65-566: The London Free School ( LFS ) was founded on 8 March 1966, principally by John "Hoppy" Hopkins and Rhaune Laslett . The London Free School was a community action adult education project inspired by American free universities (and the Victorian Jewish Free School in Spitalfields ). The organisers have been described as an "anarchic temporary coalition" of the old guard New Left and CND housing activists from
130-530: A campaign for the liberalisation of the law on cannabis. This led to the publication in The Times on 24 July of a full-page advertisement that described the existing law as "immoral in principle and unworkable in practice", signed by Francis Crick , George Melly , Jonathan Miller and the Beatles. Paul McCartney , initially clandestinely, arranged the funding for this advertisement as a tribute to Hoppy, at
195-710: A chi-rho monogram found at Brentwood . The late Roman period, and the period shortly after, was the setting for the King Cole legends based around Colchester . One version of the legend concerns St Helena , the mother of Constantine the Great . The legend makes her the daughter of Coel, Duke of the Britons ( King Cole ) and in it she gives birth to Constantine in Colchester. This, and related legends , are at variance with biographical details as they are now known, but it
260-476: A county, which will be ignored in the sorting process. Sewardstone in the south-west of the ceremonial county, was outside the former Essex postal county, being covered by the London post town ( E4 ). The deep estuaries on the east coast give Essex, by some measures, the longest coast of any county. These estuaries mean the county's North Sea coast is characterised by three major peninsulas, each named after
325-443: A high proportion of the population commute to London, and the wages earned in the capital are typically significantly higher than more local jobs. Many parts of Essex therefore, especially those closest to London, have a major economic dependence on London and the transport links that take people to work there. Part of the south-east of the county, already containing the major population centres of Basildon , Southend and Thurrock ,
390-478: A legal forest) and known as Epping Forest and Hainault Forest ). The Black Death significantly reduced England's population, leading to a change in the balance of power between the working population on one hand, and their masters and employers on the other. Over a period of several decades, national government brought in legislation to reverse the situation, but it was only partially successful and led to simmering resentment. By 1381, England's economic situation
455-707: A little mad and all taking place on demolition sites, in the streets, and in a magnificently institutional church hall." Despite this opinion, the formation of the "Notting Hill Neighbourhood Service" (one of the first centres to offer drug and legal advice in London), the Notting Hill Carnival , the International Times and the UFO Club all emerged from the brief life of the LFS. Also significant
520-497: A review of his invasion force on Lexden Heath where the army formally proclaimed him Imperator . The invasion force that assembled before him included four legions , mounted auxiliaries and an elephant corps – a force of around 30,000 men. At Colchester, the kings of 11 British tribes surrendered to Claudius. Colchester became a Roman Colonia , with the official name Colonia Claudia Victricensis ('the City of Claudius' Victory'). It
585-578: A scholarship in 1955, and he began to work as a laboratory technician at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Oxfordshire . When he took a trip to Moscow to attend a Communist youth festival, his security clearance was revoked. Hopkins then re-located to London at the beginning of 1960, and began to work as a photographer for newspapers and music magazines including Jazz News , The Guardian , Melody Maker and Peace News . He photographed many of
650-454: A secure base, which eventually became the Tower of London could be established in the city. While at Barking William received the submission of some of England's leading nobles. The invaders established a number of castles in the county, to help protect the new elites in a hostile country. There were castles at Colchester , Castle Hedingham , Rayleigh , Pleshey and elsewhere. Hadleigh Castle
715-529: A small Royalist cavalry force from Essex, fought a battle with local parliamentarians at Bow Bridge , then crossed the River Lea into Essex. The combined force, bolstered by extra forces, marched towards Royalist held Colchester , but a Parliamentarian force caught up with them just as they were about to enter the city's medieval walls, and a bitter battle was fought but the Royalists were able to retire to
