People have plenty of preconceptions about Essex and its attributes. Yet what gives the county so much appeal is the sheer diversity of its attractions. Remarkably close to the resort of Clacton, you find Dedham Vale, where the artist John Constable used to study and paint.
Constable found much to celebrate artistically in the rolling countryside and big skies of the Stour Valley, but he also included St Mary’s church in Dedham in no fewer than 26 paintings. Appropriately, the leading work of art inside is Constable’s Ascension.
You can follow the south bank of the Stour through Little Horkesley, Belchamp St Paul and (a personal favourite place name) Steeple Bumpstead to Saffron Walden. This picture-postcard-perfect market town stands on the placid north-west frontier of Essex. Among its many diversions is the turf maze, thought to be around 800 years old and the largest example in the world. Don’t expect high hedges or mystification; this is a serpentine track carved in the grass. Follow every inch and you will have covered a mile.
Close by is the greatest joy of the top end of Essex: Audley End, one of England’s finest country houses. It was once three times larger, but the owners downsized it to make it easier to manage, with many of the stones going to help build Cambridge – just up the railway line from Audley End’s own station.
As the kittiwake flies, it is 50 miles from Audley End to a corner of the county that few people seem to know about beyond Essex: Burnham-on- Crouch. It’s a great place to acquaint yourself with the crinkled coastline that wraps around Essex, even if you don’t have your own sailing yacht. The River Crouch is close enough to the North Sea to be tidal, which means there’s a rich diversity of wildlife. Nearby Wallasea Island, built up with the spoil from the Crossrail project, is on course to become one of the largest wetland reserves in Europe.
Discover a different side to rural Essex: download the Wild Days Out booklet from visitessex.com/rural-escapes for ideas on where to go and what to do.
