Essex Towns – The Roman Heritage

Posted: 14 Jul 2009 | Categories: Free Stuff, Other

A county in the east of England, United Kingdom, Essex was a thriving area even before the arrival of the Romans in Britain, trade with the Roman Empire had seen the area grow rich under a tribe called the Trinovantes. Subsequently Essex and Suffolk were early targets for the Roman invasion under Claudius in AD43. Colchester soon became the capital of Roman Britain, and Chelmsford also played an important role, with a fort established there. Even what are now classed as new towns, such as Harlow saw Roman settlements in those early days, with a Roman fort being built during the 3^rd century, though even earlier dated finds suggest occupation in Harlow as long ago as 6,000 years BC. Perhaps not quite so old, but ancient nonetheless, Basildon was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) where it was called Belesduna, it eventually grew into a new town swallowing the villages of Vange, Laindon and Pitsea (and the original village of Basildon) during the 20^th century. Another of Essex’s major towns, Brentwood grew along the Roman road between London and Colchester, though again there were possibly settlements in Brentwood as far back as the Bronze Age. Brentwood’s name seems to be a corruption of the words ‘Burnt Wood’, and developed first from a clearing in Epping Forest. A more unlikely location for a Roman settlement was Canvey Island, reclaimed from the Thames Estuary, it has always been prone to flooding, however Neolithic, Celtic and Roman finds suggest that this was a popular area for settlement. Moving along the coast Leigh on Sea and Southend on Sea, perhaps never attracted the Romans, but Leigh on Sea was certainly mentioned in the Domesday Book (as Legra) and would have existed mostly over the centuries as a fishing village. Southend, as such, did not exist before the Georgian era, and was simply the ‘south end’ of the village of Prittlewell, demand for seaside resorts led to its rapid rise in popularity, Southend of course was famous as having the longest pier in the world.