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#1732792996255780-771: Is likely that Constantine, and his father, Constantius spent time in Colchester during their years in Britain. The presence of St Helena in the country is less certain. The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Anglo-Saxon ( Old English ) name Ēastseaxe ("East Saxons"), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons who had come from the continent and settled in Britain. Excavations at Mucking have demonstrated
845-588: Is thought to have been flourishing among the Trinovantes in the fourth century, indications include the remains of a probable church at Colchester, the church dates from sometime after 320, shortly after the Constantine the Great granted freedom of worship to Christians in 313. Other archaeological evidence include a chi-rho symbol etched on a tile at a site in Wickford , and a gold ring inscribed with
910-591: Is within the Thames Gateway and designated for further development. Parts of the south-west of the county, such as Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell , are contiguous with Greater London neighbourhoods and therefore form part of the Greater London Urban Area . In rural parts of the county, there are many small towns, villages and hamlets largely built in the traditional materials of timber and brick, with clay tile or thatched roofs. Before
975-665: The Bastard of Fauconberg . The Essex men joined with their allies in attempting to storm Aldgate and Bishopsgate during an assault known as the Siege of London . The Lancastrians were defeated, and the Essex contingent retreated back over the Lea with heavy losses. In 1588 Tilbury Fort was chosen as the focal point of the English defences against King Philip II's Spanish Armada , and
1040-597: The Boudiccan revolt . The rebels entered the city, and after a Roman last stand at the temple of Claudius, methodically destroyed it, massacring many thousands. A significant Roman force attempting to relieve Colchester was destroyed in pitched battle, known as the Massacre of the Ninth Legion . The rebels then proceeded to sack London and St Albans , with Tacitus estimating that 70–80,000 people were killed in
1105-530: The Forest of Essex was mostly farmland, and that the county as a whole was 20% wooded in 1086. After that point population growth caused the proportion of woodland to fall steadily until the arrival of the Black Death , in 1348, killed between a third and a half of England's population, leading to a long term stabilisation of the extent of woodland. Similarly, various pressures led to areas being removed from
1170-568: The Hundred based on the peninsula: A consequence of these features is that the broad estuaries defining them have been a factor in preventing any transport infrastructure linking them to neighbouring areas on the other side of the river estuaries, to the north and south. The pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. The areas closest to London are the most densely settled, though the Metropolitan Green Belt has prevented
1235-681: The Rachman days and the new beatnik / hippy generation. The former included George Clark of the Notting Hill Community Workshop, Richard Hauser (who ran a community scheme after the 1958 riots ), Rhaune and Jim Laslett-O’Brien, Bill Richardson of the Powis and Colville Residents Association, Andre and Barbara Shervington. To varying degrees of involvement, the hippy contingent numbered John Hopkins, Michael X , Courtney Tulloch ( IT ), Lloyd Hunter, Peter Jenner (who
1300-478: The River Lea forming its western border. Essex is a low-lying county with a flat coastline. It contains pockets of ancient woodland, including Epping Forest in the south-west, and in the north-east shares Dedham Vale area of outstanding natural beauty with Suffolk. The coast is one of the longest of any English county, at 562 miles (905 km). It is deeply indented by estuaries, the largest being those of
1365-593: The River Stour ; with the North Sea to the east. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley , close to the Hertfordshire border, which reaches 482 feet (147 m). In England, the term county is currently applied to both the ceremonial counties (or lieutenancy areas) and the administrative (or non-metropolitan) counties . It can also be applied to
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#17327929962551430-752: The Stour , which forms the Suffolk border, the Colne , Blackwater , Crouch , and the Thames in the south. Parts of the coast are wetland and salt marsh, including a large expanse at Hamford Water , and it contains several large beaches. What is now Essex was occupied by the Trinovantes tribe during the Iron Age . They established a settlement at Colchester, which is the oldest recorded town in Britain. The town
