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Essex
With London directly to the south of the county, Essex is part of the commuter belt, but there are plenty of things for visitors to do from shopping, to visiting historical houses and gardens to taking a trip to the seaside. Find a great countryside walk or visit the many museums on offer.
Places to visit
Colchester castle and zoo, Clacton Pier, East Anglian Railway Museum, Ingatestone Hall, Coalhouse Fort, Weald Country Park.
Bookshelf
Books based in this county:
Authors associated with this county
Authors who are associated with this county (born or lived here) or who have based their books here.
Daniel Defoe
Samuel Pepys
John Clare (poet)
Joseph Conrad
Arthur Ransome (Secret Water based on Hamford Water)
Alice Huskisson (Man in a Haystack)
Map by Nilfanion [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons. Not affiliated with The Travelling Reader.