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Did You Know?

Essex is a county in the southeast, between London and the North Sea. The town of Colchester has Roman ruins and the Norman-era Colchester Castle, with a museum. Colchester Zoo is home to orang-utans and white rhinos. Southwest, 18th-century Hylands House in Chelmsford is set amid vast parklands.

Essex is a county in the south of England, north-east of London. It borders the counties of 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 south-west. The county town is Chelmsford.

Between 1560 and 1680 in, 545 people were accused of witchcraft and at least 74 are known to have been executed at the Assizes. Matthew Hopkins, known as the 'Witchfinder General', was a lawyer from Manningtree.

According to the herald.com is not only the UK’s wealthiest county but would qualify as the world’s 53rd largest economy. Forbes Magazine has also stated that the county’s tax revenue alone would be sufficient to pay off the national debts of several emerging economies.

While there is no doubt that a certain reality TV show has helped spread the word about Essex, a number of businesses have cited it as a deterrent to tourists and it is believed that a number of “skilled professionals” have decided against moving to the area due to the impact of the show.

The county was formed from the core area, east of the River Lea, of the former Kingdom of the East Saxons in the 9th or 10th centuries and divided into groupings called Hundreds.

NASA’s space shuttle has only ever had one report of theft. That was in 1983 whilst on display atop a Boeing 747 at Stansted Airport. In total seventeen items of value were stolen along with a further fifty three items from the Jumbo jet used to carry it.

Dating back to the Roman times, it’s no big secret that Colchester is Britain’s oldest recorded town. Colchester was so developed that they had their own Mint – meaning many ancient coins were made in Colchester.

Rumour has it that five of the past US presidents owe their legacies to the county: claims have been made that the “Mayflower” which famously made the transatlantic voyage to North America, had a crew that hailed mostly from Essex, as well as the Captain and the actual ship being constructed there!