A very warm welcome to our new Website

By way of introduction, a little background about the Victoria County History project.

The VCH of England project was founded in the closing years of the 19^th century, and originally dedicated to Queen Victoria. The aim was to research and write a history of every community within each of the counties of England. From its very inception and publication of the first volumes, the VCH ‘red books’ have gained a well-deserved international reputation for their scholarship and have become standard reference works for local historians.

Based at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, the central VCH office co-ordinates the work of historians working in the various counties throughout the country, and is responsible for planning the series and ensuring the highest of academic standards.

The VCH Essex Trust is the body that raises the necessary funds and commissions professional historians (our editors) to undertake the research and writing of these histories. The red book series, together with the more recent VCH ‘short’ paperback volumes, are based on original historical records, held by such institutions as The National Archives, the British Library and county record offices. 

Volume I of the Essex VCH series was published in 1903, and includes a major essay on Essex Domesday, together with a complete translation. Volume II (1907) includes the standard work on the religious history of the county, including monasteries. The work then lapsed until the 1950s, a general volume on Roman Essex appearing in 1963. This was followed by volumes covering much of south-west Essex, Harlow and neighbouring parishes, the town of Colchester (Vol. IX), and the seaside resorts of Clacton, Walton and Frinton (Vol. XI). The latest published volume (XII) in this series covers St. Osyth to the Naze (Part 1, St Osyth, Clacton and Great and Little Holland; Part 2, The Soken, Kirby-le Soken, Thorpe-le-Soken and Walton-le-Soken). Volume XIII will cover the fascinating history of Harwich, from medieval times to the 20^th century. In recent years the VCH launched a new series of paperback ‘Shorts’, covering individual towns or parishes. For Essex the ‘Shorts so far published are: Newport, by Anthony Tuck and others (2015) and Harwich, Dovercourt and Parkeston in the 19th century, by Andrew Senter (2019). Soon to be published is Southend, Victorian Town and Resort, by Ken Crowe and others.