interesting places
Here are some random sample locations of interest in Essex. Also take a look at sites shown on our sites map, geology site map and brownfield site map, with the site account and locate site facility.
locate Bushy Hill, South Woodham Ferrers
A remarkable south facing landslip scarp with some rare invertebrates.
locate Hatfield Forest
The Last Forest (Oliver Rackham, 1989), with all the elements of a medieval Forest, an early acquisition by the National Trust.
locate Springfields or Orsett Camp Quarry
Old sand pit with excellent acid grassland/heathland regeneration
locate Magdalen Wood (Remains of)
This woodland is all that remains of a larger area which was bordered in the west by Porters Brook, now piped, and to the east by St John's Rd. Much of the old wood was developed as housing in the 1970/80's
locate Alsa Sand Pit
A disused sand pit with an important invertebrate fauna, including a parasitic fly known from nowhere else in Britain.
locate Fingringhoe Wick
The Essex Wildlife Trust's flagship reserve, disused gravel workings overlooking the Colne estuary.
locate Steeple Creek (shingle)
Shingle foreshore on side of inlet in Blackwater estuary.
locate Goshems Farm, Tilbury
This is the site of a very old landfill site dating back to Victorian times. It is highly probable that tipping ceased in 1958 when a change in ownership occurred. There was a long continuity of cattle grazing until at least 1997, as indicated by the presence of an important population of the UKBAP Hornet Robber Fly, discovered in the mid 1990s. The sandy shoreline is unprecedented as a habitat in the Thames estuary, together with a section of low chalky cliff.