1495-494: The Thames Estuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea , and the county town is Chelmsford . The county has an area of 3,670 km (1,420 sq mi) and a population of 1,832,751. After Southend-on-Sea (182,305), the largest settlements are Colchester (130,245), Basildon (115,955) and Chelmsford (110,625). The south of
1560-528: The University of Westminster . He also exhibited his photographs of events and personalities in the 1960s. Hopkins died at the age of 77 on 30 January 2015. Essex Essex ( / ˈ ɛ s ɪ k s / ESS -iks ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England , and one of the home counties . It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across
1625-677: The Warhol star Kate Heliczer , Harvey Matusow (the McCarthy witchtrials saboteur), R. D. Laing and "the Belsize Park shrinks", Emily Young , Anjelica Huston and Pink Floyd . According to Jeff Nuttall, "Ultimately the Free School did nothing but put out a local underground newsletter and organise the 2 Notting Hill Gate Festivals, which were, admittedly, models of exactly how the arts should operate – festive, friendly, audacious,
1690-631: The Kings of Essex appear to have had a greater control in the core area, east of the Lea and Stort, that would subsequently become the county of Essex. In the core area they granted charters freely, but further west they did so while also making reference to their Mercian overlords. The early kings were pagan, together with much and perhaps by this time all of the population. Sledd's son Sebert converted to Christianity around 604 and St Paul's Cathedral in London
1755-566: The balance of power in southern England. The small kingdoms of Essex, Sussex and of Kent , previously independent albeit under Mercian overlordship, were subsequently fully absorbed into Wessex. The later Anglo-Saxon period shows three major battles fought with the Norse recorded in Essex; the Battle of Benfleet in 894, the Battle of Maldon in 991 and the Battle of Assandun (probably at either Ashingdon or Ashdon ) in 1016. The county of Essex
1820-536: The borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. Essex, London and the eastern counties backed Parliament in the English Civil War , but by 1648, this loyalty was stretched. In June 1648 a force of 500 Kentish Royalists landed near the Isle of Dogs , linked up with
1885-533: The capital and executed a number of their enemies, but the revolt began to dissipate after the events at West Smithfield on 15 June, when the Mayor of London, William Walworth , killed the rebel leader Wat Tyler. The rebels prepared to fire arrows at the royal party but the 15 year old King Richard II rode toward the crowd and spoke to them, defusing the situation, in part by making a series of promises he did not subsequently keep. Having bought himself time, Richard
1950-724: The complete control of the Catuvellauni, who took Colchester as their own capital. The Roman invasion of AD 43 began with a landing on the south coast, probably in the Richborough area of Kent . After some initial successes against the Britons, they paused to await reinforcements, and the arrival of the Emperor Claudius . The combined army then proceeded to the capital of the Catevellauni-Trinovantes at Colchester , and took it. Claudius held
2015-407: The county is very densely populated, and the remainder, besides Colchester and Chelmsford, is largely rural. For local government purposes Essex comprises a non-metropolitan county , with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas: Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea . The districts of Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend have city status. The county historically included north-east Greater London,
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2080-652: The creation of the county councils, county-level administration was limited in nature; lord-lieutenants replaced the sheriffs from the time of Henry VIII and took a primarily military role, responsible for the militia and the Volunteer Force that replaced it. Most administration was carried out by justices of the peace (JPs) appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex based upon their reputation. The JPs carried out judicial and administrative duties such as maintenance of roads and bridges, supervision of
2145-765: The current non-metropolitan county and the unitary authorities formerly part of it. Until 1996, the Royal Mail additionally divided Britain into postal counties , used for addresses. Although it adopted many local government boundary changes, the Royal Mail did not adopt the 1965 London boundary reform due to cost. Therefore, parts of post-1965 Greater London continued to have an Essex address. The postal county of Hertfordshire also extended deep into west Essex, with Stansted isolated as an exclave of postal Essex. In 1996, postal counties were discontinued and replaced entirely by postcodes , though customers may still use
