Essex

Essex, Anglo-Saxon kingdom

Essex, one of the early kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. It was settled probably in the early 6th cent. by Saxons who traced their royal line back to a continental Saxon god instead of to Woden, as did the rulers of other early kingdoms. Essex eventually included the modern counties of Essex and Middlesex, most of Hertfordshire, and London. Under the influence of his uncle, Æthelbert of Kent, King Sæbert of Essex accepted (c.604) Christianity, but the kingdom lapsed into heathenism when his successors expelled (617) Mellitus, bishop of London. In c.653, however, at the request of King Sigbert, Oswy of Northumbria sent Cedd to convert the East Saxons and to build churches. The submission of Essex to the overlordship of Wulfhere of Mercia marked the beginning of a long domination by the larger state. In 825, Essex joined other eastern kingdoms in submitting to Egbert of Wessex and became an earldom. Heavily settled by the Danes, it became part of the Danelaw by the treaty of 886, but was retaken by Edward the Elder of Wessex in 917. Its most famous later earl was Byrhtnoth, who was killed in the battle of Maldon in 991.

---

Essex, county, England

Essex, county (1991 pop. 1,495,600), 1,520 sq mi (3,938 sq km) SE England, on the Thames River and the North Sea, one of the "Home Counties" of London. Chelmsford is the county seat. The land rises from the low, irregular coastline to undulating pastoral country. Streams and salt marshes are plentiful. The chief crops of Essex are wheat, barley, sugar beets, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. There is market gardening for London and some dairy and sheep farming. Oyster fisheries are also important. Industries include petroleum refining, chemicals, machinery, textiles, cement, processed foods, electrical goods, and nuclear power generation. Essex was once part of the kingdom of the East Saxons; Roman and Saxon remains are at Colchester and Maldon. Popular resorts line the coast.

---

Essex, city, United States

Essex, uninc. city (1990 pop. 40,872), Baltimore co., NE Md., a suburb of Baltimore. Mostly residential, there is some light industry production.

---

Essex

Administrative (pop., 2001: 1,310,922), geographic, and historic county, eastern England. It extends along the North Sea coastline between the estuaries of the Rivers Thames and Stour. Chelmsford, centrally situated, has long been the county headquarters and is also the seat of a church diocese. The ancient county stretched west as far as Middlesex, but Greater London now incorporates its southwestern corner. It was a Roman centre until the 5th-century Saxon invasions; it became one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the Heptarchy and had its centre at London. It came under Danish control in the 9th century and was later reconquered by Wessex. Despite its proximity to London, much of Essex remains rural, and the county is highly farmed; it is also the site of petroleum installations on the River Thames and of a nuclear power plant. The University of Essex is at Colchester.

---

Essex¹

2nd Earl of, title of Robert Devereux. ?1566--1601, English soldier and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I; executed for treason

---

Essex²

1. a county of SE England, on the North Sea and the Thames estuary; the geographical and ceremonial county includes Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea, which became independent unitary authorities in 1998. Administrative centre: Chelmsford. Pop. (excluding unitary authorities): 1 324 100 (2003 est.). Area (excluding unitary authorities): 3446 sq. km (1310 sq. miles)

2. an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that in the early 7th century ad comprised the modern county of Essex and much of Hertfordshire and Surrey. By the late 8th century, Essex had become a dependency of the kingdom of Mercia

---

Essex 

a county in southeastern Great Britain, on the North Sea. Population, 1.4 million (1976). The capital is Chelmsford.

The coastline of Essex is indented by the estuaries of the Thames, Blackwater, and Stour rivers. The county has an intensive agriculture that includes the raising of wheat, barley, and sugar beets; fruit and vegetable growing; and dairy cattle raising. The main industrial centers are the cities of Southend-on-Sea, Shell Haven, Colchester, and Harwich, which is a port.

The Saxons founded the kingdom of Essex in the early sixth century, during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain. The kingdom probably included not only the territory of the present-day county of Essex but also the areas that are now Middlesex and London. The Christianization of Essex was completed in the midseventh century. Essex became subject to Mercia in the late eighth century and was conquered by Egbert, king of Wessex, in 825.