On the north wall of what used to be called ‘Battles’ Chapel’, now the vestry of St Mary’s Church, Manuden, is a large, elaborate tablet extolling the virtues of Sir William Waad who lived at Battles Hall, Manuden from 1586 to 1623

The country was hard-pressed to feed itself during the war, looking to the farmers to plough every last acre. Come harvest time, there was a shortage of labour.

The last few household possessions had been securely lifted into Mr Horley’s van and my mother had gone back to the cottage to lock the front door. She tried the handle again to make sure it was locked then put the key in an envelope, together with a note for Charlie. She walked briskly to his door and pushed it underneath. Walking back past our cottage she took one last look through the front window, hesitated a little, then turned and walked quite quickly down the path to the removal van.

Today the “iconic” Fulbourn windmill is set to be restored to full working order after a charity stepped in to fund its repairs.

Small parishes do not necessarily have brief histories. Strethall (600 acres, 11 houses – current population 22) is arguably the smallest parish in Essex but its origin can be traced back well before Domesday when the 10 hides of land sold by King Aethelred

The Grove tennis club prides itself on being a friendly club and welcomes new members of all standards.

Elizabeth Pomfrett was born in Saffron Walden in 1742. On the 2 May 1774 she married John Mowl, a higler of Thriplow in Thriplow Church.

The final service at Langley Methodist Church on Sunday 18 July 2004 marked the end of over 142 years since the chapel was opened in 1862

The now considerable corpus of Essex historical literature and historiography is an important component of county tradition and its heritage. This brief survey of the Essex historians and their books is necessarily constrained by considerations of space and content.

A blue plaque with the above inscription is to be found on the wall of Saffron Walden Town Hall above the western end of the front portico

This year, Saffron Walden Museum, celebrates its 190th birthday.