2210-537: The destruction of London housing in the Second World War ; they have since been significantly developed and expanded. Epping Forest also prevents the further spread of the Greater London Urban Area . As it is not far from London, with its economic magnetism, many of Essex's settlements, particularly those near or within short driving distance of railway stations, function as dormitory towns or villages where London workers raise their families. In these areas
2275-474: The destruction of the three cities. Boudicca was defeated in battle, somewhere in the west midlands, and the Romans are likely to have ravaged the lands of the rebel tribes, so Essex will have suffered greatly. Despite this, the Trinovantes' identity persisted. Roman provinces were divided into civitas for local government purposes – with a civitas for the Trinovantes strongly implied by Ptolemy . Christianity
2340-721: The development of the Harwich International Port , and petroleum industry. Essex evolved from the Kingdom of the East Saxons , a polity which is likely to have its roots in the territory of the Iron Age Trinovantes tribe. In the Iron Age, Essex and parts of southern Suffolk were controlled by the local Trinovantes tribe. Their production of their own coinage marks them out as one of
2405-400: The former historic counties and the former postal counties . Essex therefore, has different boundaries depending on which type of county is being referred to. The largest extent of Essex was the historic (or ancient) county, which included Metropolitan Essex i.e. areas that now lie within the London conurbation such as Romford and West Ham . This boundary of Essex was established in
2470-405: The further sprawl of London into the county. The Green Belt was initially a narrow band of land, but subsequent expansions meant it was able to limit the further expansion of many of the commuter towns close to the capital. The Green Belt zone close to London includes many prosperous commuter towns, as well as the new towns of Basildon and Harlow , originally developed to resettle Londoners after
2535-431: The guidance of local activists including Michael X . As an extension of the Free School news-sheet The Gate , in 1966 Hopkins and Barry Miles co-founded the influential magazine International Times ( IT ). Hopkins also set up the UFO Club with Joe Boyd , with Pink Floyd as the resident band. Arrested for cannabis possession, Hopkins elected for trial by jury. In court on 1 June 1967, he claimed that cannabis
2600-455: The instigation of Barry Miles. Hopkins remained a member of IT ′s editorial board and a major contributor, and founded BIT as an information and agitprop arm. Hopkins favoured the more anarchistic elements in the "underground" centred on Ladbroke Grove , such as former UFO doorman Mick Farren , who by 1967 was also working at the IT newspaper. In the 1970s, Hopkins was involved in researching
2665-640: The large veteran army he had ordered to invade England. The English believed that the Spanish would land near the Fort, so Queen Elizabeth 's small and relatively poorly trained forces gathered at Tilbury, where the Queen made her famous speech to the troops . I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain , or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade
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2730-520: The late Anglo-Saxon period, sometime after the larger former Kingdom of the East Saxons had lost its independence. It included the whole ceremonial county, as well as the three north-western parishes transferred to Cambridgeshire in 1889, other smaller areas (such as the Bartlow Hills transferred to neighbours at the same time, and the five London boroughs administered as part of Essex until 1965. The administrative county and County Council
2795-561: The leading musicians of the period, including The Beatles and the Rolling Stones . Hopkins also recorded the seedier side of London, with photographs of tattoo parlours, cafés, prostitutes and fetishists. By the mid-1960s, he was at the centre of London's emerging underground scene and recorded many peace marches, poetry readings and "happenings", as well as photographing leading counter-cultural figures, including Allen Ginsberg and Malcolm X . Hopkins compiled and stencil-duplicated
