back, for it stands on an immense stone podium of the Roman Temple of
Claudius. The Normans dug a ditch around it and threw the excavated earth
on top of the Roman foundations to make a mound. The stones of the temple
were used to build the keep. The castle houses the Colchester and Essex Museum. |
| Hadleigh Castle |
Off A13, 5 miles west of
Southend-on-Sea |
Hadleigh Castle was built
by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, in 1230, but was seized by Henry III
nine years later. The castle was last occupied in the mid-16th century,
and had become a ruin by the end of the 17th century. There are sufficient
remains of the 13th and 14th centuries to remind visitors of its powerful
past. |
| Harlow Museum |
In Harlow, near town centre |
The museum is housed in a handsome Georgian
building known as Passmores House. Although most of the house was built in
1727, it incorporates parts of a much older building, and one arm of a
medieval moat survives. The exhibitions tell the history of Harlow from
Roman times onward. |
| Harwich Redoubt |
Off main road, near centre
of Harwich |
As many as 300 soldiers
could live under siege conditions in this huge fortress, built around 1810
to protect the port of Harwich against Napoleon. Today, visitors cross a
bridge over a 20ft deep dry moat to enter the redoubt. At its heart is an
85ft across parade ground. The walls are 3ft thick and mountings for the
hoists used to raise the gun shells from the store to the gun positions
can be seen. |
| Hedingham Castle |
On B1058, 4 miles north-west of Halstead |
Towering up from its great green mound,
Hedingham is a remarkably unspoilt example of a Norman keep. Dating from
about 1140, it had a fine new house built in the Outer Bailey in 1719. The
keep has maintained most of its 12th century features including its four
floors and roof, the minstrels' gallery and great Banqueting Hall, which
itself has the largest surviving Norman arch in Europe. |
| Layer Marney Tower |
Off B1022, 7 miles
south-west of Colchester |
Henry, 1st Lord Marney,
built this 90ft tower in 1520, doubtless intended it to be simply a
gatehouse to a far grander building. But with his death in 1523 and that
of his son two years later, the barony became extinct. The lavish use of
glass on the tower betrays its purpose: it was built for prestige not
defence. A number of these tower houses sprung up all over England in the
15th and 16th centuries. |
| Mountfitchit Castle |
Off B1051, 2 miles north of Bishops
Stratford |
To visit these crude wooden buildings on
their hilltop is to step back 800 years. Everything has been reconstructed
and the painstaking research that proceeded the construction guarantees
that the visitor is exploring a Norman castle just as it would have been a
few years after the Norman conquest. |
| Paycocke's |
Near centre of Coggeshall |
This remarkable example of
a Medieval house, the home of a wealthy merchant, is an example of how
chance can decide fate. The house was built in 1500 and by 1890 it needed
a new roof and front windows but the owner decided to demolish it; the
beautiful carved woodwork, which today is so outstanding, was actually
sold. Then a local antiquary got the sale of the woodwork cancelled; the
house was restored and presented to the National Trust. |
| Prittlewell Priory |
In Priory Park, Southend-on-Sea |
Prttlewell Priory and its surroundings look
attractive with a couple of large fishponds created by monks more than 800
years ago to stock carp. Behind the early 19th century facade a
substantial part of the 12th century Cluniac priory survives. The
Refectory, where the monks ate their communal meals, is a particularly impressive
hall, and the priors chamber is notable for its magnificent timber roof. |
| Saffron Walden Church |
In centre of Saffron
Walden |
Although the spire was
built in the 1830s the church beneath it dates from at lease 400 years
earlier. Its abbey-like proportions reflect the town's prosperity in the
Middle Ages. |
| St Osyth's Priory |
Off B1027, 3 miles west of Clacton-on-Sea |
St Osyth's Priory is an unforgettable
landmark with its medieval gatehouse and a house crammed with art
treasures and a sense of hundreds of years of history. Visitors enter
through the gatehouse, richly decorated with carvings. Inside the walled
precincts are the Great Barn, built in the 16th century, the Abbot's Tower
and the Bishop's lodgings, all set in beautifully maintained grounds. |
| Tilbury Fort |
Off A126, 0.5 miles east
of Tilbury |
The fort looks much as it
would have done when built more than 300 years ago. The dominant feature
on the river side is the Watergate, which originally allowed direct access
to the river Thames. Ranging on either side of it are gun lines, sited to
provide, with its sister fort at Graveshead, a crossfire over the Thames.
Tilbury is today the best surviving example of 17th century military
engineering in Britain. |
| Waltham Abbey |
Off A112, in Waltham Abbey |
Large though the church is, it represents
only the surviving part of a huge abbey founded by Harold, the last Saxon
king of England, around 1060. The monks were dispersed by Henry VIII in
1540. Today the ruins of the great abbey are dotted around a park. The
gatehouse, a massive, isolated tower, survives and so do most of the
encircling walls. |
