Growing up in Essex, you become used to having to defend a place that people write off for being no more interesting than whatever vacuous thing someone on TOWIE once said. Essex is actually rich in history, landscapes and tradition (though jokes about Ford Escorts and permatans work better down the pub). And as many Londoners have discovered this past year, it is possible to spend a glorious weekend in its countryside without travelling for more than an hour beyond the capital.
In Essex you can try fine food in a country inn, mess about on rivers, picnic beneath windmills and stroll past immaculate village greens. Simple pleasures, perhaps, but people rarely make the effort to visit. In centuries past, Essex was hot property. Roman, Viking and Norman invaders left bloody trails across this flat land. The county is littered with Anglo-Saxon remains too.
Today, Essex’s salt marshes are in decline while its market towns, on busy routes into London, still bustle. I would suggest sidestepping the larger towns, however, and exploring the smaller enclaves instead, Essex’s pretty villages and tiny towns with medieval centres.
A meander could begin in the south, on the mellow River Crouch. Battlesbridge has an eye fixed on the past. Its former granary mill and timbered buildings have been taken over by more than 80 antiques dealers (battlesbridge.com/), making it a relaxing place to browse for jewellery, furniture or vintage action figures. Two decent pubs have spacious beer gardens for lunch.
A little further north, Stock is a picturesque village with a working, white-sailed windmill, which dates from around 1804, set on a lawn fit for picnicking. In the middle of its rather smart High Street is a long, thin green and two homely gastropubs. The Hoop is 450 years old and clad in whitewashed timbers.
The landscapes become more bleak and the settlements sparse as you head towards the estuary of the River Blackwater and Tillingham. Set on the Dengie Peninsula, the village is centered around a conservation area, with two 15th-century pubs and a small string of traditional weatherboard farm cottages, surrounded by fields. It is a tranquil place and the neighbouring nature reserve, with its mudflats, saltmarsh and birdlife, is where you will find the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, a lonely silhouette against big skies and one of England’s oldest, intact churches, dating from 660.
In the mouth of the Blackwater, where some of Essex’s islands sit, the waterfront at Heybridge Basin is more salty than pretty but offers refreshing walks. The few weatherboard houses and two pubs here arrived when the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Canal did, at the end of the 18th-century. Watch local boats and birdlife from the Tiptree Tearoom (tiptree.com), owned by gourmet Essex jam-makers Wilkin and Sons, sitting in front of the lock.
The tables here also look out to Northey Island, a saltmarsh reserve owned by the National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk). It is thought that Brithnoth, a Saxon earl, led a valiant fight against Danish invaders near the causeway in 991 and there is a statue to him in the town of Maldon, just across the River Chelmer.
Back inland, ducks waddle in a pond at the heart of historic Writtle, a village that sits close to Chelmsford and which dwarfed the county town at the time of the Domesday Book. Old timbered houses look onto the pond and a neat, triangular green.
Meanwhile, on the way up to Colchester – Britain’s oldest recorded town with a large Norman castle – Coggeshall is actually also a town but with a village feel, Tudor buildings and a willow tree-fringed river. Coggeshall Grange Barn was constructed for monks in the 13th century, while Paycocke’s House is a half-timbered merchant’s house with elaborate wood carvings and an Arts and Crafts garden. Finish with a drink at the 15th-century Woolpack pub.
On the border with Suffolk, Dedham is perhaps Essex’s most popular village for tourists, made famous by John Constable’s depictions of bucolic scenes beside the River Stour. Visitors can immerse themselves in the paintings by hiring wooden rowing boats from Dedham Boathouse (dedhamboathouse.com). Horse lovers should check out The Munnings Art Museum too (munningsmuseum.org.uk).
Heading back inland through rolling countryside, Castle Hedingham has thatched cottages and its own Norman keep. Hedingham Castle perches above the village and has landscaped grounds open to visitors. The Colne Valley Railway (colnevalleyrailway.co.uk) is also stationed outside the village, offering steam train driving experiences.
Finchingfield, just to the west, is every bit the idyllic country village, with painted cottages spilling down from a medieval church to a broad village green, large duck pond and humpback bridge. The village guildhall was built in around 1500, while the windmill is Essex’s oldest.
Another windmill overlooks the historic centre of Thaxted, a tiny town further west still. The tall, thin spire of St John the Baptist rises above the main street with all the pomp of a cathedral tower, while the medieval guildhall seems to totter on stilts. The annual Thaxted Morris Weekend is one of the UK’s largest morris men gatherings.
Finally, heading up towards Cambridge, a handful of delightful small villages lie scattered around the twee town of Saffron Walden. The pastel-hued cottages and handsome churches of Great Chesterford, Clavering and Wendens Ambo make them suitable for a wander, the latter sitting outside grand Audley End House, with its Capability Brown gardens (english-heritage.org.uk).
For an indulgent supper on the way back towards London, Little Dunmow is home to the Flitch of Bacon, an inn that won a Michelin star in 2020. Its name is taken from a quirky village tradition that asks couples to convince a jury they are still happily married, to win a cut of bacon. It could almost be the premise of a reality television show.
WHERE TO STAY/EAT
The Hoop, Stock (thehoop.co.uk) – Gastropub with two AA rosettes and a beer festival each May.
Olio on the Green, Writtle (olioonthegreen.co.uk) – an upmarket family Italian with village centre views.
Osea Island, Maldon (oseaisland.co.uk) – luxury private island accommodation that featured in the BBC’s The Third Day
The Sun Inn, Dedham (thesuninndedham.com) – atmospheric old pub with exposed beams and stylish rooms
Maison Talbooth, Dedham (milsomhotels.com/maison-talbooth) – small country house hotel with a fine dining restaurant
Hedingham Castle, Castle Hedingham (hedinghamcastle.co.uk) – four luxury cottages on castle grounds
Flitch of Bacon Inn, Little Dunmow (flitchofbacon.co.uk) – bright decor in smart rooms, Michelin-starred food