2860-495: The legal Forest of Essex and it ceased to exist as a legal entity after 1327, and after that time Forest Law applied to smaller areas: the forests of Writtle (near Chelmsford ), long lost Kingswood (near Colchester), Hatfield , and Waltham Forest . Waltham Forest had covered parts of the Hundreds of Waltham, Becontree and Ongar . It also included the physical woodland areas subsequently legally afforested (designated as
2925-653: The letter S. The Kingdom of the East Saxons included not just the subsequent county of Essex, but also Middlesex (including the City of London ), much of Hertfordshire and at times also the sub-Kingdom of Surrey . The Middlesex and Hertfordshire parts were known as the Province of the Middle Saxons since at least the early eighth century but it is not known if the province was previously an independent unit that came under East Saxon control. Charter evidence shows that
2990-536: The more advanced tribes on the island, this advantage (in common with other tribes in the south-east) is probably due to the Belgic element within their elite. Their capital was the oppidum (a type of town) of Colchester, Britain's oldest recorded town, which had its own mint. The tribe were in extended conflict with their western neighbours, the Catuvellauni , and steadily lost ground. By AD 10 they had come under
3055-543: The names, contact details and interests of all of London's "movers and shakers". He then gave all of them a copy. This action is credited with greatly boosting the 1960s London-based underground movement . In 1966, with Rhaune Laslett and others, he helped set up the London Free School in Notting Hill . This in turn led to the establishment of the Notting Hill carnival , first organised by Laslett with
3120-526: The populace of the county were heavily involved in the Peasants' Revolt . The subsequent centuries were more settled, and the county's economy became increasingly tied to that of London; in the nineteenth century the railways allowed coastal resorts such as Clacton-on-Sea to develop and the Port of London to shift downriver to Tilbury . Subsequent development has included the new towns of Basildon and Harlow ,
3185-412: The presence of Anglo-Saxon settlers in the early fifth century, however the way in which these settlers became ascendent in the territory of the Trinovantes is not known. Studies suggest a pattern of typically peaceful co-existence, with the structure of the Romano-British landscape being maintained, and with the Saxon settlers believed to have been in the minority. The first known king of the East Saxons
3250-417: The rest heading to London, some directly – via Bow Bridge and others may have gone via Kent. A large force of Kentish rebels under Wat Tyler , who may himself have been from Essex, also advanced on London while revolt also spread to a number of other parts of the country. The rebels gained access to the walled City of London and gained control of the Tower of London . They carried out extensive looting in
3315-410: The security of the walls. The Siege of Colchester followed, but ten weeks' starvation and news of Royalist defeats elsewhere led the Royalists to surrender. The ceremonial county of Essex is bounded by Kent , south of the Thames Estuary ; Greater London to the south-west; Hertfordshire , broadly west of the River Lea and the Stort ; Cambridgeshire to the northwest; Suffolk broadly north of
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#17327929962553380-429: The social uses of video for UNESCO , the Arts Council of Great Britain , the Home Office and others, and edited the Journal of the Centre for Advanced TV Studies . Later, he worked as a technical journalist in the video trade press, and co-authored distance learning video training courses. Subsequently, he took and exhibited macro photography of flowers and other plants, and co-authored papers on plant biochemistry at
3445-419: Was Sledd in 587, though there are less reliable sources giving an account of Aescwine (other versions call him Erkenwine) founding the kingdom in 527. The early kings of the East Saxons were pagan and uniquely amongst the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms traced their lineage back to Seaxnēat , god of the Saxons , rather than Woden . The kings of Essex are notable for their S-nomenclature, nearly all of them begin with
3510-429: Was a British photographer, journalist, researcher and political activist, and "one of the best-known underground figures of ' Swinging London ' " in the late 1960s. Hopkins was born on 15 August 1937 in Slough , Buckinghamshire , England. After attending Felsted School in Essex , Hopkins went on to graduate in 1958 with a degree in physics and mathematics from Emmanuel College, Cambridge , which he had entered on
