Counties of England
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The counties of England are divisions of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are two main legal definitions of the counties in modern usage: the 84 counties for the purposes of local government, and the 48 counties for the purposes of lieutenancy, also termed the ceremonial counties.
Many counties had a central courthouse from which they were administered, which often became the first meeting place for the county councils created in 1889, such as Shire Hall, Stafford.
County flags at Parliament Square, opposite the United Kingdom Parliament in Westminster, London
Essex
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Essex 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 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.
St Peters Chapel, Bradwell. Established by St Cedd, the patron saint of Essex around 662, built on the site of the abandonded Roman fort of Othona
Hedingham Castle, The Norman keep from the other side of the English landscape garden
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchester claims to be Britain's first city.
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge spanning the Thames from West Thurrock, Essex, to Dartford, Kent