Essex Towns
Essex lies in the south east of England and covers an area of about 1,400 square miles. It contains Epping Forest - a former royal hunting ground, the marshy coastal headland known as the Naze and London's third airport - Stansted. Essex is close to London but far enough to be away from the hustle and bustle of the City. The western part of Essex backs onto the eastern suburbs of London where it is dotted with towns along the River Thames. Essex gets its name from the Old English for land of the east Saxons.
Inland Essex is a fairly flat county and has, with the exception of the odd hill like the one on which Colchester was built, very little in the way of heights. Essex's coastline is flatter still with slow flowing tidal water and shadowy mysterious bays whose shallow inlets attract many wading and shore birds. The north of the county is high exposed land with pretty villages. The Essex / Suffolk border is lush agricultural land broken up by large trees and wide farm fields.