3575-440: Was able to receive reinforcements and then crush the rebellion in Essex and elsewhere. His forces defeated rebels in battle at Billericay on 28 June, and there were mass executions including hangings and disembowellings at Chelmsford and Colchester. In 1471, during the Wars of the Roses a force of around 2,000 Essex supporters of the Lancastrian cause crossed Bow Bridge to join with 3,000 Kentish Lancastrian supporters under
3640-422: Was conquered by the Romans but subsequently sacked by the Trinovantes during the Boudican revolt . In the Early Middle Ages the region was invaded by the Saxons , who formed the Kingdom of Essex ; they were followed by the Vikings, who after winning the Battle of Maldon were able to extract the first Danegeld from King Æthelred . After the Norman Conquest much of the county became a royal forest , and in 1381
3705-420: Was developed much later, in the thirteenth century. After the arrival of the Normans , the Forest of Essex was established as a royal forest , however, at that time, the term was a legal term. There was a weak correlation between the area covered by the Forest of Essex (the large majority of the county) and the much smaller area covered by woodland. An analysis of Domesday returns for Essex has shown that
3770-448: Was established. On Sebert's death in 616 his sons renounced Christianity and drove out Mellitus , the Bishop of London . The kingdom re-converted after St Cedd , a monk from Lindisfarne and now the patron saint of Essex, converted Sigeberht II the Good around 653. In AD 824, Ecgberht , the King of the Wessex and grandfather of Alfred the Great , defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellandun in Wiltshire, fundamentally changing
3835-411: Was formed from the core area, east of the River Lea , of the former Kingdom of the East Saxons in the 9th or 10th centuries and divided into groupings called Hundreds . Before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England . Having conquered England, William the Conqueror initially based himself at Barking Abbey , an already ancient nunnery, for several months while
3900-463: Was formed in 1889. The county was made a non-metropolitan county (a new type of adminsitrative county) in 1974, meaning the role of the administrative county was redefined, as part of the 1970s local government reorganisation . Its present boundaries were set in 1998 when Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea were separated from the non-metropolitan county to become unitary authorities. In 1997 the Lieutenancies Act defined Essex for ceremonial purposes as
3965-415: Was harmless and that the law should be changed. The judge, describing Hopkins as "a pest to society", sentenced him to nine months in prison for keeping premises for the smoking of cannabis and possession of cannabis, although Hopkins served only six months. He was jailed at HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs . A "Free Hoppy" movement sprang up and, as one particular consequence, Stephen Abrams began co-ordinating
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#17327929962554030-399: Was initially the most important city in Roman Britain and in it they established a temple to the God-Emperor Claudius. This was the largest building of its kind in Roman Britain . The establishment of the Colonia is thought to have involved extensive appropriation of land from local people, this and other grievances led to the Trinovantes joining their northern neighbours, the Iceni , in
4095-423: Was just starting to manage Pink Floyd ), Joe Boyd of Elektra Records and UFO, Andrew King , Michael Horovitz , John Michell , Julie Felix , Jeff Nuttall , Mike McInnerney ( Tommy artist ), Graham Keen ( IT ), Neil Oram (The Warp), Dave Tomlin ( IT ), Felix de Mendelssohn ( Children of Albion ), Nigel Waymouth of Granny Takes a Trip , John Esam , Alexander Trocchi , the jazz writer Ron Atkins,
4160-461: Was the early development of Pink Floyd , who played at All Saints Church Hall, initially as part of the Notting Hill Fayre (Carnival), and then a series of fund-raising concerts for the LFS. These were among the earliest gigs by the band, coming between their Spontaneous Underground period at The Marquee and the start of the UFO Club. John Hopkins (political activist) John Victor Lindsay "Hoppy" Hopkins (15 August 1937 – 30 January 2015)
4225-562: Was very poor due to the war with France , so a new Poll Tax was levied with commissioners being sent round the country to interrogate local officials in an attempt to ensure tax evasion was reduced and more money extracted. This was hugely unpopular and the Peasants' Revolt broke out in Brentwood on 1 June 1381. The revolt was partly inspired by the egalitarian preaching of the radical Essex priest John Ball . Several thousand Essex rebels gathered at Bocking on 4 June, and then divided. Some heading to Suffolk to raise rebellion there, with
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